by Aaron Denius
“Let's go!” the large silhouette at the door screams.
“What?” I climb down from the bed and walk over to Farouk.
“It started. Lucie has sent the first wave out into the city, and we need to go.” He doesn't budge from the doorway. Chaos fills the hallway behind him as drones and scientists run in all directions.
“I have to get KJ!” I step up to him, the end of my bed behind me.
“You can't. There is no time.” He puts his hand on my chest.
I step back, blood boiling in my veins. He will not stop me from getting to her. When my calf hits the bed, I anchor my foot against the frame. “I have to save her!”
He fills the doorframe as much as he can. We both know what is about to happen, and we are getting as much leverage as we can. “80, I will not let you run out to the city. You are coming with me, even if I have to drag you. Besides, it's too late. She is most likely already gone.”
“No!” My eyes widen, and I push off the bed, launching my body at Farouk. My momentum carries us both into the hallway and against the back wall. Other scientists and drones move out of our way but leave us to our own devices. They have more critical things to tend to.
Farouk tries to grab me, but I shake free. When he lunges again, I dodge and swing with my left hand, connecting hard with the side of his head. He stumbles against the wall and pulls himself up. When he turns to look at me, I see a rage that I will not be able to beat. I have to run.
“I'm sorry!” I run away from him, weaving in and out of the various people in the hallway. I scream back. “13 will know where to find me!”
I speed my way through the hallways, bumping into the occasional scientist and drone. I don't look back; I keep running. There is only one thing on my mind, and that's saving KJ and her sisters. I couldn't stop her mother's death, but I can at least give them a chance to survive. I can bring them with me to the compound. No one will convince me otherwise.
Most people don't pay any attention to me as I run by them, too preoccupied with their own agendas. When I turn the last corner, before I reach the exit, I come face to face with a wall of drones. There are four, standing side by side, and behind them stands a smug Lucie. She was waiting for me.
“Kill him,” she barks at the drones.
I'm running at them before she finishes her command. I am unarmed, and every one of the drones has a gun. If I stand still, I'm target practice. As they raise their weapons, I run straight at the drone on the left. His position is the most vulnerable because the rifle is in his right arm and hindered by the wall.
All my senses have gone into overdrive as the adrenaline pumps through my veins. If I die, KJ dies. If I die, I can't stop the Ragnarok. The world slows down, and the fight for survival has opened my eyes to every movement around me. Their fingers squeeze on their triggers, and I know I only have a chance at one move.
Pushing off my toes, I jump toward the drone against the left wall. My left hand pushes the rifle against the wall as a bullet flies out of the barrel. My right fist connects with the drone's eye, cracking his cheekbones under my knuckles. The drone stumbles back and falls against Lucie. Her eyes widen with shock, but I have no time to enjoy the moment.
As the other drones turn to me, I waste no time reacting. I grab the drone's collar closest to me and pull him in for a head butt as I push his rifle away with my right hand. His finger pulls the trigger, and the bullet flies through the back of the drone by the right wall. That drone falls limp to the ground.
The drone I headbutted falls back into the third drone, giving me a chance to reset. As the two still standing adjust to face me, I plant my right foot against the wall and launch myself at them. My force pushes them against the other wall, and we fall on top of the dead drone.
I plant a knee on the neck of one, and he punches my side as he struggles to breathe. The other drone reaches for his gun, but before he can aim it at me, I pry the rifle from the dead drone's hands and shoot him in the chest. He stumbles back, and I shoot him again, this time hitting him in the head. He falls to the ground next to the first drone I punched.
That one has clambered to his knees, blood covering his face from his shattered eye, and is attempting to find the rifle on the ground. I shoot the drone under my knee and shoot the first drone before he can find the gun.
I stand, having finished off the four adversaries. When I look up, I see why the drone could not find his gun. Lucie is aiming it right at me.
“I should have never let Farouk bring you here, you subhuman maladroit copy.” She pulls the trigger, and the bullet flies. The recoil of the gun sends her stumbling backward, and the shot misses me by a foot.
