Program Erin

by Alex Fall

  "That's not normal..." I heard him utter under his breath. He watched the distance for a moment.

  I strummed a few more times while trying to let the blanket warm me up, uninterested in what Fake Arty was getting at. It's probably one of his dumb ways to flirt with me. Suddenly, a flash of lightning lit up the area and a deafening boom awakened me.

  Bolting up inside the cabin of the freighter I slept in, it dawned on me that the boom of thunder wasn't actually the lightning in my dream, but something nearby in real life. What was that noise? Outside it was drizzling, effectively masking any minor noises. It was cold, making me uncomfortable and slightly irritable. My adrenaline was wearing off from the sudden awakening, but I still didn't hear anything. I crawled over and peered out the nearest window. All I could see was rain and the wall of the building right next to the truck. Something isn't right...

  Throwing on a pale blue long sleeved shirt (one of the few remaining unscorched clothes I have) I put my hair back and grabbed my shotgun then peeked outside. Over the rain, I heard voices and sounds of scuffling. Then, two gunshots and another boom. That boom...that's an explosive. Is that what woke me up? It seemed to be coming from unnervingly close to the sky rig. How does trouble always find me? I tucked a pistol in my pants, gripped my shotgun firmly, and dashed from the vehicle down the alley.

  The air was chilled, making me very uncomfortable. Even though I tried to stay under a covering, the rain was still getting me and my bare feet splashed through the streams and puddles that had collected. Already I was beginning to shiver slightly. I heard an inaudible shout sound off from my side of the street, but far off to my right. A gunshot again rang through the air. My mind was groggy and my body was stiff, not to mention still healing from the burns. I was hungry and had a taste for sedatives, but at the same time, I couldn't ignore this situation. Not if it meant danger to Sharon.

  I readied my shotgun and crept down the side of the street, ready to dash into a building for cover as the need arose. An icy blast burst from a side street two rights ahead of me. I crouched slightly and hurried to that location.

  "C’est pas possible, it's Sapphire! Right here!" A voice shouted in surprise mixed with fear. I realized as it was speaking that the voice was coming from above me.

  A Flyer wearing dark colors jetted off to a building top out of sight before I could blast him. I jumped into a small window right next to me, unfortunately slicing myself on the broken out shards of glass still present around the edges of the entry. Landing softly so as not to slice my feet on the glass all over the floor, I crept away slowly to a side window and took a second to nurture my cut. A body ran past the window I had entered and stopped at the next one. I stopped moving underneath a windowsill along the side of the building and glanced up out of it. Outside, I saw two Benevolents and could hear more. The further one away, the one wearing some kind of water repellent coat with tactical pants and something like a whip in his hand, pointed in my direction and shouted, "There! Get her!"

  So that's how it is...

  Rise, aim, fire. I dropped the one greater while the other jumped behind the nearest object. I leaned out the window and shot again, clipping the second one's arm. Before he could recover and attack me, I pulled myself through the window. Here on the small side street, I only spotted the one greater that I just shot. He began to yell something, but I jumped over the rusty metal hulk he was concealing himself behind and came down on his chest. Though my damaged foot gave out when I landed, I just used my weight to crush the end of my shotgun down into his face. An involuntary reflex caused him to shock the air around him, but he collapsed unconscious. I rolled off and laid on the ground, trying to regain my breath after being electrocuted.

  The metal groaned and rose in the air moments later, revealing a Brute wearing simple, all black clothing (with a hole in his fitted shirt where my shotgun hit, sleek armor underneath) that reared back to crush me with the metal. A shotgun blast to the chest had him stumble back and drop the chunk, but he was armored. I sat up and heard footsteps behind me plus the rushing sound of something being swung. I turned my shotgun vertically in attempt to block. A metal rod connected with the top of my gun, but at the angle it came from, it still cracked me across the side of my head. It nearly laid me out, but I collected my feet underneath me and used the wall to stand. A second hit struck across my hands and knocked the gun out of my grasp, and before the Bolt could land his third hit, I ducked away. She stuck her rod into the wall about where my gut would have been. This Bolt was wearing black as well, a distinctive, sleeveless shirt and gray, loose functional pants, and sleek dark armor on her arms and presumably her body but most notably, a red bracelet. I leaned against a gas pipe to hold myself up and used both legs to kick the Bolt back. I crouched to dash forward, but noted the Brute had ripped and slung a post out of the ground at me, leaving me about 1 second to decide what to do.

