by Young, B. R.
33
The next morning they all woke up to the sound of rain pouring down and the camp being soaked. The humans had never before seen rain and were startled by it, Dawn told them what it was and eased their minds. They all got up and cleaned up the camp area as best they could and decided they were going to need to find a way to keep the living area of the camp dry during times of rain.
“I will see what I can find when I go to the village to scavenge, “said Reggie.
They prepared a simple cold breakfast and ate quietly as they thought of all the things they had yet to do for the camp and the mission, in order to free their people from the subterranean farms.
After breakfast Reggie and Mal headed off to the town up to the north where Reggie and Bard had been renovating since they had gained human souls. There were many things they had found and repaired in the town which could be used in the camp. They wanted to grab as much of it as they could so they took along two carts.
It only took them about an hour to walk the distance, Mal was a fast walker and in great shape for an older human. The town was in good repair compared to most of the deserted towns in the country. Most small towns like this were left alone by the A.I. this one was only renovated by Reggie and Bard as a sort of safe Haven to hide away from the other A.I.
They walked up the main street of the deserted town so they could work their way from the far end down. In the first house they found plenty of cushions and mattresses they would be able to use for bedding as well as some blankets. They stacked them up inside the cart and strapped the mattresses to the top. As they continued on down the road they rummaged through garages and found more tools and even some sheets of plastic which would be great for keeping the rain from invading the living area of the camp.
They managed to find lots of scraps that would be useful at camp, from chains and ropes, to clothing items and even some soaps that the humans would appreciate greatly. Once the carts were loaded as full as they could get and still be able to push they started out towards the end of the street and were about to leave the town when a noise in one of the houses drew their attention.
They made their way quietly over to the house and looked into the windows. They saw a small shadow moving inside but could not make out what was creating the shadow. They went inside just in time to see a form bolt up the stairs, they crept up the stairs after it, the first room was empty, as was the next room. That left only one other room. The door was slightly open, they each took a side and slowly pushed the door open stepping into the room. There cowering in the corner was a little girl, she couldn’t have been more than 5 or 6 years old. She had long blond hair and blue eyes, her face was a mask of fear as she stared at them.
Reggie walked slowly closer to her and knelt down in front of her, “Its ok little one we will not harm you. How did you get here? What is your name?” he asked.
The girl just stared at him and shook her head, she moved her lips as if trying to talk but nothing would come out, she either couldn’t or wouldn’t talk. The girl slowly took a step towards Reggie and reached a hand out touching his face and then his arms and joints trying to figure out what he was. She looked at him then over at Mal with a curious look on her face.
“My name is Reggie and that is Mal, who are you?” he asked.
Again the girl tried to talk but nothing would come out, she tried and tried but got so frustrated she started to cry. “It is ok little one. Do you have no family around, no one to care for you?” She shook her head no. “Well then you can come back to the camp with us and meet the rest of our friends. We will watch over you, how would you like that?” he asked her.
The girl smiled and hugged Reggie, he picked her up and carried her from the house. Reggie made room for her on the cart they had stuffed all the cushions and mattresses on so she could ride back to camp comfortably. They arrived back at the camp to find Dawn tending to Lili, feeding her and making sure she was comfortable.
As they pushed the carts in Reggie called to her, “I think I might have another patient for you.”
Dawn looked up and was surprised to see the little girl sitting on top of the cart. “Well now, when you said you were getting supplies I didn’t think you were going to raid farms,” she said.
“We didn’t. She was hiding out in one of the houses in the village. She seems to have taken a liking to Reggie though,” said Mal.
“What is her name,” asked Dawn.
“We do not know, she does not appear to be able to speak,” said Reggie.
Reggie helped the girl down off the cart and she stayed next to him holding tight to his leg. Damn walked closer to her bending down to be at eye level. “Hello little one, my name is Dawn.”
The little girl hid behind Reggie, “It is ok little one she is a friend, she will not hurt you.”
She hesitantly stepped out and held her hand out to Dawn touching her face as she had to Reggie earlier and smiled. “Now can you open your mouth for me little one and stick your tongue out really far?” Dawn asked.
The girl did as she asked, Dawn took a good look at her throat. “It is no wonder she cannot talk. Her throat is inflamed, it must be hurting her greatly. She must be running a fever as well. I will mix some stuff to help her feel better”
“I will set a place up for her to lie down and get some rest,” said Reggie.
“I guess I will go and help Gar work on the barn,” said Mal.
Dawn gathered some of the medicines and herbs they had gathered from the forest and she boiled some water on the fire, once the water was hot she made a tea, let it cool a bit and had the girl drink it down. Once she had finished the tea she tucked her into the bed that Reggie had made up for her and let her sleep.
34
Kev packed a lunch for everyone going hunting for wild cows and chickens and then they set off. Bard knew of an old farming area several miles away where there might still be some of these wild animals roaming around and they figured this would be the best way to start.
