Stray

The lights flickered for the third time.   The few patrons left groaned, one indignant voice rising over the others.   "Goddamn fucks cut power earlier every night, what in the hell?!" Michelle snapped, lightly banging the table with her fist. They really had been, she'd been keeping track for a little while now, every week it did cut out earlier by a good five minutes or so, she was pretty sure someone had been raising a stink about the amount of cops who gathered there nowadays.   Wasn't their fault there was fuck-all to do or go in their off time. It was the only place left that had a reasonable price for what you could get, even if most of that was some kind of lumpy bread and occasional sausage; it was a wonder they hadn't noticeably watered the beer yet.   She sighed and settled back against the seat, finishing the rest of her drink as the rest of the crowd thinned out. Her friends had wandered off some time ago and Michelle had packed up to the furthest corner seat- tonight hadn't been a night for much contact or conversation in the end, but god knew sitting alone nursing a warm beer and watching the crowd was better than going back to her apartment. It wasn't huge, but two rooms was a room too many and she didn't have the interest, will or means to bother filling it with more than what it had had after the first month she'd been in there.   Maybe she'd just curl up on the seat and stay there. An empty bar was full of somethings at least, not empty space that looked too goddamned much like home-   "Oh for the love of god, stop it," she hissed at herself, pinching the bridge of her nose. Yes. Fear of returning to an empty home, rooted in the time she was a kid and came home to find out her father had finally died and she and Anna could do one last sweep of their meager belongings before being carted off. Anna had died not long after. She coped with it even this long after by avoiding going home alone or going home, 'I've been through this enough already, can we get the fuck on?'   Evidently not.   Michelle got to her feet, staggering slightly- just trying to maneuver in the near-dark she told herself, though maybe she had gone a little more than she'd thought. Really, the entire day was kind of a blur. She guided herself ahead, holding the backs of chairs until she was near the door-   "Need a hand?"   Michelle started slightly, immediately drawing back from the voice. Someone just to the side, and good god the moon was bright tonight, and all that snow, when had that happened? She could make out that this someone was tall, dressed in black, and had a hand outstretched. She shook her head as best as she could, keeping her eyes to the ground as they adjusted to the dazzlingly bright night.   "Fine, m'fine, thanks," she muttered, jamming her hands into her coat pockets and tucking her elbows close as she strode past.   'Oh come on, back the fuck off,' she thought, glancing back with a wince as she walked- evidently someone didn't know 'fine' meant to put their hand away, or that some people were still dealing with bruised arms... the idea of starting something was tempting, but more tempting was the thought of her couch and sleeping there for a solid week. Well, or at least twelve hours, maybe a whole day? When was her next shift again? Fuck, she was on tomorrow, wasn't she, tomorrow was her turn processing and she needed to fix up those reports, get the.. what, two? Three of the resistance out or at least get them out of indefinite hol-   "Fuck!"   Michelle scrambled to her knees, spitting out gritty snow as she tried to figure out how she'd even fallen; when another blow to the back sent her sprawling on the sidewalk. She instinctively tucked into a roll and sprang back onto her feet just in time to see the figure from before darting towards her, something flashing in their hand and like fuck was she sticking around to find out what it was.   "Najre Police, I order you to stop!" Michelle shouted as she dove, barely dodging her assailant. "Drop your weapons and stand down!"   Not that she expected it to do much, but absolutely nothing was still disheartening. She scrambled over the slick sidewalk, knocking into the alley corner harder than intended before ducking against the wall just as the first gunshot rang out.   Gun. Gun was bad. Gun meant outsiders? Police?   She bolted down the narrow street, stumbling and ducking to try and keep herself out of clear sight- the second shot pierced a garbage bin but wasn't anywhere near her, so she had to be doing something right. Michelle groped along the frozen ground, grasping for something, anything she could use, a rock, a knife would be great, or-   Her thoughts shattered into nothing but pain; glass biting into her left hand, burning metal and freezing air into her right arm. The assailant loomed overhead- she got a glimpse of their features in the moonlight, but all Michelle could think was to explode upwards, stabbing wildly at their belly with the broken bottle in her hand. They made no sound but a gasp as Michelle finally struck true, a long gash along their side that sent them stumbling, the gun down.   And thank god cuffing people had become second nature, Michelle was already running before she was consciously aware of having them on her still.   Of having had them on her.   She thought for a moment, maybe to pause- to look back, but instinct kept her running towards the nearest city gate, kept her clinging to that bottle even as it bit into her flesh.   Najre was dead, if it had ever been alive in the first place. Like fuck if she was going down with it.