Shuffle. Step. Drag. Shuffle. Step. Drag. Something was slowly dragging its way down the hallway. Shuffle. Step. Drag. Shuffle. Step. Drag. Amber pressed herself against the farthest wall of her dark hospital room, empty because the flimsy bed and desk were pushed against the locked door. All there was between her and the empty street below was the thin glass. Shuffle. Step. Drag. Shuffle. Step. Drag. The moon was only a thin crescent and gave off only a feeble white light. The street lights were too far below to make a difference. Shuffle. Step. Drag. Shuffle. Ste-Stop. The orange emergency lighting that had come on a while ago after the outage was blocked by an inhuman shape. Amber held her breath. The creature beyond moved on. Amber let out a sigh of relief. She slowly got up, her hospital gown torn from the time that she had thrown herself out of bed when she had heard the first scream. Groping for her clothes in the meager orange light that filtered through the translucent glass of the door, she tried to make the least noise possible. Amber rose to her feet slowly, picking up her backpack and putting it on her back.
Thank the heavens that the doctors had kept the backpack next to her after she had fallen off her bike! She had been biking one fine day when a car had come speeding around the corner. She made it to the other side of the street in time, but, as she tried to brake, her bike slipped from under her and she fell into the ditch on the side of the road. An object in motion tends to stay in motion, so she slid to a stop and scraped her leg horribly. The woman in the car, her neighbor, had called Amber’s mom. Amber was taken to the hospital, bleeding like crazy. It was only a deep cut, and no bones were broken. But now, just two days before she was to be released, the power had been cut, and some kind of infection or something had slowly taken over the hospital.
Amber quietly padded toward the door. Grunting, she lifted the bed and pushed away the desk. She peered through the glass in the door. Nothing. All clear. She pushed down on the chrome handle, and it clicked, unlocking. The door screeched loudly as it opened, and Amber froze in fear. Still, nothing. Quietly, she stepped into the harsh light of the hallway. Still nothing. What to do? This was a survival situation, something Amber did know about. Trent would have known. Or her brother. But they were safe at home. I should find a doctor, she thought to herself.
Spying the telephone on the wall, she limped over and picked it up. Punching in the numbers of the front desk, she waited for someone, anyone to pick up. Nope. Amber began to cry, her tears cutting through her makeup. She had been expecting guests. And they did not come. She limped down the hallway, whimpering in pain. If they won’t pick up, I’ll go find them! Amber thought to herself, desperate. Elevator! She had found the elevator! She punched the button and waited, but the elevator didn’t come. [then she noticed there was dead man in the levator and she suleaed] Amber quickly slumped
?to the floor in defeat. A thing moaned. Amber’s eyes bugged out in fright, and she fled down the stairs.
! A few floors down, her leg began to sting again. Amber stopped to catch her breath. She was only on floor Fourteen, and she could her something thumping down the few flights of stairs above her.
! Eventually she reached the ground floor. Finally! she thought. She dragged herself down the clean white hallway, her blood soaking through the bandage and smearing the floor with reddish-brown. When she got to the main lobby, it was empty. There was a pure white hospital pen with the institution’s logo on it. Amber picked it up and put in her pocket, subconsciously. Where is everyone??? Amber panicked. The same pressing fear that she had felt one time at the mall when she had lost her mom and dad in the crowd came back, weighing down on her like a boulder. “Hello?” she called out, panic slowly replacing all rationality. There was only silence. “Hello??? Is there anyone here? Anyone?” I’m all alone!!! she sobbed inwardly. “I”M ALL ALONE! OH GOD! AGGHHHH!!!” she kicked the front desk in anger, panic know in full control. Her leg cried out in pain, her eyes frozen wide open. “Owwwwhoohoohoo...” she whimpered. She heaved herself to the big glass door in the front as quickly as possible and hit her hand on the glass. She was about to break it open when she heard the scream.