  I dropped to the floor and pushed off the wall, sliding along my belly and soaking my clothes. The flying post passed just over my back and demolished an unfortunate shopping basket. The bolt dropped to the ground and I saw a quick wave of barely visible arcs travel down her arm. I rolled out of the puddle before it got jolted, putting me beneath the Brute who stepped forward to stomp me. I pulled my pistol and twisted just enough to avoid his foot. His stomp cracked the ground and actually bounced me a little, but rather than shooting him, I turned and shot the Bolt. She was wearing armor after all...

  The Brute raised his foot to stomp again. Before he finished raising it, I pushed the sole of his foot away to knock him off balance, blocked another rod hit with my shins, then used my legs to disarm the bolt and kick her rod away. The rod had some charge to it, shocking me as it went away (not enough to stun me, but enough to hurt like needles). I rolled back to all fours in time to sit up and block a downward strike from the Brute, which knocked me back into the ground and the pistol out of my hands. He was going to kneel and finish me off. I flicked my leg into his ankle as I heated up mine. I didn't melt his leg off, but heated just enough to melt through his armor, and once the hole was made, I popped the power, sending flames underneath his armor, up his leg and down into his foot. The brute screeched in pain and reeled back, allowing me to stand. I narrowly dodged a slash to the neck from a knife that the bolt produced. The sting of a cut traveled across my neck, but it wasn't deep enough to cause lasting damage. This is lasting too long. I'm getting fatigued pretty fast, my old burns are aching pretty bad, and I was already tired to begin with.

  The next knife attack, I blocked masterfully, turned and snapped her wrist, causing the knife to fall from her hands to mine. To get her away, I kicked her in the gut, but she shocked the thin film of water I was standing on as she went. My legs felt like a thousand needles hit them and I fell back to the ground. The Brute was now leaning against the wall, growling in pain, and the Bolt stumbled back and fell on her butt. We all took a moment to recover. I hurt all over...

  A new Greater came running around the corner to join the fight, wearing black and a leather jacket over his armor, with a belt brimming with assorted gadgets. Why? Why does the world hate me so?! A memory of Fake Arty's voice rattled in my head, reminding me that violence causes nightmares. Get of my head you *cuss*!

  I pushed myself up to my aching feet and readied myself. Pistol on the ground behind me, shotgun ahead of me to my right. Injured Brute immediately to my right, injured bolt behind me, unknown Greater ahead of me, unaccounted for Flyer. A noise sounded off to my right. I jumped forward to avoid a section of ladder that was ripped off the wall and slung at me. A plasma bolt struck the wall uncomfortably close to where I was, originating from the new Greater. The Brute hobbled forward despite his injured leg and swung down at me with the remaining section of ladder. I dropped to my knees just under a windowsill that caught the ladder instead of hitting me. He slid it over as far as he could and smacked me in the side of my head, but from there I pulled myself up using his improvised weapon for aid, uppe
rcut the Brute, the shoved the knife through a woven part of armor around his shoulder. Another plasma bolt flew above head and shot a piece of gutter off the wall, which fell on my back and knocked me off the Brute.

  I'm still holding the knife? I must have unconsciously pulled it out before I got hit. From all fours, I raised a leg and kicked the Brute away. The Flyer landed on the metal hulk, also joining the fight. The Bolt charged in to grab the gutter and electrify it, so I intercepted her with a knife throw. It hit handle first across the face, which seemed to scare her into backing off. A round techy ball hit the wall near me and blasted gas, sending me into a coughing fit.

