Prologue
Running. Running was as simple as breathing, for some. Running was a great way to get exercise and stay in shape.
The lighted streets of Las Vegas were empty. Not a single car driving on the road, not a single person walking down the streets. It was a ghost town, almost.
Footsteps. Footsteps echoed through the silence of the town. Footsteps, running.
She was being followed, she knew that, even without looking behind her. She had been running for what seemed like hours, running from theseā¦things. They were people, yet not humans. They didn't look anything like humans. The walked like an army, looked like an experiment gone wrong, alien. They killed everyone in sight, sparing no one. They were slow, like crippled, old men, but there were many of them. Hundreds, thousands, she couldn't tell.
Her foot came in contact with the sidewalk ledge, and she came crashing down. She heard a snap, a broken bone, her ankle. Wincing, she got to her feet and ran as best she could, tears pouring down her face. The pain was unbearable.
Ducking down a dark alleyway, she came to a dead end. Cursing, she turned around to run again, but they were there, blocking her only exit.
Picking up a stray piece of metal, she swung at them as they came closer. She hit her target, only to be picked up like a rag doll and thrown backwards.
Her body collided with something hard, yet soft. She winced as her ankle and sides did not agree with that movement. She was picked up again. One of the aliens tilted her head to the side. She tried to get out of its hold, but it was no use. It had a secure hold on her. She felt two sharp pricks in the neck.
A phaser fired, and her body slumped to the floor.
