"Okay... So what was that exactly!?" Said Alice, crossing her arms in frustration.

"What? In there..."

"Yes! In there... you just bailed without even challenging her. Like... What the hell!"

"Well...everything seemed to of taken care of itself... so I, trying to be an example of an exemplary adult, left without a fuss. And you know what? I think it went quite well, all things considered."

"For you maybe... you didn’t have that crazy bitch playing mindgames with you for laughs. For crying out loud Noelle! She made me watch you die... A slow and painful death, might I add."

"Okay. Well... I’ll admit that is a littl-"

"A little what!?"

"I was going to say harsh... but now that seems woefully inadequate." Noelle replied, scratching her head slightly.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really. But in all seriousness Alice, I didn’t just walk away without a care, I was bloody pissed at her, okay?"

"Okay... sure."

"Come on I was. I just knew that it wasn’t worth the cost to take her to task for it there and then, at a later date maybe? Sure. But right then? No way! I’m not even sure she’d cancelled all her Illusions at that time. Hell, her real body might of never been there in the first place. You can never tell with that woman."

"This sounds like something you’d makeup to make yourself seem more impressive. You know... In retrospect, of course."

"Oi! Now who’s the one hurting people’s feelings..." Said Noelle, holding herself tightly, as if to mock injury from Alice’s comments.

Alice frowned, seemingly unimpressed. "You’re an idiot, you know that?"

"I am not!"

"Whatever..."

"Alice..."

"Look... Imma go for a walk to cool off. Okay?"

"You expecting me to say yes?

"I wasn’t really waiting for an answer. It was more of a... rhetorical question."

"Well my answer, rhetorical or not is still no. Especially with your jacket like that..."

"Like what!"

"It’s got no bloody sleeves!"

"And who’s fault is that. Huh?"

"Not mine, I can tell you that. I know that for a fact, I sewed them on!"

"Poorly apparently..."

"If you dare insult my work again..."

"You’ll what? Murder me? Kill me? You wouldn’t do that, I owe you way too much money" Alice quipped, laughing as she ran down the street, leaving Noelle stranded all alone, her mouth hanging open in shock.

"That girl... she know’s I don’t care about the money but like always, she has to make a point about it," She thought, watching Alice disappear into the crowd. "But this is a slight issue... I hope she doesn’t cause any more trouble for herself..."

Alice continued to run, not once looking back. Quickly she made her way through the red light district and into the steep hills beyond, soon finding herself immersed in the winding maze of passageways and courtyards of one of the poorer districts of the city. All around her she could see the true unrestrained nature of this district, from the steep uneven staircases, carved straight into the rock, to the shanties, made of plywood, corrugated metal and sheets of plastic. This district, cobbled together as it was, was one of Alice’s favourite places. And a place where she had often fled to, in her first few years in the city. Even now, it still felt like more of a home than the condo Risha had provided for her.

Alice came to a halt, leaning up against a wall, wincing slightly as she did so. Her whole body screamed at her, and why wouldn’t it? She’d pushed it way beyond it’s limits, inflicting serious injury after serious injury, without once giving it a chance to rest or recuperate. In short, she was exhausted.

"Damn.." Alice chuckled, breathing heavily. All the while thinking about how reckless she had been.

Slowly she slid to the floor, her legs too exhausted to even support her. A faint smile floated upon her face as she continued to intently observe her surroundings. All around her small stalls, shoved into alcoves and archways did business, their wares effortlessly blending the worlds of magic and non-magic. If she’d had the energy she was sure she’d be amongst the thronging crowds, quickly prancing between the stores, her eyes shining as she did so.

As she continued to find herself lost, distracted in this wonderful world, something else caught her attention, far off to the left. There a small shanty like structure stood, a familiar face standing watch over it, a slimy grin plastered across his idiotic face.

"Giuseppe!" Alice called, forcing herself to her feet and staggering over to the stall.

