Sarah couldn't stop running. The plague was upon her, now airborne, and she ran to get away from it. She didn't know where to go or where to hide. The forest sounded like a good idea. It was the forest around her father's shelter. She knew it well, but suddenly it all changed. It was summer, and then the leaves were gone and the grasses were dead. The wind went from warm and humid to blistering cold. She kept running in the strange forest that changed every time she turned around. She didn't know if she was still running form the plague or going in circles. All Sarah knew was that she was running.

Out of nowhere she came the mouth of a large cave. She walked right in. Its shelter, better than nothing, she thought. Sarah walked in constantly spinning on her heals to watch her behind. No one and nothing was going to get her. She had to survive. She went on to explore the cave's depths. The cave seemed to go on forever. There was no life there. Just an empty darkness.

There was a voice. At first Sarah thought it was just her hysteria playing tricks on her, but the voice grew louder. She recognized it almost instantly. She hadn't heard it in years. The last time she heard her mother's voice it ringed with disapproval as she left her and her father, damaged from his tour in Iraq, behind. "You should have left with me." "You had potential." "You destroyed your future." "Come back to me, Sarah Louise." The voices came from all different directions. No, you're not here, Sarah mumbled. The voices rang and they grew louder until it nearly deafened her. The cave began to spin and she fell to her knees with her hands covering her ears. "STOP IT! You're wrong. YOU LEFT US!"

The voices stopped. Her head stopped spinning and the ground stopped moving. Sarah looked up to get her bearings on the cave around her, but she wasn't in the cave now. She was in her home in Nebraska, kneeling in the middle of kitchen. Her home looked a lot like the day when she was fifteen and her parents had their last big fight. She could hear them yelling at each other by the front door landing. She knew that argument, it was about her. It was about whether her father, damaged and paranoid after returning to the states from active frontline duty, could care and nurture her talent in music, or care for a teen in general. Sarah had more faith in her father, but she barely knew him. He had spent most of his time away in the military and her mother had grown resentful of him. Sarah walked into the room, "You guys don't need to fight. I will stand by Dad. Mom, I love you, but I need he needs us." Sarah's voice was much stronger than it was when she was younger. She had done this before and had refined the technique per say. He mother just stood in the doorway looking down at her in disappointment "Sarah, you can be somebody. I won't let you make the same mistake I did," she growled. And then she disappeared.

Sarah turned to her father ready to embrace him in a father-daughter hug. He was a person who would never betray her. She felt his warm fatherly embrace and never wanted to let go. She squeezed him tighter and tighter until she felt his body fall. She looked up at him and saw his head fall back limply. Sarah laid his body down gently, but felt frantic. Her father never passed out like this ever. She turned his face towards him and jumped back a few feet in fright. Sarah saw his face was covered in the same pussy bump the rest of the world had. They didn't live to see them go away. Her father raised a hand to her, "Stay with me, Sarah." His voice was raspy at a whisper. She turned to look at her mother behind her, "Help me!"

"You made a mistake," she said. Her mother disappeared into thin air right before her eyes. Sarah wanted to cry. She was doomed to die, but she had faint hope. The symptoms of the virus took at least two hours to surface on the skin. She turned to look at her father, but he was gone. The house was dark now. She could hear someone outside trying to seal the door and windows. Sarah wanted to get out. She banged on the door screaming to be let out. She gave up when she looked at her fist and saw the pussy bumps forming on her hand rapidly. She could feel them form creeping up from her feet and hands, inching by the second, itching and seeping, until little bumps formed around her face.

Sarah jolted awake. She rolled up her sleeves, threw the covers off her, and felt her face for any bumps. Her breathing slowed when and she comforted herself, "It was just a dream." No, a nightmare, she chided. She swung her legs over and made her way to the adjoining bathroom, but she felt sore. She felt filthy and sweaty and shower seemed to be the solution. As she stripped she noticed things that weren't there before. The last night was a blur. In the mirror she saw a bruise forming on her forehead and faint scratches. The bruise worried her. That wasn't there the night before when she had a nice talk with Jason. She dismissed it as a possible badge of honor from her nightmare. She had a history when she was little or rolling off the bed, it wouldn't surprise if she did last night.

After her shower she wrapped a towel around her as she stepped out into the steam. A black figure stood by the door and she jumped with a scream.

It was Damian with his usual scowl on his face. "What do you want?" she asked. "Why are you here? How the hell did you get in here?" Sarah wrapped the towel around her tight and began to usher Damian out. "I have seen plenty of nude women in my line of work. You have nothing to hide," he snarled.

She pushed him out and she stepped back into her bathroom ready to shut the door on him, "It is a matter of principle, now get out!"

Sarah slammed the door on his face. She put on her clean clothes and pulled her wet hair into a braid. She looked at her other clothes from the previous night that were strewn across the floor. There was dirt on her knees and grass stains, some little twigs, and tears in her jeans. She had to have done something that night before. She just couldn't remember. She left the bathroom and saw three dark haired men standing in her room. This sight was a rarity. She was either in trouble or she was in trouble. "I swear I didn't do anything," she said, that I remember, she thought.

Bruce spoke first, "You did, but you are not in trouble."

"If it is about the piano in the east wing I won't touch it anymore."

"It isn't even about that," Jason said.

"Follow us," Dick commanded.

Sarah did just as she was told with Damian stalking her every move behind her. That kid gave her the creeps. The things he said and did were not normal for any fourteen year-old boy.

What was normal for this family?

It is a shorter chapter than normal, but the next one will be a little bigger and heavier. I don't see this story having an end since it is the end of the world and there is infinite time to develop this sucker. I know it is a Sarah-centric chapter but I like this OC a lot, like Lorelei in my other stuff. The rest of the characters will get their time to shine. Leave a review please