I'm not going to take my chances with her aim again, so I flip the rifle in my hand, and once I grab the barrel, I swing it with as much force as possible. The butt of the gun smacks Lucie square in the face, and she falls hard to the ground. She screams with agony. If no drones or scientists were alerted by the commotion before, they will for sure come running to her.
She'll survive, but I don't have time to wait around and see. I pick up all the guns and run out of the stadium. I drop the guns that feel the lightest as I charge into the city, keeping the one with the most ammunition. Overhead I see Flyz scrambling toward the city and launching missiles. They are going to leave this city in ruins, no matter how long it takes them.
Some outsiders put up a little resistance to my left, battling the drones that outnumber them by the dozens. In front of me, one of the tall buildings collapses and kicks up a cloud of dust. I try not to think of the lives that might have been inside as I run around the fallen debris.
Using the cover of the dust, I push deeper into the city. There are many outsiders I could stop to help, but I don't have the time if I want to honor my promise to Martha and save her daughters. I wish I could bring all the outsiders with me, but the logistics won't allow it. It pains me to see them suffer. I shoot a couple of drones as I run. Perhaps that will buy some time to let a few outsiders escape the city.
To my right, a Fly hits the lower floors of a building with a couple of missiles. The building creaks, and it buckles under its weight. As I run, I hear the building hit the ground with a roar. The drones, under Lucie's commands, are intent on leveling every building.
As I turn the last corner before reaching KJ's house, I spot five drones marching toward her entryway. I need to stop them from going in.
“Hey!” I yell as I pull the trigger and send bullets flying in their direction. Two drones fall to the ground. The other three turn and open fire.
I jump to my right and roll behind a short pile of rubble. Bullets hit the dirt around me and zoom past my body. There isn't much of a window for me to shoot back. I place the rifle on a small mound of what was once a wall and fire in the drones' direction. I shoot until no more bullets leave the barrel.
Seconds after my gun runs out, their shots stop as well. I peer over the rubble and see another drone on the ground, but the other two are walking into KJ's home. I jump to my feet and sprint to the front. One of the drones on the ground is still alive, but his breathing is garbled, and he'll soon choke on his blood. He's not a threat.
I stand outside the door, knowing that at least one of the drones is waiting for me on the other side of the wall. The fabric covering the door blocks my view of what’s inside. I can't tell where either of the drones is, and I will need to guess when I run in.
As I prepare myself to fight, an idea jumps into my head. I crouch low to the ground and inch to the center of the door. A scream from the inside springs me to action. I let my instincts guide my hand, and I reach around the right side of the wall. Since all drones are right-handed, it will want to keep that arm unobstructed.
When my hand grabs a leg, I know I guessed right. I yank at the leg, pulling the drone's feet from underneath him. He falls hard, unprepared for my attack and his head hits the ground with a thud. I stand and brush the fabric away from me. Without hesitation, I kick the dr
one under the chin, sending his jaw deep into his skull.
“Look out!” I hear KJ scream.
Before I can react, the other drone jumps on my back and wraps his arm around my neck. He pulls up and forces the front of my throat to start collapsing on itself. I swing my arms backward as each breath gets harder. My vision blurs, making it hard to find anything to kick off. I can't gain any leverage, and I'm growing too weak to try.
A loud bang scares some focus back into me, and the drone's arm goes limp. We both fall to the ground, and I can feel his blood start to soak my body. I cough as I stumble away from him. After a couple of blinks, my vision clears to see KJ stand over the drone and shoot again. She's holding the same handgun that Martha had in her hands when I saw her. KJ must know about her mother by now.
I attempt to stand but fall back against the wall. I'm still gasping for full breaths. I try to speak, but my throat burns and no words come out of my mouth. My vocal cords need a few more minutes.
“80! Are you okay?” KJ runs over to me and wraps her arms around me. She kisses me, and I kiss her back.
“Sisters?” My voice rasps, and pain accompanies my words.
Her look of sympathy for my voice soothes me. “They are in the back. Don't speak. I'll get you water.”