The man noticing her, shut his eyes before quickly opening them once more, barring his teeth in frustration. Obviously somewhat agitated by Alice’s sudden and unexpected appearance, he abandoned his current customer, shoeing them away in a flurry of hand gestures and curse words.

"Alice... How have you been?" The man asked, his barely veiled sarcasm clearly evident, while his fingers drummed noisily upon the misshapen counter before him.

"Not too bad Giuseppe, not bad at all. And how have you been? I honestly thought that you’d of died by now. In a ditch or something, years ago."

"Haha... very funny. But as you can see, I’m in peak physical condition."

"Peak physical condition? For what? A Hippo? I mean you do kinda look like one, with your dry, scaly skin and receding hair line..."

"Oi! Watch it Alice, you’re not in Risha’s territory now, who’s to say I don’t just stab you? Right here and now?"

"This," Alice said, clicking her fingers, summoning a ball of fire right in front of Giuseppe’s face.

"Okay... That works I guess," Giuseppe retorted, his eyes focusing on the dancing flame before him.

"Well! Now that that is sorted... how about you get down to business then? As I’m sure you didn’t just call out to me to make fun of me, did you?" He continued, straightening himself out.

"Me? Having business with a second rate thief such as yourself, what ever could you mean?"

"Don’t play coy with me! I know you’ve been making waves. Making people very unhappy with you. So why come here, to me?"

"..."

"Come out with it! So, what is it?"

Alice sighed, knowing Giuseppe had hit the nail on the head. "Okay, look. I pissed off some people, people who I don’t really want pissed off with me," she whispered, drawing closer and allowing him to hear.

"You can say that again. So... let me guess, you want me to tell you all I know on their situation, don’t you?"

"As astute as ever Giuseppe!"

"Yeah, unlike someone I know... you still don’t know my bloody name! Do you?"

"You mean it’s not really Giuseppe!?" Alice mockingly exclaimed, placing her hand over her mouth in an exaggerated manner.

"Of course it isn’t... Wait! Never mind. So who did you fuck with this time?"

"A man named Samuel. Mihai said he was a mid-level enforcer and deal broker for one of the smaller groups. What do you know about him?"

"Wow Alice... you really do like kicking the hornet’s nest. Don’t you?"

"What do you mean..?" Alice questioned, her expression going pale.

"Well... Mihai’s information was right, about five years ago that is. Nowadays, this Samuel fella, well he runs most of operations for that gang now. And it’s not something I’d brush off as a smaller group anymore. While they aren’t in the big leagues yet... give them a few years and they could be one of the new main powers of this town." Giuseppe solemnly explained, caressing his temple, while his mouth twitched in displeasure.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!"

"That’s not even the worst of it..."

"Oh great... and what would that be?"

"Well... while he may seem like a bit of a greasy, slimy fellow. Deep at heart? Samuel Jones is one twisted son of a bitch. He’ll happily pick a fight with someone he should never of messed with and through skill or pure dumb luck succeed. But his true passion? Torture. He’ll torture anyone, young or old, girl or boy. None of that matters to him, as long as he get’s what he wants."

"And right now... he want’s my head, I’m guessing."

"Well... that, and the money you stole from him. But between you and me, I honestly think he’ll just want’s to torture you for the fun of it. Once he get’s to know you of course. It’s a natural reaction, ask anyone."

"Great, just wonderful... A psycho, with a fetish for torture. Why? What do I do to attract them?"

"Must be your charming personality."

"Shut up!"

"Well... if I did that, you wouldn’t know half as much as you do now, would you?"

"Maybe not, but I’d have less of an urge to punch you right now."

"Well, that’s plain rude isn’t it?"

"Sure... whatever, look. Is there anything else I should know?"

"Well... not that I can think of. Mind you, I’m not much of an information broker. It’s only my thing on the side anyway, isn’t it?"

