Will the beans be fully cooked? She wondered, stepping out of the cubicle to turn in her last assignment of the day. The only thing that kept her from falling asleep near the end of her shift was the slow cooker full of chili waiting for her at home. She made a lot of chili, plenty for her to leave in the fridge and bring to work over the next few days.

"See you tomorrow Ellie!" shouted Aaron, the front receptionist

"Thanks" she replied, "I'll be sure to bring you some lunch tomorrow, we can eat lunch together after Mr. Jakobs inevitably goes home before lunch!"

She waved goodbye and started making her way towards her apartment. It was really lucky to find one so close to work, since she didn't need to buy a car or pay a bus fare. On the rare days she went outside the house for something other than work, she would call a ride share, or just suck it up and take a long walk.

As she was crossing the bridge over the railroad tracks, she stopped and looked down, to try and see if any trains were coming soon. It was a little game she liked to play, where she would make a little bet with herself to guess if her schedule happened to line up with the freight schedule that particular day.

CRASH!

Ellie quickly jumped around, trying to figure out if she was in danger, when she saw a big white truck careening towards her. She rolled away as fast as she could and hoped for the best.

THUNK

The truck thankfully hit the emergency barrier, and Ellie let out a sigh of relief. Then something soft hit her in the face at 30 miles an hour, sending both her and the object off the side of the bridge, right onto the electric line above the track.

The last thing she saw before she blacked out was the scales of some kind of lizard that was stuck to her face.