by Aaron Denius
Just as I’m about to doze off, I hear a knock on my door. Part of me wants to ignore them and lie here until morning, but I realize that someone has probably come to take me to Rene. I shut off the water, dry myself and throw on a clean outfit.
When I open the door, I see a drone with an eye patch covering his left eye. “80?”
He taps his eye patch. “You like it?”
“Yeah. It looks tough.” I’m happy to see him. I would rather it be him that brings me to Rene.
“Follow me.” He walks off toward the library, away from the medical ward. I don’t question him; I just follow. He leads me to a door near the library and into the open field.
This is where the battle against the outsiders took place. I look down and see that the blades of grass are still stained with blood. They moved the bodies while Ev and I were down in the simulation room. He is definitely not taking me to see Rene. “Where are we going?”
“I have a surprise for you.” He looks back and smiles, and picks up his pace to a light jog. I have no choice but to follow as he makes it to the wall.
“They are going to be waking up Rene soon.” My heart is pumping. Whatever 80 has planned has got me excited.
“I know. It’s the perfect time.” He works his way down the wall, checking his surroundings as he goes.
“For what? What are we doing?” I mimic every action he takes as he ducks his way to the corner of the wall.
“Going to the pyramid.” He shoots a giant smile at me, and I can’t help but reciprocate. “You said you wanted to go. Besides, everyone will be focusing on Rene, so no one will notice us leaving.”
What we are about to do is so wrong and will get me in so much trouble, but ever since I saw the top of the pyramid from my vantage point on the roof, I have wanted to see it up close. Before I can even think about objecting, I see 80 scaling the wall’s corner like a spider. He places his hand on one stone and his foot on another. I do my best to follow his path as we climb the thirty-foot wall.
He is every bit as physically able as I am, but he seems to possess a lot more fearlessness. My hands shake as I look down at the drop beneath me. One miscalculation, and I could very easily fall to my death. 80 makes it to the top and looks around.
I’m about to reach up for the top of the wall when my foot slips. My heart stops as I begin to fall, and the only thing that crosses my mind is that I failed Ev. I am snapped back into the moment when 80’s hand grabs mine, stopping my thirty-foot plunge. He pulls me up, and I regain my bearings at the top of the wall. That close brush with death has made me reconsider this adventure. “I shouldn’t be doing this. We should go back.”
“Stop!” Three drones are running at us from different directions.
“Too late. Go!” 80 has ushered me to the edge of the wall, and before I know it, I’m climbing down on the other side. 80 is on the wall right behind me. We make it to the ground and run in the direction of the first place we can find cover. It appears to be an old metal shack with most of its exterior rusted, stolen, or blown off. We crouch behind it, both breathing heavy and trying to catch our breath. We look at each other and laugh.
We barely have time to think before we are off and running again, this time in the direction of the pyramid. The bottom is obscured by the city before us, but I see more of the top than I ever have. The city is a mix of steel and glass buildings with stone and metal huts. It’s a plethora of juxtaposition with no middle ground. The only thing that they all have in common is that they have been worn down, torn apart, or blown up. Anxiety grips me as we get closer to the border. The outsiders do not come across as welcoming hosts, and we are running into unknown territory for both of us.
“Come over here.” 80 waves me over to a pile of rubble. “We need to change out of these clothes. We’ll stand out to the outsiders if we don’t.”
“What would happen if they spot us?” I step next to 80 as he bends down and grabs something.
“They’d kill us.” 80 pulls the corpse of a young man from under the rubble. The smell coming from his body is repugnant. His entire left arm is missing, and his face is covered with blood. His dead, empty eyes stare up at me through the blood. My stomach tightens, and I look away.
“I’m not wearing a dead man’s clothes.” I try hard to keep everything in my stomach.
“Atom, it’s the only way. Nobody outside of the compound wears what we have on,” he says. “Just don’t look at their faces.”
I take a deep breath and turn to see that 80 has already grabbed a second body and is midway through changing. I walk over to the first body and slowly pull off his outer layer. “How are you able to do this?”
“I have been around death since I was created. The drones are expendable, so they wouldn’t even bother fixing someone with a broken leg. They just replace them with someone new. I’m not the first one named 80.” He jumps back into the rubble and scavenges.
This reminder of the lack of humanity the scientists show toward the drones reignites my anger at Rene. It confirms my resolve to make it to the pyramid and defy him. These thoughts help me get through the daunting task of putting on a dead man’s clothes. I finish changing, and 80 steps out of the rubble holding a handgun and a long staff. He hands me the staff and conceals the gun in his pants.
“Let’s go.” 80 heads into the city.
I follow. “How do you know which way to go?”
“I’m just walking to the giant structure in the center of the city.” He puts his arm around my shoulder, and I smile. For a moment, I feel we are brothers.
As we walk deeper into the city, the density of people increases. 80 was right; no one is paying attention to us. My nerves calm, and my senses kick into high gear. The first thing to hit me is the smell. It is one of the most pungent odors I have ever experienced. There is a hint of sweat and smoke, but the main culprit seems to be rotting flesh, much like that from the dead body whose clothes I am wearing. My skin feels clammy, and I realize that it is at least fifteen degrees hotter here than at the compound.