! It was an inhuman scream. Its bloodcurdling sound rang out across the hallway from the floor above. Amber froze, her breath quickening, and she heard a thump. Shuffle. Step. Drag. Flop. Shuffle. Step. Drag. Flop. Something was making its way down the stairs. Amber was only inches away from escape, but she could not move. Shuffle. Step. Drag. Flop. Shuffle. Stop. Sniff. Step. Drag. Flop. Shuffle, step, drag, flop. Shufflestepdragflop. Shufflestepdragstop. Stepflop. Stepflop. Stflp. It was getting faster. Amber pushed the door. It did not open!!! She threw herself against it in desperation like some trapped animal. It did not give. She could see the creature rounding the corner, its inhuman figure loping toward her. “OPEN!!!” she screamed and threw all her weight on the door. It disintegrated, thousands of crystals cascading down in sheets and she flew blindly through the hole, the ragged edges of the sharp metal casing ripping and dragging on her skin, erasing any chance of ever having herself healed anytime soon. The streets were a warm yellow. She heard the creature scream in agony as it tripped and killed itself on the door. Amber dashed across the street into a store, a Rite Aid (Now open twenty-four hours!), and collapsed on the floor panting and out of breath. The store owner, a Pakistani girl about her age, twenty or so, stared at her curiously, then, realizing she was hurt, rushed over.
! “Are...are...you all right?” the girl’s pale, dark face hovered above Amber’s.
! “Yeah...hospital...dead...just escaped...don’t...know...who’s...left...” Amber’s last thoughts were thinking that she was an animal, a rabbit, something’s prey, like the time on the safari when she had seen a cheetah, full speed, dash after a zebra filly.
?Amber was that filly. But the dark black of unknowing unconsciousness was swarming in on her vision, and Amber’s eyes crossed, the fluorescent bar of light above going double. And the television screen closed out.
! She woke up alone in a daze. The store was dark. She had clean bandages on. She slowly sat up, her injuries screaming in pain. She looked at her phone, glaring harsh bright. It still worked for some reason. It was two in the morning. Wasn’t this store supposed to be open twenty four hours? she wondered vaguely. The street lights were off. It was dark. I should text my parents. Where is that girl that helped me? She slowly crawled to her feet. There was a jar of painkillers next to her. After taking one, she slowly dragged herself around the store, looking for the girl. Not here. Her phone buzzed. Why are they still awake? She took it out, stared at it, taking a while to comprehend, then responded. She sat down again and waited. Her vision blurred.
! She woke up alone in a daze. The store was lighter. It was dawn. She slowly sat up, her injuries screaming in pain, though not as much as the night before. She looked at her phone. It was six in the morning. Where is that girl??? Two plus six is eight. She took the jar of painkillers and stuffed them in her backpack. She slowly crawled to her feet. She dragged herself about the store and took a bottle of water from the fridge in the back. She hobbled out into the street. The store’s alarm did not go off. Why... There was a fine litter of glass in the street. The lights were still not on. There was only one pigeon on the lights above, a black pigeon, dull bird eyes glittering madly. The rest were littered with crows. They watched her with beady eyes, the same glitter in their eyes, as she limped toward the hospital. Where is everyone? A deep sickening fear began to twist a knot inside Amber’s stomach. She was at the mall. No one was there but strangers. She was in the street. No one was there but herself. She turned on her phone. It had twenty percent battery power left. She called her parents. They did not answer. They did not answer. They did not answer. Amber’s vision blurred.
! She woke up in the store, something pressing against her in her back pocket. The pen. Amber, slowly so as not to fire off any pains, rolled herself over and pulled out the writing device. She stuffed it into her backpack and sat up. It was dark outside. Once again, her bandages were fresh. She looked at her phone. It was four in the morning. A bottle was missing from the fridge in the back.
! “You’re awake!” an overexcited voice exclaimed. Amber twitched, frightened. The painkillers were on the floor where she had last seen them before she had moved. The face of the girl of the store hovered in front of her. "My name is Inaya. Who are you? Why are you here? What happened? I helped you, see? I couldn't call the hospital, they never picked up. Do you want something to eat? Did you take a painkiller? I think you did." She took a deep breath, exhaled. "I turned off the lights to let you sleep. I should have moved you to the back of the store, but I was tired and couldn't think. Because the lights were off, I didn't think you'd be bothered. Are you okay? Do you need anything?"
?! Amber put up a hand, annoyed. "I've...had a...long night. I...need...water. And... peace and quite...but...I need...human comfort. I guess...I'll start by telling you...what happened. I'm...still in shock...My phone...needs charging..." She gasped suddenly, then shook her head. "I'm...okay. Don't...worry." She began her story.
! Dawn break. Amber’s clothes were ruined, clothes that she had bought from Abercrombie with her own money, clothes that let her fit in and be like her friends. A fridge tap-tapped as it clicked, cooling. Amber’s fear was still inside of her, a little seedling vying for expansion. She jumped at the slightest whisker drop. Like the time she was at a campfire and her brother was telling her ghost stories. How the shadows morphed into night, into menacing things. The dark black of the unlighted cashier’s stand seemed to watch Amber, as did the huge poster on the back wall with the picture of one of her favorite pop stars selling Pepsi. Eyes that followed.
