La Cazadora, La Soldadera, y La Soñolienta Ciudad

[Proto Man]

I walk a lonely road, the only road that I have ever known.

The woman came to a sudden stop.  In front of her, the road suddenly dropped off into a fog-laced oblivion.  Bent pieces of rebar stuck out and chunks of concrete and asphalt hung loosely above the abyss, as if some giant creature had taken a haphazard bite out of the world.

Behind her, she heard the familiar shuffle of deformed feet on pavement.  The chorus of wet thumps and the haggard breath of the creatures hounded her wherever she went.

My shadow’s the only one that walks beside me.

But hadn’t she been in this spot before?  This felt too familiar.

Reaching down to her belt, the woman popped the clasp on her sidearm and closed her slender fingers around the grip of the Desert Eagle.  She wanted to cry, but there was no ammunition in her tear ducts.  Even if that wasn’t the case, the meds didn’t let her get overly emotional.  As she slipped the gun free, she caught the sight of the fog that seemed to be thickening around her.  Through the haze, dark shapes shifted and shuddered.

My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating.

At least four of them out there in the haze.  They traveled in packs, though.  Sordid mobs of trembling monsters that sputtered bile and gnashed their teeth like famished hyenas.  Someone could usually outrun or outmaneuver them, but once they had the scent, they didn’t stop their pursuit until put out of their misery.

And even if you slew a dozen of them, there were always more of them.  They were but one of the many, innumerable revenants that haunted the streets and boulevards of this desolate city of broken dreams and sleepless nights.

Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me.

Her finger slipped around the trigger as she lifted the gun and pressed the end of the barrel against her temple.

In the distance, she heard the beginning wails of the air raid sirens.

Till then, I walk alone.

The rapport of a fifty-caliber handgun rang through the streets of Silent Hill.

***

Mireya Vasquez limped into the grocery store and pulled the broken automatic door shut behind her.  A beat later, she slid a broken broom handle through the door’s pull bars.  Just a split-second later, something smacked into the doors, causing both to sag inward a few inches before the wooden shaft kept them from opening any further.

Stumbling away into the darkness of the store, Mireya blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted.

“A la verga,” she muttered beneath her breath as she looked around the interior of the building.  “Where’d you go?”  Without responding, the woman’s companion stepped out from behind an aisle and waved her hand.  “How are you so fast?”  Mireya asked once she was close enough.

“High school and college athletics,” the human replied.  “Track and volleyball.  Cardio works wonders.”

Mireya shook her head.  “I spent two years hunting and trapping in the Tangled Green.  You ever chase down and bag a shoveltusk?”

The other woman smiled but offered no rebuttal to her companion.  “That’s not going to hold forever.  They noise will attract more of the shamblers and probably a few other things we definitely don’t want to dance with tonight.  Can you spot anyway out of this place?”

The half-night elf gave a short nod before leaning around to get a better view of the rear half of the store. Mostly ransacked, the supermercado stretched back for another thirty yards.  If there was any back exit, Mireya didn’t have a clear line of sight on it.  “Nada.  Need to look more.”  She whispered as she retrieved her kukri from her belt and started to creep her way into the back of the market.  

As they reached the back wall of the building, Mireya swept left and then right before spotting the outline of a door in the shadows.  “There.”  She whispered as a loud crash at the front of the store told them that it was time to move.