The blazing sun beats down on me as I sit atop the barren hill, my empty bucket a testament to my failed attempt at cooling relief. The relentless heat is suffocating, sapping my energy as my body starts to sway. My eyes grow heavy, sleep's temptation calling out as exhaustion sets in.

But just as oblivion nears, a shout ruptures the haze. “There's my favorite squatter!”

The voice pulls me awake. I look up to see a girl approaching, her raven hair and olive skin radiant in the sunlight. It's Sheri, dressed as always in a short-sleeve flannel shirt and denim jeans. I pick myself up, using the bucket for assistance.

“You know other squatters?”

The words came out ragged between my gasps of air. I shuffle myself towards Sheri. Trying to keep my balance, I end up leaving the bucket on the ground to better stabilize myself.

“They ran off earlier today. Couldn't handle the qui…”

I cut her off by falling head first in her chest.

“Hey, Hey”

The words sound so hollow as Sheri stops her fake protests to hug me back. Her body saves me from the heat assault. It's like diving head first into a meat locker after a day of lifting boxes. Wait, a better example would be like getting a milkshake after playing in the park all day. That's how much cold Sheri radiates. I wonder how can she stay so cold in this heat? But I don't really care, as I feel my strength slowly comeback the longer I stay in her embrace. Sheri let's out a small whisper,

“I'm always going to be here for you, Bri.”

Then she pushes me off her and stares at me with her glowing amber eyes.

“Now let's get out of the heat!”

We march down the hill until we come across a large billboard. The plain white board depicts two Tesla coils to spell out the words in blue electricity,

'Welcome to Ohmstead!'.

A sea of identical tiny houses comes into view. Each just big enough for a single occupant, with solar paneled roofs glinting in the sun. We make our way to the neighborhood labeled A when I feel my exhaustion creep in. Today was such a waste as I couldn't even get fresh water and almost died from Sun. I look at Sheri to tell her:

“I'm probably going to try to get some sleep. Today sucked, so I just want to get some rest.”

Sheri looks upset, but she doesn't say anything. We continue to walk towards my house until I hear Sheri mutter something.

“I should have waited until night.”

“For what?”

She jumps, not expecting me to reply. Sheri moves her fingers around in circles. It's takes her awhile to respond. Is she keeping a secret? I wonder what. She lunges forward to hug me, cutting my train of thought before taking off in the opposite direction to her house.

Night falls as I try to get some sleep, but it's like an oven in my house. No matter how much I toss and turn, I can't get comfortable. Since I'm squatting, I can't really turn on any air conditioning to help cool me down. Sheri warned me that security can monitor the power usage of any house with an app that came with all the solar panels. I thought Sheri was yanking my chain until I looked it up on my phone. Now the only power I use is for the fridge and charging my phone, since they barely take any power at all to charge.

I feel my tears mix with my sweat as I try to find a position that can make fall asleep. Frustration almost until I feel a cooling breeze engulf me. The breeze helps me to finally find a position to relax in. My body takes the gold opportunity to fall asleep. It was the best sleep I've had in a while.

A knock on the door wakes me up. I shuffle my way to the door to open it. Sheri stands there with my water bucket in full to the brim with fresh water in her usual attire. She lets out a quick whistle before entering. I throw on some pants quick and grab a small bottle of purifying tablets. We begin filling my empty bottles with fresh water. After putting the newly filled bottles in the fridge, we play some old maid with cards Sheri brought. This day has shaped up to be the perfect makeup for yesterday's troubles. A good night's sleep, fresh clean water, and quality time with a friend – I wonder what highlight is next.

“Why are we out here?”

The voice makes jump off the bed. I rush to make the bed look like no one was just sitting on it. Who is that? The voice sounds like a guy around my age. Could it be security? What is security doing around here at this time? They normally only patrol during night once a month. I check my phone to see that they are three days early.

“If what those kids said were true. I don't want the boss to get on our asses for letting a squatter dirty up these houses.”

A new voice answers, this one sounds like a man in his 40s. Their footsteps begin to approach the house. They sound about two houses away. I curl up in a corner of the room, trying to make my presence disappear. Suddenly, Sheri pulls me into herself.

“I could really go for a double Rift burger.”

Another new voice. Crap, just how many are there? I feel my body starting to shake, but Sheri rubs my back in an attempt to calm me down.

“Let's finish the rest of this section, then Rift burgers are on me.”

“Yes Sir!”

The other two men cheered as their steps being to get farther and farther away from the house. Wait, why would their steps get farther away when they were just approaching…

I gasp for air as I awake from a slumber? It's pitch black outside, so I must have fallen asleep in Sheri arms. I feel my face heat up from embarrassment. That really wasn't the time to fall asleep. I stretch my arms out as I fumble my way to my bed. Too risky to attempt to turn on any light right now. It's best to lie low for tonight.

“ARGHHHHH”

The scream freezes me in place. What was that? I hear loud footsteps approaching the house by the followed a string of cursing.

“Fuck. Fuck, fuck.”

It takes me a while to recognize the voice. It sounds like one of the security guards from earlier. They are still out patrolling? Except why would one of them scream like that. The voice and footsteps get closer and closer. I thought the guy was getting closer to my house, but I realized my body moved closer to the door.

“That bitch got Tim and Zach, but she won't get…”

A large thud happens outside my door. Sounds of a struggle happen as the guard yells at the top of his lungs.

“HELP!!!”

I swing the door open to see the guy's head turn to look at me. Towering over him was some sort of creature. Its body looks haphazardly out together, with limbs too long for it to stand straight. Its hand is close to the guard's face, tipped with long thin claws.

“Oh God, there was… PLEASE HELP ME!”

The security guard struggles to get from underneath the monster's foot. Between the darkness covering the monster's face. I notice it has glowing amber eyes that remind me of.

“Sheri?”

It's almost as if the monster twitched hearing me say her name. It puts its foot on the guy's chest to stop him from squirming around.

“Go back inside.”

Sheri's voice sounds coarse and tough. She flickers her claws in my direction.

“Sheri let him go.”

The words whimper out as I fight the urge to run back inside.

“If I let him go, you'll get kicked out.”

The security guards furiously shook his head in disagreement. He makes a move to say something, but Sheri puts more pressure on his chest that stops him. Frozen in mid-plea, a pool of liquid starts to flow out of him. The liquid helps illuminate the scene with more light. I have to calm her down somehow. Get her back to good old Sheri.

“That doesn't matter. I can always find a new place to live at. You don't need to do this.”

I thought I chose the right words to say but for some reason. The look in her eyes. It reminds me of a stray cat left in a box. Sheri turns her head to look at the security guard.

“No… I do.”

Blood jettisons into the air as the sounds of bones being crushed echoes throughout Ohmstead. I dash back into the house. The sounds of me locking the door clashes with gurgling screams of the security guards. I back away slowly from the door. No matter how far I got, I could still hear the horrific sounds. Tears stream from my face as I try to block out the sounds. All of a sudden, there's nothing. No screams, no bone shattering, just absolute silence.

A cool breeze appears from behind me. I feel something sharp press against my throat. A chill crawls up my spine as a familiar cooling sensation engulfs it. A hand wipes my tears away. I fight with my body to stay still. It's taking all I have to no try and bolt away from the creature's hold. The monster puts its arm around my waist, pulling me closer as I hear Sheri's voice say.

“Whether you like it or not, Bri. I'm always going to be here for you.”