Plexus

by Wilcoxson, Troy

  “We need to get you out of here!” the squad leader states clearly.

  Her neck cracks as she turns her head completely around to face them, blood pouring out of her mouth.

  “What the fuck?” a squad member hisses, aiming his rifle at the girl.

  “Aah!” she screeches, leaping up into the tiled ceiling.

  “Fuck!” the squad leader yells while tiles get bumped and jarred as the girl moves over them.

  “Fire!” he shouts, firing up through the moving ceiling tiles.

  “Oh my god,” one of the members says.

  “What?” the squad leader says, taking his eyes off the ceiling.

  Out of the dark shadows, they notice androids surrounding them and gathering on all sides.

  “What the hell?” the Alpha squad leader whispers.

  A long, skinny arm reaches down from the ceiling, stabbing its nails into the neck of the squad leader and lifting him up by his jaw. Blood leaks down his body onto the floor.

  “The androids are hostile!” one of the members screams into the mic as they are charged by waves of shadowy figures.

  “We lost communications with Alpha squad,” the commander hisses.

  “Bravo squad, Charlie squad. The androids are hostile. I say again, the androids are hostile! You are clear to use deadly force! Destroy them all!” the commander orders over the radio.

  “Roger, deadly force authorized,” Bravo’s squad leader replies, making his way down a staircase.

  As they make their way down the staircase, the team notices a group of androids patrolling back and forth like wolves. Bravo’s team leader, Eric Buhari, zeros in on a target’s chest. Pop! A red puff launches from the other side of the target. Pop! Pop! Pop! The androids scream and scatter, attempting to find cover while tiles smash and bullets hiss by. Blood and rubble occupy the air as the androids drop lifelessly to the ground.

  Moving past the bodies with haste, the squad looks for more.

  “A girl!” one of the squad members yells as the dark figure disappears around a corner.

  “Chase her!” Buhari yells as he chases after the girl.

  Sprinting toward the dark-haired girl, the team closes the distance.

  “Aah!” she screams, slinging the door open to find herself surrounded by police officers.

  “Freeze, bitch!” Eric Buhari roars, putting the barrel of the rifle to the back of her head.

  “No!” she cries, lowering her blood soaked head to the ground sobbing. “I didn’t mean to!” she moans deeply.

  “God damn it, I want to fucking kill this bitch!” Eric hisses as they handcuff the crazy female android.

  “We need to question her first. Figure out if there are more rogue androids where she came from,” the commander says into his ear.

  “Then we’ll kill her,” he whispers.

  Locking a metal collar around her neck, three police officers guide her with connected rods into a SWAT truck.

  “Wrap it up!” the commander says, slapping the back of the truck as it accelerates away.

  Eric’s squad reenters the train station to do final clearings. The SWAT trucks take off, escorted by police cruisers.

  Down the street and around the corner, they accelerate with cruiser lights flashing. Traffic stops as they pass through the red light.

  The train station lights slowly illuminate as the argon lamps turn back on. SWAT and police officers make their way into the bloody graveyard. An officer stops when he sees the body of a dead girl being held by a dead woman. In her hand, the dead little girl holds a necklace. The officer pulls the necklace out of the fingers to see an open locket with her and her mother’s photo inside. The officer sighs, closing the locket and the little girl’s eyes.

  Four blocks away, the two SWAT trucks led by two police cruisers make their way through a green light. Bam! A tractor trailer truck slams into the first police cruiser, driving it into a café window. Diving out of the way, pedestrians scatter in panic.

  “Shit!” The driver of the second police cruiser slams on his brakes.

  “Accelerate, damn it!” the passenger screams.

  Boom! The front windshield explodes, painting the cruiser’s interior with the passenger’s brain matter.

  “Aah!” the driver cries in horror while the cruiser plows through café tables, sending people and debris flying.

  The SWAT trucks accelerate in an attempt to keep up with the police cruiser escort. Civilians run through the road screaming. Boom! The first SWAT truck’s cab explodes, sending the vehicle skidding across the street. The second SWAT truck rams into its rear and is engulfed in black smoke.

  “Go around!” the SWAT truck’s passenger yells at the driver.

