Awakening

by Hayden Pearton

  *

  They followed Maloch inside, not stopping to consider how insane it was to trust him so quickly. But the reborn re-mech led them into no traps or ambushes, and, on Kingston’s request, he did not communicate with any of the re-mech in the city.

  The hospital’s lobby had once been a grand place, made with copious amounts of marble and leather, and looked more like the entrance to a fancy hotel than a place of healing. But time, war and a hypercane had reduced the lobby to a shallow image of its former self. Rubble and dust lined every walkway, and the only light source was a broken chandelier far above, which cast a flickering light on the odd group below.

  In addition to the damage, the group saw several signs of wartime protocols. Beds were everywhere, and the pearly marble had long since been stained red. Barsch could almost see it: the chaos as the city fell and panic rose. But only ghosts now roamed these halls, and the survivors, if there had been any, were now safely tucked away in the cryogenic stations.

  “Where I should be…”

  The thought was rebellious and unwanted, but Barsch could not deny the part of him which wished for all of this to be a dream. Soon, it said, he would wake up, and the world would be perfect. His father would be standing there, waiting with open arms for his prodigal son, and together they would see the new world.

  “It’s not too late. I can still see that future, together with Alza and Kingston.”

  Unfortunately, the elevators had been dead for years, and the entrance to the west wing was blocked by rubble from a collapsed ceiling. Therefore, the only option was to go through the east wing, climb up to the sixth floor and cross a sky bridge to the west wing.

  They headed past reception and soon found the east wing entrance, which was mercifully free of debris. The way through was long and arduous, due to having to constantly find alternate routes to avoid unstable areas and collapsed rooms. The peeling paint and upturned furniture only added to the sense of foreboding that had gripped Barsch since they entered the hospital. After coming across a room full of crumbling skeletons, the feeling became almost palpable, and he started imagining all of the things which could go wrong.

  When they eventually arrived at the east wing stairwell, they were pleasantly surprised to see it undamaged. From there, it took only a few minutes to ascend to the sixth floor. Unfortunately, that is where their bad luck once more surfaced. The entire floor was unstable, and many parts of it had collapsed, offering glimpses of the floors below. They were forced to tip-toe around massive holes, using the thin pieces of remaining floor space to move around. Their chances of finding an intact sky bridge, the only thing connecting the east and west wings, were dwindling by the seconds.

  A few minutes later, their chances were cemented by reality, causing Kingston to mutter, “Oh bugger…” when he at last saw the sky bridge.

  It was still there, but just barely. Large sections of the elevated bridge had fallen away to the hard concrete far below, leaving small, unconnected islands of flooring as the only viable path. A thin metal railing running along one side of the bridge was the only completely intact structure, and if one were insane enough, it would be possible to leap from island to island whilst using the rail for stability.

  “What now? Should we try and cross?” asked Barsch, rather hoping that someone would say no.

  “The bridge does appear to be extremely unstable. The slightest change in weight could be enough to collapse the entire structure. Taking into account our combined weight, I estimate the chance of all four of us making it across to be less than one in fifteen hundred. I would recommend retreating from this location as fast as possible.”

  “Are you sure? I mean, it doesn’t look that unstable,” said Barsch, once again hoping that the re-mech would refute him.

  “The chance of failure increases exponentially with every crossing. The first person would have odds of one in fifty, followed by one in three hundred and so on. If it is absolutely necessary that you cross here, the order of crossing should take into account physiology and importance.”

  Barsch was about to answer that they could always go back and try and clear the west wing’s entrance -which he doubted would work- when he saw Kingston’s face. The hermit was on the verge of giving up, and something told him that if they turned around now, then Kingston would never make it home. He had been selfish out of fear, but now it was time to think of his friend’s wellbeing, instead of his own.

  “I think we should try,” he announced, “And I think Kingston and Alza should go first.”

  The look he received from Kingston was nothing short of incredulity, but Barsch could tell that the old man had been hoping that someone would speak up. It was difficult to ask others to risk their lives for a selfish request, but it was easy when they themselves volunteered.

  “No! There must be another way! It’s too dangerous!” shouted Kingston, but Barsch would not be swayed.

  “It’s no more dangerous than anything else we’ve done so far. And Maloch did say that we should consider the order based on physiology and importance. You’re weak from the disease, and Alza is faster and probably stronger than me. If anything happens, she’ll be more useful to have around.”

  “But…”

  “Don’t worry, Maloch and I will be right behind you. Now go, before the building collapses and all of this becomes pointless!”

  “Humph! You're just as insane as... never mind… Fine, I'll go along with this little plan of yours, but only because I know that trying to talk you out of it would take all night! But if you think that the bridge is close to collapse, I want you to turn around and get out of here.”

  Kingston then looked at Maloch and said, “And if he refuses to go, you have my full authorisation to carry him, kicking and screaming, all the way back to Genesis Station 13, understand?”

  “Affirmative. If I perceive that the situation has become too dangerous, I will escort Master Barsch to the requested location.”

  “Good. Now let’s do this, before I change my mind!”

