The Orb And The Onslaught {COMPLETE}

The Onslaught

The cycle of life is quite a predictable course of events. People grow up and then grow old, they reach a certain age and things stop working as well as they used to. They become a burden to their families or a danger to themselves. Some need extra care at home and some need the kind of help only assisted living can provide. Most just let old age have them and fade away into nothingness.

However, there are a select few who don't grow old at heart. They embrace their inner youth and vitality, doing daredevil stunts at ninety or running around after their families in their eighties. And then there are a very rare few who are chosen, chosen to do incredible things that nobody could imagine of an elderly person.

This is the story of one of those particular individuals and the journey that unfolded after one fateful day Mid-Winter of the year two-thousand and twenty. This story is written just as it was told to me by those present at the time, the opinions are entirely their own and I in no way endorse them. That being said, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

                  - Prof. Claudius Scripp of East Teridia University

                       **********

     "Quick, keep going they're gaining on us!" Florence called over her shoulder without looking back.

Her latest escape attempt from the retirement home had not gone to plan. This time she had meant to slip out unnoticed, but her fellow escapees had suffered problems.

     Alma had got her walking aid stuck in a water grate and Percival was wheezing so hard they'd had to stop a few times. Someone must have spotted them from an upper floor window because five minutes later someone was shouting them back.

     "Flo, just go without us. I don't think we can make it." Percival managed to gasp out after they'd rounded the next corner.

He was a small, bespectacled man with a lung problem, toting an oxygen tank behind him.

      They'd barely managed to get two streets away from the retirement home and though she felt bad, Florence knew he was right. They wouldn't be getting much further if they stuck together.

      She shuffled back to stand with them.

"We've had some fun times together these last few months, give Ledbetter the hell she deserves, won't you?"

They both nodded, they looked more relieved than disappointed to be left behind.

      Alma gave her a quick hug, her wispy grey hair tickled Florence's nose. She looked up at Florence, her thick glasses made her eyes four times their natural size.

"It'll be boring at Cresswell without ya, Flo. Go give that lawyer what for."

      Flo smiled at her and said her goodbyes, then she was off down the street. She could hear the carers shouting her name but they'd never catch her, she may be eighty-three but she was fast and determined to get away.

      She put four more streets between herself and her pursuers before she slowed down. She was a little out of breath but not enough to need to stop, she had to get home - to her real home, and she was finally succeeding after so many failed attempts. She suddenly caught movement out of the corner of her eyes, she was ready to run again but found her path was blocked.

      Three cats sat in a line in front of her, staring up with varied expressions.

"Did the distraction work?" Florence asked of nobody in particular.

The cat to her left, a black and white one, moved its head in what Florence had come to understand as a nod. She smirked, thinking of the mess it would have made and who would have to sort it out.