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.We acknowledge each other with nods of the head and sorrow-filled eyes, all of us having seen so much tonight—too much.The police station I was heading to for safety brings me back to reality with a jolt when I see it on fire, with bodies of the dead hanging around the front entrance.Some have gotten too close and flames lick up their backs; others sway silently, limbs missing and gore running free.I look across at the child and see how much she’s paled.Poor thing must have been through so much tonight.She seems settled now thankfully.Her body still almost lifeless as she sleeps soundlessly.I keep on driving, not even bothering to slow down and ignoring their feeble attempts to follow me through the darkened streets.The town limit comes into view and I pass the sign that normally offers a cheery goodbye to any visitors.I keep on driving, not knowing where to go, where is safe, or what life will be throwing my way next.After three years of constant abuse, trapped in my prison of a home and knowing exactly what each day would bring, the thought of not knowing what will happen tomorrow or the next day is enthralling.Freedom like I have not felt in too long washes over me and I get tingles.Yes, the horror of the day is still there; I’m aware that people have lost so much—the mother and child next to me are evidence of that, and for that I can’t help but feel guilt.But for me, I can’t help but look forward to each day.However numbered they may be.I glance at the woman next to me, a small smile involuntarily playing on my lips.Her head is resting against the window, her eyes squeezed shut, sleep dragging her under.I look down at the child again and gasp.She’s staring back at me, her eyes pale and lifeless, and my sadness is stolen at the sight of something so beautiful and dead in her mother’s arms.Seven.I slam on my brakes, sending the mother and child forward in their seat as the little girl clamps down on her mother’s neck, her teeth digging into the soft flesh of her mother’s throat.Blood sprays out from the wound and it seems that all three of us are screaming at once, the noise overly loud in the cramped space.The mother fights to unclamp her child’s teeth from her neck, and I grab the gun from my lap and aim it at the little girl.“Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare!” the woman screams and reaches for the door handle, falling from the truck with her child still attached.I climb out and run around to the front of the truck, watching as she pushes her daughter away and stumbles backwards, one hand clutching at her throat even as blood bubbles between her fingers, tears and blood mixing across her chest.“Layla, sweetie, it’s Mama, stop, please stop,” she sobs over and over.I raise my gun again as the little girl crawls forwards on hands and knees, growling and snapping her jaws.The mother’s eyes go wide when she sees me aiming my gun.“Do not shoot my little girl!” she screams at me.I cock the gun, my chin trembling but my hands steady.The little girl has reached her mother.She grabs at her leg, and the mother feebly tries to kick her away without harming her.“She’ll kill you,” I yell back, uncertainty washing over me.“You do not hurt my daughter,” she sobs again, shuffling back once more.She looks toward the small child.“Please Layla, I know that you’re in there.” She reaches a hand out to the child, her palm opening up.The little girl looks at the hand, her pale eyes staring at the gesture of peace from her mother.She moves forward, and reaching forth she places her small hand inside that of her mother’s, and I let out a sob at the same time as the woman does.The woman looks to me.“See? See, I told you, she’ll be okay—” Her words end on a scream as the little girl bites down on her fingers and I hear the crunch of teeth breaking bone—or perhaps vice versa.Either way, the mother screams in pain as blood gushes from her hand.I take aim and shoot her daughter in the head instantly, and they both collapse in a heap.There’s a split second of silence shortly before the mother begins to painfully wail, calling her daughter’s name repeatedly.She pulls the little girl’s lifeless body into her lap and rocks her back and forth, kissing her head, and all I can do is stand and stare as sadness engulfs me, ripping me apart from the inside out.“I’m so sorry,” I murmur after several minutes of listening to the pained cries.She looks up at me sharply, her skin already beginning to pale, her lips turning blue.“I told you,” she chokes, coughing up blood.“I told you she would be fine.” She coughs again and continues to sob.I sit down on the ground, letting my gun fall into my lap.The blacktop is cold underneath me, but I am already chilled to the bone.Any happiness I ever thought I could have has evaporated, and I know after seeing this I’ll never feel any sort of happiness again.Rain begins to patter down on me and I take in a deep shaky breath before looking toward the mother.She’s still holding her child, but at least she’s stopped crying for now.She looks up, her eyes meeting mine, and I feel my own eyes fill with tears.“It’s nearly time,” she whispers, and licks a tongue across her lips
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