! “Try calling your parents again,” the Pakistani girl suggested once more, causing Amber to start in fright. Inaya got up, unplugged the phone from the wall. “Here.” Amber took the device, its solidity comforting her, and she called her parents. They picked up.
! “He...hello? This is Amber,” Amber rasped.
! “Oh, Amber! It’s six in the morning, dear! Well, we’re so sorry we couldn’t come yesterday! We’ll try coming tomorrow for your ‘big release’ celebration, though!” her mother’s voice squeaked gleefully on the other end. Her mom was always happy, even in the early morning hours.
! “N...no, Mom. I...” Amber sighed, “The hospital...the hospital...was overrun by something. I...I don’t know, Mom! There were all these horrible monsters and they... they screamed and they were gonna’ kill me!!!” Amber sobbed.
! “Dear, it’s early in the morning. You probably had a nightmare. Where are you now? Are the nurses treating you well?”
! “No!!! That’s just it!!! I escaped from the hospital!!! I’m at the Rite Aid down the street! A girl about my age helped me, but, Momma, I don’t know what to do! I’m scared!” Amber whined. “Can you help me? Please? Please! Please!!! MOMMA!!!”
! “She hung up on me! My own mom hung up on me! Can you believe that?” Amber sniffed in disbelief.
! “Uhhhhhhhh.......Oooh! Oooh! You can drive home! Do you know how to drive? I do! Why did your mom hang up? Your mom is supposed to help you!” The girl took a deep breath. “WHAT IS THAT???” She pointed, her finger trembling, at the window. The morning light was blocked by an inhuman shape.
! “It’s...it’s one of those monsters! Get to the back of the shop, now,” Amber ordered, her voice wavering in fear. The creature screamed.
?! They were in the car. Amber’s leg was being bothersome again.
! “Where are we going to go?” Amber asked. The streets were busy, packed. Traffic. Amber’s heartbeat quickened in fear. Inaya was flooring the peddle. She swerved around a car, dodging through the traffic. A light turned red, but Inaya flew past it.
! “Slow down! Slow down!” Amber’s eyes where wide with fear, fear because of the speed they were going, fear of a car wreck, traffic, police, what could happen, what could be chasing them, for herself, for Inaya, fear, fear, fear. She was the zebra again.
! “Do I have stripes,” Amber said absentmindly.
! “What? Stripes? Don’t worry,” Inaya’s exotic voice stated simply. “And also, I’m used to racing through traffic. I learned this from my mom who had grown up in our home country where all the people drove crazy. You gotta’ learn these techniques if you want get through this kind of stuff.” She swerved, barely missing a massive truck that was hogging the entire lane. As if that helped.
! “So where are we going? Are we going to my house?” Amber asked, confused, her knuckles white from gripping the car’s inner handles.
! “Yeah. I got your address off your phone. Safety reasons, you know. I didn’t look at anything else, I swear,” Inaya said, not taking her eyes of the road. Amber looked at the speedometer. The car was going a hundred. A cheetah.
! “How can a car like this handle this stuff? It’s just a Prius!” Amber questioned, suddenly realizing the absurdity of the situation.
! “Yes.” That didn’t answer Amber’s question at all. For the rest of the journey out of the city, the two did not talk. Inaya kept her eyes on the road, pushing the little Toyota to the limits. Amber clung to the handle on the door, terrified.
! Twisty turny roads always made Amber sick. She remembered a time when she was a child, and she and her friends were in the car with her family. They were taking a road trip down to the coast, and her dad had decided to take a back road to make more time. The road was a horrible curvy road, not well paved, and Amber had to spend the integrity of the ride with her head out the window like a dog. Now, she and Inaya were hurtling down a twisted back country road not at sixty, the speed limit, but a hundred, with a Prius. And she was hungry.
! “Please slow down!!! I’m dying here! Where are we even going???” Amber whined.
! “No. So? Home. Back roads are good shortcuts. Let me drive!” Inaya huffed.
?Amber cringed. She remembered that curvy road trip, and how it took longer to get to the beach than by freeway. Back roads were not good shortcuts. Especially for zebras.
