I started awake, limbs flailing and drawing a cry from a soft object that I struck. I scrambled back as Crawler's hideous mass lumbered out of the dark corridor to--

  “Lia!” The shout was accompanied by a rough shake. “Hey, wake up!” I opened my eyes and saw Amy glowering at me.

  “Sorry,” I panted heavily, pulling away from her. “B-bad dream.” She stared a me for a moment.

  “No kidding,” she muttered, rubbing her cheek. “We should go, sun's already up.”

  “Wait, what?” I scrambled to my feet and grabbed my bag. “You shouldn't have let me sleep that long.”

  “I fell asleep, okay?” she snapped. “I'm sorry.” I stared blankly, then sighed.

  “Let's go.”

  Amy fell in behind me without another word, and I led us out of the half-shattered apartment complex we'd sheltered in. Okay, so she was off of nightwatch duties until further notice. I didn't want to make this more difficult and chew her out, that'd just piss us both off, but shit like that couldn't fly with the Nine around.

  The sun was beating down, making me sweat already, and I sure as hell wasn't looking forward to today. I still couldn't go around in my costume like a twit, and nothing else I had would cover it. I didn't want to take it off either, because in a city with as many capes as Brockton Bay there was always a chance of running into trouble that I'd need it for.

  But the name of the game today was laying low. I figured we could move a few blocks randomly, then look around for somewhere else to stay. Shelters were a no-go, at least for me. Mannequin hit us near one, and the next tester wouldn't really care if we were inside.

  Who the hell was next? Who came after Mannequin? Whoever it was hadn't appeared to make their test known, but maybe they were waiting for that deadline to run out. In that case, we were waiting for Mannequin to come back and check on us, probably. If it took him a little while longer...oh who was I kidding, he had a living radar on call. Still, there was a chance Cherish was busy with her own shit, or even at the bottom of the bay for all I knew.

  I stared up at the few, scattered clouds above. No answers there, but it was a break from the destroyed streets of my home. Why the fuck couldn't I remember this stuff? Going through it was going to give me fucking nightmares and I knew I wasn't even living the worst of it. Brian was--

  A stifled, terrified gasp snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked at Amy, who was staring down the road, eyes wide as they'd ever been. She looked okay, no injuries, nothing besides the expression of pure animal fear. I followed her gaze and my knees nearly gave out.

  The Siberian.

  She stood at a four-way junction ahead of us, hair waving far more gently than the wind coming off the water would have blown it. My heart rate tripled as she began slowly, languidly walking towards us. Some insane part of my brain thought it was a beautiful sight, the more rational part demanded I flee, but my legs had frozen.

  Like that, she was there, towering over us. Holy shit she was naked. The zebra pattern did nothing to hide that, but she seemed to flaunt it. I knew she was just a projection, not a real person, but right there it felt like it; a cocksure confidence in power that couldn't be faked. The Siberian slowly raised her arm and pointed back the way we'd come, then bared her teeth in a vicious grin. I got the message and grabbed Amy's hand.

  “Run!”

  “Wait!” Amy panted from somewhere behind me. “Lia-- fuck.” I paused and turned.

  “We need to keep going,” I said, words coming out between rapid breaths. “She could pick up the pace any second.”

  “I need a sec,” she huffed, leaning against a pillar. “Can't run. Hurts.” I frowned and came over to her.

  “Where?” She pointed to a place just below her ribs. “Okay. One sec.” I raised two fingers and, before she could protest, pressed them into her side.

  “Fuck, ow!” Amy flinched and pulled away. “What the fuck?”

  “Hold still,” I snapped. “Steady pressure, it'll loosen it. You just have to cope for like, ten seconds.” She stared at me, then glanced at my fingers.

  “Fine.”

  With that, I pressed on her side again. I could actually feel where her muscles were cramping, interestingly, and pushed down on the little knot. Amy let out a quiet whimper, but stayed mostly still, just fidgeting in place. It was a little longer than the promised ten seconds, but soon I heard her sigh as the muscles loosened around my fingers. I pulled away.