I grab her before she can walk away and shake my head at her. I take a deep breath and speak through the pain. “Stay. With them. I. Go. Outside. Help comes. Soon.”
“Okay.” She nods.
I take the gun from her and walk to the door.
“Please be safe.” She kisses my cheek before I walk out. I check my immediate surroundings and walk to the small open area in front of the home. Here, I have a better view of every angle. From inside, I hear her call out to me, “I love you.”
I try to say the words back to her, but some drones steal my attention. They are inspecting a building a hundred feet away. My eyes follow the drones, and they appear to be scanning the area for outsiders. I'm not going to wait for them to come to me because they have better weapons than what I'm holding. What I do have is the element of surprise.
I run along the outer parts of the clearing, making sure they don't see me, and I hide around the corner of the building they entered. A couple of Flyz circle overhead as I run to the entrance of the building. That might be Farouk and 13 looking for me. I need to make sure I dispose of the drones as fast as possible so that they won't be in the way of us getting on the Flyz.
When I step through the door, my shadow dances against the back wall, and both drones turn. They drop down and cover behind some pieces of furniture, and I do the same. I only have a couple of shots remaining in this gun, so I need to make them count.
I set my sights on the drone on the left, and when his head comes up to look for me, I shoot. Two bullets speed out of my gun. The first misses, but the second hits him between the eyes. The other drone reacts by unloading all of his gun in my direction. Most of the bullets strike the metal cabinet that I am crouched behind.
As I turn to find his head, booms explode overhead, and the building around us rumbles. The Flyz must have launched missiles at this building. Those Flyz weren't Farouk and 13. I look up and see a large crack rip in the ceiling above me. This entire thing is about to collapse.
The crack splits in two above the drone, and a large chunk of the floor above falls on him. I take that as my cue and run out of the building, heading as far to the side as possible. As I look up, the top half of the building bends and starts to come down. I follow the projected path of the collapse to make sure I'm not in danger. When I look at where it's supposed to hit, my heart jumps out of my body.
“KJ!” I find the last bit of the voice left in me. I run, but I'm not fast enough. The full weight of the top of the building falls on KJ's house. The ensuing plume of dust engulfs me.
CHAPTER XIII
I fight my way through the dust and rubble, stumbling over pieces of the fallen building and debris.
“KJ!” I scream out, the polluted air fills my lungs. I throw chunks of concrete to the side as I fight my way to where their house stood. The dust cloud settles to a faint fog, and I can see that KJ's home is in complete ruins.
The pile is a mix of the two buildings. It's hard to see where one ends, and the other begins. I climb to the top and start to peel layers of rubble and debris off. After a few moments, I find a hand, and my heart falls into my stomach. I keep digging in. Then I see her face—her eyes are still open, but they aren’t looking anywhere.
“No. No. Please no.” I pull as much as I can off of her body. She's not breathing. I reach for her neck to find a pulse, but I can't find any. “KJ, please, no.”
I peel every piece of building off of her until I reach a chunk too heavy to lift. It's crushed the lower half of her body and covered in blood. I'm helpless. “I'm sorry. I'm sorry.”
A hand grabs me from behind and pulls me back. My instincts cause my fists to swing at my aggressor, and I connect hard with its shoulder.
“80, it's me.” 13 steps back, hands up, trying to calm me. Behind him, three Flyz hover feet from the ground. That must be Farouk and the other Integers. 13 looks at me and then to the rubble behind me. He sees KJ and a sadness I did not expect becomes him. “I'm so sorry, 80, but we have to go.”
He reaches for me, but I push him away. “No!”
“80, we don't have time. We passed dozens of drones on the way. They will be here soon.” He pleads with me.
I turn back to KJ's lifeless body and kneel next to it. The pain from the stone digging into my knee is cathartic. I grab her hand and hold it up to my face, and with my other hand, I shut her eyes.
“Don't let her die in vain.” 13's voice carries to my ears and hits every part of my being.
