Lucky One

Five towns. So far, the outbreak had crept up in five towns. Detective Sloane stared at the halo map, still not seeing any pattern. In each location where the outbreak had cropped up, responders had only found unconscious citizens.

Raising her hand, she looked at the colors playing across her skin. The computer’s blue marred by pinpricks of red. The infected zones.

There wasn’t anything special about those towns. Sleeper villages, really. Just a place to rest before taking grav lines into the city centers. Nothing special, and yet everything special.

Reaching down, she switched the controls on the map and all sleeper communities illuminated green. Green dominated the blue now.

“Destination in T-minus one minute,” The computer-generated voice chirped into the vehicle’s cabin.

In one minute, she’d know if she’d guessed right, or one of the other agents. Either way, they had to put an end to this before it spread further. Before the workforce could be drastically reduced.

The thrusters rumbled as the vehicle touched down and Sloane changed the cockpit screen to translucent revealing the area, but not the village.

Darkness towered before her. A darkness the computer hadn’t warned her about. Something dark, something large, and something which didn’t belong.

She’d been the lucky one. Flipping open the comms. She fumbled for her bio helmet. “Unidentified life form. I demand that you leave the area.”

At least she could confirm it could hear. The thing roiled toward her. Detective Sloan groaned. The lucky one indeed.