Escape

I don’t escape the next day. Or the next. A week goes by, and all I have to show for it is a full stomach and a knowledge of what rooms have closets with doors still attached. My chest feels better, no broken ribs apparently. The food in the walk in fridge is all gone. Honestly my biggest concern is how fucked up the rest of the world must be right now that a hotel can be completely taken over for over a week with no survivors and somehow no one has bothered to come here. Didn’t the lady try and call anyone before… no, I can’t worry about things like this. Not right now. Not everything makes sense, but going crazy thinking about it won’t help. Just like I don’t think about my actual biggest concern.

I shake my head, **** not to think about what the leader likes to do with me when he’s bored. I’m sitting in a random room, as it can give me some extra time if he has to look for me. It’s later in the day, and would even be a nice afternoon… is that snow? I peer out the window. Yep. That’s snow. It hasn’t been that long since this madness started, has it? Oh well, I guess it doesn’t… wait. It’s snowing. Anywhere I go from now on is going to leave an easy trail to follow… unless I leave right now. Oh shit.

I leave the room and walk with a purpose while simultaneously trying to look casual. I grab the computer bag that the lady’s laptop was in. I’ve managed to stash some food and some basic supplies like a lighter and pocket knife I’ve managed to find inside. I was hoping to get more stuff, but time is now officially out. I throw on an oversized flannel coat and hope none of the goblins look too closely at me. I’ve seen some of them leave before. I just need to act casual and… walk out. It’s not a great plan, but after searching for an exit that wasn’t barricaded proved impossible, it’s about all I have left. Maybe if I had more time I could think of something better, but I don’t.

So I make my way down to the lobby with my bag full of candy and granola bars, plus a water bottle, and I just hope for all the luck this world owes me to be paid back in this instant as I walk into the lobby… and it works. I look around and see that the leader isn’t present. Better yet, all the goblins here are either passed out or amongst the laziest of the ones I’ve learned to recognize. Cautiously optimistic, I casually walk towards the exit. Don’t look suspicious. Just walk. Like I’m just being a normal goblin doing normal goblin things. Yep, nothing to see here fellow blue goblins.

… how the fuck did that work. I push open the door without any of them caring. Okay. Yeah, I need to put as much distance as I can between me and this hell hole before the snow starts to leave tracks. If I’m lucky the falling snow might even help cover my tracks. Still not wanting to run in case any more proactive goblins see me from a window and realize I’m not one of them, I have to decide. Wander into the woods aimlessly, head towards the lake and follow any river I can find from it down stream, or follow the road. Considering I don’t know if any humans I meet will shoot me on site, I’m skipping out on the road. I want back to civilization, but I want to maximize my chances to approach in a non threatening manner. But I’m no outdoorsman, so that really just leaves following the river. It’s not perfect, but even I can follow a river… assuming there is a river. All lakes have rivers… right? Okay, I know that isn’t right, but most do. This one shouldn’t be an exception.

With my heart pounding and me expecting an angry mob of goblins to come charging at me any moment, I make my way towards the lake. I don’t go directly at it though, as I don’t want to be seen from any of the windows pointing in its direction. So, hopefully I can avoid getting lost at least a little bit. I enter the forest and walk as near to a straight line as possible. And I giggle. I did it. Okay, it was basically pure luck, but damnit I did it. I’m free. I run a bit, not to get there faster but just to feel the joy of my legs moving beneath me. My dress, sweater, and jacket keep me nice and warm despite the snow… although I better use the jacket hood before my head gets soaked.

I keep walking for what feels like a few hours. Despite being a bit tired, I’m still happy. I look behind me. The snow has kept falling and so I’m leaving tracks now, but anything I left when I first stepped out is definitely covered up completely. In fact, the snow is falling harder now. Even my current tracks are likely to be hidden quickly at this pace. I continue on, practically skipping with joy. And I even manage to not get lost. I turn towards where I think the lake is, and even though I turned a little early, the clearing I find lets me see the lake. I check in the other direction that the hotel must be in, for fear I might be spotted… I don’t know why I’m scared of that as they’d need eagle eyes, or at least binoculars and the knowledge to use them, to see me from here. It doesn’t matter because the snow makes it impossible for me to see the hotel from here, so they shouldn’t be able to see me either.