  “Come on,” I barked. “We've wasted too much time as is.”

  Amy nodded and we continued running through the abandoned business plaza. The Siberian had been following at a languid pace, and before long we'd lost her in the twisted streets. I didn't stop trying to evade though. Rather than sticking to the outdoors, I took us through buildings, down alleys, even through some peoples' backyards. Unpredictable, that was the goal.

  It didn't matter, again, if we were being traced by Cherish. But the Siberian was nowhere to be seen as we exited the plaza and took up the road again. I slowed our pace to a more manageable jog, rather than the panicked sprint we'd maintained for far too long. I wasn't doing well, my eyes stinging with sweat, lungs burning from effort. Amy was worse off though, not used to constant exertion like this.

  It was a good thing she'd fallen asleep, in hindsight. With the Siberian on our asses, we weren't getting a moment of rest until... Well, I didn't know exactly how long, but it was going to be a long, tired, hungry foreseeable future. But with our head start, I was hopeful we--

  A scream made me whirl around, as pieces of concrete struck my projection. The wall of a building we'd been walking past had suddenly yielded, exploded really. As the dust settled, my heart sank at the sight.

  The Siberian had Amy by the wrist, holding her up off the ground by it. She licked her lips, glowing yellow eyes flicking to me briefly before focusing on Amy's hand. Slowly, delicately, she opened her mouth and leaned forward until she was over the little finger. Then her jaws snapped shut and Amy screamed.

  That finally startled me out of my idiot stupor. I charged in, unthinking, and grabbed the Siberian's wrist. She let go of Amy, who collapsed to the ground with a muffled cry. The Siberian tried to move, I felt her, but I held as still as I could. Her other hand reached out and snagged my other wrist, pulling at it. I resisted, fought, growled as my right arm was painfully dragged against my mind screaming at my power to stop her.

  Her teeth closed around my little finger, and I shrieked as I felt the points dig into my projection. It wasn't quick, not like with Amy. The pressure grew stronger and stronger, the pain more intense. The Siberian held me firmly as I thrashed against her, kicking and screaming, anything to get away from the agony around my little finger. With a sound like shattering glass and a pain like a railroad spike through my prefrontal cortex, my projection and finger finally gave way.

  I shrieked as she dropped me to the ground, scrambling away from her, my heart pounding as I began to shiver violently. Shit, shock. I forced myself to take steady breaths, even though it was more effort than is was worth for the results. I managed to compose myself long enough to stand and hook my arms under Amy. She thrashed for a moment, til I managed to get her on her feet, then stared stupidly at the Siberian. The monster took on step forward, and that was enough for me.

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  I grabbed Amy's uninjured hand and started pulling her away. She stumbled into a clumsy run, gripping me tightly. I didn't look back, focusing on where we could run to, trying to avoid thinking about how the Siberian managed to pop my projection with just a little effort; about how I couldn't do anything in return. Standing and fighting was out, all we could do was run.

  So we did.

  “No, no, no, no!” Amy screamed and writhed.

  I had my good hand locked around the Siberian's wrist, and my injured one around her hair. It hurt like nothing else, but I had to at least try and stop her. Even with my projection back, my efforts were fruitless. With no change in expression, the Siberian almost contemptuously wrapped her lips around Amy's ring finger. The errant healer shrieked and jerked, and like that collapsed to the ground as the Siberian dropped her.

  Her hand grabbed my wrist, buried in her monochrome locks. She pulled and I fought viciously, grip tight around her hair. It slipped through my fingers as she dragged my hand out, drawing a groan of pain. Sweat stung my eyes as she slowly pulled my hand to her mouth and began worrying at my ring finger. It took an agonizingly long time, but I was treated to the stabbed-forehead-bitten-finger pain once more, and dropped to the ground below.

  I gagged, but managed to hold back my rising bile. Good thing too, since I didn't have the capacity to pull down my mask. I forced myself up again and helped Amy to her feet, then led the way as we bolted.

