Chapter 9: "Extract"
She smelled earth and grass and leaves. Openning her eyes she saw the a pale midnight sky, the lights from the streets and the cloudlayer blocking out most of the stars.
She rolled over and caughed, her side ached and she winced as a pain in her head made it'self known.
She seemed to be holding something. Two somethings, they were sort of fleshy and squirmed and made the oddest little noises.
There was a rushing of sound as her brain seemed to jump start her awareness. Her conscious mind raced for a moment, catching up with her as though it had been operating a minute behind, it sped through memories and thoughts and fears. An explosion, the open air, then a crash against something leafy and falling.
"Where's mommy?"
The voice came out of one of the squirmy things, the smaller one with the unicorn on it's front.
"Wake up..." nudge nudge.
The other fleshy thing was nudging against her vice-like protective grip around it.
"Oh!" she exclaimed and let go of the two, sitting back on her heels. The fleshy things were children and she was Katheryne Pride. And they were escaping...
Kitty looked around quickly, her movements now purposefull, it was all coming back. Yes, she was protecting these children. She tried to get her bearings.
They were in a dimly lit yard. A backyard apparently as it was enclosed on three sides within a tall wooden fence. The large track house that made up the fourth wall of the enclosure stood silently, ominously peaceful. Kitty turned to inspect the children.
"Are you alright?" She asked as she looked them over briefly for broken bones or serious injuries. They seemed to have faired fairly well. A few cuts and bruises and some torn pajamas and, oh yes some burn marks. She noticed her hands too were quite singed like she'd dipped them briefly in very hot water.
"W...we're fine." replied the little girl, putting an arm around her brother to comfort him. "Aren't you hurt?"
Kitty was now looking around for some sign of the creature, but the nightmarish ghoul was either dead or had decided not to show it'self.
"No, I'm alright..." Kitty replied off-hand, "Just bumped my head and my side aches a bit..." As she said this she put a hand to her right mid-torso and winced, nearly doubling over in pain.
Kitty looked down cautiously... yep... that was a small branch sticking into her... and yes she was bleeding. Her head began to spin, whether from the realisation of the wound or from it's sudden burst of pain when she'd touched it or possibly just a delayed effect from the lack of blood. She slumped down on her left and bit her lip to keep from crying out, drawing blood there too. She looked around trying to focus her eyes 'keep your head in the game kitty!' she snapped at herself.
Finally she saw what she was after, her pack lying next to the tree they must have slammed into when they were blasted out of the second story.
"Mmm... my pack." she managed, pointing with one hand, the other now applying pressure to her wound.
The little boy didn't respond, he seemed to have noticed the little bit of branch sticking out of her at the same time she had. This had the side-effect of keeping him finally quiet, but he moved with his sister and helped her pull the black back-pack over to their would-be savior.
Kitty fumbled with the pack with her free hand, finally pulling out the spare com. She pressed down on the speak button and rasped into it with surprising effort "This is Shadowcat... requesting emergency extraction... I repeat..."
Then everything went black.