The only thing pleasant in this repulsive city is the sound of a steady beat. “What do you think that is?”
“I don’t know.” 80 turns down a street and heads toward the sound. “Let’s find out.”
I would be turning away from the pyramid, which is what I really want to see, but I am just as curious to explore the sound. It doesn’t take us long to get to the source, as we are suddenly greeted by a wall of people all looking toward the center. “I think it’s a party.”
80 looks at me with dead eyes. “I don’t know what that is.”
I’m surprised by what he just said. Then I remember that there are many things I’m sure he hasn’t experienced. “It’s a gathering for a celebration.”
“Okay,” he responds, unsure. “What about the sound? And the smell?”
“The sound is music. Nothing I have heard before.” I listen closer. It’s very drum-heavy and rhythmic. Suddenly a second smell hits me. It’s a type of burning, but this one is making my mouth water. “I don’t know what that smell is.”
We try to look around the crowd, but my gaze is pulled away when I hear a buzzing by my head. I look and spot one of the dragonfly cameras. They are much smaller in person, and had I not seen one before, I wouldn’t be any wiser to what it is. I swat at it, but it doesn’t move.
“They found us,” I say.
80 turns and looks around. “What do you mean?”
I point to the dragonfly. “That’s a camera.”
Before I know it, the staff has been pulled from my grasp, and 80 smashes the dragonfly camera. “Run. Go!”
We take off toward the pyramid. If I am going to get caught, I want to see the pyramid before they reach me. As we run, a few more dragonflies give chase. We do our best to avoid being spotted, but there are too many, so we decide to just run straight for the pyramid.
Everything slows down as the majestic structure that I have been coveting reveals itself to me.
I’ve seen many pictures, but none of them prepared me for the way I would feel. There is noticeable wear on the pyramid, and one of the corners has been blown off, but I still can’t help but feel humbled. Humans built this stunning work of art over fifty centuries ago, and no one in this city has an inkling of respect for it. My purpose just became a little clearer. I wasn’t created to only save the human race; I was made to also preserve its history.
“It’s amazing,” 80 says, and he snaps me out of my head.
“It truly is. Thank you for bringing me out here, but we need to get back.” I turn to head back to the compound.
80 doesn’t move. “What do you think they’ll do to me?”
“What do you mean?” I look at him.
“I brought you out here. The scientists are not going to be very happy about that.” He looks up at me, and I see a fear of death in his eyes for the first time.
“I won’t let them do anything to you. You are my friend, and you saved my life. I will never forget that.” I walk on, and he jogs up next to me. We weave our way through the city and past the party.
“Hang on a second.” 80 runs off toward the party, leaving me alone. I stand off to the side to try to avoid any attention.
Just as 80 turns the corner, an older man with spotted facial hair steps in front of me. “Where did you get those shoes?”
I look down and see that the brightly colored shoes are in complete contrast to the rest of the clothes I’m wearing. “I found them.”
The old man studies me. “Where?”
My heart races because I know whatever answer I give him will be the wrong answer. “I don’t remember.”
“You’re lying.” The old man pins my shoulders against the wall and looks back. “Petros!”
A giant man walks out of the shadows, his face covered in scars. “What?”
“I think he’s from inside the walls.” The old man grabs the staff out of my hand and tosses it aside.
Petros steps right up to me, his face close enough that I can smell his breath. “He’s too young to be one of the scientists. He must be one of the clones.”
“You think he’s one of the guards or one of the Genesys?” The old man prods at me.
“I don’t care.” Petros turns to walk away. “Kill him.”
The old man pulls a gun from his pants and aims it at my head. My eyes go wide, and my instincts take over. I kick off the wall, knocking the old man back. His gun goes off but misses me by a few feet. I grab the arm with the weapon, sweep my leg over his head and take him down to the ground. His arm breaks over my leg with one quick motion, and I snatch the gun from his hand. The old man screams in pain, drawing Petros’s attention, as well as that of a few others.
They all pull their guns on me, so I duck behind a barricade of rubble. They fire their rounds in my direction. Pieces of glass and concrete fall on me as I try to recall my training with Grant. I wish he was here to tell me what to do, but I know all he would say is to figure it out and use my head.
I look up and spot a dragonfly hovering above me. I know now that all I have to do is fend them off long enough, and help will be here. I turn to the building behind me and see in the dirty reflection of the little glass left that about nine people are shooting at me. It won’t be long before more join in. Off to the side, I see another reflection—80. He’s hiding behind a building a half block down and is signaling something with his hands. I look closely and realize that he’s telling me to go into the building.
I do my best to stay low, and crawl in through one of the building’s broken windows. The floor is littered with rubble and old office paraphernalia. A buzzing by my head causes me to flinch, and I turn to see the dragonfly camera. It’s following me.
“He’s inside!” the old man yells.
I look around for a way out when the dragonfly takes off toward [A5]a door against a far wall. I run to the door and push, but it catches on some rubble on the other side. The opening is big enough for the dragonfly to squeeze through, but I can barely get my arm through. I push as hard as I can against the door, and it begins to slowly move. A shot goes off by my head, and I turn to see the outsiders streaming in through the same window I came through. I fire a couple of shots in their direction and crouch low for cover.