I kiss KJ's forehead and stand to get one last look at her. Underneath the blood and dirt is the girl that made my breath stop when I first saw her walking toward the stadium. Right before I step away, a peculiar sound grabs my attention. It resonates over the hum of the Flyz and the thunder of the charging drones. Someone is crying.
“13, quick!” I run in the direction of the sobbing.
Gunfire erupts behind us. The drones have arrived, and the Flyz have opened fire on them. 13 runs to me. “The drones are here. We have to go!”
“Now!” I order him as I toss a couple of large chunks.
Together, 13 and I lift the heavier pieces off until the light of the sky shines into a small hole and illuminates a face.
“Pocket!” I shout. A smile graces my face. “Don't move.”
13 seems as excited to see her as I am. He looks around and points to one of the larger slabs of concrete. “I'll hold that up. You get her out.”
I'm not sure he's strong enough to do it, but it's the only hope we have. We lift the slab together so he can get underneath it and have some leverage, and then I peel off to reach down for Pocket.
“Grab my hand!” I shout as I reach my arm into the hole toward her. She grabs onto my fingers, but as I pull, she slips out of my grasp and falls back down.
“Hurry,” 13 struggles to say. His body shakes under the weight of the concrete.
“Pocket. I need you to jump and grab tight with both hands.” I encourage her. This is our only chance. If 13 lets go, the weight of that slab will collapse the hole around her.
She jumps, and when I feel her small hands grip my arm, I tighten my grasp. This time I won't let go. I pull her out of the small cave, wrap her in my arms, and roll away. 13 jumps out of the way, allowing the full weight of the slab to fall on the pile. The hole collapses in on itself, kicking up a small puff of dust. We would have all perished if we took any longer.
We hustle down the mound of rubble and debris and run toward the Flyz. The number of drones shooting at the Flyz increases with each step we take. Soon their numbers will be too massive to hold back.
13 climbs into the Fly first as another drone tosses a rifle to me. I shoot at the wall of drones that has formed in the cleari
ng. Most focus on the Fly closest to them, so they don't shoot toward me. I hand Pocket over to 13, and he hoists her into the Fly. As I toss the rifle back into the cabin, an awful noise turns me around.
Cabras are stampeding from all directions, their groans louder than I've ever heard. They have surrounded the drones and are closing in on the Flyz. The drones must have blown down the walls keeping the Cabras separate, and now every last one of them has descended on this spot.
The drones turn their fire toward their new attackers, but there are three times as many Cabras. For each Cabra a drone kills, two more are there to rip the flesh off the drone's body. They have no allegiance, so some of the Cabras turn their attention to us.
“Go. Go. Go.” I jump into the cabin of the Fly as a Cabra grabs the back of my leg. A bullet skims past my body and connects with the Cabra, sending it flying back.
I settle into a seat as the Fly climbs, and Pocket crawls into my arms. She closes her eyes and lets me hold her. As we turn, I spot a single Cabra standing over the rubble that used to be KJ's home. He's looking down and around, struggling with a small piece of human emotion left in him. He turns, and for a moment, I think he sees me. We've stared at each other before.
The Cabra lets out a primal scream and hobbles down the pile of rubble to join the others of his kind. My eyes follow as he makes his way to the last of the three Flyz. This Fly is struggling to lift off as a group of Cabras have grabbed hold of it. Their weight is keeping it from gaining altitude.
Shots from the cabin knock off some Cabras, but they pull one of the Integers from inside the Fly to the ground. He disappears in a group of Cabras and gets devoured.
The lost weight lets the Fly take off, but the few Cabras still clinging to it tip the balance. The pilot attempts to level it out but swings the craft right into a building. The explosion rattles our Fly as we lift higher, and the bright burst of fire shuts my eyes. I can feel Pocket clench tighter on to me.
Everything that I see before me does not seem real. I am numb and have displaced myself from this reality. As the burning Fly falls to the ground, and the building collapses on itself, the world around me feels less true than my dreams. The Cabras and drones continue to fight as I rise above the clouds, and the life I lived, the world I knew, disappears below me.