  “Damn it!” the driver curses as he puts the truck into reverse.

  A large arm slams through the driver’s side window, unbuckling the seatbelt. Then it grabs the driver and pulls him out the window.

  “Good afternoon,” says the dark figure’s overpowering voice, with its deep, motorized rasp.

  The driver looks up at the man, whose imposing figure blocks out the sun, but all he sees is a large, dark figure with orange eyes.

  “I believe you have something of mine,” Apollyon roars, placing a razor to the man’s neck. “Don’t worry, I’ll make it quick.”

  Slit! The officer gargles and spits up blood while wheezing through his open neck. He then drops to the ground as Apollyon steps over his head.

  Apollyon opens the back door of the SWAT truck, revealing the black-haired girl covered in dry blood. Three SWAT officers sit across from her. The officers quickly shoulder their weapons in a desperate attempt to defend themselves. Boom! Pop! Pop! Pop! The truck lights up from the bullet fire, rocking back and forth for a few quick moments as Apollyon dispatches the remaining officers. After killing the officers, Apollyon approaches the pale girl painted in gore.

  “Are you the one that likes stories?” Apollyon asks.

  Her face lights up, her black teeth grinning from ear to ear.

  “I hear you have a way of finding our kind,” he adds, kneeling down to her. “Would you like to join me? We shall make stories together.”

  “She will do anything he asks of her,” she replies desperately.

  “Then let me tell you a story, a story of a boy, and how this boy will one day change the world.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  He gave up everything, even his own life. One day, he’ll return. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, it may not be for a hundred years. But when he returns, he’ll bring peace to all of us. This I know, Palomino our creator.

  02:00 PM, December 13, 2051

  Ten Hours Till Day Zero

  The sun glares in the balcony window, peeking through the cloud cover high in the gray sky.

  Jiro turns around to take in the destroyed apartment.

  “What happened here?” Emily asks Zach as he faces away from her.

  Zach pauses for a moment, looking at the mess.

  “It’s kind of a long story,” he replies in a low voice.

  Stepping over flipped chairs and maneuvering through broken glass, Emily notices a pistol lying by an overturned table. Zach turns around to look at Emily as she stares at the gun. Zach hops over and quickly grabs the gun. Emily’s eyebrows focus in confusion as she observes Zach standing there awkwardly.

  “You two hungry?” he asks, changing the subject. He quickly turns around toward the kitchen.

  Emily pauses for a moment in deep thought, then looks over at Jiro.

  “Jiro?” Emily asks Jiro as he approaches her from the balcony door.

  Walking into the kitchen, Zach stops dead in his tracks, noticing the phone lying on the kitchen floor. Exhaling softly, Zach’s eyes close. Picking up the phone, he places it on the counter.

  “You like eggs, Jiro?” Zach hollers in a hearty tone.

  Jiro huddles up behind Emily to hide from Zach. Zach looks at the boy as he peeks from behind Emily’s leg. Zach then look
s up at Emily as she smiles down at Jiro.

  “He won’t hurt you!” she says with a chuckle.

  Stepping out from behind Emily, Jiro puts his hands behind his back.

  “He asked you if you want eggs, Jiro,” she said.

  “Yes, sir,” Jiro replies in a whisper as he looks up at Emily.

  Zach quickly pulls his jacket off and tosses it on top of the counter. Noticing his tight black shirt, Emily blinks, breaking her stare from his big arms.

  “You got it, boss!” Zach says with a bright smile, pulling out a skillet.

  Zach looks at Emily from the corner of his eyes while twirling the skillet and placing it on the stove. Her face lights up as she smiles nervously. He turns his head away with a crooked smirk.

  Jiro looks up at Emily. Emily smiles at him, placing her hand on his back.

  Zach grabs two barstools and places them at the bar.

  “Have a seat, bud!” Zach says, smiling at Jiro.

  Jiro hops onto the stool.

  “Ma’am,” Zach says, placing his hand against Emily’s back, gently guiding her to the stool.

  “Thanks,” Emily says with a laugh.

