The Phylum

Chapter One: The Alley Maze

Sweat ran down in salty rivulets coating the back of my neck. My legs burned with cuts and scrapes that had been dealt by the dreaded dogs that weren't too far now. A slight falter in my step and I would be torn to ribbons. "Stop!" A nameless officer called behind me. He wasn't doing much better than I was from his heavy breathing. "They'll be here soon! They will! The-- Egos!" If I had any breath left to be caught in my throat, that's exactly what would have happened. I'd be caught within seconds and labeled as a danger because I "resisted arrest". "I-I- I'm not one of them, officer! I'm no-ot!" I yelled back uselessly. I wasn't, I'd never done anything out of the ordinary- except run away from the police, of course. 

The dark alleyway maze I had been weaving through was starting to close in on me, the nonexistent cardio I had taken before not exactly coming in handy. The puddles of dirty water that I had easily splashed through before were proving to be difficult obstacles now. Trashcans and trashbags were all too easy to fall over, and soon I was sent sprawling over one of the evil things. I tried to shield myself from the onslaught of dog jaws and weapon butts.  

In the bigger picture, my death meant nothing. There wouldn't even be a cover-up. I could see my quaint blurb in the paper now: 'TK killed in chase.' People would be thankful for it, I was just another criminal. I'd even be fine with it if I actually WAS.  

Footsteps and paws rushed forward, their hands open, their teeth eager. The dogs got there first-- their breath hot and revolting, but they didn't make it to me. Before they could snap their mouth around my skin their long, large bodies were blown backward by a sudden invisible power. I rubbed my hand across my eyes, trying to clear them of the hallucinations they were surely producing. There wasn't a womanly shaped figure in front of me urging me to get up. It must be the shock, the dogs got me. "Get up! Ezra!" The woman took a firm grip on my shoulders, shaking me awake. I wish she'd stop, it didn't help the lightheadedness. "What's on your face?" I asked her, my vision had cleared just enough to see the piece of black mesh stretched across her mouth, muffling her words. "W-what?" She asked me, bewildered. Once she realized what I had pointed out she relaxed and gave me a look, "I could ask the same about you." She could. The mud and filth had begun to dry on my cheeks. "What happened to those dogs? What happ-" My inquiry was interrupted by heavy footsteps heralding the approach of angry, red-faced, huffing and puffing policemen. With gunblades drawn, the police officers rounded the alley corner; the mysterious girl in front of me didn't even try to hide. "Get down! They'll see you!" I whispered at her, slightly incredulous at her idiocy. She wasn't being brave, she was being stupid. She didn't know who I was. Or what they accused me of being of.  

Suddenly, the girl stretched her finger less-glove clad hand in front of us both and soon it was as if the ugly scenery had turned to rippling water. I could hear the police officers' gunblades go off in haste, but they shot in vain. The liquid gravity she was manipulating was working as a shield. A shield that was the only thing that kept us both from being riddled with holes or cuts. "Get up, it's time to go, kid." My eyes squinted at being referred to as 'kid', she didn't look much older than me. I would have commented on it, but all the playfulness had evaporated from her voice. I used a slimy alley wall for support as I dragged myself to my feet. However, the weak steadiness I had established was ruined by a crushing blackness as a bullet that had escaped the girl's distorted shield burrowed itself into my shoulder.