Artificial Mind

01

Minnie's mouth fell open. "I take it back, not dramatic." She muttered, feeling like she too needed to go diving under a table. Though seeing how this thing destroyed the road, all cracked and splintered with jutting concrete in odd angles, she didn't think a table would protect her. Or that man still under there.

A splintering cracking noise came to her senses, Minnie looked at the windows and saw the spider webbed cracks appearing and travelling over the glass. A thunderous thud echoed out and that was all it took for some of the windows to crack and smash. Minnie shielded her face with her arms, shutting her eyes tightly and stepping away from the window frames. It seemed this alone her spurned those around to take their chances and run. This small building was clearly not going to provide any protection, whatsoever.

Minnie however fought against the tide of rushing people, she pulled to the side and leaned against the wall near the small staircase that led upwards to the employee area. She stood there, still and silent, heaving breaths as she stared at the bland wall ahead of her. Her mind was reeling, she was trying to figure out just what had happened. It had happened so quickly she didn't know which part to try and analyse first. Not that she could do such a thing, her mind was just stuck on what that thing was. It was huge, dark in colour from what she could see...she had never seen anything like that before, in her whole life.

Wincing and clamping her hands against her ears, she scrunched her eyes shut as she heard to terrified and pained screams come from outside. She could only surmise running out there did not end well for those that dared. Hesitantly, she leaned around the wall and looked outwards to the ruined street. She jumped each time a shot went off, it was true to its mark because someone always got hit. The rounds in the guns weren't normal, whomever was hit went up in flames almost, burning from within before nothing; totally erased.

Minnie was stuck, she couldn't run, likewise staying in here didn't seem structurally safe. Why couldn't alerts for these possibilities exist? She was taking it back, aliens clearly did exist because what else could that thing be? It definitely wasn't military, well, not from their military at least. Slowing her breathing down the best she could, she shut her eyes and listened to the laboured footsteps walk away. Pushing away from the wall and chancing a look around the wall, she hesitantly walked forwards.

Her trainers dodged glass, she was careful, she didn't want the slightest crunch happening and that thing come back and rip the roof off. With careful steps, Minnie made her way forwards. Her hands balanced now and then against upturned tables and chairs, but eventually she reached the door. The door itself was hanging off the hinges, she didn't want to chance climbing out of the windows; mainly because there was still some glass in place. In the grand scheme of things, being shot and exploded seemed very final, and very painful, if not quick. But the thought of cutting herself on glass truly made her cringe, despite of what the end of her life may be.

Shaking her head, Minnie peered out of the door. Her eyes scanned the street while her head slowly looked from side to side. Her eyes widened though, and her body grew tense when she realised this thing hadn't even moved that far away. She looked over its form, metallic and shiny, thick arms seemed to idly twitch by its sides, the head was roving from side to side, clearly looking around. This things hands though had Minnie staring for a while, one was shaped like a gun, a very, very, very ridiculously long barrelled thing; deadly accurate, inhuman and dangerous. Panic to a new level travelled through her as she ducked back inside, deliberating on what to do. What would anyone else do? Run, naturally. But that hadn't ended well. She didn't want to die. But then, none of those people wished to either, and look what happened.

Calls, screams and shouts reached her ears and Minnie looked back outside. Down the street she could see a similar thing to the one near her doing basically the same thing as this one did. She didn't understand. Not one bit. But they were clearly up to something. Looking hesitantly to the thing near her, Minnie stretched out a leg and placed her foot flat and quietly against the pavement. Inhaling slowly, she saw the thing near her was none the wiser. So she took her chance, she quietly climbed out of the ruined doorway and edged slowly but quickly down the road. The first alley she got to, she practically jumped down.