3/3/10

The wet cobblestone sounded beneath her running feet, the rain hitting her face and stinging her skin. Her clothes were soaked to her body, and for a moment, she allowed herself to be angry at her own stupidity. You should have never left the car! she bristled at herself, but that was all she allowed, knowing that she need to save all her energy to run for the time being. Her breath was ragged and painful, and she wanted nothing more than to slow down and rest, but she knew she couldn't. Stopping even for a moment might make it her last.

Her arms were beginning to burn. She glanced down briefly at them to see an angry red seeping through her sweater. She knew she needed to get to Ratchet as soon as she could; she'd probably need stitches.

Rounding the last corner to the Department of Health and Human Resources, she ran towards the building. The guards at the front gate, seeing her running towards the structure, started to walk outside of their posts and into the rain, guns drawn. She didn't care so much about their weapons as she continued in their direction, however. At least if she got shot it would be on NEST property.

"Miss, miss!" the one guard halted her, making her stop suddenly in front of them. Looking at their faces, she found she didn't recognize either of the two guards. Joseph and Benson must have changed shifts already. "You can't come in here. This is private property."

"Please," she begged, tears streaming down her face along with the rain. Now that she had stopped running, pain was coursing through her entire body, and it made her borderline hysterical. "Please, I need to get through. I need help-"

"Ma'am," the other guard stated sternly. "You cannot come through. This is not a hospital-"

"I know that, god dammit!" she then yelled out of frustration, the combination of pain and exhaustion making her snap. "Please let me through!" she cried out, falling to her knees and onto the hard ground beneath her feet. "I work here. My name is Alise Brown. I've just been attacked."