  Emily takes a seat. Jiro looks up at Emily while Zach hops over to the stove to flip the eggs. Emily observes Zach’s butt with a smile.

  “Are you okay?” Jiro asks Emily with a confused expression.

  Emily’s face goes red, and her smile disperses as she attempts to redirect her eyes around the kitchen in an effort to fool the boy.

  “What?” she replies awkwardly while playing dumb.

  “Your face is red,” Jiro states clearly.

  “It’s nothing,” she replies with a frustrating sigh, brushing her bangs behind her impaired left ear.

  “So, how is being a police officer?” Emily asks to change the subject as she spots his police jacket lying on the counter before looking back up at Zach.

  “Ex-cop as of today,” Zach says with a sigh, which is followed with a forced, kind smile.

  Zach’s and Emily’s eyes meet. The two pause for a moment as they connect eyes, and then Zach turns away to switch the stove off. Emily is confused, pondering what happened to his job, but she refuses to be nosy and takes a bite of her eggs. Zach sits down in front of her with a plate of eggs and pulls out a loaf of bread. He then tosses a slice of bread onto each of their plates.

  “Thank you!” Jiro says with a full mouth.

  “You got it, bro,” Zach replies, smiling at Emily.

  Emily smiles back awkwardly. Zach then looks over at Jiro’s eyes as they turn purple. Jiro’s face then goes blank and loses all emotion.

  “Jiro?” Zach says confused.

  Jiro plops down from his bar stool and heads toward the front door.

  “Jiro, where are you going?” Emily says, stepping down from her stool.

  Oblivious to them both, Jiro opens the front door and steps out. Concerned, Emily looks back at Zach, unsure of what is happening. She runs to the door. Peeking her head outside, she sees Jiro sprinting down the stairs toward the parking lot.

  “Jiro!” she screams as she runs to the stairs.

  Sprinting past the parked cars, Jiro makes his way to the street. Car tires screech as drivers slam on their brakes trying to avoid the boy. Ignoring the cars, he runs into a back ally.

  Emily sprints past the braked cars as they honk their horns.

  Zach hops into his Mustang, slams it into reverse, and speeds out of the parking lot.

  Jiro charges through the back alley and pushes through a crowd on the sidewalk.

  “Jiro!” Emily yells, noticing Jiro briefly as he vanishes into a crowd.

  Zach slams on the speed and accelerates through the yellow light. Beating it, he turns the corner around a building where crowds have formed.

  Knocking a café chair over, Jiro sprints by people as they dine, oblivious to the attention he’s attracting. He darts across the street, defying the lighted stop sign.

  “What the hell, kid?” a man yells at the street corner.

  “Excuse me!” Emily whispers, bumping the man out of the way.

  Sprinting across the street, she continues to pursue the boy.

  With his head on a swivel, Zach drives around slowly looking for the boy.

  “Where did you go?” he whispers to himself.

  Slinging the glass door open, Jiro enters a mall with haste and focus.

  Emily stops at a corner, unsure as to where Jiro has disappeared. She scans the street. Then sees the mall and notices a flash of Jiro’s clothes as the door closes behind him.

  “Hey!” she yells, bolting across the street and dodging cars as they honk.

  Grabbing the door, she flings it open. Scanning the crowd, she doesn’t see him.

  “Hey! I know you!” a lady at the door says to Emily.

  Emily’s face goes pale. Ignoring the lady, she suddenly spots Jiro running around a corner. With a lit-up face, Emily accelerates into a sprint.

  “Security!” the woman yells.

  Emily gets around the corner in time to see Jiro exiting out another door. Sprinting to the door, Emily slams through it and finds two police cruisers with flashing lights.

  “Shit!” she hisses.

  Looking across the parking lot, she sees Jiro crossing another street.

  “Damn!” she says to herself and runs after the boy.

  “Stop!” the police say over their intercom.

  Weaving through the parked cars, Emily closes on the boy as Zach barrels around the corner and slams on the brakes in front of Jiro. Jiro freezes as he is caught off guard, and Emily takes advantage of the situation, scooping Jiro up and jumping into the car.

  “Let’s go!” Emily says hastily.