  Adrenaline was the only thing keeping us going at this point. I didn't know how long the Siberian had been chasing us, but knew it wasn't going to end soon. I'd shed my sweats a while ago, opting for my much lighter, more breathable costume. It didn't help defend me against the Siberian, didn't help me run any faster, but at least I wasn't overheating quite as bad as before.

  “Fuck,” Amy swore as she stumbled over a manhole that had been knocked ajar at some point. “Fuck! L-- Amaranth wait!”

  “No time,” I barked, whirling and reaching out. “Get up.”

  “I. Can't.”

  “You can,” I countered, my gaze rising. In the distance, I could see the Siberian slowly stalking towards us. “Come on Amy, get up.”

  “Losing blood,” she complained, panting heavily, shoulders trembling. “Hurts, everything hurts.”

  “I know,” I said, grimacing. I hadn't had time to cut my hoodie up into bandages when I'd abandoned it, so we were screwed there. “I...it doesn't matter, we have to keep going. Won't lose much from your fingertips.”

  “It'll matter soon,” she mumbled as I finally managed to drag her to her feet. “Can't stop the bleeding, coagulation is slow, it'll get us.”

  “Then stop it,” I snapped, pulling her into a clumsy half-jog half-limp. “I know your powers don't work on you but...I don't know, make something that does.”

  She pursed her lips and went silent. I ignored her, focused on getting us back up to a reasonable pace and trying to take the path of least resistance. The Siberian had found us, could easily do it again, that meant the only chance we had was putting as much distance between her and us as we could. She didn't seem to be able to teleport to us, at least, instead making tremendous leaps and bounds that closed distance far too quickly.

  I tried to pay attention to when the Siberian did that, changing direction the moment she was airborne. It stopped her from landing on us if nothing else. Amy was more like an anchor being dragged than a participant in the chase, slowing me down, but was probably doing better than on her own. At least, I hoped so. We briefly lost sight of the Siberian and slowed slight, trying to catch out breath from the headlong sprint away.

  “Shit,” Amy swore, staring at her trembling, injured hand. The blood, I noticed, wasn't flowing from it as freely.

  “You figured something out?” She nodded, looking utterly terrified. “Nice, means you won't bleed to death.”

  “I-- I shouldn't have--”

  “What'd you do?” She snapped her mouth shut as we jogged on. I kept glancing over my shoulder, occasionally catching sight of our purser as she leaped a house.

  “Lots of bacteria on my skin,” Amy muttered at last. “Made some breed faster and produce something like platelets.”

  “Smart,” I replied shortly.

  “Dangerous,” she countered.

  “Only if you make it so. So don't.” Amy grimaced, but nodded.

  We turned down another road and I forced us to pick up the pace as the Siberian burst out of a building behind us. I thought we'd lost her, but fucking no, of course not. We weaved between piles of debris, and I nearly fell over when the Siberian suddenly landed on top of one. I dragged Amy down a side street between two buildings, the sound of my hammering heart deafening me.

  The Siberian was herding us in a nauseatingly familiar direction. We were circling the Crater Lake, approximately, and random glimpses of it kept distracting me. With a muffled growl, I pulled Amy down another street, trying to get away from the downtown. We'd barely gone two blocks before she was on us again, tearing her way out of a small apartment complex just ahead of us. I jerked Amy to run back the way we came, then stopped myself as she cried out.

  Looking back, I saw the Siberian had Amy by the wrist. I let her go and she slumped in the naked woman's grasp. I gritted my teeth and threw myself at her, grabbing her arm with both hands and trying to force her to let Amy go. Like before, it was a fruitless effort, and the Siberian's teeth neatly snipped the last third of Amy's middle finger off.

  Amy screamed and jerked back, falling and flailing as the Siberian let her go and turned her attention to me. I let go and skipped back, stumbling to a stop a few feet away. I raised my fists, one bloody one fine, and grit my teeth. A tickling on my back made me flinch, just as the Siberian leaped. I barely dodge the lazy swipe, then another quicker one.

