changing fates | joel miller

002

25 years later

the mall
⚚ ⚖︎ ⚒︎⚕

Throughout the darkness of the night sky, a flicker of light came from one corner of a street light, acting as if it was speaking in morse code as the bulb was fighting to stay alive. The city's streets were practically empty, besides the few FEDRA vehicles that had roamed by. They were looking out for anything, or anyone, who may have been passing by, keeping their main focus on the shadowed alleyways — despite not being able to see much from their view.

        Grace Williams was crouched behind a trashcan, leaning her head against a brick wall as one of the FEDRA vehicles had just driven by. Her mouth remained in a thin line, quieting her breaths, even when no one was near her. And she silently cursed to herself, accidentally scuffing the bottom of her shoe against the rocky pavement, causing an abrupt sound to echo against the surrounding walls.

       Peeking her head out from her hiding place, the girl glanced towards the windows across the street, waiting to see if the truck's lights could still be seen in reflection. Though, as nothing came to her sight, she let out the breath she'd been holding — letting her move into a stance.

Placing a hand on the trashcan, Grace took a gentle step forward, before swiftly making it to the next darkest area she could find. She knew she couldn't be too careful, especially at night. FEDRA had been known to up their security past nine, including the new step of abandoning their vehicles and moving on foot when they wanted or needed too.

The girl closed her eyes briefly, barely noticing a difference between the darkness of her lids and the night sky — but it was enough to give her a moment of peace before making her next move.

Grace slid her body against the brick wall, ignoring the fact that some of her clothing had gotten caught on the rugged exterior. And she poked her head out from the wall, looking both ways before bringing her body closer to the edge.

Again, Grace found her eyes veering left to right, looking for anything out of the ordinary. She noted that she couldn't hear any trucks, nor any footsteps. But that did not ease her nerves, like she hoped. Although she was familiar with this route, along with the sneaking around bit, it was still nothing she'd ever get used too.

Grace's eyes wandered to the only flickering light, which was just a block or two away from her. It was too far to expose her in any way, but with her current nerves and overthinking thoughts, she still believed they'd find a way to do so — if anyone was close by, that is.

Closing her eyes again, she lays her head back against the brick, tucking the fallen hairs behind her ears. And she let out another breath before pushing herself off of the wall, straight towards the center of the street. Grace does not falter her pace from the initial push and even goes faster to cross the road she was on.

As soon as she made it to the sidewalk, her head ducked lower, keeping an eye out for any unwanted guests that may have been lurking. And she tried to remain quiet as she fully stepped into the new alleyway, continuing her steps deeper into the darkness.

Holding her hands out in front of her, Grace let them guide her through anything that might get in her way. She counted her steps, memorizing how long it had taken her to get to each destination before. She learned to do that after going too far and getting lost between the buildings. And even if it was never fully accurate — she couldn't deny it helped.

        "34, 35" She practically mouthed, stepping towards the building. Her fingers had eventually hit the wall — but that did not stop her movements. "43, 44," She barely continued, letting her fingers trace the outer surface.