SciFi and Fantasy Stories: Distant Memory- One

You know it’s funny how many mistakes you find you’ve made in your life in the moment before you die. So far, I’ve counted twenty in only the past ten minutes. Of course, I don’t really plan on dying anytime soon. If I had a death wish I would just stop running right now. Yeah, there’s no way in hell I’m gonna stop running.

They were just toying with me, I knew that much. If they really wanted to catch me, they could overpower me before I could even blink. They probably thought of this little chase as something of a game. Well why not? That’s all we humans are to them. Game.

Ducking into a crumbling Starbucks, I jumped over the dust incrusted counter and threw myself up against the display case. It, too, was covered in debris, so I didn’t have to worry about being seen. Instead I yanked off my pack and unzipped the top. Impatiently I pushed back a few loose strands of my hair out of my face and went digging through it until my hands came up with a small black box. With clumsy fingers I unlatched the top and fumbled around with its contents, dropping them more than once. Muttering a string of small curses I did my best to cease the trembling in my hands. I kept them busy by sliding my goggles over my eyes. I tried my hardest to slow my breathing back down to normal… which worked for about two and-a-half seconds. I clasped my hand tightly around a small, black cylinder just as I heard movement from the front of the store. I could hear the voices of my pursuers at the front entrance, about ten feet away from my hiding place.
“Little girl,” a soft, seducing voice called out. I pleaded with my heart to slow down as not to give me away and get me killed.
“It’s been fun, but this little game has gotten old, and we are very, very hungry,” he continued. There were murmurs of agreement from his comrades. A shrill yet graceful cackle escaped from the only female among the group, sending chills up my spine. Almost as abruptly it faded down to low moans that sounded more animal than human.
“So if you come out now, we promise to only play with you a little bit before sending you off to heaven,” I could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke. What a creep. A hissing sound came from the others that sounded almost like, laughter? Aw crap. Laughing was never a good sign. Clutching the small black thing in my hand I prepared myself to throw it and run. They were getting closer to me now, but I needed them closer still.
Closer… just a little bit more, and…
Now!
Clutching the pin in my teeth, I yanked it and threw with all my might. As soon as it made contact with the dusty floor, the grenade exploded in a flash of light. I could hear their shrieks from across the street.

Though it’s a myth that light can kill someone with the plague, as was once believed, it is a fact that some chemical in their new makeup makes their skin thinner and seem transparent, causing light to be slightly painful or irritable to them. In worse cases- like when using a light grenade- their skin will actually blister and start to burn. It’s just like when we get sunburn at the beach, except to a bigger extreme.

I knew the light grenade would only subdue them temporarily, but if I could get a big enough head start, maybe I could make it back over the line. Pushing my legs to their limit, I sprinted as fast as I could through the streets of a deteriorating New York. So far I could only hear the gravel making contact with my sneakers and my own labored breathing. I didn’t slow down, though, because that meant practically nothing. It wasn’t long until I could hear them perusing me. Crap, I thought I would have been farther away before they’d caught up to me again. Now I wasn’t quite sure if I could make it or not.

They were getting closer now. The burns I had left them with were already healing, which was what I was counting on to slow them down. Well, so much for that bright idea. I could just see the boarder up ahead; not much longer now until I reached it. But the freaks were really catching up fast. They were so close I could hear every distinct thing they called me. And let me tell you, there were some pretty nasty words. My chest heaved. The pack on my back felt like it weighed a ton. My legs were on fire, but I was almost there. Just a bit farther and I could make it. Twenty feet away from the boarder now. Almost… there…

A clawed hand snakes its way onto my left ankle.
I trip.
I fall.
I let out a startled cry as my face makes contact with the dusty ground. The claws that had grabbed me before now tried to work its way up my body. Others join it, greedy and thirsting for what lies just beneath the surface of my skin. My blood. Hissing fills my ears. They’re laughing. I let out another cry as one impatiently swipes at my back, leaving a gaping wound in my lower left side. The hissing grew louder, they were thoroughly enjoying themselves, the bastards! Gritting my teeth I did my best not to cry out again as more cuts were added to the collection already littering my body. God, just kill me now and end my suffering!

Suddenly, the scratching and tearing stopped. Their hisses turned into belligerent, tortured screeches. I could hear the revving engine of some type of land vehicle, but I was too weak from blood loss to even manage to open my eyes a slit. Guns firing and a sudden snarl informed me that the cavalry had arrived. I was safe.