  As I stepped back to dodge the next, my ankle twisted sharply on a piece of loose debris. I cried out at the sudden, sharp pain, then again as the Siberian caught my wrist as I fell. As she gnawed at my middle finger, I drew my knife with my free hand and screamed, stabbing her over and over. I knew it wouldn't do anything but I was panicked, flailing, trying to do anything.

  Glass shattered in my ears and I was dropped to the ground, shivering. I had to get up, had to get up and keep moving. I was so tired, couldn't hear anything but my panting breath and pounding heart. A tickling was rubbing itself all across my skin, skittering legs. I rolled over and scrabbled back on the asphalt, swatting at a thick cloud of bugs that had gathered. My shoulders sagged with relief and adrenaline surged as I shakily got to my feet, realizing what that meant.

  Backup had arrived.

  The Siberian stood still, staring at me through the thickening cloud of bugs, waiting for me to start running. I didn't want to, but I turned my head and saw Amy flailing against the bugs around her. Dumbass. I dashed over and grabbed her hand. She fought viciously until she realized I wasn't about to bite her finger off, then stared up at me fearfully.

  “Stop fucking with her bugs.” I didn't know if she was, but I wanted to preempt any stupid bullshit that would make it harder to survive.

  “What do you know--”

  “Amy,” I snapped and she lowered her gaze. “It's a smokescreen, let her do it.” Amy frowned, but balled her hands into fists and lowered the one I wasn't gripping. I sighed and let her go. “Thank you, now come on.”

  We began running back down the street as the Siberian played with her hair. It wasn't long before the swarm covered us, and as soon as we were out of sight I dragged us hard to the left. Around us, humanoid shapes of bugs gathered, then scattered to the four winds away from us. I heard a loud crash behind us, turned, and swore. I shoved Amy to one side and stood stock still as half of a truck careened off my forehead and fell to the ground.

  If I hadn't been sweating out every drop of water my body had within all day, I'd have pissed myself. As it was, I barely managed to not fall over. An explosion made me flinch, brought me back to reality. I cast my eyes up and narrowed them. Not far at all, on top of a squat office building, I saw a molasses-thick cloud of pure black leaking down it. What the fuck game were they playing, being that far? They couldn't fucking help.

  Amy's hand gripped mine, and I glanced back, seeing her looking as scared as ever. I sighed. Well, if they wouldn't help... The black cloud was advancing towards us and I dragged Amy towards it. We would be blind and deaf, but hopefully the Siberian would be too. As I started walking, a wall of bugs suddenly formed in front of us, an arrow pointing us down a sidestreet. I hesitated, but decided it was better to follow the people with enough distance to come up with a plan beyond 'run like the dickens'.

  We ran, sprinted really as another blast echoed behind us. Clouds of heavy looking, low hanging darkness dogged our heels and began to gradually overtake us as we entered an abandoned mall. I let go of Amy's hand and slowed my pace, giving us each a second to catch our breath. Presumably, the Undersiders were distracting the Siberian, but we should probably still be moving.

  I felt a quintet of sudden pressure points from my uninjured left hand, right at the tips of my fingers. Checking it, I found a few black flies resting there. An insistent biting at my pinkie. I glanced to my right and saw a dimly lit emergency sign across the mall. More biting, not making it through my projection fortunately.

  “Let's move,” I said, keeping my voice down just in case.

  Amy raised her head and I pointed. She glanced, then nodded and fell in behind me as we began walking quickly towards the fire exit. My muscles were burning, even our relatively slow pace was giving me trouble. I forced myself to keep moving. Amy was having it worse and, I checked, was still keeping up.

  The world suddenly vanished and I gasped, then swore violently, silently; Grue you fucking idiot. Amy froze, but I tugged insistently on her hand, walking in as straight a line as I could manage towards the last place I saw the sign. There was a slight rumble, not unlike Bitch's dogs' approaching gallop. Were they picking us up? That'd be ideal, but I sure as hell didn't remember that from Worm. Suddenly the darkness cleared, and a swarm of bugs came up in front of us, spelling out a word in all block letters.

  RUN