"And yet you’re so much better at it than you ever were as a thief. Trust me Guiseppe, drop the stall and all these shitty watches and jewelry you steal to sell. Set up a shack somewhere and play to your true talent, you’ll be better off for it."

"Well... business hasn’t really been booming of late, maybe you’re onto something!"

"Maybe I am... Oh! And Guiseppe, say well one more bloody time and I’ll rip that slimy little tongue of yours right out of that mouth!" Alice bluntly remarked, slowly staggering away from the stall and heading deeper into the district.

"Alice! Where are you going, those guys will be all over this area hoping to find you!?" Giuseppe called, a faint hint of concern in his voice.

"Madd’s," Alice calmly replied, not even bothering to turn to face him, her figure soon blending in with the surrounding crowd.

Far above the menagerie of stalls located within the winding maze of passageways a courtyard sat, suspended upon the mountain of shanties beneath it. The courtyard itself was filled with a collection of mismatched tables and chairs, while around the peripheries small private booths sat, set within smaller corrugated iron sheds. This courtyard, thrown together as it was, was Alice’s current destination, the bar; Last Resort.

Last Resort was a wretched hive of scum and villainy, and often the best place to gather information. Funnily enough, the only reason Alice had managed to get herself into this mess in the first place was due to a conversation she had overheard here a few weeks prior, something that she was now beginning to regret. Yet, today her purpose was something different, she was seeking the help of an old friend, Madd, the owner of the bar.

Emerging into the courtyard, Alice immediately made a beeline for the bar, gingerly pushing her way between the groups of people who blocked her way. Once at the bar, she threw herself down heavily, making the stool under her groan loudly, her heavy handed entrance drawing gazes from several of the surrounding patrons.

On the other side of the countertop a old woman stood, her small back arched, making her seem even shorter than she was. While from her head, a magnificent mane of greying dreadlocks dangled, swaying gently in the breeze. At Alice arrival, she woman straightened slightly and turned to face Alice. As soon as she laid eyes upon her a toothless grin flashed across the woman’s face, her wrinkled, leathery skin and sunken eyes, shining with an unexpected youthfulness.

"Alice!" She beckoned, her gravelly voice cutting off the surrounding glares directed at Alice.

"H-Hey... Madds," Alice cheerfully replied, still trying to gather her breath.

Noticing this Madds spent no time pointing it out, chuckling as she did so, "what’s with you... you look like you got run over by a lorry."

"L-Long story..."

"Look’s like it! I’m guessing another fight with Risha? You’d always run off here when you two had an argument." Madds commented, happily reminiscing about their shared past.

"Am I always that predictable?"

"Always."

"Well... damn, aha. I guess I am! But in all seriousness Madds, I only came here as I needed to ask you a favour." Alice said, her tone stiffening as her smile disappeared from her face.

"Ohhh? A favour is it? Sure! I feel your good for a few more. So what you need help with?" Madds replied, lighting a cigarette and puffing on it heavily.

"I might of gotten myself in a little bit of trouble. And... while I thought Risha would’ve been able to solve it, it appears our information was a little out of date."

"Oh? really... let me guess, Mihai was the source of information."

"Hole in one Madds..."

"I keep telling him. He’s been off the streets for a good ten years now, all his information, all his contacts, they’re all at least five years out of date. I knew it’d get him in trouble one day, that foolish old man!" Madds replied, her exasperation evident.

"Haha! It’s funny just looking at it, you look old enough to be his mum..."

"I’m ninety, not three-hundred! For crying out loud Alice, don’t say that again or you just might give me a heart attack."

"Alright, alright! I’ll stop, but do you think you can help me out?"

"Depends on what help you’ll be needing..."

"Nothing too much..."

"I’ll be the judge of that young lady, now spill it."

"Can I use one of your rooms to lay low, it’ll only be a day or two. Just long enough for you to send a message to Risha and Noelle."

