A ponderous choice

{This ending is part of the Finish the Story Contest, the 14th contest so far. Click here to see the contest...}

The Prompt ("Into the Woods") by @f3nix

The clouds rolled in as Sharon parked in her driveway. She sat there for a few minutes before going inside, pondering the immensely bad day she’d had.
It started off with her being late for work, the first time in nine years. Her boss had been waiting for her reports, and her lateness made him late which made him unhappy. No, unhappy wasn’t the word. Unhinged fit better. She’d left his office feeling assaulted and ashamed at having performed so poorly, even though she had been the top sales manager for five years running. Walking back to her office she thought it all felt a bit off - too intense for being a mere ten minutes late.
But before she could think about it for long, she was hit by a cart full of old desktop computers the IT guy was taking to recycle. The metal cart had ripped her nylons and left her with a bloody gash on her left calf and bruising on her thigh and hip. He hadn’t even apologized but instead glared at her as he picked up the equipment that had fallen to the ground. The rest of the day continued like that. Everything went wrong from the vending machine taking her money without dispensing her granola bar to the afternoon coffee burning her hand. The harrowing drive home topped it off, and she considered herself lucky to have just lost a fender to a drunk, uninsured motorist.
Finally opening the car door, she glanced up at the sky. The clouds looked thick, but WeatherBug had said the rain would hold off until tomorrow. Not that she cared. She needed to run and shake off the day even if it poured and even if she was bruised and sore.
She changed into her workout clothes and grabbed her headphones before going back outside to the road. Her usual playlist blasting a little louder than usual, she headed north to the trail. It was her usual 10 km route she ran when she needed to think - or de-stress. Her body would move on autopilot while her brain sorted everything out so that by the time she returned home she’d feel normal and relaxed.
The trail into the woods looked a little darker than usual, but she thought it should with the clouds coming in. She didn’t even pause as she went from pavement to forest floor. Another half kilometer and the trees opened up onto a large pond, a swamp really except for the beavers that had built their dams to fill it up. She always slowed a little on this part of the trail to see if she could catch them working. She admired their persistence and ingenuity.
The mound that made their lodge wasn’t too far from the trail, but she had difficulty seeing it. She slowed even more but was unable to focus on it - as if it were twilight when the shapes and shadows blended together. But it wasn’t that late. She looked behind her, and she could see everything just fine.
Stopping, she stared at the beaver lodge and thought she could see a black haze swirling around it. Then she noticed the water. It too was black and seemed to have a dark fog floating just above the surface. Concerned more than worried, she started running again along the trail that continued into the woods. She thought she'd get a better view from the other side of the pond.

The Ending by @theironfelix

When at the other side of the pond, she became shocked. Three figures emerged out of the water, one clearly "smoky" and the others being a mom and a child girl. Then it became clear that they were discussing of where to run next, the "smoky" one clearly imitating her motions. Her curiosity ramped up beyond the point of caring, she decided to stalk them.

Thus she ran as fast as she could in the direction they were heading. When she was closer in range, she made sure to slow down and calm her body from all the running that had happened. Getting closer, she heard the "smoky" one mummering:

"Oh great, the smoking isn't going to stop... Luckily I still have my gold-bars from that heist, damn shame all me mates had to die however. But this should be enough to get you both across safely and for me to continue on with my operations. Anyways, honey how are you and the lass holding up?"

"Yeah, we're fine thanks to what you did in the pond. Let's get away before the MPs show up and make crossing to that city impossible for us robots... Wait "Cyclops" is calling in..."

Androids was all she was mummering to herself about. Them calling themselves "robots," possessing feelings and having families... It made zero sense...

"Cyclops reporting in: the trail leading up to Northern Michigan is swarming with messes of MPs. I repeat, Northern Michigan is unsecure... sigh... If any robot is listening in, please stay safe and don't act like heroes. Cyclops reporting out."

Sharon started to tear up, but didn't suppress them like she did earlier today. She cried not because of their predicament, but because of her involvement with ads against or "correcting" deviant robots...

"Honey, we're probably way past the border MP lines already, let's stride forwards!"

She knew that to be a lie, the MPs constantly had regular patrols of the forest. She even made some running friends with some of the patrolling MPs over time, considering they only hunted for "androids." But now, she had to either let them go freely or aid them to freedom. Both were risky, and both wouldn't be a simple one to process through... She had to choose... and she choose to speak:

"Wait!... Don't go further, the MPs will start patrolling in a hour or so here. Please, come with me and I'll help you to where you need to go..."

The robots turn to stare to her, the smoking one questioning her innocence:

"How do we know you ain't a robot-hunter?... Sorry that's rash of me, I haven't been able to rest ever since that heist..."

"It's fine, I'm Sharon. I heard it on the news, I didn't knew it was for something genuine... I think I would do the same to be quite honest."

"Nice to meet you Sharon, I'm Frank "The Thief" and here's my Honey and my lass. But now let's get a move on people!"

The End

Other parts in the series

@theironfelix - The Rebel Compound

@theironfelix - What remained after

@theironfelix - Runaway Convict

@theironfelix - Scouting for Danger

Cited posts:

@f3nix - "FInish the Story Contest: Week 14th"