The Permutation

Apex (Part 9) Michelle

Saturday, November 5th 1:39 a.m.

Up to this point, Michelle's actions had been informed by two things, self promotion and preservation. Michelle's philosophy reduced life to a simple formula focused on getting Michelle from Points A to B. Her mental image was her traveling on a straight-line path from where she was at to wherever she wanted to be. Other people and events were litter on the path that Michelle had to avoid, but in the big scheme of things they didn't matter. Now, Michelle was so far off the path she couldn't even see it anymore.

Lancet Falls had started as just another story, one of many that had felt like it was going to be her big break. The connections she'd made, the picaresque, idyllic town, and even strengthening her bond with Ron wouldn't have mattered one iota to the old Michelle, but the cadaver of Cade Jahns changed all that. It had been the stray rock in Michelle's mind that triggered an avalanche of emotions that Michelle would just as soon have gone without. Now she was doing things without knowing the reasons why she was doing them.

Michelle had continued to convince herself that her actions were all for the good of the story, but she couldn't keep lying to herself. From the first instance of strangeness, Michelle felt a fundamental wrongness at exposing the events of Lancet Falls. Throughout the course of her investigation, she began to find she cared about these people, but it was more than that. She cared about this town, not for the opportunity it presented, but the purity. It had been a town that had remained unscathed by the corrupting influence of society. Michelle was too close to herself to realize the spiritual cleansing she'd undergone during her brief stay. The seclusion that left the town untouched by the rest of the world would be obliterated. Michelle would be the key that opened the Pandora's Box that ruined one of the last bastions of the simple life. Her newly developed conscience wouldn't let her sleep at night.

Now, all of that was falling apart. Not only had they not been able to avoid the harsh realities of a toxic world, but some outsiders had noticed their haven as well, changing its inhabitants into something more than human and something less. Even Michelle had become part of the town, a part enough to have been caught in the flood of change.

Michelle hadn't felt this full of purpose since she had assisted her mother in the woman's shamanistic rituals. Back then, her actions were for the benefit of society and not her own personal gain. It wasn't until twelve year old girl stepped up and did what was necessary that Michelle realized that the sanctity of Lancet Falls was a cause worth dying for. It wasn't just Lancet Falls, Jordan Bryant was a cause worth dying for, an example of a person that had been dealt the worst hand and finding the strength to persevere anyway.

Michelle thought she'd shown similar strength as a child, but closing off all other connections was the opposite. It was like falling off a horse and deciding to lock yourself in your house never to see the light of day again in fear of being hurt again. This girl had gotten back on the horse God knows how many times, and Michelle was in awe of the girl's tenacity. It took more strength to be hurt and continue to love than it did to give up on people. Michelle didn't know the tall man with a soot-stained face, but she felt a connection to the man. Jordan had touched his life in the same way. It was a shame her revelation would be short-lived. It was a shame that they were all going to die here. The real story would have been what events brought them all to this moment in time, their mythical last stand straight from a storybook.

Grimm's fairy tales.

In every story, there was a being of pure evil that stood in their path. Paul Neiman fit that to a T. The things about to overrun them were mindless, without an ounce of malice, just mindless hunger. Paul was worse, an unrepentant monster. Michelle didn't care that he had helped them out of a pinch, because he'd kill another person in the same breath without an ounce of remorse. Michelle hoped and prayed that after she was gone, the man would get his just desserts, but she didn't find that likely. People like him were cockroaches that could survive a nuclear holocaust if that's what it took to survive and spread their misery.

The last guttering of Vyth's transponder jolted Michelle out of her reverie. In the moments before her death, Michelle expected to have her life flash before her eyes. Instead, they'd put everything in perspective, crystallizing and solidifying what she'd been living and dying for, all in a matter of moments.

Who would have thought you could have an epiphany in a couple of seconds?

The light died.

As if on cue, the citizens of Lancet Falls descended on their group. Their backs were to one another forming a circle of five. They couldn't be attacked from behind. That would extend their survival by moments. No matter what they did, they'd be overrun by the flood of twisted versions of humanity.

Violet lit the air, and Michelle thought that Vyth had managed to revive his transponder, but the new light had disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. In that time, the horde had been frozen in place. It captured the moment perfectly, freezing everything in place as if they were posing for a portrait. A portrait of the brave heroes standing against the tides of evil. Evil wasn't the right word, they were standing against the unjust nature of the universe. The universe didn't care whether they lived or died. The world would remain long after they were gone. In reality, their group was facing off against the apathy of the universe.

Although the light had vanished, a sheen of violet luminescence lingered on the scene. Faces that Michelle wanted nothing more than to obliterate. Vergil thought they could save them, but Michelle knew the truth of the situation. Michelle knew what possession looked like, and she knew what needed to be done. Possession required rough treatment, and if that meant death, so be it, because the things walking around weren't people anymore.

Before a second had passed, Michelle was among them. She tossed punches, kicks, and elbows into the throng of bodies not caring what she hit or broke. At one point, the violet rush had flowed through her veins, giving her clarity as well as a strength and grace the likes of which she had never seen before. Masters of martial lights didn't hold a candle to Michelle's poise

The crunch of bones sounded like musical accompaniment to Michelle's lethal dance.

Even when the predators started to stir, their movements were sluggish compared to Michelle. Even when they regained their normal speed, it was a fraction of what Michelle was capable of. She imagined herself as a blur of humanity, incorporeal and unable to be captured. In Michelle's fervent fighting, she noted that she was straying from the others. It didn't matter that she was surrounded and no longer had backup. The others were better off out of Michelle's reach anyways. She wouldn't have wanted them caught up in her dance of destruction.

Tracheas collapsed, bones jutted from skin, and internal organs ruptured as Michelle landed hits on critical points on each person's body, never needing more than one strike.

The predators seemed to be moving in petroleum jelly compared to her, but eventually, they started to press on her anyways. No matter how many she cut down, the others pushed the suffocating horde closer and closer, restricting her movement. She realized they had closed all the gaps for her to dart through, and were inexorably closing off any avenue for a potential attack.

Their mouths gaped open like baby birds waiting for their next meal, and black tubules hung writhed between their teeth. Michelle couldn't tell if they were a part of the predators or if the little appendages were parasites using the predators as a host. Not that any of it mattered, if they got her.

As they closed in on her, Michelle wished she couldn't see their expressions. Their eyes looked like pure, black marbles in their head, dilated to the point where she couldn't see the whites of their eyes.

It was a look she was familiar with.