~??~

  The girl ran out of the alleyways and continued down the cluttered streets

  running past everything that was fighting the dragons

  the remnants of the US Military launched an assault on a draconic platoon that was forcing people to walk down Michigan Avenue

  she avoided going directly into the conflict, sticking to the alleyways

  she skittered to a halt when she saw shadows approaching

  she dived out of the way, backed against a wall, as a group of Lindwurms galloped past her

  She continued onward, leaving the alleyway and into a vacant street

  she stopped and took a gander at a dead soldier who had a wyrm curled around him

  she steps closer, curious about it, like something in her wanted her to look at it

  ”I should go,” she mutters but her legs don’t comply

  The wyrm’s wings were torn, ripped

  around the wyrm’s body, below the adomem, was a glowing ring device

  ”must be its weapon,” she thought, but then she saw the glowing handcuffs around its neck

  the wyrm was handcuffed to the soldier

  “Why were you...”

  Stolen story; please report.

  the wyrm spontaneously coughs—she steps back

  ”you here, to finish me off?” It asks her, it’s voice in her head but it’s mouth not moving

  ”no.”

  ”good.”

  the wyrm coughs again, purple blood spilling out

  the frills atop its head and its tail twitch from the pain

  ”take his dog tags, and take my weapon. I couldn’t ...protect us...”

  the wyrm lowers its head, resting it beside the soldier’s

  it closes it’s eyes, and upon death, the weapon around its body deactivates

  it retracts into a cube

  The girl does as she is told, taking the cube and the soldier’s dog tags

  she takes one last look at them and—

  snap

  she took a picture with her phone

  “If the internet comes back, I’ll share your story. I won’t let you two be forgotten,” she says, “I won’t even monetize it.”

  she walks off, and mutters, “I’ll be sure to watermark it.”

  Her trek continues, past a group of seemingly dead soldiers—she could’ve sworn she saw their eyes glowing, past downed helicopters, past the rotting bodies of disposable dragons, and past any civilians unfortunate enough to be caught in the crossfire

  she avoided going in the direction of gunfire when she heard it

  she covered her ears at the sound of explosions nearby, choosing to hide in a dumpster for her safety

  she spends an hour picking tinsel out of her hair

  easier said than done when your hair texture is mildly coarse

  She entered an abandoned toy store and took a teddy bear off the shelf

  this one had a top hat and a bow

  it reminded her of childhood

  She held her teddy bear tight as she walked into another alleyway

  clack

  she stops

  flames of fire licked the air, casting shadows

  she hears the hisses and clicks of birds—no ordinary birds

  she looked around anxiously

  her heart anticipated seeing the dragons coming to take her home

  the hisses grew louder

  there was nowhere to hide—go forward or back??

  hisses came from all around her

  “Damn it!”

  she makes a move, even if it may be the wrong one

  She runs forward and turns around the corner

  she stops at the brick wall in front of her

  she can’t climb it—it is too high!

  the shadows grow taller and closer

  she whimpers as they came into view

  three bird-like dragons—cockatrices, probably—from an unknown species, wearing light armor

  with them were biped draconic soldiers wearing masks to conceal their faces

  she could feel no familiarity to them

  no eyes she could connect to

  they felt like phantoms, as if they were nothing but the feelings of fear

  They aim their weapons at her and shoot—

  she falls to the ground, stunned

  capture, not kill, was the directive

  ~??~