“You’re going to die, kid!” The man tried to pull Visette away but she pointed the gun barrel at him.

“My safety is not your responsibility,” She said as she pulled herself away from him.

“Fine!” The man decided to leave her alone and ran into the forest.

Visette lowered her body and crept toward the nearest Corrupted which was preoccupied with eating some unfortunate person. The Corrupted possessed some signs of intelligence and were smart enough to know that if humans were fleeing it meant there was no need to be threatened. It was unfortunate that Visette didn’t fit into that line of logic. She raised the barrel of the shotgun when she decided she was close enough and fired. The pellets tore into the Corrupted which fell with a short yelp.

Visette discarded the empty shell and loaded a new one in before she rushed up to the Corrupted and pulled out the hunting knife. She plunged it into its skin and dragged it from top to bottom before ripping its abdomen open, laying its organs bare for her scrutiny.

Visette’s eyes moved quickly as she inspected it and found that the Corrupted were faintly similar to humans as far as internal organs went. Its sensory organs, reproductive system, digestive system, muscle structure, and brain were clearly different. The Corrupted legs for one, allowed them to walk bipedally, but they mostly crawled along the ground rather than walking upright.

A few Corrupted took notice of Visette and growled threateningly as they dropped their captured prey and pounced toward her.

Visette didn’t expect them to be so strong as one literally cleared twenty feet between the two of them and arrived in front of her. She raised the shotgun as soon as it was close enough for its face to be seen and squeezed the trigger. The shotgun barked and the Corrupted had its face blown completely off, falling to the ground almost immediately and slid a few feet before it stopped.

The Corrupted were silent for a few moments as they processed what happened. Visette was young which should’ve meant she was easy prey, but she dispatched one of them without much effort.

The rest of the pack of Corrupted took notice of her and decided she was the highest priority before advancing forward with caution.

Visette didn’t panic at all when being faced with an unknown number of enemies in the dark. She loaded her shotgun with another shell before she sent a psionic pulse to inspect her immediate radius. There was a Corrupted slowly creeping toward her in the darkness on her unguarded side.

Visette used one hand to grab the revolver and cocked the hammer before firing off three shots into the darkness. The Corrupted screamed before shuffling away, letting her know it was wounded at the very least.

While Visette’s main purpose was to gather firsthand information on the Corrupted, she was also assisting the evacuees with their escape. As long as she didn’t find it dangerous she could see no problem with helping. Her personal goal began to take form as preventing the extinction of humanity which also lined up with Rachel’s request for Visette to help others.

The Corrupted moved after seeing the ambush fail, there was no reason to approach Visette one by one. Their most used hunting tactic was one common to all predatory animals that hunted in packs, harass the prey from all sides until it let its guard down. Just as they were about to pounce, Visette infused psionic energy into her legs and began to run.

Of course, the most appealing prey was the prey that fled. They gave chase and found that Visette was faster than a normal human, in fact, she was so fast that they found it hard to catch up. It was obvious that the stray Corrupted attacking were the weakest of the horde so they couldn’t match the physical prowess of the leaders.

Visette continued running but slowed her speed allowing a Corrupted to gain on her, but she spun around blasted it in the chest with her shotgun, killing it on the spot. Since she had to slow down to make the shot, another Corrupted rushed to her side and got close enough to attack. It reached forward while opening its mouth, intending to take a fatal bite out of her, but it found the metallic barrel filling its mouth instead. Visette squeezed the trigger and the shotgun pellets separated its head from its jaw, allowing her to continue on.

It quickly became dangerous for Visette as she knew that infusing psionic energy into her legs to run and using a psionic pulse to check her surroundings were consuming too much energy. She decided the fight was over and that killing four was her limit. Vis placed the shotgun on her back and focused on sprinting ahead. Branches and trees were hard to see in the dark and they constantly obstructed her, causing her to readapt on the fly. She created a thin barrier of psionic energy in order to protect herself from obstacles and sprinted forward at a speed close to a truck. The Corrupted weren’t able to keep up and began to slow down as they realized that Visette had disappeared from sight.

Visette ran past a few people who were attempting to flee but had grown tired.

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She came to a stop as she caught her own breath, “There are more Corrupted on the way,” she said as she began to load her weapons.

“How do you know?!” A middle-aged woman asked.

“I wounded one and killed four others,” Visette answered as she prepared to run.

“Don’t lie to us, child.” The man who appeared to be her husband spat.

“Wait...I don’t think she’s lying,” The woman looked at the blood dripping from Visette’s windbreaker with wide eyes.

“I have to go,” Visette saw no reason to entertain the couple and moved on.