! By the time the two got to Amber’s house, after hurtling down the unpaved road to her home, the daylight was long gone. The porch lights were on, giving off their warm glow. The grass was clean and swaying gently in the warm summer night breeze. The crickets, scattered about, and the cicadas in the trees above were all singing. Fireflies, their butts glowing yellow, were blinking on and off. All seemed at peace, and for once in the twenty-four hours that Amber had been stumbling about, she felt like Amber again. But something was wrong. The porch door was left open, and Amber’s mother always made sure to keep it closed, especially if the car was in the carport. And the car was in the carport.
! “Uh, thanks, I guess,” Amber finally said. “I guess you should go back to your store.”
! “But are you sure you are safe here?” Inaya asked. “No, you’re not. Here’s my phone number if you need me. You know what? How about I stay parked here in front of your house while you go check what’s going on. Okay? Okay. Go.”
! Amber cautiously headed toward the house, the pain killers having taking care of her injuries’ pain for the moment, but then, the longing for home took over, the zebra faded away, and she burst into the house with as much noise and courage as she could muster, “I’M HOME!!!” No one answered. The lights on Inaya’s Prius cut out, and the hallway was plunged in darkness. When Amber turned on her phone to light her way, her eyes caught sight of the message unread that her parents had sent two hours ago.
! Amber, we’ve gone to the store. We’ll be back home in an hour. If the front door is open, do not go inside the house. Remain as quite as possible. If you venture out to close the door, or even go on the lawn, you may be risking your life.
Amber’s eyes widened in fear as she heard a faint scratching noise in front of her. The zebra was back, more panicked than ever. Back out quietly, and you’ll be just fine. And that’s what she did. As she got to the porch, she saw two paws with long sharp claws, stained with red. Two wicked eyes peered out at her. Amber screamed, and slammed the door hard, catching whatever was in there’s nose in the door. It twitched, as if sniffing her out, then slipped back inside, and the door slammed and locked. Amber fled toward the car, fled across the dark pressing night of the savannah, but Inaya and her vehicle were gone. Amber’s heartbeat quickened in fear. She spun around, looking for her friend, but couldn’t find her. Amber was home, but not home. The beams of a set of headlights cut across the lawn, bright and clear, catching Amber like a deer in high beams, a zebra found by a poaching party. She began to run, but she tripped over something and fell. Everything went black and white.
?! Amber woke up in a dark room with a white ceiling. Somehow, her leg had healed. She turned over in the bed that she was in, and she realized that she was in her own room, home. Amber stumbled out into the hallway, her bedroom door sliding automatically into the wall to let her pass. Amber had stripes.
! The hallway was dark. Something whirred, clicking in her direction. Though slightly disturbed, Amber ignored the sounds.
! Into the entryway to her house she stumbled. The lights went on automatically, and the whirring thing remained in the shadows. Amber put out her hand, and the front door unlocked and swung open. She then preceded out onto the lawn.
! “Mom?” Amber cried out. The woman next to her mom’s car turned in her direction, pausing in her conversation with a young Pakistani girl who looked vaguely familiar. Amber’s uncertainty quickened. “Are you my mom?”
! “Amber dear, what are you doing here? You should be at the hospital. Your release time isn’t ‘till five’o’clock tonight,” Amber’s mom explained worriedly. “Did you go inside the house? I told you not to. Oh, but the door is closed. Let’s go inside then.” Amber’s mom led her inside. The door shut and locked. Something pounced from the blackness.
! Amber woke up in a bright room with a blue ceiling. Somehow, her injuries had healed. She turned over in her bed, staring at the door. Dawn light, birdsong, and morning dew were pouring in from the open window. Amber stumbled out into the hallway, her bedroom door sliding automatically into the wall to let her pass. Something about a zebra... Wait, what zebra?
! The hallway, as usual, was dark. Something whirred, clicking in her direction. Amber smiled.
! Into the kitchen she stumbled. No one. The whirring thing shied from the light. Amber put out her hand in front of her, and the back door unlocked and swung open.
! Bare feet, tickled by the grass, padded out into the morning dew. The sunlight blended her skin into a smooth apricot, the proper color of a human being, top of the line predator. Amber swerved, turning toward her gravelly driveway. The carport next to her house held a red car, her mom’s car. Its lights flashed in greeting. Amber smiled.
! Testing her voice, Amber called out to the machine, “Okay Nissan, where is my mom?”
! The car’s front windshield sparked to life, lighting up in an ambient pink color, showing a map. An arrow bounced above a dot labeled Mom, who was out in the front
?yard. “Thank you!” The map turned off. Grimacing, Amber darted across the sharp gravel, like a native hunting, gingerly padding toward the front lawn like a native stalking.
