Sophie Nikolarakos

I can see red, orange, black and bodies. I don’t know how to breathe: wait, no, inhale, exhale. I understand now. They run as if it is nothing. I try to walk forwards. Fear. I lash at the door. Another metal monster with melting wheels zooms past, but is crushed by more falling rubble. More fear. Finally, I make it to the edge of my cage. Screams. Anger. Pain. They are leaving us behind. We all failed. More anger. There’s no space. I see no one in a mask, except one of them, who writhes as her skin peels. My buckets of anaesthesia go up in licking flames. The white tiles are black. A chunk of ceiling falls on my cage. With renewed desperation, I force the bars, each a human arm thick, out of my way. I step. And again. The fire merely warms me. When I reach Outside, the horizon is orange. Smoke or sky? Screams or sirens? I glance at my new, scaled arms, my muscled legs. I run my tongue around my mouth. I taste blood. My heart spikes. Fear… or fury? I stumble through rubble. I want blood. I want meat. I want… Revenge.