Madds sighed deeply, considering the pros and cons, balancing them out in her head, only speaking once she was sure it’d be worth the trouble. "Okay, I’ll let you borrow one of the rooms outback. And I’ll send someone with that message of yours, but! There’s a catch."

"Alright... let’s hear it."

"I’ll need payment upfront, from what I’ve heard you’ve messed with some real pieces of shit and I don’t want this going south and leaving me all out to dry."

"Alright how mu-" Alice attempted to responded, her hand going for her trouser pocket.

"That won’t be needed," a man interrupted, grabbing her arm, forcing it back onto the countertop.

At this Alice almost jumped from her seat, her free hand cleaned tightly rushing towards the intruders jaw. Yet it never connected, a large and rough hand intercepting it mere inches from the man’s face.

"Feisty one aren’t you," another voice, gleefully commented from behind her, it’s sickly tone sending shivers down Alice’s spine.

"Who are you?" Madds questioned, her brow knitting together, a severe frown forming.

"None of your business," the voice from behind Alice replied, his sickly warm breath bearing down her neck.

"Now then..." The man began, turning his face to face Alice.

He was a young man, maybe in his twenties, with slicked back black hair and strong facial features, softly hidden behind the stylish glasses that sat gently upon the brow of his nose. While his body sat ridged, wrapped up neatly within a finely tailored suit. Not one bit about his outward appearance seemed threatening, but his presences, that caused Alice to break out in a cold sweat, as It bore down on her like a towering mountain.

This isn’t a man I should mess with, she thought to herself, her mind racing in shock.

"...Alice was it? I hear that you have something important of ours. Something that my boss wants back, and as you can imagine he’s not really in the best of moods. So why don’t you tell me and this friendly uncle here where it is?" The man continued, he grip tightening on her arm as he did so.

"And then what?" Alice responded, trying her best to remain calm, not wanting to give away any information by accident.

"A good question! So, what’ll happen is I’ll leave you with my friend here, while I go and collect it. Once I verify it’s what we’re after, I’ll contact him, he’ll then beat some sense into you and we’ll be on our merry way." He answered, a snake like grin spreading across his emotionless features.

"What a generous offer..." Alice sarcastically replied, rolling her eyes in their sockets as she did so.

"It is isn’t it. So hurry up and tell us where it is! Time’s a wastin’!"

"..." Alice grit her teeth unsure of how to respond.

"Cat got your tongue? Maybe this’ll loosen it for you..." The man said, drawing a revolver from his belt, placing the muzzle squarely against Alice forehead.

"...or maybe this will?" He continued a few seconds later, pulling the muzzle away from Alice and pointing it directly towards Madds.

"Time’s almost up!" The voice from behind her exclaimed in eagerness, the excitement clearly apparent.

"My partner’s right. Alice? What’s your decision."

"..."

"Look, being silent isn’t going to help anyone. In fact, it’s just going to get both of you killed." He said, cocking the hammer, his eyes staring intently at Alice.

"Do you think you can just put a gun to my head, in my own bar nonetheless?" Madds replied, seemingly tired of all the man’s posturing.

"Why wouldn’t I? We own this district, and no one’s going to complain over the death of an old hag like yourself!"

"Ahahaahah! You’re playing ball way above your pay grade. So I suggest you put that gun down son, before you get hurt." Madds bluntly replied, taking a deep toke of her cigarette, blowing the smoke directly into the man’s face.

"You bitch!" He coughed, closing his eyes. He released his grasp on Alice, in a desperate attempt to wave away the smoke from is face.

Before he could even react, a patron took their chance, grabbing a bottle of whisky off the countertop, swinging it directly into his face with an almighty crack. The bottle shattered from the force of the impact, sending the man sprawling from his seat onto the rough concrete floor below. While this happened several of the men from the numerous tables situated in the courtyard charged forward, grabbing the gunman’s partner and slamming him head first into the countertop with a sickening crunch. All the while Alice just sat there, her mouth agape, surprised at the sudden beatdown that had just been visited upon her would be attackers.

