Sam was staggering along the streets like a zombie. Her face was pale. Her eyes bloodshot from crying. She'd been let go from another job. The same excuses. She wasn't presentable enough. Not confident enough. Too jumpy. Too skittish. Too clumsy. No big deal-breaking reason but a buildupof small ones. She 'wasn't the right fit' for this role. She wondered if there was even a place out there where she was a right fit. No, stop that, Sam. You're going to make yourself cry again.

What about rent? How was she going to explain this one to the employment office? Questions she did not have the mentalor emotional energy to begin tacking now. She wanted to go home. She wanted to curl up on her bed and take stock. Recharge her batteries and clear her head. She knew from plenty of experience that the worst thing you could do is worry about these things when you're already in a very negative headspace.

Sam misses when talking to people with a bright, sincere, confident smile was so easy. She can't stopthe doubts and gloom for clouding her heart anymore. Anytime a customer seems happy to see her, she feels a pang of crushing guilt, and can't smile back. Sam sighs. She tries to shut out that day. She has to force herself to think about something else the moment she starts to hear the screams again.

Wait. They didn't sound like that. There were no children's screams that day.

Sam snapped out of her headspaceand looked behind her. There was a four-armed monster commiting mindless, chaotic destruction in front of the government offices. Maybe it was the fact Sam suddenly had something external and urgent to focus on to distract her from herself but she felt...calm. She surveyed the scene. The people around were scared. Some were fleeing. Others were hiding in the government building. Anyone nearby still in their cars were abandoning them. Sam spotted them. Two children cowering behind a minivan. She also saw that one of the cars that the monster had thrown was going to hit the van, and the momentum would seriously injure the children.

Sam rushed foward, increased her density as she remembered she was taught, and braced the van. The impact of the collision sent shockwaves through her arms and pain through her hands, but the van did not budge. She managed a very weak and timid smile to the children, who took the hint and ran. She turned her attention back to the monster, who was now staring right at her. She gulped.