[SFT]: Unsolutioned

Chapter 4

Seattle, Washington State

The University of Washington functional Safe Zone (fSZ)

Thursday 13h12

Hannah Itsuko had just finished lunch when she remembered that the hot pink system square she needed was sitting on the passenger seat of her car. The petite environmental studies PhD candidate sighed and made her way slowly to her battered car, which had parked just inside of the West perimeter of the fSZ. Coming out of the Guthrie Center for Pacific Northwest Flora, she made her way down Grant Lane. The sky had clouded over, turning the light orange shimmer of the University fSZ forcefield into a blue-gray hue.

Just beyond the perimeter that hummed along the length of 15th Avenue NE, Grant Lane turned into NE 40th Street, which stretched westward. The pockmarked street was flanked by ruined buildings and rubble, and two or three stooped figures in tattered clothing shuffling silently about, fishing in piles of windblown trash. Hannah felt sorry for them. It began to drizzle lightly, and she cursed herself for forgetting to bring her umbrella. Functional SafeZones did not protect against rain. Within seconds, the clouds converging from direction of the Pacific Ocean thickened quickly and swirled overhead, threatening to spill sheets of rain. The gray sky above seemed to hold its contents, however, and continued only to drizzle, though the winds picked up. Hanna whispered a silent prayer of thanks and hurried the last few feet to her car.

As she unlocked her vehicle, something made her look up. One of the gritty hobos that had been hunting for trash in the distance began to stir. His or her shuffle – Hannah couldn't tell – turned into a distinct churning of legs. The person was running towards her, and something was pounding along behind it. A creature. In near panic, Hannah took a few steps to a perimeter comm box and slammed on the blue button, calling for the campus Perimeter Guards.

One of them answered.

"I'm at the end of Grant Lane, and someone needs help –"

"We are aware of the incident, Miss. Unfortunately, we are unable to take action."

"What do you mean, you can't do anything? Help him!"

"We are terribly sorry, Miss. We simply cannot do anything."

The grimy man outside of the forcefield ran on. Hannah cried and slammed the comm box off.

Grabbing a stone from the ground, she ran a few feet forward, right up to within inches of the forcefield. If she threw it, she would probably miss, and hit the man instead. She cried tears of frustration and let the stone fall limply from her hand. She shouted. "Come on, come on! You can do it!"

The creature was gaining on the hapless human – a bearded man with dark skin – who was now running as fast as his emaciated frame would allow. He was running directly towards her, screaming for help. Hannah stood rooted in place in horror as the creature came into focus. It must have been six or seven feet tall. It was garbed in shapeless cloth and had papery skin that seemed to flake off. Several other students had come out to gather behind her, watching in silent horror from a safe distance. They were all silent.

"Come on!" Hannah shouted again. Why was she the only one shouting?

The two figures quickly approached the forcefield, and before anyone could give a shout, the desperate hobo hurled himself full force towards the perimeter only a few feet away, towards Hannah. The girl began to reach out her arms, but the forcefield gave a deafening, thunderous sound and, suddenly, the poor man that was entering the sFZ exploded into tiny, sizzling pieces.

Shocked by the blast, the bulky creature stopped short five feet in front of her. It looked like an oversized, disease-ridden linebacker. The thing looked her in the eye for a split second as its barrel-sized chest heaved, and then turned to flee.