  With the screech of the tires, Zach accelerates and takes off back around the corner of the building.

  “Aah!” Jiro screams as he fights Emily.

  Emily wraps her arms around Jiro, binding his arms. Running into a traffic jam, Zach sighs. Emily looks into the mirror and sees the police behind them. She looks at Zach, concerned. He turns the wheel tightly to the left, driving onto the sidewalk. Zach slams the horn while avoiding some pedestrians who jump out of the way. Jiro goes quiet and limp. A third police cruiser joins the fray.

  Zach plows through a handrail, returning to the road while crossing a four-way stop. Cars swerve and smash into each other. With no other way to go, Zach drives head on into traffic. Zach swerves left, then right, attempting to avoid colliding into oncoming cars. A taxi crashes into a building. People scream and jump out of the way.

  Zach turns right, exiting the oncoming traffic. Zach floors it, driving into a back ally, smashing into garbage cans, and knocking trash into the air. Zach turns around a corner and notices a parking garage. He quickly turns into the garage while keeping an eye out for an open parking spot. He finds a spot behind a pillar and pulls into it. Zach turns off the engine. Emily’s eyes pan back and forth as they listen to the police sirens growing louder and louder. Emily looks over at Zach while a bead of sweat runs down her face. The sirens get louder as they approach the entrance to the garage. Zach stares forward with no emotion. He closes his eyes. The sirens begin to fade. Emily exhales in relief.

  “I think we lost them,” one of the police officers says over the radio.

  “Was that Zachariah Becker?” another police officer asks on the radio.

  “Yep,” he replies.

  “What’s he doing with criminals?”

  “Obviously, he is a fucking criminal.”

  Emily looks at Zach. Zach releases his hands from the wheel.

  “Where do you think we should go?” she asks.

  Zach looks to a screen in the middle of his dashboard. Tapping it, he selects “search.” An on-screen keyboard pops up. He then types in “android refuge.” Seeing what he typed, Emily looks at Zach, confused.

  “We need to get him to a safe place, a place where there are more of them. Maybe somebody can help us,” he says, searching thr
ough sites.

  Breaking her sight from Zach, she looks at the screen.

  “A friendly place of refuge for all Palomin at the Crystal Lake Chapel. What the heck is a Palomin?” Zach says quietly.

  “I guess it’s what they’re calling themselves,” Emily says as they read through the website.

  “What do you think?” he asks.

  “Looks good to me,” she replies.

  As the trio lies low for a few hours, the sun goes down, and the crowds fade. Zach looks at Emily and Jiro. She looks back at Zach with Jiro asleep in her lap. He turns the ignition and slowly pulls out of the parking garage.

  They drive about sixteen minutes and finally arrive at a cathedral. They see a crowd of people with candles making their way into large wooden doors. They park the vehicle and get out. Emily carries Jiro with his head on her shoulder. They make their way into the crowd and see a woman grieving against a stone wall as a man tries to comfort her.

  “I lost my daughter to a murderer, and everyone says I need to get over it. They say she wasn’t real. They don’t know what the fuck real is. She was real to me,” the lady says holding her mouth with tears running down her face.

  “Don’t listen to those people. They’re just closed-minded. They don’t understand,” the man replies, pulling her close.

  Emily looks at Zach as they approach the doors. Zach scans the area and picks out several androids.

  “They look just like us, but their eyes reflect differently, like a cat’s,” he says to Emily.

  Zach continues through the doors, guiding Emily and Jiro.

  “Apollyon, that’s what they’re calling him. He gives us all a bad name. And now the president is threatening to destroy us. Some say we’re just robots programmed to act human. However, I come to you not as a robot, not as a man, but as someone who believes in right and wrong,” yells a priest as he echoes from the stage. The audience bears candles in the dimly lit cathedral.

  Emily looks up to see a high domed ceiling held up by large stone pillars.

  “Adam Palomino was murdered!” the priest roars.

  Emily covers her mouth in shock.

  “By a sociopath named Apollyon. The reports started coming in just two hours ago. A bomb leveled the entire Palomino facility—where Adam Palomino was in a suspended cryo-state—to the ground,” the priest hisses.