image [https://i.imgur.com/94PTCax.png]

The flats baked.

A viscous heat wafted from the ground as the sun burned the sky. Flat pitch plain stretched as far as the eye could see. In the Great Plains, the parking lot, on a cloudless summer afternoon, the uniform pitch created the illusion of starless midnight. Pouring sunlight pouring sent waves of heat to stretching upwards.

Dry, baking.

Her sweat soaked light blonde hair clung to the back of her shoulders. Her walk swayed.

Her left foot, ankle swollen and red, resisted moving. The skin on the back of her neck turned bright pink where hair parted. Drops of perspiration sizzled upon hitting the ground. A tear in her blue slacks exposed an abrasion on her left knee while a dark tar marking stained the left side of her shirt and pants.

Under a torn sleeve, a burnt elbow abrasion stained some skin. Stumbling caused her ankle to pop. Her exposed elbow slid across the blacktop as she fell. She rolled over onto her back before crying out. It felt like the heat seared her; clothes made for poor insulation against the surface of a hot pan.

She sat up quickly, her thicker pants were a bit more protection than her shirt. The ground beneath trembled ever so slightly; becoming softer, heating up and beginning to melt. She shook her head, careful while standing up and wiping the sweat from her forehead so she could see. The ankle took some weight. As she squinted in the sunlight, a blue light flickering globe formed amidst the empty space of her cupped palm.

Something formed in the tar pit. At first a tendril reached into the air with a curious sway. It flopped on the ground in front of her and began to feel around in front of her feet. Another tendril formed, though this one rolled in the opposite direction. The two tendrils applied pressure to the firmer ground around the pit.

A ball of wet sticky tar arose slowly, though it had something of a thin neck that thickened and congealed as it rose. The tendrils joined a poorly formed torso. It had a vaguely humanoid shape with no features and a head with no face. The creature shuffled forwards toward the woman who held out the flickering globe of blue light.

She pushed her forward and launched the failing orb at the approaching silhouette. That's what the humans called them, right, silhouettes?

The energy flowed over the moist looking surface of the creature. Tar began to boil and pop. Bubbles formed on the surface of the being and sent flecks of tar against the woman's face as they popped. The creature began to melt back into the pool. First it's lower body, then its torso sinking into the muck. The tendrils melted against the firm asphalt to moisten the ground.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

A hole formed in the face of the silhouette as it went down with edges the resembled an o-ring. A wet sticky quelching sound formed as this mouth moved with unintelligible words before the being melted back into the pool.

The ground calmed, the temperature abated somewhat. What had once been a minature swamp had become firm again. The silhouette had been returned.

The woman created another orb of flickering blue light. This time it looked even weaker than the last. With cupped palms she bought the orb to her mouth and breathed it in. The light flowed through her body to make her eyes glow. Even the strands of her blonde hair glowed despite the harshlight. The redness on the back of her neck began to fade, and she took more weight on the injured leg.

One more, one last time. The blue light flickered in her palm for only few seconds this time, then it extinguished. She stood still, then clenched her fist. Sweat dripped, so she sighed and wiped her forehead. The energy depletion stage approached.

There was still a slight swelling in her ankle, though it felt as if it had healed somewhat. Still, pushing forward left her swaying a bit with every other step. It appeared any moment the pendulum would swing too far and she might collapse. But she kept moving.

How long had she been walking and gathering energy from the sunlight? Her mind filled with such fog she couldn't even calculate the positon of her own shadow. Rather disturbing sounds gurgled around her. It made her think of clogged toilets.

Another pit of gurgling tar formed, then another, and another. They stalked her. They refused to give her much time to gather energy. They wanted to consume her.

Viscous bubbles grew large before they burst with an industrial hiss of oily air. Ribbons of tar rose from behind. They swirled about this way and that as they moved out from their pit. She tried to keep moving, maybe go faster, but her ankle throbbed just enough to keep her hobbling. The swaying of her pendulous movements increased.

Precious water beaded on her brow, dripping with every step. Cooling systems functioned at inadequate levels. Chapped lips could barely handle the influx of air. Oxygen conversion suboptimal. Excessives levels of carbon monoxide emmited from the pools.

Keep moving, she thought, keep moving. But she could not stop herself from looking over her shoulder, it was getting closer. They were getting closer. The orb of blue light from her palm flickered once again. How many times could this be repeated?

Yet unnoticed, a white speck floated toward her; growing larger, a white and silver airship with black lettering.

The long white airship came to blunted points at both ends. Sprawled across the white synthetic outer skin in large black letters were: CLINKER CORP. A complex underbelly stretched the entire length of the vessel, from the propellers and rudder, to the pilot’s cabin at the forefront.

The light over her palm absorbed back into her hand as soon as she noticed the airship. If she could get aboard somehow, that would give her time to recover. At least she could get away from the tar that had forgotten her. It could buy her time to come up with a plan. But, they'd never notice her.

Maybe if she shot a flare? No, that would raise far too many questions. For now she decided to wave her arms as it approached and reserve a flare for desperation.

Melting asphalt gurgled hungrily in the distance.