"Distant Memory- One" by Corrine ´Princess Muffin´ Hunsher

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.

In a matter of what felt like moments, or hours (I was too
delirious to tell which) all sounds from the monsters had ceased.
A pair of strong arms lifted me with surprise gentleness from the
ground. My savior made a sound that was like a sharp intake of breath.

“Damn, Cat, what are we to do with you?” he murmured low,
close to my ear. He placed me as gently as possible in his lap as he
got into the jeep and held me so securely I could barely feel the bumps
and potholes we sped across in our mad dash back over the boarder. I
remember car doors slamming before slipping under into a darker, more
quieter world.