Snippet #2127752

Phoenix Arizona
September 13, 3010
12:47pm

Daisy was in trouble. Again.

Mr Morrison was pissed off. She had been late to work again, arrived half-dressed and distracted his chefs. He was yelling at the top of his lungs, inches from her face, specks of saliva flying. Daisy's face was stony, her chest heaving from a mixture of breathlessness and anger. If even a single fleck of his spit hits me, I am out of here. She thought to herself as she nodded absently, rolling her eyes under her lashes as she tied her apron around her waist. He ranted on and Daisy decided that enough was enough. She waved him off, walking towards the kitchens, looking for an order-pad-

"DO NOT UNDERMINE YOUR SUPERIOR!"

Daisy spun around, startled. She looked around wildly, but there was no-one around. She didn't want to believe, she didn't want to acknowledge that which had been going on in her head for, well, years. It had been worse of late, much worse. To the point of where Daisy was screaming into the air for whoever, whatever, to shut up and leave her alone. She didn't know what they wanted, why they spoke to her but in truth, she did not care. She just wanted them gone. She already had enough going on inside her head without voices. She had considered she had gone crazy, insane with guilt or rage but these weren't voice telling her to burn things or hurt people, rather telling her to stop doing or thinking things. And that is what really infuriated Daisy. She didn't need anyone telling her what not to do. She pushed the voices to the back of her mind, seizing hold of a tattered notebook, slipping it into her apron pocket and shoved herself out onto the diner floor. She sighed, her body slumping a little, the usuals were in. And Daisy really couldn't be bothered with their crap, but last time she refused to serve them, last time she reported their sexual remarks and pinchings, she got the warning. Instead, she went steely, grabbed the coffee pot and moved quickly to their table, blocking their whistles and sneering remarks out as she refilled their chipped mugs, piled their dirty plates onto her arm-

"Hey sugar, gimme a little-" A slap on her behind followed the drawl of Roger Tucker.
A sleazy laugh from his mates, Pete Murphy and Lesley Beaugal.
The plates hit the floor and Daisy spun around, her eyes wild as she opened her mouth, obsentities ready to split all over them along with the coffee-

"WALK AWAY.
DO NOT ABUSE THOSE MORE SUPERIOR.
RETAIN THE ORDER." Daisy cried out, throwing her free hand to her forehead, pressing hard to her temple. "FUCK OFF!" She yelled, "JUST...JUST-"

"MISS BOWEN!" Daisy barely heard her boss over her own screaming thoughts, the voices in her head. She whirled around, blinking back hot tears of anger, confusion. He scowled, his gaunt face folding onto itself. "Get. In. Here. Now." He spat, rage splashed across his shiny face. She shuffled passed him, dropped the coffee pot onto the station, sizzles and pops as the coffee splashed onto the hotplate. Her boss had stopped in the middle of the corridor, but Daisy just pushed past, trying to get to the bathrooms. "Daisy... DAISY!" He shouted after her, following her right up the swinging toilet doors. "DAISY! I AM RINGING THE 'THORITIES! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Y-YOU ARE OUTTA CONTROL!" He screamed. Daisy just let him yell as she splashed her face with water, then wiping the dribbles of mascara with her thumb. These voices were killing her, tearing her mind in two. She could barely understand her own thoughts, barely live her own life, let alone another source trying. She swallowed hard, taking a few deep breaths.

A few minutes ticked on and then Daisy could hear her boss talking to someone. They weren't talking back much and Daisy assumed the officers were here. She cracked open the bathroom door and her eyes widened, taking in the bulk of the two men standing before her boss, their fitted suits melded to their bodies. It looked almost uncomfortable. Daisy stared and then realised her skin had erupted with goosebumps. Something wasn't right. She shifted slightly, her feet twisted and as the door creaked, one of the suits head's spun in her direction. She gasped and stepped back, her chest heaving. Wh-what is going on...?

Suddenly, a voice. A soothing tone, a gentle voice. One Daisy had not heard before... "The city is no longer safe, you must escape but in order to escape you must reach the center of the city. Do not trust anyone, aside from the ones you meet at the center. Do not fail me children of the future."

Daisy's heart was racing from the moment the voice spoke, calm and firm in her mind. She felt herself nodding, almost unconsciously as it talked, as if she knew what it meant. She looked around, unable to exit the way she came, the only exit from the toilets unless... A small window beside the basin was about big enough for her to squeeze through. She had to be quick, she knew somehow, those men in the suits were there for her and not because her boss had called. Something felt off. Daisy hurried to the window, fiddled with the lock, the stuck slider for a minute before grinding it along enough for her to squeeze out and land on the path below. She swallowed hard, straightening up and starting quickly towards the center of the city. As she walked, she echoed the sweet voice inside her head and tore her apron off, balling it up and tossing it to the side.