  Upon hearing sounds of a FIFTH person joining, I turned to see the plasma gun wielder focus and fire at an unknown fifth person. That buys me a good 3.6 seconds to act, assuming the Flyer isn't planning something. I leaped out of the smoke in time to redirect the Brute's blow and send him through and open window. I hopped up and threw a jab at the Bolt, followed by a spin kick. She dodged both then electrified her hands. I backed off, but to my surprise, she snatched my pistol with her good hand. She charged up as a bluff? That *cuss* booger! And shut up, figment! I'll cuss whenever the *cuss* I want!

  I raised my hand and shot a small orb of fire into the Bolt's good hand, leaving a small half dollar sized burn that hurt like grabbing a handful of coals. She dropped the gun to tuck her hand under her armpit in pain, but she looked up just in time to see me about to land a leaping kick to her head. I never landed it. The Flyer rushed me and crashed me into the wall, landing several good hits after doing so. I saw the Brute help himself back up to standing yet again, and the Bolt backed away and began to charge. The other remaining Greater, however, dropped to the ground and the fifth person (who was wearing a type of armor that I recognized as a toughness augmenting suit) came around the corner and raised a gun.

  My concentration broke when the Flyer grabbed my neck and used his power to shove my head into an overhang about nine feet above me. My vision swirled further from the intense blow and we both came down together. Before anything else happened, I broke away from his hands and throat struck him. Next up was an elbow bash. Before he hit the ground, he flew off to the left, out of my reach. The Bolt switched her focus from me to the augmented person behind me, shooting off a lightning bolt into the armor. I kicked up my shotgun to my hands, swirled it around and cracked the bolt across the head with the back end of the gun, rendering her unconscious. I turned, shot the Flyer down, then advanced at Brute, trying to bash him with my gun also, as I was too angry to simply shoot him. He caught the weapon and snatched up my pistol. Releasing my weapon, I stepped out and tried to hold the pistol away, but his strength overrode mine. So, I pulled the trigger of the shotgun. The explosive sound so near his ears caused him to whirl away from me and shove the gun away. I stepped back and high kicked him in the chin, but because I stood on my bad foot, my leg gave in. I fell to my knees and took aim, yet a ridiculous boom sounded off and the Brute also fell to his knees holding his side (as whatever was just fired went through his armor), so I raised my hand and finished the fight with a great flame, enlarging the already existing burn on my hand. I turned and aimed at the last opponent, trying to scan him through the rain and tears of pain.

  The armored foe also took aim at me. A split second later, he stopped and lowered his gun, scanning me through the cold alloyed helmet and four backlit eye slits. What's going on? Who is this person and what do they want? I began to collect my power enough to end the fight. Then, it spoke.

  "Captain?..."

  ...What?

  The person reached up, released their helmet, and removed the head armor, revealing her dark hair and shocked features. My eyes narrowed at seeing her.

  In a quiet and disbelieving voice, I replied, “Lori?..."

  "Captain..." She repeated.

  Sure enough, as sure as the rain that was falling on me, there stood Lori Phillips, my trusted and loyal crew member. I lowered my gun and continued to stare. What in the world is she doing here?

  "Erin...you're alive," she whispered, almost as if she was going to cry. She put her hand over her mouth as if she just might.

  "That's not like you to call me by my name."

  She moved forward to embrace me (which I found quite unexpected) but halted and stepped back to stare intensely at my face. "My god...your scars..."

  It dawned on me just how many burns on top of burns I had acquired since she last saw me, not to mention how bruised and bloody I looked at this moment. I looked aside to hide my face from her view, and pulled the band off my hair to let it fall down and possibly hide some of my wounds, even though it was soaked.

  "Captain, what happened?" She asked suddenly with gusto. "You've been gone for a month!"

  "A lot happened. A lot," I repeated for emphasis. All the pain was collecting in my body as the adrenaline from fighting was wearing off. "What are you doing here? Where is the rest of the crew?"

  "I've been looking for you! We all were!"

  "I told you to stay behind."

  "You told Gar to stay behind, but we decided against that. He did too."

  I shifted while trying to take this event in, and when I did, my leg gave out. Lori rushed to my side to help me up. "Sorry for disobeying orders Captain, but I couldn't leave you."

