Energy levels decreasing below minimum threshold; switching to back-up power
“KANIS, what’s my energy level?” He breathed quietly,
Your energy levels are at 15%
“KANIS, how long until Burrock?” He huffed as he blinked in and out of consciousness,
Burrock is currently 41 clicks away.
“Okay, can you give me week two’s rations?” He blinked awake struggling to breathe.
Week 2’s Rations are currently empty; Would you like Week 3’s?
“Alright, that’s fine.” He said,
The machine continued whirring, clinking and thudding as it stomped across the snow. The creaking of metal plates and gears spinning and scraping together. The slow beeping on the inside of the machine as the heart monitor kept showing the Pilot’s vitals. The Giant colossal battery clicking and whining as its energy threatens to shut down.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
“KANIS?” He asked quietly, he felt a bit of anxiety in his throat, as if something was wrong, “KANIS, what happened?”
KANIS has shut down to conserve power.
“What?” He said, his heart sinking, “No you can’t shut KANIS down, wake them up!”
He felt as if he was going to ball up and cry, what was he supposed to do now, he was alone now. Nobody to contact, thirty clicks of distance to make before any human contact and he didn’t want to be alone after what had happened. He breathed trying to slow down his racing heart, he heard the slow humming battery slowing down. He pressed forward harder, pushing the controller forward, the machine sped forward pushing faster; the stomping of the snow becoming louder as footprints were left behind it, the machine rushing forward travelling faster.
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Warning energy level is decreasing at an alarming rate; 11% battery life left.
He continued pushing the machine forward, making the machine lose battery faster as he cut the distance in half, trying to get to Burrock faster and faster. He needed to make it there or his location would be cut off from the main base, and he could lose contact with KANIS forever. The machine suddenly lurched and jerked backwards. The beeping of the heart monitor had accelerated way too much. He was heaving and hyperventilating as he pushed the machine to its limits. He slipped his hands off the controllers, hanging inside the cockpit. He grabbed the straps, pulling and tugging and finally managing to slip out of the machine. He fell out of the machine and into the snow, his clothes ragged and his skinny body frail and barely standing, malnutrition and sleep-deprivation showing on the outside.
Warning: Pilot has left Cock-pit. Vital’s are un-monitored; proceed with caution.
He stepped behind the machine, and pushed on the legs. The heavy machine slightly creaked as it barely lurched forward. It leaned back before falling back into its previous position. He huffed, leaning against the machine as he looked at the grey sky. He wiped the smudge from his eyes, as he continued pushing the machine until it finally creaked one step forward. He huffed, going inside the machine again, and looking at the battery. It read zero percent on the label. He sighed and grabbed a rope before hopping outside the machine and wrapping it around the hull of the machine before turning and pulling the rope over his shoulder and stepping forward, it was slightly easier to pull the machine now. He continued trudging through the snow, The loud creaking of the machine behind him as his shoes squelched the snow beneath him, he could see the slightly hazy silhouette of the building’s in the distance. He continued moving forward, he had to eventually make it today.
He made an estimate from how small the buildings looked, it was about thirty-five clicks away now. He continued moving, his breath white and cold in the winter, struggling to breathe as his bones shook and rattled, his ribs showing through his skin, he looked about as dead as a zombie. He pulled the machine slowly along, the sun in the sky slowly moving along, time passing by minute by minute, hour by hour. He finally slipped in the snow, letting go of the ropes. He face-planted in the cold snow. Pushing himself up he wiped the snow off his face, shivering as his teeth rattled he looked up and about ten feet in front of him. ‘Snowshoe Hare’ is the type of rabbit that lives in the snow. He blinked and it blinked back, he leaned forward and it hopped backwards. He looked at it, then at the ground in front of him, before leaning backwards it didn’t move yet. He slid his hand in the snow and grabbed a rock, he shot forward and slammed the rock on the rabbit’s head.
He had killed before, but this just felt sad. He grabbed the rabbit’s corpse, and slammed the rock on its head three more times to fully make sure it was dead. He pulled open the cockpit and grabbed gasoline and wood, before throwing the wood in a pile and pouring the gasoline on top of it. He walked over to the cockpit again grabbing a lighter and lighting the wood on fire, he skinned the hare with the pocket-knife in his back pocket, slicing the fat and meat off, he put the meat and fat on a stick and roasted it over the fire. He chewed the food when it was done, he stood up pouring water on the fire and covering it with sand, he walked over to the machine and grabbed the rope before seeing blood on the end of the rope, he then looked at his own hands, they were caked in the rabbit’s blood. He stared coldly, this wasn’t the first time he had blood on his hands, but it had been a while since he had used his own hands to kill something and not the machine’s. He wiped it off in the snow before grabbing the rope and turning to face the town, he continued trudging forward, pulling the machine forward behind him.
It went on for a few more hours, the constant clicking and creaking of the gears and metal on the inside of the machine as it whined and pressed forward, he continued moving. He had about twenty clicks to go before he made it to the town. He stepped on a branch and it cracked, he stopped and the machine lurched backwards, before falling backwards into the snow. He looked behind him and groaned with annoyance. He turned around and tugged on the rope harder and harder before it snapped and he fell backwards into the snow, he blinked as the wind in his lungs was knocked out, he heaved as he tried to breathe, slowly regaining oxygen he stood up and breathed heavily with exhaustion. He grabbed the machine's arm and pulled the machine slightly lifted before falling back into the snow. He sighed with annoyance.
“God damn it!” He yelled, “I can’t do this anymore, why must you inconvenience me every single minute?”
He dropped to his knees, trying to breathe as he rested his head on the machine’s hull, he huffed air in and out. He couldn’t let this get to him, but it was so troubling. He was all alone, so far from human contact and this stupid machine could barely run anymore and he kept being screwed with and messing up so much. He punched the metal of the cockpit before groaning in pain at his own stupid anger. He looked up at the grey smoky sky, wondering what he was actually supposed to be doing right now. Wondering if his friend’s were alright, if he was going to be okay, if everyone made it home safe. He grit his teeth and grabbed the rope again, tying it around his hand and grabbing the robot’s arm, with new found burst of motivation he hauled the machine up right, he pulled the machine along as he crunched the snow beneath his boot, he inhaled the air sharply as he stomped forward, the snow flying up in the air as he stepped forward faster and faster, the machine dragging along behind him.
He continued moving forward, he had to, that’s what he always done. Move forward.