Tina Murphy stops to catch her breath
In the shadows of a filthy city alley.
Rain runs down the walls,
Carrying oil,
Blood,
And everything else
Central City leaves behind.
She presses herself against the bricks,
Listening.
Nothing.
For a moment.
Then,
Bzzzzzzzz.
Her eyes widen.
No.
Not again.
She has been running
For nearly an hour.
Always the same sound.
Always getting closer.
A mechanical hum,
A faint metallic whine,
The unmistakable sound
Of something hunting.
She looks behind her.
The alley is empty.
Then a shadow moves
Across the wall.
Tina recoils.
“It found me.”
Her breath catches.
“Run.”
She bolts.
Down the alley,
Past overflowing bins,
Broken machinery,
Discarded cables.
A trash can topples
Behind her.
She doesn’t look back.
The buzzing follows.
Closer.
Louder.
Bzzzzzzzz.
Her shoes splash
Through filthy water.
Rain beats against her face.
Her thoughts race faster
Than her feet.
Keep running.
Keep running.
Don’t let it catch you.
She bursts from the alley
Onto a crowded street.
Central City.
Three in the morning.
Neon burns everywhere.
Pink.
Blue.
Green.
A thousand signs
Reflecting from wet pavement.
BODFAB’d humans
Move through the streets,
Faces illuminated
By artificial light.
Tina pushes between them.
“It’s coming!”
Nobody responds.
“My God, it’s right behind me!”
She looks back.
Nothing.
Then,
Bzzzzzzzz.
There.
Behind her.
She screams.
“RUN!”
People turn.
They stare.
Nobody moves.
Why aren’t they moving?
Why won’t anyone help her?
The sound grows louder.
She runs harder.
Across the street.
Through a narrow park.
Into the bushes.
She crouches beneath
A dripping tree,
Hands over her mouth,
Trying to silence her breathing.
For several seconds,
Nothing.
Silence.
Her heart pounds.
Perhaps it has gone.
Perhaps,
Bzzzzzzzz.
Her eyes open.
“No.”
She scrambles upright.
“Run.”
Back onto the street.
She is frantic now.
The sound is everywhere.
Behind her.
Beside her.
Inside her head.
She runs blindly.
Ahead,
A major intersection.
The pedestrian signal changes.
A mechanical voice bleats:
DON’T WALK.
She doesn’t stop.
DON’T WALK.
Tina runs.
Tears stream down her face.
“Please!”
She screams at the crowd.
“Someone help me!”
Nobody does.
They simply watch.
She looks behind her.
The buzzing.
Closer.
Closer.
RUN!
She charges into the intersection.
Hovs scream past her.
One misses.
Another.
Another.
Then,
Impact.
Her body is thrown
Across the intersection.
She crashes through
The glass of a bus shelter,
Shattering it around her.
She hits the concrete
And does not move.
Rain falls.
Blood runs
From her mouth.
Her body lies twisted
Among broken glass.
People gather and stare.
Tina opens her eyes.
Barely.
She sees them.
Sees their faces.
“Run…”
The word comes out
As a bloody whisper
Nobody understands.
Or perhaps,
Nobody believes her.
The buzzing continues.
Then stops.
Suddenly,
Completely.
Silence.
Tina’s eyes close.
The life leaves her body.
The police report will later record:
Cause of death: Pedestrian collision.
No machine was found.
No hunting device.
No malfunctioning Sentinel.
No evidence of pursuit.
The witnesses
Saw only a woman
Running.
Screaming.
Looking over her shoulder.
Running from nothing.
Another victim
Of unresolved trauma.
Another mind
Unable to escape
What happened before.
Another nameless body
On the streets of Central City.
Bleeding into a rain-filled gutter.
And yet,
Three blocks away,
An old security camera
Records something strange.
A shadow passes
Across the pavement.
Metallic.
Fast.
Impossible to identify.
The footage ends
Before it reaches the intersection.
INCIDENT CASE FILE
| Case Number: CC-0-77-341A | Location: Grove 0, Central City, Sector 18 Transit District |
| Lead Marshal: Daevor Grimm | Time of Incident: Approximately 03:12 Local Cycle |
| Classification: Fatal Traffic Incident / Psychological Episode | |
| Deceased: Tina Murphy | Status: Closed |
INCIDENT SUMMARY
At approximately 03:12 local cycle, emergency dispatch received multiple reports of a distressed female running through Sector 18 Transit District during heavy rainfall conditions. Witnesses described the individual as highly agitated, disoriented, and repeatedly shouting warnings regarding an unidentified “machine” pursuing her through nearby alley systems and pedestrian streets. The subject, later identified as Tina Murphy, entered a major hov intersection against active crossing warnings and was struck by a commercial transport hov traveling eastbound. Impact velocity resulted in catastrophic bodily trauma. Death occurred at scene.
No hostile machine, drone, autonomous hunter unit, or
mechanical pursuer was located by responding Marshals
or city surveillance review.
RECOVERED ONLOOKER STATEMENT
Witness ID: C-1182
Occupation: Street Vendor, Sector 18 Night Market
I saw her come out of one of the back alleys near the transit blocks. She looked terrified. Completely soaked from the rain, stumbling and screaming like something was after her.
At first people thought it was chem abuse or another breakdown. Happens every night in Central. But she kept yelling about some machine hunting her. Said it was buzzing behind her. She kept looking over her shoulder while trying to push through the crowd. Nearly knocked over a couple workers near my stall.
I remember her eyes most. Wide open. Pure panic. She ran across Mercer Walk toward the park strip, disappeared for maybe half a minute, then came back out screaming even louder. The crossing signal was saying ‘DON’T WALK’ over and over. She ignored it. She just ran straight into the intersection. Most hovs swerved around her. One didn’t.
Hit her hard enough to throw her through the transit shelter glass. People froze after that. I heard her trying to breathe. Blood everywhere mixing with the rainwater. She kept whispering ‘run’. Then she stopped moving.
There wasn’t anything chasing her. Nothing except whatever was already inside her head.”
MARSHAL INVESTIGATION NOTES
Surveillance confirms no active pursuit units in vicinity. Audio enhancement detected no secondary mechanical source beyond surrounding city infrastructure. Subject displayed symptoms consistent with severe trauma-induced paranoia and prolonged psychological instability.
Medical archives indicate prior undocumented exposure to industrial conflict zones near outer freight sectors. Toxicology is positive for major narcotics common within Grove 0 syndicate circulation.
Cause of death officially recorded as: Massive internal trauma and exsanguination following vehicular collision.
SCENE OBSERVATIONS
- Heavy acid rain contamination is present.
- Bus shelter glass embedded throughout impact zone.
- Significant civilian apathy observed during pursuit sequence.
- Crowd response minimal until post-collision fatality.
- Blood runoff entered drainage channels beneath Sector 18 transit lane.
CLOSING NOTES
Filed by Marshal Daevor Grimm.
“Central City teaches people to ignore screaming. Too much noise, too many addicts, too many ghosts wandering neon streets at night. People stop looking after a while. Maybe Ms. Murphy really heard something chasing her. Maybe trauma builds its own machines in the dark corners of the mind. Either way, by the time she reached that intersection, the city had already abandoned her. Another body washed into a gutter. Another name was forgotten before sunrise. Case closed.”