Free Perfection (JL Spelbring) by JL Spelbring Page A

windows. Vines snaked along the bricks and wood, tearing at the decaying structures. Doors either hung loosely on rusted hinges or were gone. Subtle sounds of creaking glossed through the air, and the ticking of claws as the town’s only occupants scurried.
    Beyond exhausted, Ellyssa’s feet dragged her forward. She sent her fatigued mind out, but beside the unreadable patterns of animals, there was nothing. No one lived here.
    Clouds quickly tumbled, stifling the night’s light. A raindrop pelted Ellyssa’s head. More fell around her. The suddenly cool air sent chills spinning down her spine. She watched the churning clouds. They had swept over the night canvas, blotting out the stars and blanketing the moon.
    A flash of blinding light was followed by a loud crack, and what started as a few drops increased in number, wetting her hair and clothing. The chills turned to shivers.
    Ellyssa moved as quickly as her body permitted up a wobbly step onto a brick sidewalk in front of an old storefront. The picture-glass window was filthy. She wiped away the dirt and pressed her face against the window. Darkness smothered the store in black.
    Stepping back, she turned around. From what she could tell, all the buildings were the same: dark, empty, and falling apart. The store was as good a place as any. She shuffled to the entrance, her footsteps echoing eerily in the night, and went inside.
    Complete darkness enveloped Ellyssa like a cocoon. She stopped and listened. Other than the deadened pattering of rain on the roof, and drips plopping on weathered wood, there was silence.
    She swept her crutch in front of her. The wood slapped against something soft. She prodded and it gave way, gripping the stick. Stifling a scream, she yanked hard and stumbled back a step. Mold and the odor of rot resonated within the scent of ozone.
    Fevered mind envisioning decomposing flesh, ragged muscles and tendons sloughing off bone, Ellyssa’s breath seized and bile rose. On the verge of terror, a harmful emotion, she swallowed hard and leaned against the wall.
    I’m hallucinating , she reasoned.
    Rumbling resonated from the sky, and electricity sliced through the heavens, lighting the store in brilliance. She glanced at the pile. For a split second, her hallucination was realized before darkness swallowed the image. Flash. A pile of rotten rags. She blinked. Another burst of light. Rags and old tarps.
    Worn out, Ellyssa slid down the wall and curled into a ball.

10
    Mumbled voices with strange accents danced on the edge of Ellyssa’s consciousness, fuzzy and unclear, panicky and angry…distant. Unsure whether she was dreaming or hallucinating, she concentrated on the syllables, trying to comprehend through the swirling fog of her fevered brain. Understanding registered at the sound of a round being chambered.
    Her eyes remained closed.
    “What do you think she’s doing here?” The voice was deep, hard. Definitely male.
    “I don’t know.” Irritated. A male, too.
    “Look at her hair. I bet she’s part of a patrol,” a musical voice hissed. Female.
    “Really? Do you see what she’s wearing?” Another male, but his tone was tinny, nasally, as if he had a cold. Very unpleasant.
    “No. She’s hurt. Look at her,” said the male with the deep voice. “They wouldn’t let her continue in that condition.”
    Ellyssa’s mind wandered into the crowd. The readings she received felt surreal, dreamlike. She registered four people. Confused, worried, and angry. Especially the female. All of them surrounded her. Images of pump-action shotguns pointing at her crumpled body filtered through.
    Her head throbbed. She pulled out.
    “Whatever. She got lost.” The female again. “Others will come.” Footsteps faded toward the door. “I say we dispose of her.”
    “No,” said the deep voice.
    “I think she’s right, Rein.” The tinny sound grated along Ellyssa’s spine.
    “No,” said the male with the deep voice…Rein? “The discussion