"See... this is why I said you were going to end up hurting yourself," Madds smirked, still puffing on her cigarette.

Then, from across the otherside of the courtyard a sudden pair of booming explosions rang out, drowning out the rowdy voices of moments before, replacing them with fearful screams.

"Enough!" A voice thundered, commanding silence with it’s roaring anger.

Everyone’s head snapped round, their attention instantly drawn to the source of this second commotion. There, standing at the entrance of the courtyard stood a group of men, they were heavily armed and led by a man that Alice sadly recognised, Samuel Jones. At the front he stood, his left arm raised to the heavens, a smoking revolver held within his grasp.

"Everyone... Get the hell out!" He yelled, pointing his revolver at the nearest bystander.

Nobody moved, hesitant to back down and not wanting to let him tell them what to do. Last Resort had always been this sort of place, a place where no one apart from Madds could make the rules. So, in silence all eyes looked to her, wanting to know what she wanted them to do.

Seeing that, with a deep forlorn sigh Madds relinquished, "Okay. Everyone leave. As I for one don’t want to have to be cleaning up your entrails."

Hearing this the courtyard began to empty, the mass of patrons slowly filtering out past Samuel and his men and descending into the city below. The last to leave where those who had, been a part of the scuffle at the bar, their eyes flickering between Madds, Alice, the men who lay beaten on the floor and Samuel. Only leaving when finally, Madds once more silently encouraged them to leave.

"Wait!" A voice yelled, straining in it’s anger.

The source of the voice? The man who had been bottled at the start of the fight. Who had just regained consciousness and was currently clambering unsteadily to his feet.

"Wait!" He yelled again, screaming at the top of his lungs.

At this Samuel gritted his teeth, a flickering expression of frustration dashing upon his features.

"Wa-"

The man attempted to yell again but before he could Samuel cut him off his voice eerily calm. "Joshua, take Crandall and get out of here. Please!"

"But boss! Those idiots and these fucking woman made a fool out of us, and you’re just going to let them go?"

"Joshua! Take Crandall... and get out of here!"

"Boss!"

"Joshua! They did not make a fool out of you, you did. You did as soon as you tried to steal a march on us, on me..."

"B-Boss..."

"Go! Get out of here. I will deal with you later but now, I need to talk to that girl. So go!" Samuel ordered, his voice never once breaking from it’s deadly calm.

"Damn it!" Joshua spat, directing an expression of great resentment towards Alice and Madds as he left, his large friend slung helplessly over his shoulder.

"Now that cumbersome annoyance is out of the way, I’ll sadly have to ask you to leave as well Madds. My business is with this girl and her alone, I don’t need you interfering."

"Fine... I’m too old to bother messing with someone like yourself. But don’t go making a mess for the rest of us you hear?" Madds chided, strolling slowly away from the bar.

"No promises." Samuel replied, his eyes narrowing into slits while a wide mocking smile enveloped his features.

It wasn’t until Madds disappeared from sight that Samuel turned to face Alice, his smile fading into a distinctly dark scowl.

"Now, let’s get this over with," he said, pulling himself a chair, his revolver leveled towards her.

"Fine," Alice acknowledged, swiveling round on her stool to face him.

"I’m sure you know why I’m here... and even if you didn’t, I’m sure those idiots have made it very clear to you, haven’t they?"

"Something about me mildly inconveniencing you. That, and you’re a person with a foul temper..."

"Very funny..."

"I thought so. I mean I’m definitely not the one who put that right arm of your’s in a cast."

"This is no place to be cute girl! And while it might of been the Separatists actions that cost me dearly in manpower... and personal injury. But it was you, who snuck in and stole away with my money that has hurt me the most."