I finish my trek to the lake. And I’m feeling a bit less awesome. My children’s shoes are good, but they aren’t snow boots. I was hoping the snow wasn’t going to be this bad. It’s the first snow of the season, why is it this bad? Well, it’s too late to worry about that now. I walk around the lake until I find a river. I am more confident that my little body is somehow more resilient to cold than a normal human body, but unfortunately I’m only sure of this because the snow getting into my shoes is definitely pushing me beyond those limits.

I keep following the river though. Going back isn’t an option. I… might need to come to terms with dying in the snow though. It felt enchanting at first, walking in a slowly falling world of dancing snow as I made my escape. But it’s slowly become depressing, smothering everything in a blank white void. My feet crunching into the ground provide the only tangible proof the world is real, while the trees and bushes become mere vague outlines and shadows, a suggestion of the world being wiped away.

Yeah, I’m going to die in the snow. I survived everything just to die of little flecks of cold water. Maybe I could stop and wait under a tree, but if the snow doesn’t melt after this first dump then I’m still going to have to walk through it later. And later it might be even higher. I keep going for a bit… but it becomes clear I’m going to let my feet freeze if I don’t stop. I sigh, and start to walk towards a tree for cover.

BANG.

I fall to the ground, pressing into the snow and feeling it crunch beneath my body. I think someone just shot at me. Why is my life like this?!

“If you’re a human, this is your time to speak. Other wise keep holding nice and still.”

“Pleathe don’t shoot! I’m a perthon!”

“Well shit. Let me help you up. Sorry for the shot. There are these blue little shits around here recently. And you’re about their size.”

Shit shit shit. He’s at least not shooting at me now. But I don’t know how much he cares about the distinction between a human and a person. I might stand up just to have it all end here. I grip my hands together in frustration. And see a green light spark across them. What the fuck? I don’t have time for this. I push my hands forward to reach the ground and get up, and the green spark expands into a wave that slides forward and pushes the snow away in a small basket ball sized area, exposing the ground beneath me. What the double fuck?

I hear the crunching of feet coming up behind me. Okay, ignore the green weirdness coming from my hands, I need to be the most charming little big eared girl that’s actually a transformed guy ever. Or I’m about to be dead. I push myself up to my feet, facing away from him. “Pleathe don’t shoot, I’m a perthon.” Okay, no one ever accused me of being good with words.

“Yeah, you already said that…” shit, why do I hear suspicion in his voice?!

“I jutht… don’t want to be shot.”

The crunching stops a few feet from me. “Why don’t you turn around, slowly.”

I sigh. And slowly turn around. Please don’t let this be my last conversation. “I’m not a monthter. I jutht woke up like thith.”

The man is a bit gruff looking, with an old worn leather jacket and a winter cap on. And a rifle, can’t forget about that. I was never a gun person, but it looked like the barrel was a bit bigger than the tiny rifle my dad had for shooting grouse when he was a kid, the one that sat unused for years in our garage. So it probably was big enough to put me down easily. “Well shit. You’re one of the ones that used to be a human.” I do not like his tone, or his phrasing. “Well shit. What are you doing out here? Shouldn’t you be hiding in some big city? Any weird thing I see out here I expect to be an animal changed.”

Okay… maybe this isn’t bad. “I wath homeleth, and everything wath bad. I thaw a shooting, tho I ran. And then I ended up in the woods.” Successful S sound. Maybe I can focus on that now, and ignore all the crazy.