  I pointed to the sky rig and said, "We need to get in there after I get my stuff."

  "No, I have to get you back home. You need medical help, and-"

  "We are going to that sky rig," I repeated. Lori helped me up and I led her to the freighter I stayed the night in despite her disagreement. I was so unbelievably cold and wet. My body was shivering, which just aggravated my burns. Almost all I could think about was a warm meal by a heater or a fire. The faint smell of orange oil touched my nose as I dug all of my stuff out. Immediately, I pulled my medicine bag out and began treating myself. Not good, I only have several doses of some of my medicines left.

  "What is going on here?!" Lori blurted.

  "What are you talking about? I'm getting my stuff."

  "No, I mean...why are you here? Who hurt you? Did you kill those people back there? What is this place? Why are the people so different?"

  Lori's barrage of questions seemed unrelenting. She was clearly in an upset. I'm so tired...

  "And we couldn't find you! After all the work it took to start the gate up again!" She continued.

  "Lori."

  "And then Reggy had to have time off to heal, and Gar couldn't get a fix on the signal."

  "Lori," I repeated, slightly louder.

  She stopped ranting for a second. "Captain," she said with a nod.

  "We can catch up in a second. But right now, I'm in pain, I'm hungry, tired, and wet, and I'm absolutely freezing. So can you help me bring my stuff to the sky rig?"

  She sighed and held a hand out to take my pack. I climbed out onto the streets and limped to the structure. Lori put her helm back on and stayed behind me to keep an eye on things. We entered the small abandoned building that served as the dock connection to the ingress hatch of the rig, and I walked right up the stairs to the sealed hatch and banged on the door with my fist. Nothing happened. No noise, no Dwellers, no movement. A drop of water spattered on the ground after it seeped through the large aging glass windows lining the ceiling. The sound of the rain hitting and running down the structure we were in was relaxing, considering how tired I am. Lori stood at the bottom of the steps, occasionally looking back across the street.

  I 'knocked' again. Nothing. Perhaps I'm using the wrong door?

  I led Lori to the small building that Jeanne used to access the rig and came to the underside entrance. Lori expressed no further thoughts about my action, but the way she kept looking around had me thinking that she just wanted to give up on getting inside.

  I heard the muffled sound of someone lean on the door from the other side. I knocked again.

  "Come on! I've been here before, its me! Sapphire Eyes?"

  Lori turn
ed to face me. I wonder if behind that helmet she was raising an eyebrow. The door creaked as a latch released and an unfamiliar face greeted me. An older but capable, half oriental man with a hunting rifle peeked through the slit between the door and the wall to see glow of my blue eyes. Warm air spilled out of the sky rig and teased me.

  "I'd like to come in now. It's cold and wet out here," I said after a pause between us.

  The man pulled the door open a bit more but stopped at the sight of Lori.

  "I hope he's a friend of yours," the man said.

  I turned and looked back at Lori. "Her? She's a friend of mine. She'll be visiting for a bit too."

  The doorman examined my face for a second, but broke gaze after I stared into his eyes. We both entered and the warm air of the interior of the ship enveloped me. The man again sealed the door, then yelled something in Parisian to some others that were out of sight.

  "Could you get me a change of clothes?" I asked the man that let us in.

  "I suppose. You didn't come here just to mooch off us, I hope?"

  I answered him with a death glare.

  "Sapphire Eyes?" Lori whispered to me inquisitively. I postponed her question with a brushing motion of the hand.

  While he went off looking for clothing, I stood in the hall dripping wet, trying to stop shivering. Lori took her helmet off and shook her head as if release some tension. I nodded in the direction behind Lori to get her to turn around. We both watched as faces of the curious and shy Dwellers living here came to get a peek at the new visitors. They whispered amongst themselves, things about "She's back," and "Who is that with her?" and "She looks pretty hurt."

  Soon, the man and two others returned with a small pile of folded clothes. I was given a towel, some jeans, a black camisole, a thick, oversized gray and pale pink diamond pattern sweater, socks, and something like moccasins. I stepped into a side room to change, listening to the Dwellers talk to Lori while I did.