Every step was an earthquake. Every breath was a hurricane. The gong of her heartbeat reverberated through the empty corridor. Security lights flashed, but she couldn’t hear the sirens blaring throughout the laboratory. All she could hear was the whimpering of the boy she was leading by the wrist. He buried his face in her white lab coat as she leaned back against the wall, sidling around the corner to inspect the next long hall before crossing it in long, swift strides. She kept her head focused on the cameras and pulled the child behind her when it finally reached its maximum rotation. They were hidden, though not safe. She had memorized the schematics for weeks; she had rehearsed this day a thousand times. What she didn’t expect was the boy. She knew the laboratory had taken a sinister turn toward the dark arts of fringe science, performing genetic testing without the federal approval, but she didn’t realize they had actually fostered a center of genetically altered children. Her fi
Jimsonweed whipped at my legs as I ran through the treacherous fields. I could hear him yelling behind me, stumbling over the hidden pits and snares. We had been playing this never-ending game of cat-and-mouse for several years; however, this would be the end of senselessness. No more pleasantries. No more silence. No more running around trying to not be killed. No, today I wouldn’t miss the boat to victory like my leaders had. They had faced this man head on when I was just a child. I saw him slit their throats without a second thought. They tried to reason with the devil, but I knew only bringing hell would ever stop someone from the depths of darkness. I would become the predator with my minefield of traps beneath the foliage of red and green. The murderer would be the one slain tonight. The moon would put a spotlight on my heroism. The storm clouds would applaud my bravery. The grass would bow in respect. I ran into the abandoned warehouse that crumpled beneath the weight of years