100 Theme Challenge #32

32. Last Hope

Run, run, she kept thinking. Her lungs were burning, her throat raw and parched, yet she didn't stop her legs which were hard as rock at this point. She pushed back some sweaty bangs that made their way before her eyes, licked dry lips without looking back once. She could hear their steps behind her and it was enough to terrify her. The air was humid and warm and heavy, making her clothes stick uncomfortable to her skin. She jumped above a fence and scraped the back of a calf in the process, but that didn't stop her either. She was almost there. She hurried to climb a ladder leading to the roof of the buildings connected together. She knew the map of the city by heart now, for her job was to run around, delivering packages as fast as possible. None of them had been as important as the one she was clutching in her hand.

Her blood froze for a second when she jumped from on building to another and heard a growl under her. She was sure a jaw would close around her ankle, but nothing happened, and she pressed on. She made her way through, finally barging into the rooftop door and running down the stairs. She didn't have a lot of time before they'd find her. She finally reached her destination, pounding on the door until someone answered her. It was the teen girl. She shoved the small card into her hand.

"Get out of here, I'll take care of them," she urged. The girl looked at her with big, watering eyes, but nodded and ran off through the window. The woman turned around to face the exit door and retrieved her daggers. There were climbing up the stairs, soon they'd be on her.

She wasn't afraid of death if it meant protecting the last hope of this world to the cost of their blood. Sacrifices had to be made for a better place to be built, for babies to be born without their parents fearing if they'll have any malformations, an additional limb. Sacrifices had to be made by people like her, who understood their choices, and therefore their place in the game.

(What is 100TC?)