The green light of the digital clocked turned into a 22:00 as a bright neon pink look gazed out of the window, the city that never sleeps greeted her back with it’s never ending explosion of sounds from the busy streets, the skies were pitch black, offering no comfort nor a skydome to bring guidance to the lost, not even illuminated by the glowing neon lights from the city. One would need no more than look down to see an apparently infinite display of neon signs on black walls and pink mists. The city never sleeps, but at night time it’s when it is most active, when people come out of their buildings and jobs to enjoy and waste the best of themselves in debauchery and gambling and a myriad other adult activities, and allow the night shift to start their work.


And so was her time to profit as she left her apartment with disdain and a bad taste in her mouth, a bad taste of shame and self loathing that she only knew would keep growing worse as each night passed until she herself passed away with it. For it was not a home, not a house, but merely a place to sleep she barely even cared for or enjoyed, in which the only comfort she ever got were the first few minutes after laying in bed as she drifted into unconsciousness before the nightmares and overly vivid dreams started. That and the long long showers she took, for she knew stories about rain and had always wished to experience it, wondering if it would feel more like the water droplets falling onto her from the shower head or if it would resemble more the tears coming from her eyes.


The night was cold and the city windy, her short black hair waving in the breeze as usual. She was used to it, and she was cold, her overly skimpy outfit obviously not procuring any warmth for her. But she cared little about the cold gusts of wind, and she would not wear anything else even if people considered her outfit to be weird, as she wears it for a specific purpose, while it may look asymmetrical and randomly covering the body, it was in fact, not random at all and instead very specifically covered her scars and bruises.


While her line of work might not be illegal in this city, the social level of her clients is certainly looked down upon. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from a tiny pouch strapped to the back of her thigh below her skirt, if that could even be called a skirt. The little blue plasma torch ignited her cigar and she took a couple hits, blowing out pink clouds of smoke. She always hated the smell and the taste, but she preferred it to the bad taste in her mouth that her lifestyle left her with.


A black SUV stopped in front of her and the back window rolled halfway down. She was able to see a man in a black jacket who nodded at her. She took another puff of her cigarette and snuffed it out on her wrist, she alway enjoyed that pain in a sick way as it let her feel something. The door opened and she stepped inside, she instantly noticed two people in the front seats and then saw the seat configuration was different from a normal car, it was arranged so everyone could sit in front of each other. She took a seat and counted, two guys in the front, another in front of her, one girl sitting beside her and another beside the last guy. The door closed and the vehicle started moving.

-Parties are more expensive.
Is all she said, for while that was a scary situation,she was unable to bring herself to care about it. Then she realized that what she thought to be a sort of table in the center was actually a box of some kind.
-Money is not a problem.
She heard one of the girls say. Looking up at her she saw a tall muscular woman wearing a black jacket as well, she was not wearing any makeup and had not cared to make a good presentation of her hair. In fact, none of them seemed like her usual crowd. She felt herself getting nervous and impatient.
Looking out the tinted window, she saw less and less expensive neon signs, some of them even replaced by lightbulbs and painted banners, they were closing the city limits.


-Where are we going?
She asked, hoping they would tell her they were en route to some sort of private party or a house where they could make noise.
-We are here.
The driver stated. The man in the back opened the black box in the middle of the vehicle, it was guns, but not all of them were the regular kind. While all of them fired bullets, she saw some that resembled more the kind of things you see on sci-fi movies or what the military used on reports on the tv. Everyone grabbed a weapon and handed a couple to the guys in the front seats. The man in front of her looked her dead in the eyes as his weapon began making an electrical hissing noise, parts moved around and little lightning arcs formed on top of it.
-We’re going out.
Her eyes widened as she felt herself getting dizzy. Out?! Why? And why with her?! There was nothing outside but deserts and ruins and deserted ruins, and monsters!
She turned her head around and through the front windshield saw the military outpost guarding the gate.
-Here.
She turned to see the tall woman looking at her, placing a gun in her hands. It was bigger than a pistol, but not as big as the rifles everyone was carrying, and it had none of those crazy mechanisms the others had on theirs. The doors on both sides of the vehicle slid open. The girl and the guy in front of her grabbed some big guns and leaned out of the car, aimed and pressed the triggers. She expected to hear gunshots, but instead the weapons made that electric hissing sound and then a noise that resembled a hammer striking metal, but in a much higher pitch. Half a second later, a huge explosion. The light from it  illuminated the faces of those two in front of her. They were scared, angry, and calm all at the same time.
-Good impact!
The man in the passenger seat in the front yelled.
-Get ready in three…
The driver began saying. She looked at the girl beside her, she was biting her lip with an angry and anxious face.
-Two…
The tall girl turned to look at her.
-Don’t drop it.
She said, holding her hand and squeezing it around the handle of the gun. She then kicked her out of the vehicle.


