Soothing rucksack

The air hissing from the cut in my left arm was an insidious reminder that I had only a little time. Stumbling into the diminutive Asian lady I swiftly transmuted the stuff into a viscous fluid which wove itself into a grid of impervious fiber.

The Asian lady continued her slow fall to the ground, folding her hands and exclaiming aloud. I held her cold hands between mine and willed the warmth of my flesh into her imagined skin and bones. I knew that also wouldn't hold long but the flickering blue light of her consciousness firmed enough that when the others came she might hold them off for a while.

Continuing past her down the corridor I was only momentarily distracted by the red and gold of brick and tile that flowed smoothly along the well manicured edges of the wayside landscaping. Like a terrain of miniature trees and scoptic null fields interlaced with ceramic doilies. It was easy to escape onto the parallel and hidden hills just outside of Colorado Springs.