They headed out, going south to a small farming community. It took about two hours to walk the distance, when they arrived they could see the ghosts of long forgotten farmhouses and barns. They made their way through fields of wild corn and wheat, Kev started picking some here and there as he walked, figuring it would make for good seed to use for planting in a garden back at their camp.
As they got closer to the barn they could see the roof had long since collapsed in on itself, the walls were somehow still standing and the roof lay scattered along the ground. They carefully made their way through the building looking this way and that for anything that could be useful to them. In the corner they spotted small metal boxes that Bard said were cages, they figured they would work perfectly to keep chickens in if they could catch some. They looked around some more and found some old rope hung on a nail nearby, but when they went to grab the rope it was worn out so badly from age that it fell apart.
They continued to look around and in one corner they found some old rusted links of chain that were still in fairly good shape. They figured these would work well as a makeshift rope to use on the cows until something better could be found. There was a fair amount of chain to be had so they would be able to get plenty of cows. Just as they were packing the chains up they heard noises coming from the back side of the barn, they slowly made their way out the front side, the way they had come in, and walked quietly around to the back.
When they neared the back of the barn they peeked around the corner and standing there were several creatures that Bard had told them were called horses. Bard said they were in luck, if they could capture these creatures they would save them a lot of time and they would not have to walk any more as they could ride these animals to the places they needed to go.
“Now we need to be ready to fit the loop of chain over their necks, I am not sure how they will react when they spot us, they have never seen humans or A.I. before so they may be curious or they may run. If they are curious we have a cha
nce to capture them, if they run I might be able to run and grab one, I do not know so be ready,” said Bard.
They all grabbed a length of chain and hooked it into a loop as Bard had shown them and slowly wandered out towards the horses. They were getting closer and closer when the horses ears twitched and they looked up sniffing the air, the animals spotted the humans approaching. They looked cautiously at them as they approached but they did not run.
They were just inches away, holding the chains out as Bard yelled out, “NOW!” Everyone slipped the chains around the heads of the horses and grabbed the chains, this is when the horses went into action. Their flight instinct kicked into gear and they started bucking and trying to run. Bard being an android was easily able to subdue his horse and tie it off to a tree, the humans however were having a bit more trouble and the girls were being dragged around by the horses. Bard quickly ran to the girls one by one, grabbing the chains to subdue and tie off the horses. By the time he had helped the girls get their horses rounded up and calmed down Kev had managed to get his tied to a tree.
The hardest part was over, now all they had to do was try and break them so they could ride them. Bard figured he would be the best for this being that he was an A.I. and could hold on better and would be able to catch the animal faster if he was thrown. The others had no complaints and let him have the honor of breaking in the horses. Bard led the first horse out into an open field, he had Kev with him to help boost him up onto the horse since there were no saddle or stirrups to use.
The moment he was on the horse was when the real fun began and Kev quickly jumped out of the way as the animal started bucking and kicking up a storm. Grass and dirt flew everywhere as the animal kicked and stomped, Bard held tightly to the chain as he waited for the animal to calm down. Finally after about ten minutes of tantrums from the horse he calmed, Kev approached the horse slowly and held his hand out letting the animal smell him, the horse sniffed him and let Kev pat his muzzle.
Bard climbed down off the horse and had Kev climb on. Bard told Kev how to teach the horse, how to guide him with his legs and commands the way humans used to do it long ago. In no time man and animal were trotting around the field as if they were the best of friends. Bard spent the next several hours breaking in the rest of the horses they had caught and teaching the girls how to work with their animals as well.
Once they were all familiar with their animals they went out in search of the chickens and cows they had originally come for. They searched the surrounding area for another hour but found no signs of chickens or cows, they headed in towards the woods and cut through to another field and that was where they spotted a small herd of cows grazing.
“What do we do now, we have no chains left?” asked Kev.
Bard had a small smile on his face, “We drive the herd back home,”
Bard explained to them the way they used to drive herds of cows way back in the old west by means of horses. This was how they were going to do it now. They headed out towards the herd and spread out so they surrounded the herd on all sides except for the side they wanted them to travel in and started in towards the herd. They whooped and hollered scaring the herd into moving in the only direction left to them.
The going was slow and the herd tended to wander a bit and they had to chase some strays several times but after several hours they managed to get the animals to the edge of the forest near their camp. Bard sent Sara ahead to let Dawn know what they had found and to get the gate to the pen open so they could drive the animals inside.
They drove the cattle into the woods and steered them towards the camp, being sure to drive them around the outside so as not to trample the living area. They looked over and saw the shock on the faces of the others as they rode in driving the cattle towards the pens. After the last of the animals was inside the pens they climbed down from the horses and tied them off on the fencing and went to look over the herd they had brought in.
“Well this is quite an unexpected sight you have brought us,” said Dawn.
“We have Bard to thank for that, we happened to run into the horses. He taught us all about them and helped us catch and tame them so we could ride them. Made it much easier to get around and find the cows. Made it easier getting them here too,” Said Gwen with a smile.