Her shoulders were first to impact the hard concrete floor, rolling for a while. She then heard the explosion behind her, the car impacting the barrier before blowing out. She took a couple seconds getting up, she was dizzy. She could hear gunshots and electrical noises, yelling, and burning. The smell was something new for her. A bullet went straight in front of her eyes, she felt it moved so slow she could almost see it spinning in the air, then a sharp pain on her left arm below her shoulder. She flinched and instantly felt herself full of energy, her body was light as a feather, she felt in control, better than ever before. She stood up and began running, but took a moment to think clearly where to go. Straight to the hole in the barrier caused by the crashing van, or to the right, for the service door where the others were going through. Small corridors filled with guards? Not a chance. She dashed right for the van, but while there was a hole, the van was blocking that hole… but underneath it was enough room to pass through.
Then she heard a high pitched scream, to her right she saw the woman that had kicked her out of the van, falling down as the blood splatter from the bullet wound soared through the air. Slamming her left foot on the floor she took a sharp turn, grabbed the woman by the chest, wrapping the woman’s arm over her own shoulders and helping her walk to the service door. She could hear a couple bullets flying behind her head. They were not going to make it. Then she felt her hand still gripping on that gun she had. Out of instinct she lifted it and began shooting in the general direction where she thought the guards were, then the woman she was helping also raised her arm and began shooting her own gun in the same direction. Just a few quick steps and they had arrived at the service door, the others were providing covering gunfire. Once inside they all began moving through the service tunnel, she saw one of the men lift his hand, he was holding a small metal box, in which he pressed a button. She turned around to look at the entrance door, expecting to see soldiers coming through, and then she heard the explosion from the van, then flames engulfing the entrance and felt the rumble before the entrance crumbled and collapsed. The entrance was no more. She kept advancing behind the others, one of the guys and the girl were taking point, the other two guys right behind them providing support. Bullets flew everywhere as they passed through a trail of dead or dying soldier bodies, and then she saw the exit. A moment of clarity amidst the chaos, she knew it was adrenaline that was coursing through her body, she’d felt it before. It was just a matter of time before she crashed. Yet she never pondered on her actions, why she was following them or helping. Outside was dark, she could even see a couple very dim stars on the night sky. Another two vans arrived and stopped in front of them, some guys popped out of the windows with guns aiming above her, the other van opened the sliding door. The group divided. The girl and two of the guys went inside one.
-Here, quick!
The last man told her, helping carry the injured woman inside the van, then grabbed her hand and pulled her in before closing the door. Both vehicles started moving, going away from the city.


She was sitting quietly, looking at the show in front of her. The man from before and another guy were on top of the woman, ripping open her bloodied shirt. She could see bloody rags, needles and bandages.
-...y. …ey Hey!
She looked at the man.
-You hurt?
She came back to her senses, looked down at her chest, her skin covered in blood.SHe quickly raised her hands to touch herself and confirm if there was any damage, but nothing was hurting. She saw her hand still gripping the gun, letting out a little scream sh dropped it and hugged herself, then she started getting nauseous, her head spinning, but managed to calm down a bit.The adrenaline was wearing off.
-I’m good.
Was all she could say, then her body began feeling weighty again, yet not as heavy as it used to be, actually almost not heavier at all.
-I know how you feel, was the same for me my first time leaving the city. I’m sure you have many questions right now. I won’t tell you to get some rest and then we can talk, I’m sure you are feeling pretty good at the moment, maybe except for the rush of what just happened, and I will explain why.
He handed her a bottle of water.
-You feel very good right now, but it is not because of the adrenaline, it’s because of the city itself. Everything you ingest in there is what makes you drowsy, sleepy, feel heavy and without energy, it’s in the air you breathe, the water you drink, the food you eat, even the cigarettes you smoke. It’s all made to control you and keep you in check, make you a braindead servant. Now that you no longer breathe that polluted air, you are starting to feel like what your normal self should feel like.
She had no idea why, maybe it was the clean air, maybe not breathing the pink smoke, maybe the adrenaline, but she found his story pretty easy to digest, even if just for the time being.
-Why me?
-It was not you *cough*, it was me. You were a meat shield.
The injured woman replied, before coughing again.
-This is Chris, she is a researcher we had inside the city, she was making her studies and experiments and what not but her position was compromised so we had to take her out of there. I am sorry, but she is our top scientist and was only inside because she needed plenty access to the substances and control groups, she is more important to our mission than the lives of a few civilians or soldiers. You were supposed to be a distraction, but you became our savior. Again, I am sorry.
She tried to think of something to say but could only mumble.
-You are my guardian angel, thank you.
Said Chris before trailing off into sleep.
-Take your time and organize your thoughts, it’s still a couple hours of travel. We will make things right, we owe you that much. And besides, you are about to discover a better life, your hidden potential and recover your suppressed power.