George was found nearby, his body slouched against a barricade, the numerous bullet holes in his torso speaking for his fate. He was positioned right in front of where the armored vehicles had been, he looked a brave man. Paris pushed her face into my side as she cried. I brought my hand down and ran it through her hair, the unkempt mess attempting to tangle my fingers in it. Paris had told me her name after I offered to help her find George, I told her it was a very pretty name. She asked my name so I told her, “C-13”. She thought it was a silly name, and told me as much.
The next stop we made was Paris’s home, the other kids opting to stay inside the post office, as I had learned it to be. I had started over towards them but they all quickly shied away, I thought it best to give them time. One boy deigned to follow us though, long hair and a solemn gaze being his most notable characteristics. I tried to ask his name but he didn’t respond. Paris told me his name was Tom, his mother had died during the fires. Tom stiffened momentarily when she mentioned the death before resuming his walk with us. I wanted to say something, to console the boy in some way, but perhaps it was best not to... not yet at least. A vague memory dancing across my mind, a fleeting feeling of grief.
As we walked, I took in the surroundings, the amount of death and damage abhorrent. The bodies of the dead mostly burnt to ash, the fire sparing few. I wondered who these people were, the lives they had lived, why they had chosen to live in the desert. I wanted to ask Paris but thought better of it, now was not the time. When we arrived at Paris’s house, we found what I had hoped against, the tight grasp Paris had on the hem of her shirt showing that she had hoped against it as well.
Two figures lay burnt and smoldering in front of the destroyed home. One of the bodies held a fire extinguisher, the other one holding a plastic folder of some kind, long ago melted away. Paris paced up to them, placing an object down next to the larger of the bodies.
“I got the filter daddy,” Paris’s nose started to dribble as she fell to the ground, sobs wracking her body. I moved to approach her but Tom stepped in front of me, making his way to her first. The boy kneeled down next to his friend, scooping her torso into her arms and hugging her. They sat like that for some time, I let them be.
----------------------------------------
“Do you want me to help you bury them?” I asked Paris, her eyes red and puffy, her crying having stopped some time ago, Tom still by her side.
Paris cocked her head at me in confusion, “Why would we bury them?”
“I don’t know, it just feels like something you are supposed to do.” I told her, and it was the truth, I really didn’t know why I suggested it.
Paris looked over at her parents once more before standing up, glancing back at me, “They are scary like this. I don’t want them to be scary, they aren't scary. We can bury them.”
We found some shovels and started digging near the base of the house, shallow graves now marring the ashen plane. I hefted the bodies up and placed them into the holes proceeding to cover them with dirt, sand, and ash. Paris helped as much as a child could, Tom too. By the time we finished I had started to feel a pain in my chest, I was getting low on power. Looking around I could see no source of power, besides, even if I had found one it would have to wait until these kids were safe.
Paris led the way back to the town center, weaving through back alleys, the charred remains of the buildings not effecting her sense of direction. I felt a tug on my hand, Tom had grabbed it, I stopped, “Yes?”
Tom said something, his lips moving, though I couldn’t hear it, “Sorry Tom, I couldn’t hear you, would you say that again?”
“Can we bury my mom too?”, His voice still barely audible, his lower lip quivering.
I crouched down to him, attempting to peer past his hair, “Of course we can.”
“Hey Paris,”, I called out, the little girl having pulled slightly ahead, “Let’s stop by Tom’s house before we head back.”
Paris looked back, looking at me, then Tom, then me again, she nodded. We changed directions, passing by the town center and making it to Tom’s house with relative ease. As we walked, we passed much of the same, ash, ruin, and dead. I wondered what these kids must be feeling, the destruction of your home and people. They were doing better than I had. Than I had? A stray thought faded from my mind as quickly as it came.
Tom’s house wasn’t there, a small crater the only sign anything ever was. Tom paced ahead, approaching a figure covered in ash. I watched his lips move, but he spoke so quietly I couldn’t hear what he said, something meant only for his mother. We dug another grave.
Tom threw a final handful of sand onto the grave, a final farewell to his mom. As he did so, a rumbling started to shake the air, ash and dust kicking up as great machine flew over us, a ship of sorts. Paris and Tom both moving to cover their eyes, an attempt at keeping the debris out of them. Looking past the dust and ash I could see four bright blue glows radiating from each corner of the craft, some sort of engines. It passed over us, heading for the town center.
I scooped Paris and Tom up into my arms and sprinted after the flying ship, the vents on my side starting to heat up, the children pulling higher up on my body. I saw the ship descend past several block of buildings, the pain in my core grew. I ran faster.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
It was taking me longer than I wanted it to to reach the town center. The act of balancing the children and the growing pain in my chest slowing me down significantly. Paris started pointing me down certain alleys, her shortcuts. I followed her direction. We leaped out of one alley and found ourselves looking out into the town square, the ship having touched down, this world disgusting and angering me once again.
Men in strange black armor were carrying the children I had left behind onto the ship, their bodies limp and unmoving. One of the men noticed us, raising his rifle at me in an instant.
“Place the children on the ground immediately!” The man’s voice boomed out, several other armored figures turning to face us as well, their rifles raised, “This area is property of Red Door pharmaceuticals and is currently under quarantine, any and all trespassers are subject to search and seizer!”