“Wait! Help us and we can pay you!” The man called out after her.

“Your presence would impede me,” Visette answered as she began to sprint forward. She wanted to get a good distance away from the Corrupted so she could have ample time to recover.

As the couple watched her run the man realized something, “...Was she an abnormal?”

There was some regret flowing through the man as he missed a chance to gain some protection, but it was done away with as they began to move. Killing four Corrupted did nothing to cull the numbers. All Visette provided was a window of opportunity for those who were quick enough to get away. Her impromptu autopsy of one Corrupted revealed they had large stomachs which made her guess that they would definitely be hunting for more humans.

…

Visette opened her eyes to the warm light of the sun and stood up immediately. She opened a can of soup and drunk it while scanning her surroundings from atop a tree. There were people walking past her perch without noticing her and it was probably due to their visible lack of sleep. The haggard expressions and bloodshot eyes filled with stress spoke volumes about their condition. Those who were injured could trace them to the Corrupted, being shot at in the dark, or falling while running away in the middle of the night. Those who were unlucky enough to get turned around in the night while escaping were considered to be dead already. Then there were those who survived, the ones who were truly blessed made it without losing any close to them, but they were few. Almost everyone had lost a friend, a neighbor, or a loved one in the night and the worst part was they couldn’t bury them nor could they mourn.

Visette climbed down from her tree in a less eye-catching manner before falling in with the crowd. Her run-in with the couple from last night let her know that she would be better off being less eye-catching until she reached New Mayhall. Her white hair didn’t really help her attempts to be inconspicuous as nearly everyone had seen her on the podium during the evacuation announcement.

Whispers about her origins began to spread outside of her hearing range. A few people who had been blinded by loss formed dangerous thoughts.

“Rachel left her behind, do you really think we’d gain anything by using her?” A woman asked. She had lost her husband and her son who was in his late teens during the night and it was broadcasted by the disconnected look in her eyes.

“She was forced to leave her, anyone could tell that she obviously cares for her,” A man, with a similar look of emptiness, answered.

“So, you want to escort her to get preferential treatment or something?” Another man who overheard them inquired with apparent interest.

“Something like that,” He responded.

“What happens if she refuses?” The woman asked while keeping her eyes glued to Visette.

“We can convince a few other people to side with us. I bet they won’t want to work in the mines or as apart of a scavenging team when the refugee center gets too crowded or if resources get too low. If she tries to run away then we’ll just have to force her.” The man gripped his gun tightly.

Although they could use more brutish methods like grabbing her in broad daylight, there were hundreds of witnesses around. It was far more reasonable to sway the opinion of the evacuees in their favor. Once they arrived at New Mayhall all refugees would be located to a shelter where they would be given rationed meals and adhere to strict rules. To earn money healthy individuals, whether they be men or women would be selected to work in the mines excavating Novidium or join scavenging teams led by the military. Scavenging was the most dangerous as areas that became evacuated would usually house more Corrupted, but it was impossible for the military to pass up on Novodium batteries that were left behind. It was no wonder as to why some people would be would be willing to use Visette as a hostage even when faced with the harsh laws against crime.

Visette continued walking and while she was unaware of the developing situation, she soon noticed something strange. A group of men and women began moving toward her in a somewhat obvious manner. A few of them gathered in front of her and matched her pace while several others moved behind her and to her sides.

“It’s far too dangerous for a small girl like you to go it alone, we’ll escort you.” A woman said as she placed a hand on Visette’s shoulder as if to comfort her.

Visette gazed at the woman with a calm expression as she moved away while speaking, “There is no need.”

“Don’t be that way, we can protect you from those Corrupted,” A man moved next to her and spoke loudly.

Visette found out very quickly that the group around her was quickly increasing. She found the source after looking closely, there were a few individuals weaving in and out of the crowd of evacuees, exchanging words. Some evacuees would show hesitation before they looked over at the people surrounding Visette and moved to join them.

Visette found herself in a difficult position and not because she might have to kill those who were attempting to obstruct, but because she didn’t have enough ammo to fight all of them. Not only that, but the gunfire had a chance to draw more Corrupted toward them.

Visette began to analyze her plan of action at a rapid pace as her eyes scanned over everything for more information.

‘If they refuse to move away I will have to fight them. I can gather more ammo from anyone I kill or wound, but it would be best if I didn’t since the Corrupted would draw closer...Correction, If I wound more they would be able to distract the Corrupted and would allow the rest of the evacuees to escape without harm. My psionic barrier cannot withstand multiple firearms without draining too much energy. I’ll wound as many as I can before I use my psionics to escape.’ Visette finished her thinking before she raised her head and looked for the best escape route.