“Well you will certainly be able to get plenty of milk as well as beef from them for some time to come,” said Dawn.
“Now all we need are some chickens, we were so much in a hype over the horses and cows we forgot about the chickens and cages back on that farm,” said Kev.
“Well the chickens will have to wait for now, perhaps tomorrow morning, now there are horses to ride you can ride out and find some and possibly get more horses as well. Now we have them the trip to D.C. will not take as long,” said Dawn.
“That’s exactly what we were thinking,” said Kev.
“Well you should all come take a look at the supplies that Reggie and Mal brought back from the village,” Dawn said with a bit of a smile on her face.
They all had curious looks on their faces as they followed her back towards the living area of camp, Reggie had been working on setting up the plastics he had gathered over the living area to form a giant tent to keep out the rain. Everyone looked up with smiles and congratulated him on his find.
“This was not the part I wanted you to see,” said Dawn with a chuckle as she pointed to the mattress in a corner against two trees where the little girl lie asleep.
Everyone looked, the girls let out gasps and everyone was stunned to see a small girl lying there asleep. “Reggie, you have been extremely busy my friend,” said Kev
“Where did you find her?” asked Bard.
“She was in one of the houses at our village, we heard her as we were leaving. She was all alone and frightened,” said Reggie.
“Hey has anyone else noticed that she bears a striking resemblance to Lili? Look at her hair and eyes,” said Sara who was now bent down near the girl.
No one noticed that the little girl had woken up, she sat bolt up in her bed against the tree. She was frightened of so many people she didn’t know, the moment she saw Reggie she bolted to him clinging to his leg. Reggie bent down lifting her up, “There, there little one it is ok, these people are friends they will not harm you. They just want to meet you.”
She lifted her head from his shoulder and looked around at them all, she saw all the smiles on their faces as she looked from one to the next. Reggie walked to each one in turn, she already knew Dawn so she skipped her, he started with Gar and went to the girls then to Kev and Bard and lastly he took her over to Lili.
“This is our friend she is hurt very bad and has not woken up since she was hurt, her name is Lili,” said Reggie.
When the girl heard him use the name she brightened up and smiled pointing to herself with a grin. Reggie looked at her curiously, “You, you mean your name is Lili too?” he asked. The girl nodded her head wildly as she smiled.
“Well that is strange, she looks remarkably like Lili and bears the same name,” said Dawn.
“Hmm I wonder something,” said Kev.
“What is that?” asked Dawn.
“Oh I was just thinking, I’m sure it’s just a coincidence really, but Lili has a birthmark on the bottom of her foot it’s a small circle on her heel,” said Kev.
Reggie sat down on the bed, “Lili, may I see the bottom of your feet for a moment?” he asked.
She skipped over to him happily, sat on his lap and lifted her feet for him. Reggie looked at both of her feet. He looked at them for a long moment, he was not sure what to think as he gently swung the girl’s feet out for the others to see, revealing the exact mark Kev had just described on the heel of her foot.
Everyone gasped in astonishment. “H..how can this be? How can there be two of them but so different in ages?” Kev asked.
“I don’t understand,” said Sara as she looked on curiously.
“Neither do I. It almost makes me wish I could
connect to the mainframe and get some answers,” said Dawn.
“Unfortunately we cannot do that, we would be giving away everything if we did,” said Bard.
“Well let’s all get some more work done while we can, I will make you all some food and get some more medicine into Lili’s one and two,” said Dawn.
35
The girls went with Kev and Gar to work on getting the barn built so they would have a place to keep the cows when trying to get milk from them. Mal along with Bard went back to work on his water system, using some of the new tools and supplies they had acquired at the village and Reggie continued to make some renovations to the living area of the camp.
Dawn headed out into the woods with one of the empty carts to start gathering some more wood for the fire, she noticed she had some company following along behind her. She smiled as she turned her head, “Come along little one, you can help me gather wood if you like.”
Little Lili ran up alongside her grabbing small sticks and branches as they walked, tossing them into the cart. They walked for nearly half an hour filling the cart with wood, they had gotten a good distance from the camp and were turning back when the girl said, “Why do you and Reggie and Bard look different?”
Dawn looked down at her, shocked that she had finally spoken. “So you do speak?” she said with a smile. “Well you see little one, Reggie, Bard, and I are Androids, or rather machines built by humans a long time ago. But somehow we were given a great gift, we have human souls which means we have feelings and emotions just like you. We can feel happy and sad or even angry, just like you can.”
Little Lili looked up at her puzzled but smiled nonetheless, “I like it here in the woods. It’s better than my other home. They were mean to me there.”
“What other home little one? What did they do to you there?”
Little Lili shook her head with a frightened look on her face, she had tears forming in her eyes. “It is ok little one, you do not have to talk about it if you do not want to.” She wiped away her tears and they walked back to the camp in silence.