Life On The Line

Felicity had never experienced so much anxiety while driving. Her phone was going off in her pocket from her parents' spam calling her, and the radio was screaming at her when she accidentally hit the button earlier when getting into the car.

The window was cracked halfway down, making the wind howl into her ear and her hair sway crazily around her. Tightening her hands on the wheel, she bit down on her lip to try and keep her uncertainty in check since the worst thing that could happen now was for her to second-guess herself.

The radio was crackling, but she could hear the woman well.

Woman: My apologies, but it seems that our usual break from schedule pertains to the real world versus our daily hot one hundred.

Felicity swerved to the side to avoid the blockade the rioters set up earlier to try and keep law enforcement out. It felt as though everyone's actions were contradictory since no one was fighting the correct enemy.

Woman: There are sightings of mysterious creatures out and about. I repeat there are sightings of mysterious creatures outside.

The woman was cut off by static, and Felicity glanced back up at the sky since it was leading her. She was following the red ribbons in the sky, driving like a lunatic, making other drivers point angrily at her, their mouths contorting into not kind words at all.

Her eyes were glued onto the road, but her ears were sharpened to every detail. There were sounds of bombs going off and screaming ensued. Felicity couldn't tell how far the ruckus was from her, and she yanked the wheel to the side to avoid a black vehicle that was parked directly in the middle of the road.

Felicity looked at her rearview mirror to see that she was the only car on the road when she entered the freeway. The sky was turning darker, into sinister blood red as she approached the countryside.

Her breathing was quickening when she realized that she was going in with no weapon and absolutely no way to defend herself. Felicity screamed in horror when the road suddenly shifted in front of her, exposing the dark abyss below.

The cracked road was jagged enough that she had to pull over, as she couldn't trust herself to drive any further due to her clammy hands.

Her car was in the ditch, and she pushed the car door open with her leg since it was jammed. Falling out onto the coarse gravel that was sharply digging into her skin, she peered overhead.

There were pods of red and black swirled above in the skies, far enough to make them not seem too close, but there was a central one that she could pinpoint. The engyure looked exactly the same as the one she saw in the tests from months ago.

Felicity ran straight towards the forest, pushing the lanky cordgrass out of her way. She gritted her teeth from the sharp tingle in her leg, but it wasn't enough to make her lose her speed. It was a longer walk than she first anticipated, continuing her trek down the hill full of tall grassy weeds.

She stumbled to a stop and covered her horrified gasp when she saw the creatures hovering above the ground, before making contact with the earth.

Felicity practically stopped breathing, holding it tight to her chest, to not give away her position. The engyures were where the raures were coming out of in large hoards.

She tried to follow the movements of the raures, but they seemed unable to communicate being quite individualistic. Her heart was pounding so hard; she could hear it in her ears.

They were getting closer to her, and she took a few steps back. She needed to escape soon or else no one would find her out deep in the woods. If only she had a weapon to take the few out to guarantee her safe return.

Felicity took a few more steps and crunched down loudly on a stick. She froze, her eyes trained on the raures.

For a moment, they didn't do anything. But that was only a passing fancy when they raised the extension of their body and shot metal spikes toward her.

Felicity bit down her scream and the alarm bells rang in her brain a little too late. Swinging around, she dodged the spikes that were launched, barrelling into a roll down the hill.

She tumbled down, her back digging into the rocks, but she covered her face from most of the damage. Felicity pulled herself up to start sprinting and grimaced when she got a good look at the wretched faces of the creatures.

Running from something was completely different than running by itself, as it felt as though she was floating despite her heart beating erratically. Felicity yanked the car door open, and she strapped into her car, starting it up.

She peeked out the window to see that hoard that was following her, and she screamed when the metal spikes made an impact on her car, shattering her windows. She was lucky that there wasn't any affliction to her wheels or else she would have been done for.

Felicity was able to get out of the ditch, slamming on the accelerator, but the car instead of her body took the damage and the amount of spikes that were launched forward.

She glanced back in the mirror and covered her mouth from the dread and horror that was threatening to spill over from the nightmarish sight of the creatures chasing after her.

Felicity had to go back to the city from a different route since the road was too broken to traverse any further. She made her way down the small country roads before getting back into the everyday roads that she went by daily.

She didn't have to go far to see the damage that the rioters caused from the torn-apart shopping buildings and ripped signs. Paper scattered through the streets, blowing in the wind like a ghost town.

Felicity continued down the streets to try and get back home, worried that the rioters were going to get in her way again. If only they knew what resided only a few miles away...

She had to pull over to the side where most of the protests were happening since there were too many people in one area to get past, it was so congested. She got out and saw the police taping off areas to try and salvage what was left of the city.

For now, she would have to get home on foot. Her car was the least of her worries. She stared up at the sky to see the ever-menacing red swirling clouds that were lingering far too long for comfort.