Where am I? …run… How did I get here? …don’t look back… How long has it been? …time is of the essence… “Ahh! Stop!” Hands flew up to the sides of her head and clutched matted locks of golden brown hair, pulling as brown eyes squeezed shut while Katerina labored uselessly to clear her mind. Her chest heaved as she panted heavily, though she had not been laboring hard enough for these fast, short breaths. She whimpered as images of shadowy monsters with blood red eyes cavorted through her head. “No! No! STOP!” She yelled, and jerked her head up. When she opened her eyes, it was all gone, and she could see the world around her again.

Her eyes scanned the territory and she turned a circle as she took it all in. It was as though she had seen nothing even though she had walked into this land on her own two legs. How far had she gotten from End World? She had no idea. It could have been miles, it could have been worlds, but for all she knew if she turned around End World would be right behind her. It felt like it, it felt like it would follow her anywhere. She didn’t want to turn around again. But she did.

“Oh, oh god!” She gasped and covered her mouth, and her heart dropped into her stomach at the sight. It was not End World, but the grisly line she had crossed was a foreboding scene that did not purport good will towards visitors. What had done this? What boss, what monster would line up these skulls on pikes like ornaments of death? Were there gangs here too? Or mutants? Maybe she was right, maybe it was End World, maybe it would follow her everywhere she went… maybe she could never escape. Slowly, she walked toward the line of toothy skulls and reached out to one sun bleached skull. Fingers gently brushed bone and it jostled on its spike; the loose jaw fell to the ground.

No time! Darkness falls. Katerina jumped as the jawbone clattered, and she leaped back, coming back to reality. Her eyes shot to the gradient sky, purples and pinks now intermingled with blue. Time was running out; it didn’t matter what place she had come to, it would be night soon. There was something in the distance, she remembered. Houses, perhaps. She didn’t know the state of the village, but it was her only hope of getting inside before nightfall… before the terrors came… The wire-thin woman spun around and began running, away from the hideously marked border, away from the looming threat of End World, away from the terrors, and into a place where she knew not what awaited her there.

The sound of the galloping horse was not lost to her ears, and she knew what a sound like that could mean. She wasn’t fast enough, she was going to be caught outside in the darkness. She looked around frantically, spotting the shadowy vision of the mounted man, but she kept on running until the horse darted out in front of her and blocked her path. Katerina screamed and threw her arms up to protect herself, thinking she would be trampled beneath the hooves, and at the same time she tripped and fell to her knees.

Just a split second later when there was no onslaught she looked up at the man that loomed over her, her eyes moving back and forth from him to the shuffling hooves. He was… normal. Or, from what she could tell anyway. But still he was a man protecting his home (she assumed) which she knew she was clearly not supposed to be in, and the meeting could easily go badly for her at a moment’s notice.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice sharp with hysteria. “If I’m not supposed to be here I’m sorry, but I need to get indoors. Just for the night. Just one night and then I’ll get out of here.” She glanced to the sky and then back to the man. “Please!”

If he chose to attack, to just rid himself of the inconvenience that was she, he would have little problem disposing of her. The woman was wiry and thin, thin even for her own smaller species, like food had been scarce. Despite all of the worry within her eyes it was clear that she was tired, it looked like weeks of paranoia had chipped away pieces of her soul. Yet somewhere beneath there was one last spark telling her to survive.

“The creatures,” she paused, blinked as though flinching, and then started again. “The creatures that come out in the dark will get me, and they will get you too if you don’t get inside.” Why was the man even risking being out here so close to dusk? Her eyes turned to the sky, and she was certain she could see the last of the sunlight sinking toward the horizon.