I stare uncomprehendingly at the Nanos as their metal bodies advance towards me. I whip around and look back at the tree where Aylyn is standing, only she isn’t there anymore. Panic rises through me and I turn around to face the Nanos. Slowly, I start to back away. I take slow, deep breaths, and then I run. 

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Terror. 

It rushes through my veins all at once, while a cold sweat settles on the back of my neck. 

Cowardice. 

I can’t get up. They will kill me. I don’t know how, I don’t know when, I don’t know what, I don’t know anything except I am too scared to move. 

Protective. 

I think of Aylyn back at the tree. I think of her all alone, and how I was so close to her that she must be seeing this. I have to save her. Mom told me she was important, she said Aylyn had all the answers and that she just didn’t know it yet, but that’s not why I have to protect her. I’ve only known her for, what? Three, four days? But she’s my sister and I will keep her safe. 

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They stand there, frozen, as the faint click-clack click-clack ripples through the air. I try to move, but I can’t. I am glued to the floor, watching them, as they scan the plain for sight of me or Aylyn. 

I can’t really make out details except that they are all metal. They hover from the ground about a foot up, a cylinder half the size of me, gears turning on the very bottom going click-clack every time they revolve. On top, there is a rounded square, uneven on most sides, with a small antenna on top. 

For a moment, they hover there, not moving, the familiar click-clack fading away. I stare at them as I take it all in, and whisper one word under my breath: Nanos.

But a whisper is all it takes to make them whir back to life.

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click-clack

thump-thump thump-thump

click-clack

thump-thump thump-thump

I can’t stop, I just can’t. I don’t know how fast the Nanos walk or fly or hover or what ever the hell they do. I don’t know what they want, I don’t know even know exactly where they come from or what they look like. 

All I know is that if they see me or Aylyn, we don’t stand a chance. So the cycle continues.

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Aylyn just stares at me, her tiny mouth opened as wide as it can go. “Y-You… You what?” I just stare back, my face slowly scrunching up. I try to stop it, but I can’t, because this time I can’t imagine anything worse. 

“You’re kidding. Oh, God, I was so stupid! Let’s go. We’ve got a government to outrun,” She says standing up, forcing her breath back to normal. My face gets red, and I can feel steam rise up inside of me. “Why the hell would I make up something like this?” I snap. Aylyn’s mouth closes instantly and she smooths out the wrinkles on her pants. 

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“Aylyn, hurry up! Do you want to die?” I have been waiting by this fence for over five minutes, waiting as she takes a damn long time, waiting as my life passes by, waiting as the Nanos get closer. Waiting. 

She doesn’t hurry up at all, actually I think she goes slower. I haven’t even had a sister for three days and she’s already starting to piss me off. 

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And so this is how her new life began. 

Running. Always running. 

She couldn’t help that her mom died, she couldn’t help that she hadn’t told her about the orb, she couldn’t help that she hadn’t told her shit. 

But don’t think that she was completely helpless. Don’t ever think that. She brought Aylyn, that was her choice. She robbed the convenience store, that was her choice, too. But her life was so unfair, it was so damn unfair. 

But running and running and running still. 

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She looked out the broad doorway of the train station. 

“478! 478 is boarding now!” 

She heard him but she really didn’t listen. That was her train. She was supposed to pick up her coat, the old leather suitcase with the few clothes she owned, grab her old flip phone, and walk to the platform like a good little girl. So why didn’t she?

The metal bench was cold, but slowly warming under her nervous body. They would notice, she was certain they would. She hurriedly draped her coat over her arms, the ones with the faint scars, and stared at her feet. They were bony, like the rest of her body, and ghostly pale which contrasted with the mess of long black hair on her head and dull green eyes. The conductor called again, and she thought of her aunt waiting on the platform, her eyes searching the thin crowd exiting the train. She pictured her panicking when she wasn’t there.

Stop it. You’re leaving them behind. They did this to you, they deserve this. She replayed this time over and over in her head, imagining everything that could go wrong. Her father had taught her this technique, to replay something in your head before you do it. Supposedly, then you don’t mess up when you are performing the task. She often used this in her track events, before her health prohibited her to participate. 

“Last call! 478, boarding now!” 

The conductor called one last time as a short business man waddled to the door and jumped inside. You can still make it. Go, just go now. You can’t do this. She quickly shook her head, erasing the thoughts from her mind. She walked as calmly as she could to the bathroom across from the now-warm bench where she was sitting. She had to do it now, it was her last chance. 

Entering the stall farthest from the door, she set her things down on the dirt-caked tile. Sitting on the toilet, she closed her eyes. Before she could stop it, memories flashed in front of her. 

She was six, entering her first year of school. She woke up extra early that day, filled with excitement. I won’t have to be here with mommy all day now. I can be free for a while! She started walking to the school only a few blocks down when the screen door opened. Sweetly, her mom called for her. The girl was struck with fear. The mom called again, this time her eyes hard, her voice as cold as steel. Frightened, the girl ran. And that was her first mistake. 

Now the girl was eight. Sitting at the dinner table, but with no food in front of her. Her dad stared at the B+ she got on her math test. He didn’t have to say anything, his eyes said it all. Later that night she got 3 new bruises on her arm, and her mom almost drowned in liquor.  

Now she is eleven, so close to her next birthday. She knew she wasn’t getting any presents. This year wasn’t more special than any of the others. She wouldn’t get a cake, or a balloon, or even a birthday candle. But there was one thing she looked forward to, dinner. She always got dinner on her birthday, a pretty big one, too. it wasn’t anything special, but it was more food than she got in a week. 

The memories just keep coming, one after another, and with each one, the girl feels anger rise up inside her. It starts in her gut, slowly heating every part of her with white-hot rage. She rips open her leather suitcase and throws the clothes aside. She grabs the shiny weapon and rubs the tip, its smooth metal cool against her fingers. 

They don’t deserve you. You can’t go back to them. You have to do this, you have to. The words felt so normal in her mouth. She truly believed in them now. 

She closed her eyes one last time and took 3 deep breaths. 

On the fifth one, she would plunge the knife into her heart.