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Tag: Annie

Impact Day: Epilogue

Ten soldiers stared, unsure of what to say. None of them wanted to raise their weapons, though a tiny voice in each of their heads was screaming at them to do exactly that.

The young woman approached the barricade, seemingly oblivious to the military presence. Her hands clasped an ornate cane behind her back, a wide-brimmed hat casting a shadow over her face. She was all but skipping towards them, the tails of her elegant coat fluttering in the breeze.

“Ma’am?” the closest soldier called out, the grip on his gun tightening slightly. The idea of pointing a rifle at a young woman seemed completely and utterly appalling to him, but they had their orders. Nobody was allowed to enter the city. Nobody was allowed to leave the city.

“Ma’am?” she asked, in a cheery, sing-song voice. She tilted her head back a little, revealing soft, delicate features, golden blonde hair and an ornate patch covering one eye. “I don’t look that old, do I?”

How did she get here? The question sat in the minds of all ten of them. Did she walk this entire way?

“Melbourne is under quarantine,” the soldier who had spoken before told her. “We can’t let you beyond this point.”

She stopped walking, only a few metres from him. A vicious smile appeared on her face, quickly hidden in shadow.

“That sure is a shame,” she said. “It seems like Melbourne is where all the fun is, these days. Who’d have thought?”

“If you need, we can drive you to the nearest town,” another soldier offered.

“That won’t be necessary. I hate to make things difficult for you boys, but I really need to get into that city.”

“We can’t allow that,” the first soldier insisted. “There’s been a biohazard outbreak. It’s not safe.”

“I’d say that’s my risk to take, wouldn’t you?” she asked, taking a single step forward. Several rifles raised, but still none of them aimed directly at her.

“Orders are orders, ma’am. Please, don’t make us use force.”

She rocked back on her heels, hands still clasping the cane behind her back. Her gaze swept over the soldiers standing all around her, and she adopted a slightly more stable stance.

“Force? You’d shoot a cute, innocent girl like me?”

“Restrain her,” the lieutenant ordered, and two soldiers moved in to flank her. She didn’t move until they grabbed her arms.

Without a single movement from her, the soldiers were thrown backwards, slamming against the vehicles that helped make up the barricade. Eight rifles pointed directly at her head.

“Guns are so boring,” she complained. “I hope the city is more interesting than the people guarding it.”

“Ma’am, lie down on the ground, with your arms behind your back,” the lieutenant instructed. She raised her head just far enough for him to see her roll her eye.

When she moved, it was too quickly for any of the soldiers to follow. She crossed the distance between herself and the lieutenant in the blink of an eye, running the cane right through his chest. A second later, the solders caught up, and opened fire.

None of the bullets reached her. They all ricocheted off an invisible field around her, and she barely seemed to notice.

Pulling the cane out of the lieutenant’s chest, she threw it like a javelin, impaling another soldier. It passed right through his skull, splattering blood on the two other soldiers around him.

They all kept shooting, but it was obvious none of the bullets were ever going to reach her. She strode casually back in to the centre of them.

“Bored now,” she muttered, crouching to be lower to the ground. She pressed the palm of her hand against the road, and red and gold lightning sparked out from the point of contact, seeking out the soldiers.

The second it touched them, each of them went completely lifeless, slumping to the ground. Standing, the woman licked her lips, then retrieved her bloody cane. A flick of her wrist was all it took to clean it, and she grinned, continuing her walk towards Melbourne.

“This had better be worth it,” she crooned to herself. “Nothing interesting has happened in this world for so long.”

 

Next Week: Roxie – Dying In Five Easy Steps

ImpactDayArtFinalThanks for reading this far. I hope you’ve enjoyed the story up to this point! Starting next week, we’re taking a five-week break, during which I’ll be publishing a bonus story arc, titled Roxie: Dying In Five Easy Steps. After that, we’ll be starting Volume 2 of Impact Day, titled Dead Girls Don’t Cry, which is a prequel story of a comparable length to Impact Day. It’s a story about Charlie and Rachel, and the events that led to Impact Day.

Anyway, if you’ve enjoyed the story so far, consider supporting me on on Patreon, so I can afford to keep writing it. Additionally, you can buy the complete collection on Gumroad or Kindle. It features a bonus chapter that I’m not releasing online!

See you later this week!

~Snow