The Wire

The man was steadily coming closer. I was steadily not moving. I decided to change that, and started to sprint away from him. Stumbling up steps, I tried to focus on running and also on looking at the Shifter at the same time. The Shifter’s screen was red, and the words “Within” and “Without” were flashing. Next to each word was a number – the “Within” value was increasing, while the “Without” number was dropping.

I hit a wall.

Stumbling off it, I dazedly headed off in the right arm of the T-junction, and kept running. A quick check showed that Shifter’s numbers were barely moving. I slid around muddied bricks, and took a left. The numbers began to move again. “Without” was at fifty, which soon dropped to forty and then thirty-five. I leapt over a crate of chickens that was being hastily dragged indoors. There was a reverberative thunderclap that shook my bones and made dogs howl. Looking over my shoulder, I saw a man silhouetted at the end of the alley.

Thirty.

He began to run.

Twenty-five.

I gave up dodging people.

Twenty.

A glimmering flash of-

Fifteen.

-iridescent-

Ten.

He ran right through a crowd of excited teens. There was a sound like one hundred people breathing in.

Seven.

-pearlescent-

Four. Nearer.

-glowing-

Zero. I pulled the Shifter’s lever. It sprang back up. The screen went green.

-light.