I could dodge any shots fired by the soldiers, my steel chassis deflecting any I couldn't, but I couldn’t guarantee Paris and Tom’s safety. While everything inside me told me just to run, I placed both of the kids on the ground, taking a step back, I would have to figure out a plan, fast. Taking advantage of my metalic appearance I spoke, “Hello Sir, I am general care model C-13. Would you possibly be able to aid us?”
The man stood still for a moment, most likely communicating with someone on the other side of his helmet. He spoke, “Attention C-13, you and the children are in a quarantined area. As such, you and the children are subject to relocation as determined by section seven-eight-two dash four, of Red Door pharmaceutical’s corporate bylaw. Please enter transport mode and send the children forward.”
I looked at the man, his rifle never lowering. I thought of my options, they were few. I could agree and go with them, I felt a something in my mind telling me I could enter some sort of this aforementioned ‘transport mode’. It was wrong though, the forced kidnapping of the other children still putting me on edge, I didn’t even know if they were still alive, the quoted laws meant little to me. I shifted to look at Paris and Tom, their eyes wide at the men and weapons before them, they were afraid. It was wrong to scare kids.
“Go forward Paris,” I turned my head to Tom, “You too Tom.” They looked at me, uncertainty plastered on their face. I nodded at them. Paris was the first to take a step forward, Tom seeing her take the first step then moved also. Two men marched up to them and scooped them up, one each, guns trained on me at all times. I pretended to lower my head, faking the ‘transport mode’, my body losing most sensation. One of the men approached me, walking behind me and pushing me forward towards the ship, my legs moving of their own volition, the children just in front of me.
We were walked up to the base of the ships steel ramp; its large plate having dug itself into the ground. Following it up to the body of the ship I saw the inside, black body bags and steel cages, the children laying limp inside the cages... at least most of them. The suppressed rage from earlier blossomed back to life. Whatever fate awaited us on the other side of this ship ride was not one I wanted, for myself, or for the children.
Making a decision, I swept my foot backwards under the man guiding me, taking his feet out from under him. He fell to the ground, releasing me, I lunged forwards, knocking into the two men holding the children, causing them both to stumble. I reached out my hands to grab the children. The man holding Tom pulled the boy out of reach of my reach before I could snatch him away. My other hand landed on the back of Paris’s shirt, yanking her out of the man’s grasp and into my arms. I sprinted past the men and towards an alley, bullets pinged off my back as I ran.
I deposited Paris behind a large trash bin, speaking to her in haste, “Stay here! I'm going to get Tom, stay quite!” I sprinted away from her, missing the look she gave me, a look of panic at the thought of being left alone once again.
The soldiers had recovered and were looking around the area I had ran towards, rifles raised. I spotted the one holding Tom pulling him up the ramp, the boy flicked something in his hands, a little flame coming to life. Tom raised it to his captor's helmet in an attempt to burn him, the man threw him to the ground in response, a loud crack resounding as his head bounced off the steel. The man dragged him the rest of the way into the ship.
My body surged with anger, I sprinted at the nearest soldier, hitting him in the side of the head before he could turn to face me, the vents at my side starting to glow. He crumpled to the ground, the helmet covering his head indented and cracked. I started to run towards the shuttle ramp when I felt the pain in chest reach a peak, I froze up. A hand took the chance to wrap around my ankle, “Where you going bot?”, the man was still alive.
I fought past the lockup my body found itself in and broke off the man's grip, the action causing the pain in my chest to shock through me once again. I ran towards the ramp, rushing up it, charging at the man who had threw Tom.
Something hit me from the side, electrical surges blasting through my body, stunning me. The next few seconds were a blur of motion, soldiers rushing past me, a figure in black armor being dragged up the ramp, a lifeless little boy being forced into a cage.
Just stay down, maybe they will forget you’re there, the voice in my head leading me towards cowardice once again. I had already decided to ignore that voice’s offers, but the suggestion grew more tempting by the second. I was so tired. So, so tired...
“-AKE UP!”, a little voice shouted off to the side. Why do I need to get up? Is something wrong? I sat up, dust starting to kick up around me. What is happening? My mind wandered in a daze. The little voice yelled out again, “PLEASE! HURRY!”
Hurry? Why?... I jumped to my feet, PARIS! TOM! I looked towards the ship, the ramp was closing and the ship started to raise off the ground, the force of the engines starting to blow me back. I raced forward, the pain in my chest still growing but now an afterthought. I leaped for the ever-higher ramp, grasping its edge. I reached up and pulled myself into the hold of the ship.
“This is company property dammit! Get off!”, a voice echoed out of inside, I rose to my feet, turning to meet the source of the order. As I turned my face met a fist, my head being knocked backwards with a loud clang. I reeled back, slipping on the steel and falling off the edge of the ramp. One on my hands snatching a latch before I could fall all the way, I dangled now.
I attempted to pull myself up, the vents on my side sputtering and aching, their glow having faded away long ago. I felt myself grow weaker with each passing second while the ship continued to fly higher and higher into the sky. I gazed down, the ground a hundred feet below, I pushed myself to get up once more, then, my fingers gave out, and I was falling.
I fell when I first woke up, though it didn’t hurt very much. This fall hurt very bad. The world slowly fading away into darkness, the pain in my chest becoming numb.
A little face broke into my view, tears falling onto my lenses. The last thing I felt was tiny hands beating against my chest.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Ban-.