"Aww... did I hurt your pride? Being outsmarted by a little girl like myself? You psychos with a fetish with torture always seem to place such a great emphasis on it. Funny considering you rarely have any."

"Enough!" Samuel roared, the armed thugs around him leveling their rifles towards her.

"Damn you Rebbecca. Damn you and your Kalashnikovs’" Alice cursed under her breath.

"Now, unless you want to gain a few extra in that body of yours. I suggest you come clean and tell me where you stashed my bloody money! And if you’re not feeling all that talkative, I’m sure I can work my magic on you, just as I did to that idiot thief down below..." Said Samuel, his eye’s glowing with a malevolent light.

"What the hell did you do to him!?" Alice snapped, standing up from her stool, fists clenched.

"Nothing compared to what I’ll do to you if you don’t tell me where my money is! You’re running out of time Alice. That is your name right?"

"Yeah it is but someone like you doesn’t have the right to say it!"

"That maybe so but I’ll let you in on a secret. I right now am the only person who holds the right to keep you alive... and you’re quickly making me lose my patience. So what’s your decision."

"Fine... Fine... I’ll tell you where it is. No, even better! I’ll show you."

"Will you now?" Samuel remarked, scratching his chin in interest.

"Of course. I’ll show you... it’s right on your way to hell!" Alice exclaimed, channelling the remains of her mana into her spell, finishing it before a single one of the men could react.

Quicker than the eye could see Alice’s hand stretched out before her, a magic circle glowing feverently within it’s grasp. The in the next instant the world beyond her disappeared, lost within a hellish fire. What Alice had activated was the wide area of effect fire magic [Inferno], a magic that created a devilish flame, that then propagated itself across an area with a immense shockwave, funneling the flames away from it’s user. [Inferno] was a magic renowned for leaving naught but the sound of the roaring flames and the smell of burning flesh in it’s wake, it’s explosive propagation blasting through even the most fortified of positions.

Alice staggered, her mana reserves almost entirely depleted. Her hand remained outstretched, shaking greatly as she breathed deeply trying desperately to remain standing. All around her thick black smoke and small burning flames encompassed the bar, obscuring her vision.

Just as she was about to relax the tension in her body something caught her attention, sending her mind into overdrive, attempting to draw every last ounce of ability from it, and her body. Almost without thinking she jumped back, her legs and arms raised in a desperate attempt to protect herself. An instant later, a weathering amount of automatic fire burst through from the smoke, slamming into her, the force of the impact sending her sprawling over the countertop. As she hit the ground she rolled, numerous shards of broken glass stabbing into her as she did so.

Alice writhed in pain, her whole body screaming at her, more than it had ever done before. She hesitantly looked towards her arms, unsure of the damage inflicted upon them. When the bullets had hit it had felt like they’d of been torn clean off if it hadn’t been for the [Fortification] she cast on them with the deepest dregs of her power. Still, even with the protection gleamed from [Fortification] her arms were a sorry state, with great swathes of her skin torn into a bloody pulp. Yet extraordinarily, she’d managed to avoid anything life threatening.

As Alice slowly inspected herself the oppressive reign of fire continued, shredding through the bar, destroying countless bottle, showering her in a rain of glass and alcohol.

"This really isn’t the time for me to have a drink," Alice joked, grimacing as she continued to drag herself across the floor behind the counter, which luckily for Alice, had been reinforced. It’s steel and iron core making it impervious to the sustained firepower that tore into the bar.

Calming herself she pushed forward slowly, edging closer and closer to the edge of the counter, not once daring to look at the situation beyond. Approaching the edge, Alice lurched into a crouch, her legs coiled up, ready to spring her from cover. Then with a deep, deep breath she launcher herself forward, dashing from cover at speed, tearing a path towards the nearest booth, a trail of bullets raking the concrete behind her.

