She can't run for long.

A few turns down the street is as far as she can go before she's hunched over in pain. Her surroundings are nothing but a blur, like some abstract oil painting or graffiti. The world explodes into color as her surroundings spin around and around out of control. Like fireworks her vision sparkles. Vaguely she senses movement in her surroundings, a flash of color that coincides with a burst of violent noise that causes her brain to shiver. Her eyes are unable to register the world before her. She can only shiver in terror as the future swallow's her.

A fervent feeling overtakes Audrey. She throws away everything for even a sliver of relief. Her plans, her thoughts, her life, everything is tossed to the wayside yet still, the ringing and wailing of the future disaster refuses to cease. If anything it only gets louder. It rises into an echoing screeching that splits the girl’s head apart. The pain collapses her mind. Blood pours from the young girl’s nose, staining her face. Tears flood from Audrey’s eyes as she struggles to maintain her bodily functions, fighting for some form of rationality before she instinctively erases all conscious thoughts from her mind in an effort to shut out the noise. She raises her hands to her face, scratching at her cheeks as she bends over, letting out a soundless wail. Despite chunks of flesh peeling off her face like dried paint, the pain doesn’t even register. Her mind is too focused on the sound threatening to erase her from existence.

Audrey thrashes about, having somehow fallen to the ground. Her hands smack against the pavement, the fragile bones beneath her skin snapping instantly. She kicks her legs. Her shins and thighs are pierced by the shards of broken glass and various pieces of metal laying about the street. She yanks out her hair with her broken fingers, ripping clumps of bloody flesh from her scalp, leaving obvious open sores where the bloody strands were yanks from. Despite causing so much physical harm to herself, her conscious mind doesn’t even notice. It is far too preoccupied to care about the outside world and her subsequent actions. Just as Audrey feels the approaching end, the inevitable moment where she loses herself to her madness and gives up on the conscious world --

Silence.

Absolute, and utter, silence.

It’s a stillness beyond stillness. A break in all movement, like a pause button being pressed on a movie. The empty streets void of people, the still clouds that have darkened to an icky black, the complete and utter lack of sound, of movement, of anything, projects itself deeply into Audrey’s mind, filling her to the bursting with a mute, indescribable horror.

And then she hears it.

It’s a sound she’s desperately tried to avoid for the entirety of her life. A violent banging. A sharp whistle. A thunderous boom that crashes through the sound barrier with the viciousness of a knife. The horrid sound tears through the air, pausing at regular intervals. Faintly, Audrey realizes that this is no longer the illusory sounds of tomorrow. The approaching death draws near, three blocks away, then two, then one. Like a homing missile, the sounds of gunfire seem to be purposely tracking Audrey, intent on sweeping her away to the void of death in an unstoppable march.

I need to move… I have to escape… Is it instinct? The sense of extreme danger convinces the girl to take action. Battered and bleeding, she stands, her bare feet scraping against the glass covered ground, jagged tears forming on her pale soles. With halting steps, Audrey forces her limbs into action. She drags her broken and weary body away from the encroaching storm. Her blurry vision twists in with each step, churning her boiling stomach like the brewing clouds of a storm. She tips forward, nearing falling flat on her face, only managing to save herself by yanking her straying leg in front of her.

As if mimicking one of the strange ritualistic dances often found in unorganized religious circles, Audrey flees down the street, eventually coming upon an intersection fairly quickly. Once there, she hears a pair of hushed voices to her right. Craning her neck with difficulty, Audrey manages to spot two older men standing in the shadow of a tall building, their hunched figures reflecting a deep sense of weariness. Their sunken eyes are empty, having seen the vicissitudes of life.

“Ayy Jerry, what are the Enforcers doin’?”

“You didn’t hear me, did you Cham? I said they’re mowin’ the place down, lookin’ for some Griff guy.”

“Ah? Why so much effort?”

“Really, you’re memory is gettin’ bad, ain’t it? Apparently he was startin’ some kinda revolt or revolution or somethin’. Got the King’s nuts in a knot so he’s throwing the Enforcers at him..”

“Heh heh, that’s idiot, goin’ ‘round causin’ trouble for everyone! Look at what he’s done!”

