Something Diana didn't see struck her in the chest, but spread out from their to encompass her entire body. It felt like she had stuck her fingers into an electric socket. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe. It would be safe to say she were starting to panic, except, of course, that she had never really stopped panicking since she had seen the red tank chasing after their car. In fact, this was probably would have been the most relaxed she had been since that event. So relaxed, that as the electricity stopped making her twitch, she slumped to the ground. She knew it wasn't a natural sort of relaxation that one gets from, say, a good massage, but rather the bad kind one gets from being electrocuted and left for dead on the sidewalk after being shot by a TAZER.

She could hear the college student behind her, grunting as he was doubtlessly also electrocuted, then he also fell to the ground with a thump. The monster fired two more times, then turned around, firing at people walking in the opposite direction. By this time a hysteria had ensued. Men, women, children, dogs, and one cat that jumped out of an alley, were running as fast as they could away from the monster. Some it shot, others were able to escape. She, however, could not see what became of her dad from where she laid.

The monster moved out of her line of eye sight, which didn't take much motion as she was laying such that she mostly saw the sidewalk. She wondered if her heart had stopped and if she was enjoying, or rather not enjoying, her last few moments of life before the activity in her brain came to a complete stop. She had expected to get more excited about her death, but for some reason, perhaps the electrocution, she was having a hard time even staying conscious. Every thought seemed to come slower than...the....last......until........they..........stopped............but............then.........it......felt.....as....if...things were speeding up again.

She could feel her arms and legs again, which came as a bit of a surprise as she hadn't realized that she hadn't been able to feel her arms and legs. There was a pressure on her right arm. She slowly turned her head to see it, not yet having recovered her ability to move easily that she so often enjoyed, and saw a hand connected to it. The hand wasn't her own, though her hand was also connected to her arm, but this new hand was holding her arm tightly and drawing her to her feet.

In front of her stood what Diana wanted to describe as a woman, though she had never seen a woman like her before. This woman had brown hair and brown eyes and skin as black as night, none of which were terribly unusual things to have, but the woman also had a smoky appearance which had nothing to do with her color. That's not to imply that the woman had been smoked like a ham, but rather that Diana felt as though she were seeing her through a haze of smoke. The woman seemed to be indistinct, blurry, and somehow to change as if waves were passing through her.

There was also something else strange about her that Diana couldn't quite place.

"We have to get going," the woman said. Although this is a misleading statement, as the woman didn't speak. The words simply appeared in Diana's mind. And it wasn't those words, not exactly, but rather the idea was implied without any words at all.

"I'm alive?" Diana asked, too distracted by that simple idea to worry too much about how strange the person helping her might be.

"Be silent," the woman said, though as described before she didn't say it or use those words. "They can still hear you."

"Hear--?"

Before Diana could complete the word, she found that a hand had been placed over her mouth, gently but quite efficiently and irresistibly firmly.

"Yes, we must be as quiet as two bees in a vacuum," the woman said, but didn't say. Despite her not having said those words, she did clearly communicate her simile, despite the fact that Diana didn't really know enough about vacuums and how sound doesn't travel in them, so she didn't understand the clearly communicated idea. Regardless, Diana understood they had to be quiet. "The waver which shields us from their sight does not shield us from their ears."

"Those monsters have ears?" Diana thought, and was a little surprised when the woman didn't answer the question or tell her to think quietly. She had felt certain the woman was some kind of mind reader in this strange dream Diana was finding herself in.

The woman led her down the street, away from the monster with the gun. As they walked, Diana saw that there were more of them, and they were rolling over the bodies. They each pointed their rifle at the faces of the fallen, and a red glow appear on their faces, then the monsters walked on. She felt certain they were looking for someone, and more certain they were looking for her, though she had no idea why. She wasn't usually paranoid. She couldn't think fo the last time she thought someone was out to get her, other than her brother, that is.

Her brother... What had become of him? Diana turned to look, but the woman held her arm fast and forced her along.

"We go this way," the woman didn't say.

"But--" Diana tried to say, but the woman's hand was still held fast over her mouth.

"Whatever you want, it is not worth it. They would kill you, and then find me."

"But--" Diana mumbled behind the hand.

"I won't force you to go with me, I won't. If you wish to go back to certain death, then that is your choice. But I will not come back for you. I won't risk my life twice for you. Do you understand? If you try to pull away again, I will let you go to certain death. As soon as you leave my grip, they will be able to see you. They will shoot you again, and paralyze you, and you'll be caught just as if I had never appeared here at all. I only hope I will be able to get away before they realize I was here. You're choice to leave would put me in a very tight situation."

The woman's grip loosened, though she maintained contact with Diana.

Diana had an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness. The woman gave her a choice, but it was no choice at all. If she turned back, she wouldn't be able to help her dad and brother. She would just be in the same predicament as them. If she continued on, then maybe there would be a chance to help them, if they were still alive.

That maybe was why she continued on with the woman.

They walked on, the woman not making any sound as she traveled. Every time Diana's shoes made the slightest squeak or slapped the ground with the smallest noise, the woman didn't say an aggravated word to her.

They walked on for half a mile, before walking into a parking garage. They went up the stairs to the fifth floor, which turned out to be the roof of the building, where there were a few cars parked, as cars did park on the roof of this garage. Apparently the owners wanted to squeeze every possible penny out of the garage, even if the spots they were renting out offered no protection to the weather. They went over to a small motorcycle, with no brand or manufacturer name anywhere on it that Diana could see. It was, however, entirely black. The chair, the body, the handlebars, even the engine and muffler had been painted black. There was also a conspicuous lack of a headlight. It was probably not the safest vehicle to drive at night.