! The cool grass was a relief to her sore soles. Sure enough, as the car had told, Amber’s mom was out in the front yard. Amber grinned, breaking into a run. Amber’s mom saw her and waved her over.
! “Mom! Oh, Mom! Am I so happy to see you right now! I’m sorry I went inside the house without reading your text message. And the door was open. I...there was something at the hospital today, yesterday. Something evil. I don’t know what it was Mom! I don’t know!!!” Amber burst out. Her brother, her dad, and Trent were all around the table, playing a digital version of Risk. A familiar Pakistani girl was playing with one of the neighbor’s garbage kittens. Trent smiled at Amber, who smiled shyly back. A twinkle of light in the corner of Amber’s eye broke the two’s gaze, and Amber saw her dad’s car pull into the driveway without a driver. She stared.
! “Do you like our new car? He just came back from a neighborhood drive to recharge his batteries.” Amber’s dad explained, seeing Amber’s surprised look. “We went to the store to choose one to pick you up from the hospital with. It was meant as a surprise. But...you know. Something happened. I heard that the main power system at the hospital went out because of a storm, and some people were caught in a fire. However, there is a good thing; your mom and I do have something inside for you, if you haven’t found it already. Living in a cheap house in the middle of nowhere does pay off. Come inside. Oh, and this is Inaya. She supposedly helped you.”
! “Hi again!” Inaya exclaimed.
Amber, her mom, her dad, her brother, Trent, and Inaya were all on the porch.
! “Let me show you what I got!” Amber’s mom said excitedly. “These were all meant as coming home gifts.” She unlocked the door which opened to a dark empty hallway. Something began to click its way forward. As soon as Amber thought a happy thought, thousands of worries began to replace it. I’m a zebra.What if the clicker is an awful thing? What if it is something that can get me, like at the hospital? Could this whatever-it-is be a monster like the one last night? Is this a dream, a nightmare, or reality? Something whirred, the lights in the hall clicked on. There stood a dog, a white dog, happy as could be. His claws were made of copper. The little puppy pounced on Amber, sniffing her, happier than ever to find a new friend, licking away anything equine about Amber. A shiver of relief passed through Amber, and she felt as if a huge weight had been pulled off her shoulders. A wide smile spread across her face.
! “Mom! You didn’t have to! How did you know I wanted a liberty dog? And this exact color too. You even got the aqua eye color correct! Thank you so much!” Amber exclaimed overenthusiastically, coddling the android.
! “It was Trent’s idea. He knows a lot about you, surprisingly,” Amber’s mom explained. Amber looked over to her best friend. He smiled sheepishly at her.
! “You’re welcome,” he mumbled. Amber grinned.
! “Come to the kitchen, I’ve got something!” Amber’s dad interrupted. He skipped off, the liberty dog at his heels. Inaya smiled despite herself.
The six were in the kitchen, all piled around the table. The summer sky was dark, and the crickets were chirping. A warm breeze filtered in through the window. Amber’s dad’s homemade cake was on the table, striped black and white, half eaten, but not forgotten.
! “So who’s this?” Amber’s brother asked.
! “Inaya. She helped me out a whole lot.”
! “Yes. I did. And you know what? You have a much better hospital much closer to home than in the city. Amber got scared by your dog. Where did you get the car? I’ve been looking for one of those self-driving engines, though I’m fine with my high speed Prius. I hope the city doesn’t go in lockdown or something. Is there really no other grocery store or anything nearby? Shouldn’t Amber have her own house? Or is it summer break? Or is she still in high school? She’s still in high school. I’m sorry for all the questions and all the saying things, but I am very pleased to meet all of you. Thank you for accepting me,” Inaya burst, quite excited for being accepted, for not being trodden on like all the wealthy white Americans usually did to her.
! “Welcome to our little family then,” Amber’s mother said. “Here, we accept everyone and everything, from the smallest of bees to largest of trees, from the weakest of droids, to the most powerful of people. You’re completely welcome to stay!”
All went to bed at peace. All went to bed happy. All went to bed free. Amber’s zebra found her family. And when the sun rose the next day, the birds were singing and all was back to normal. Amber went to school on the next Monday, just fine, and life was good. Inaya, Amber found out, went to the same school as she. The days continued on and on, Amber’s nightmarish experience was forgotten, dismissed as a dream.
! One day, Amber found a pure white hospital pen in her backpack, and she frowned. For some reason, it looked oddly, almost too, familiar.