While listening to the two men, Audrey faintly recognizes the name of the Revolutionary, but due to her muddled brain, fails to conjure any memories. At best she can understand that the Enforcers likely don’t know the man’s exact location, so they’ll be going with their usual style of clearing out the district. Which means… I’m still in danger… Audrey doesn’t trust her present situation. She still hears the gunfire drawing closer.. The sounds of the future shouldn’t have simply disappeared so suddenly, not when it was at such an intensity. Instead it would gradually vanish the further away from danger she got, or it would switch off whenever she made the right choice, avoiding a very bad decision. From what she understands of her previous actions, she did nothing that would require it to disappear so suddenly. She can't understand why the sound would stop so suddenly. That unknown scares her even more than her power.

Something very dangerous is approaching, something that strikes the primal terror within the girl and leaves her quivering in fear.

“Ah? Ayy, Jerry, why does it sound like those shots are gettin’ closer?”'

Jerry frantically focuses on the approaching gunshots, panic and confusion clearly written on his face. His breath grows labored as he forces his arm over the shoulder of his hunched friend, speaking with a shaking voice as he guides him down the road in the opposite direction.

“C’mon, Cham! Those Enforcers have gone nuts! They ain’t just stoppin’ at one district! We need to get outta here!”

The two men hurry down the street, practically carrying each other as their aged bodies struggle to walk. Audrey, who is leaning against the shadowy wall coughs suddenly, spitting out a glob of blood. At some point she seems to have bitten the inside of her cheek. She’s forced to spit out the pooling blood lest she choke to death. After giving a light cough, she shakes her head in an effort to clear away the dizziness even the slightest bit, but that only seems to worsen it.

Wobbling back and forth, Audrey suddenly has a sense of loss assault her. The feeling that she’s left something extremely important to her in her mad scramble to flee the danger is firmly pressed against her. She furrows her brows. She’s suddenly in a strange state of delusion and lucidity as her mind struggles to conjure her forgotten memories. Suddenly, like a flash of lightning, a name firmly pierces through her hazy madness. Eli! Panic, shame, and despair fill her thoughts as she realizes what it is she’s done. Baffled, she tries to formulate a plan, only to have it go up in smoke as a sudden burst of gunfire assaults her ears. The sound is loud and cruel. She instantly realizes that she’s been standing around for far too long, allowing the bloodthirsty Enforcers to catch up to her.

Glancing over her shoulder, Audrey cranes her neck, trying to catch a glimpse of the madmen that rob those of their lives for the sake of duty. Eventually, the incarnations of Death fill her vision, zoomed in with abnormal clarity. Their black body armor, with tight sealing that resists both knife attacks and bullets. Their strangely shaped helmets with air capsules siphoning the oxygen from the air. The heavy machine guns, which have surely mowed down many a life. Only the extermination squad of the Enforcers wear such armor, made for the very purpose of completing their duties in the most thorough of ways, even if the targets possess weapons to resist.

Desires collide within Audrey. The desire to save Eli, who surely must be caught up in this storm clashes with her desperation, the human instinct of saving her own life. With time dwindling even further, the girl’s mind screams. She unconsciously recognizes her surroundings. A map instantly forms in her mind. The two streets before her all lead to different parts of the city, with the one to her left heading back to Eli and the one to her right taking her further away from the Enforcers, away from the inner city. Behind her, the sound of gunfire cracks the atmosphere as the squad of six mow down a group of huddling homeless. Pained screams ring out from the back alley they were found in. As the group is carefully combing through the alleys, there’s just enough time to choose either path.

What should I do?! Really, why is this happening?! There’s a low hum in Audrey’s ear. Not the desperate wailing to the future, but rather a noise from this cruel, material realm. The sound has been here ever since she regained control of her mental facilities. The steady droning strikes a chord within her, leaving her shivering as she fails again and again to remember the source of the humming.

Suddenly, a drop of rain hits her arm. She winces. A searing pain spreads out from the area of impact. Looking down, a small chemical burn can be seen on her skin, bubbling and blistering. Audrey’s mind goes blank, a look of confusion fills her eyes. It isn’t until yet another drop of rain hits her bare flesh does she realize what’s happening. Rain…! It’s raining! Despair fills the girl, as she looks around for some kind of protection, knowing deep down inside that holding such hope is futile. Finding nothing, Audrey bites her lip. The situation just keeps getting worse and worse… It wasn’t always like this… Shaking her head, she pushes down her welling tears. Then while holding her arms up to protect her vitals, Audrey runs.

The black sky starts to bleed.