For Alice the world seem to slow, with each step seeming to last an eternity. She could feel her heartbeat, it’s distinct pounding emanating erratically from her chest. This great pounding, this great pressure, she could feel it; every single beat. But she couldn’t hear it, her ears too occupied with the rapturous cacophony that besieged her. With these feelings she continued to run, urging her battered body forward, deep into the darkness of the booth and then, without thinking she leapt forward, bracing herself, soon emerging amid a storm of debris. Gravity quickly casting her down onto the corrugated roofs below.

On instinct Alice rolled as she hit the roof, tossing her haphazardly onto the roof with a painful thud. Not stopping to gather her breath she continued to run, the adrenaline numbing her wounds and helping her continued forward, racing between the numerous shanties that surrounded her. As she continued to run she considered her options, there weren’t many, none of them were good and she new she couldn’t hide.

Lost in her frantic panicking she barely noticed the man burst through the plywood wall of the nearby shanty, barreling towards her. At the last second she caught sight of him, bracing both of her arms against his charge but it wasn’t enough to stop him. The force of his charge blew her off her feet and carried her several feet, into and through the wall of another shanty, the impact sending Alice careening across the floor like a ragdoll.

She recovered quickly, wiping the blood from her mouth as she did so, fists raised defiantly. Her assailant was a giant of a man, with thick-set muscles stretching the dusty overcoat he wore. Looks like a bruiser to me, she thought leaping forward, hoping to slip past him with her superior speed. Unfortunately all her accumulated fatigue had drastically affected her, with her current top speed being nearly half of what it normally was, easily allowing her opponent the opportunity to stop her.

A lariat aimed at her upper torso slammed against her, sending her hurtling backwards into a refrigerator. The impact took her breath away, leaving her to fall limply to her knees.

Looking up she scarcely saw the double-handed hammer blow the screamed downwards towards her. Just managing to slip out from under it at the last moment she retaliated, sending out a vicious kick of her own, right into the man’s jaw. The shock of the blow seemed to rob him of his legs, his momentum bringing him crashing down to his knees.

Not wanting to give him a moment to recover, she grabbed ahold of his overcoat with both hands, before she promptly slammed her knee into his lowered head, knocking him unconscious.

With her opponent dealt with Alice, teetered over to the window of the shantie, opening it and slipping through it, carefully dropping into the alleyway below. As soon as she landed she planted her back against the wall, listening to the sounds of those who pursued her, they were running far above, probably searching wildly for her.

After waiting for a few seconds, she broke from cover ducking low as she crept along, trying to keep her ragged breathing under control. She couldn’t hear them anymore. They were either above her, remaining still or had pushed on to another area. Alice glanced over her shoulder, seeing nothing apart from an empty alleyway.

She tried to remember the layout of this part of the district, to no avail, the damage she had taken scattered her thoughts, making it hard for her to focus.

Without a sign of anyone else around, she ran forward, bent double through the alleyway. She wished she’d stayed with Noelle, and hadn’t been stupid enough to wander off on her own, promising herself she’d apologise to her when she next saw her.

Then she saw it. Up ahead maybe twenty meters away, a chainlink fence that bordered the district, beyond which a forest sprawled it’s thick foliage perfect camouflage for her escape. It was tall, standing several feet high, but luckily for Alice, piles of crates and other abandoned rubbish piled up against it, giving her the perfect opportunity to clear it.

She looked over her shoulder once more, checking to make sure no one was there. Sprinting forward the second she confirm it was safe, covering the ground at a breakneck pace, a pace that surprised even Alice herself. Reaching the fence she jumped, springing off the crates and launching herself upwards, her left hand gripping the top of the fence, steadying herself as she vaulted it.

Suddenly an explosion rang out, it’s dry crack racing through the air into Alice’s ears. Almost as if on command, her body weakened, her arm buckling and giving out, tossing her tumbling to the ground, like a puppet with it’s strings cut. The dull thud of her head hitting the dry soil was the last thing she heard as she blacked out.

Next Chapter: From Death To Destiny