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Chapter 48

She didn't stop running.

Despite the many things she was bad at, running usually came easily to her. The pounding of her feet on the ground kept her distracted, and the adrenaline kept her from breaking down completely. She could do it forever, even with the throbbing pain in her arm.

She could see the odd sillouette in the distance, but they didn't stop her. They just watched, unfazed. They didn't seem to care. They must have known as well as she did that she didn't have anywhere else to go.

Eventually she had to slow down. She found a quiet office at the end of a particularly quiet corridor. As soon as she stopped running she realised how tired she was. There was a dull, aching pain in the back of her head and her eyes were stinging. Her arm hung limply by her side, completely numb from the elbow-down.

She'd never anticipated being the last one.

It wasn't that she hadn't considered the worst. She'd just expected that she'd be the first to go.

It would have made sense; she was unprepared, she took the risks, she'd obviously get caught soon enough. The others could handle it from there. They were good at it.

But now, through sheer, dumb luck, everything rested upon her shoulders.

She knew what she had to do - find a main power source, tear it apart, and get far away as possible before it blew up. What she didn't know was how to do it.

She tried to move her arm, but it just felt numb. Maybe it would never move again. Her whole body felt uneven and unbalanced, and she she wasn't sure if fighting back was an option anymore.

She heard someone calling out to her. They sounded gentle. For a moment she wanted to give herself in, just to get it over with. She couldn't remember how it had felt to be completely mindless, but anything was better than being alone.

Shaking herself, she pushed the thought back and waited for them to pass. She owed it to the others to at least try.

She didn't even know if it was possible to win against them anymore. The one lead that she'd thought they'd had had ended up causing her to lose her best friend. She didn't know where to go.

Her eyes were stinging and her vision was blurred. Every bone in her body ached. She couldn't relax enough to sit down, but it was painful to stay still. She put a hand on her chest, numbly aware of how painful her heart felt beating against her ribs.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and decided to improvise.

She opened the office door and called out, "Hey, you wanted me to come quietly? I'll come quietly."

Nobody answered, so she called out again. "Hey, anyone? Listen, I'm done. I... I'm gonna be nice. I'm unarmed. I'm doing what you want."

She paused, starting to regret it. Still, nobody replied. She was starting to feel panic rising in her chest again, but persisted, raising her voice slightly. "Hey, is anyone out there? Where... Where are you?" She swallowed shakily, and forced herself to smile. She was starting to feel hysterical, but she didn't have the energy or the motivation to fight it. "Come on out, we'll have some fun. We'll have a girls night. I'll braid your hair. You guys... You guys still have hair, right?"

She was almost glad that none of the others were watching her at this point. She didn't want to know how they would have reacted. She mumbled something under her breath, but she wasn't entirely sure what. She felt herself apologising to nobody in particular, and the panic came back momentarily, but she pushed it away, ignoring the burning in her chest. She could do anything at this point, and it'd be better than nothing.