Chapter 3 ♠︎ Twig Crowns

  It had been two days since I raided the helicopter and killed the two men.

  Was there remorse in my soul? Of course. They couldn't even make a move against me. I had used the mans rocket launcher to blow up the helicopter, barely leaving evidence. The other rockets inside the heli and various rounds of ammo created sparks and flurries of light as it burned.

 

    I had been kind to the men. They died the most interesting way ever. Did they have family? Did someone care? Is someone crying?

   Already, the burden of lives lay on my shoulders. It's those stupid doctors own fault for messing with what makes the world. Mass and force. Time and lives.

Crime and punishment.

  

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   I used a bare twig to wash out my hair from the dye. My black hair seemed lighter now, more of a pale black. Grey even. Some strands were lighter than others. I felt like an old woman.

 I was heading to the mountainous regions of California. More trees, lakes, cool air, hiding spots. Everything would be fine. I could be a little girl living in a tree, an early human. Barbarian. Living with a glass compass and canned food  whereas in modern civilization food was liquified and everything was accessible with the snap of the wrist.

 I needed food. I was going insane.

   Then something caught my eye. The river I was following lead to a large lake, with calm waves. I looked across the lake, and to my surprise, there was a dock, and canoes floated in the quaint waters. I pulled out binoculars and spotted a camp in the woods. It was populated.

   I may be able to fit in somehow. "A traveling lost soul in need of a place to stay." Lies would be my only way in.

 I walked around the edge of the water, watching chipmunks scurry to trees. Maybe I was already in Oregon... I had been walking forever. I tried brushing out my hair. I had cut my bangs from all in my face to a good length over my forehead. My already short enough hair was in a small ponytail.

I walked towards the camp with cautious steps.

"What if they recognize me?"

After walking around the lake, I came across the entry to the camp. The road had pine needles and acorns scattered across it. Seemed like nobody had been around here for awhile. "Hey, are you here for camp?" A cheery voice asked. I turned around and saw a girl sitting at a booth in the front of the camp. I walked up to her quietly. "Yes, I'd like to join." I belted, just as I had practiced. "M'kay.. Name?" She questioned. I looked back to the name I had given myself back when I killed those two men. "Allivia Smithson.". "Not on the list hun, do you have a registration form," then the woman's expression darkend "or a good amount of cash?" Sighing, I picked through my pack. "100 good?" I negotiated. She greedily swiped the bill out of my hand, picking it up and smelling it. "Hehe, go in." She placed a crown made of twigs lined with blue wild flowers and ivy on my head. "North Cabin."

North - Spider Cabin. Oh god.

I hate spiders.

Chapter 2 ☁︎ Halt

  I felt like I was floating when I darted up and ran to the men. I searched through his still body, his pockets and his backpack. I took his knife out of its sheath and unarmed the gunner. My legs started to ache from running, and my muscles burned from all the heavy armor I was carrying. It hurt to much to move, once time came back, I needed to   bask in the peacefulness. It would only last so long though. In a flash, I had also cut off that man's annoying pony tail. He thankfully had a water purifier on him, so I had hid it (and the guns) behind the heli, so I could retrieve it later. I sucked in a painful and final breath in a standstill, before it all started again. "Let's do this!" I smiled. It hurt.  26 muscles in my face ached, but the pain washed away and the men tumbled into nothing. "What?" The gunner hit at his sides. "Dammit dammit dammit!" He screamed. "I'm not here to murder, but I will let nature do her work." I said. "It's her!"

"Allivia, remember the name."

 I tried to focus again "Pause." The men were in mid turn. I took the rope from the satchel I had hid and ran in front of them. The pain hadn't started yet. It hurts to move through a space where beings aren't supposed to move. A space vacuum even. A space where basically no living matter is - or should be. And it hurt to move. But at least I didn't have to breathe (but I do it anyway, it feels good). "Play." They were still moving, so by the time they turned, they noticed I was there, holding a rope menacingly. "Pause" I said, as the man reached into his boot. I scurried over to his boot and steadily pulled out a taser. "Sneaky.." I muttered, feeling the other mans boots. I stood where I was before, feeling a sense of placement, feeling the pain fade a little. "Play." I said, and to them it seemed like I didn't move. He reached in for nothing. "Missing this?" I said, holding it in my hand. "Pause." They all stopped. Doing it constantly made it easier, and saying 'Pause' made me feel like, "Yes, this is what I am doing" so it helps. "Play." Then they fell to the ground, immobilized by the taser in my hand. They were stunned out. I was truly surprised at how prepared they were to fight me. I searched through the heli to sadly find nothing. I took the sack and stuffed it with necessities. They started to wake up soon enough, affects weari off. I put the sack down and ran up to them. I ran by them, and once I touched them, i said "Pause." They stood there, looking at me. They held their throats as they struggled to breathe, their bodies not used to the pain of moving your muscles. I stood in my spot, watching them suffer while still touching them lightly. They were dying. "I'm doing it again...."

  "God damn."