“So you don’t have a home? So no one knows where you are right now? I suppose no one would recognize you either.” I mean, he’s right. But I really don’t like his tone. He is looking at my face very intently. “You’re a cute little thing aren’t ya.” Oh hell no. A shiver runs down my spine that has nothing to do with the cold. “Why don’t you come with me little one.”

“Um… I was just going to follow the river…” I shut up as his rifle is pointed at me.

“I think it’s best if you follow me. And considering my money is on you freaks being declared animals soon, I doubt anyone will care if I bring you home on your feet or bloodied in a cage.”

Shit. Shit shit shit. If people are this far gone, going back to town, any town, would just be a **** sentence. Or worse. I didn’t escape one sick bastard just to be captured by a bigger one. I hold still and look down at my hands. My head is filled with turmoil and a growing pressure that makes my head want to explode. And that fucking green spark is covering my hands and arms, giving me something else to freak out about. It explains the weird warm pins and needles I feel in my body.

The man steps casually towards me… he can’t see it. Before it might just have been missed by him, but the sparks and almost aura of green light around my arms and body couldn’t just be missed by someone. He just can’t see it. And a little bit in my hands blew away all that snow… if this doesn’t work I’m probably dead. Considering my luck, I take in my last breath. I hold it, to savor it.

Okay. I exhale, and throw my arms out and let the pressure building in my brain go. The sparking green lights form into a wave that sweeps towards the man, and all the snow between me and him is instantly caught up in it. The man jumps back, but that only gives more room for the wave to pick up more snow before plowing into him. The snow wall isn’t that tall though and just takes him out at the knees. I’m surprised, because the wave itself seems to pass by him without effect. Only the snow it carried with it did anything to him… shit. Whatever this is either does nothing or next to nothing to people. He starts getting back up and cursing at me. Panic seems to recharge the green energy rapidly and I run over to the side to put more snow between me and him. I unleash another wave, this time intentionally focusing lower to pick up as much snow as possible. Another small wall of snow slams into him as he tries to take aim.

BANG.

Another shot rings out, but with the snow flurry buffeting him he didn’t really have much chance of hitting me. He tumbles with the snow, but I can see he’s still in this fight. And I realize it is a fight. Whatever plans he had before are definitely gone, if he gets the chance he’s going to kill me. I keep running to the side, needing more snow between us to pummel him with. He’s trying to stand up, but I send a third wave to keep him down. It slams right into his face, and I feel a sense of satisfaction at his stupid face getting pummeled by the small wave of snow.

“I’m going to kill you!” Yeah, I already figured out that was the plan. Despite his announcement, he turns around and begins to crawl and then run away from me, over the mounds of snow that my previous attacks piled up around and behind him. “Bill! Jake! Get over here!” Oh shit no. Reinforcements are not a thing. I unleash another wave of snow at him. But since he is running past the other snow I’ve piled up around him and getting farther away, this wave collects all the snow and slams into him, burying him completely.

There is an awkward and deadly silence for a bit. And then I let the breath I’ve been holding out. The pile on him is… big. Very big. Too big for him to be able to free himself. I look around, and most of the surrounding area has been stripped clean of snow, all of it now resting on him… he’s going to die. He’s probably suffocating right now. I… he’s trying to kill me. He has friends he wants to come help him kill me… I remember the man at the gas station, and the woman in the hotel. Fucking shit.

I send out another wave, focused a bit up this time to not just move the whole pile. A lot of it is blown away, but I don’t want to risk hurting him anymore by sending him bouncing across the ground being pushed by snow. So I have to dig in the last bit with my hands. I manage to find him, and unbury his head first… god damnit. I shouldn’t be crying for this fucker. My life is hard enough without assholes like this… no. I swallow my feelings down, and close my eyes to focus, to think, and to not have to see the angle of his neck.

Okay. If he’s anything to go by, I don’t have a future with humans right now. And with this snow still falling, I can’t stay outside forever. But I still know one place with shelter. A place that can be safe, so long as they don’t think me weak. A place that could use a change in leadership.