“Come out, come out,” Petros sings from the other side of the floor. “We promise to kill you nice and quick.”
Bullets whiz by me, and I know that I have nowhere else to go. I lean my back against the door, and it flies open, causing me to fall. 80 stands above me, and he shoots his gun at the outsiders.
“Go!” he yells. “Up the stairs!”
I crawl through the door and see that I am in a stairwell. The dragonfly hovers for a moment on the first flight of steps and takes off. I follow it up the stairs as fast as I can; 80 trails behind me, turning from time to time to shoot at our pursuers. Our enhanced genetics is definitely an advantage as we create distance between the outsiders and us. Most of them have slowed to a walk up the stairs while 80 and I continue at a jogging pace.
“Go as fast as you want. Eventually, the stairs will end, and we will catch up,” Petros screams up to us.
We reach the top of the stairs and push through to the roof. “He’s right, you know,” I say.
“Don’t worry about that. Help me find something to block the door.” 80 searches around the roof.
The dragonfly hovers by my head, and I look around at the skyline. We must be about forty floors up. To the north, I make out the smoke from the party, and behind it the pyramid. In the other direction, I can spot hints of the compound. I wonder how Rene is doing. Has he been told that I snuck out? What will he do to 80, knowing that he put me in danger?
Gunfire snaps me back to the current situation. I turn to see 80 shooting at the base of a giant exhaust vent. He waves me over. “Help me push this in front of the door.”
I run to his side and see that he shot off the rusted parts around the bolts that held the vent down. We push the vent together and get it in front of the door as the first outsider attempts to jar it open. We’ve bought ourselves some time, but not much.
“What now?” I realize that I should have been the one with the plan. That’s what I have been training for. Grant would be disappointed in me, but I also understand that to 80, it’s just instinct.
“We wait.” 80 looks off toward the compound.
“For what?” I ask.
“That.” He points to a craft that is coming out of the field to the compound. I can’t quite make it out, but I know I have never seen it before.
More outsiders have reached the door and are slowly pushing the vent out of the way. 80 and I lean against the vent, but I know that we won’t be able to hold them all off for too much longer.
The dragonfly takes off to the edge of the building. The craft that approaches us resembles the dragonfly but with smaller, fixed wings. Each wing and the tail has a glowing green circle that appears to be the source of its power and ability to fly. It reaches the building and hovers right next to the dragonfly. The side door opens, and I see Grant standing inside.
“Run!” Grant yells.
We take off toward the flying craft. Behind us, we hear the vent scrape as the door gets pushed open. Bullets fly by us and hit the ground at our feet. Suddenly I feel a painful sting on my right arm, and I fall to the ground. I look up to see 80 jump onto the craft.
“Atom! Get up!” he screams.
I do, but I can’t run toward him because he and Grant are firing at the outsiders. There are definitely more than there were before. The outsiders turn their fire toward the craft, causing it to back away. I use the opportunity to run to the other side of the building. A few outsiders spot me and fire; I duck and dodge as best as I can. In front of me, the craft is making its way back to the building.
My body has taken over because, instead of slowing down as I reach the edge of the roof, I’m speeding up. I need to make the leap from this building into the moving air
craft. My speed and timing need to be perfect, because if I miss, I’m dead. As I charge forward, I push the fear back and jump off the edge. Nothing is in front of me, and I feel that I have made a mistake for a moment. Before my body starts its descent, the craft pulls up in the path I anticipated, and I hit the ledge of the side door. 80 and Grant grab my arms and pull me in as the craft heads back to the compound.
Grant closes the side door and heads for the front of the aircraft.
“I’m sorry,” I cry out before he disappears. I look at 80. “Why did you leave me back on the ground?”
He smiles. “I went back to the party because I had seen them eating something. I wanted to get us some. They were calling it chicken.”
I remember learning about chickens. They are flightless birds. The thought of eating one did not sit well in my stomach. “I’m glad you didn’t…”
“Here.” 80 hands me a small, greasy bone with meat on it. It feels dirty in my hand, and it reminds me of the dead bodies we saw. I look up at 80, and he’s tearing a piece of the meat off in his mouth. He speaks as he chews. “This is amazing! So much better than those pouches.” He tears off another piece.
I smell it, and the odor is actually quite sweet, with a bit of a kick. Staring scared at the meat, I chuckle because I realize that I just jumped off a building into a moving aircraft, and I am afraid to try this. I take a bite and instantly fall in love with the taste. The juicy texture floods my mouth, and the sweetness has a hint of orange. There is an aftertaste that is not unlike smoke, but it’s perfect. “Do you have more?”
80 pulls two more from his pocket and hands me one. We laugh as we eat the bones clean.
We land in the middle of the field, and two drones run up and take 80 away. I give chase, but Grant pulls me back by the collar.
“Let him go! He’ll be fine,” he says, but I’m not sure if I can believe him. He leads me into the building and straight for an elevator. I’m too preoccupied to realize that I have been in this elevator before. When the doors open, I recognize that we are in the Center for G.O.D.