Her hand presses against the wall, supporting her weight. Breathing heavily, she closes her eyes, exhaustion pulling at her muscles. Cooling sweat suctions her clothes to her body. Clutching the cramp in her side, she swears. Everything hurts.
A constant throbbing in her temples accompanies the click-click-click of the machine as it tortures someone else in the distance. She laughs a broken laugh when the machine pulls a scream from its victim.
Her legs buckle, her body breaking from the pressure. She falls forward, smashing first her forehead then her lip against the wall.
She blinks, stunned. A groan leaves her lips as she rolls onto her back. Lightly touching her hairline, she winces at the ache, and her fingers feel sticky with blood.
Just breathe, she reminds herself as her eyes sting with tears. Just breathe.
She swallows the air, holding a bubble in her mouth. She holds then releases the air, trying to control her breathing. A hiccup interrupts the shaky rhythm. She sniffles as another hiccup chokes her, and goosebumps prickle along her arms.
Another scream cuts through the air. This one closer than the last…
Her body shivers, fear and cold shaking her system.
She sniffles as she tries to quiet her cries. Snot runs freely from her nose, mixing from the blood on her lip then dripping into her mouth.
Coughing on liquid, she rolls onto her side, spying a smattering of red dots growing larger in the dark. Whimpering, she curls into a ball, and the mechanical clicks grow. From a small snicker to a loud cymbal-like clang, the clicks grow. The sound is that of a barrel of chattering, crazy, and chaotic monkeys.
The clicks… She squints with a tilt of her head. Her eyes widen with terror. Oh, God.
Her broken whimper echoes in the empty hall. A beacon for the machine.
As the machine draws even closer—the hunter closing in on the prey—it splits into many machines. Hundreds of moths flutter towards her. The red light glows from the antennas. And their blood-splattered wings sing as they fly through the air. It’s amazing.
As the first moth dives, she screams a shock, dazed scream. A scream to join that of her counterparts.
More moths prepare to dive. Trembling with teeth chattering, she whispers, “no.”
Then she screams it as the moths descend.