Page 5 of Monster. Me.

Ragged breath, heavy feet.

Gunshots crack behind us. Hunting dogs howl in pursuit. These are people from a village near the place where we were born. They found out about us. Now it’s a pursuit, us or them.

"There they are! Faster!"

The voices chase us through the trees like hounds themselves.

Freaks. Monsters. Mutants.

"Burn them! Kill them!"

Then a gunshot.

Skaar hits the ground first. The bullet grazes his tail and lodges in his back. Blood spreads across his shirt near his shoulder blade and—

I try to stop. I can't leave him there. But Thorn is pulling at my arm, trying to drag me forward. I fight his grip, turn back, reaching for Skaar anyway.

His silvery-gray hand grabs mine, his completely black eyes locked on my face. He was always the most sensitive of us. He needs me now. I have to help him…

"Save me!" His voice resounds in my mind. It’s his telepathy.

But then… another shot.

The bullet tears through my thigh. I scream and crash to the ground next to Skaar.

Thorn lets go of me, pure horror on his pale blue face. He keeps running for another few seconds before the last shot catches him too.

All three of us are down.

Finished.

They finally got us, bastards.

I close my eyes and fight the memory. Push it down, mute it down.

Enough, enough!

A low, involuntary groan slips out of my chest.

"Shut the hell up. I'm trying to watch it," Wilhelm growls, even though he doesn't care about the TV show. He just needs everyone to remember who's in charge.

I turn my head toward the window. This part of the medical wing is above ground, and beyond the thin rectangle of glass, I can see the green of trees surrounding the facility. The forest keeps pulling at me. I need to get back out there.

"When's my next pass?" I ask, my voice rough from disuse. Sometimes I don't even know what day it is. Time comes in broken pieces here, separated by pain and sleep.

"Ask Reed or check your schedule yourself. I'm not your fucking secretary."

Again, I fix my eyes on the narrow strip of green outside, like a sliver of hope. I need out.

Just for a little while.

Just long enough to feel the quiet of the woods, let it wash over me, and forget.

Forget myself. Forget who I am.

Just be.

MARLOW