  With that, Alza and Kingston made their way to the start of the sky bridge. Coming closer, Barsch could see that it was barely hanging on by a thread. The bridge spanned the two hundred foot gap between the two wings, and was completely enclosed by glass, with the exception of a sturdy cement floor. However, this floor was now missing several large sections, and most of the glass encasing the bridge was either missing or broken. To make matters worse, halfway along the bridge the entire floor section had fallen through, leaving a ten foot span of empty air. Only the railing bridged the gap, and during the crossing, it would be the only thing keeping Kingston from falling to his death.

  Soon, Alza and Kingston had left the relative safety of the east wing and were starting to cross the unstable sky bridge. Alza led the duo, one hand glued to the railing. When they reached the first island, Alza used her pack to test if the floor segments could hold her weight. Moving slowly and cautiously, it took them several minutes to reach the midpoint. While Alza tested the railing, Kingston called out to Barsch and indicated which sections of the bridge were weaker than others. Once Alza was satisfied with the railings structural integrity, she began to shimmy across, motioning for Kingston to follow once she made it to the other side.

  As they crossed, the metal began to groan from the sudden strain, and several flecks of concrete broke away to join their comrades in the plaza below. But the railing held fast, and the duo were moving with a good pace. Although it was obvious that Kingston was struggling with the physically taxing exercise, given that he had only minutes before recovered from a heart attack, the old man was keeping up with Alza.

  With the last remnants of his energy, Kingston swung his overtaxed body upwards, catching hold of a secure piece of flooring. Grunting with exertion, he then pulled himself up, panting and wheezing as he stood on unsteady legs. They had crossed the gap, and only a short walk across mostly secure floor remained.

  “Whenever you’re read
y, m’boy! Don’t rush it, take your time!” Kingston called out, after he had regained his breath. Alza had already moved on, but the old man was resolute to watch Barsch’s crossing.

  “Maloch, let’s go,” he said, praying the bridge would hold.

  “As you wish, Master Barsch.”

  They followed Kingston and Alza’s path perfectly, making note of where the crumbling structure seemed less secure. A few feet in, Barsch noticed the difference. More and more metal and concrete flakes were falling from the bridge, and the groaning sound was increasing in tempo with their steps. It seemed that Kingston and Alza’s passage had not gone unnoticed.

  Barsch watched as two of the larger segments detached themselves from the sky bridge. They were the ones Kingston had pointed out as most secure. Maloch had been right, the chances of the entire walkway collapsing were rising by the second.

  Soon after, Barsch noticed another problem, as if he didn’t have enough already: the bridge had been designed for humans, not seven foot tall re-mechs. Maloch was forced to crouch down and hop from island to island, shaking pieces loose with every jolt. At that point, Barsch was truly regretting making the re-mech go first. But he owed it to Maloch, for they had not only damaged him, they had then forced him to follow them into even more danger.

  “Listen to me, I sound just like a Freedman rebel!” he thought, chuckling as he did so.

  A moment later, he absentmindedly stepped on a piece of loose flooring and had to jump back awkwardly. After that, he wasted no more effort on random thoughts. Additionally, Barsch took to stepping only where Maloch had stood, reasoning that anything that could support the re-mech’s great weight could support him with ease.

  In this manner they moved across the broken sky bridge, eventually arriving at the terrifying gap. It was time to find out if the thin railing could bear Maloch’s weight, or if it would simply snap and strand them both in the east wing.

  The increasingly loud groaning sound told Barsch that they did not have the time to take things slow and steady, so he and Maloch quickly got into position. The re-mech placed one four fingered hand on the railing, while he edged out over the abyss. Barsch had just enough time to whisper a quick prayer before the re-mech rocked forward and dropped from the edge. He hung there, both hands gripping the railing tight enough for small cracks to appear in the metal. Seconds later he started move, using the same hand over hand method as Kingston and Alza. Despite the high odds of failure, the re-mech was moving swiftly along the tortured metal.

  A few tense minutes later, the re-mech mirrored Kingston’s earlier action and raised himself to the semi-solid ground above. Three out of four had made it across without incident… maybe Maloch had been wrong?

  “Of course he was! This building has been here for decades, and this sky bridge was built during the quantum age! I’m sure that it’ll take a bit more than three humans and a re-mech to bring it down! Why, I could probably run across it without so much as a tremor!”

  Barsch’s confidence grew as his mind came up with a hundred and one reasons for the bridge to hold his weight. The fact that he had just witnessed a re-mech cross a ten foot gap by hanging onto a thin strip of metal only bolstered his confidence more.

  And so, with a head full of false reassurances, Barsch gripped the railing and kicked off from the edge. Almost immediately, pain started shooting through his arms, and he remembered how hard his trip along the cliffside had been. That, along with the now deafening sounds coming from the weakened metal, shattered his nascent overconfidence, and real fear invaded his mind.

  “You can do it, m’boy!” shouted Kingston from an unseen location.

  The hermit was right. He could do it! He had gone from overconfidence to despair in a matter of seconds, and now sat somewhere in between. The next few minutes were spent in silent concentration, as he focused on keeping his hands wrapped tightly around the groaning railing.

  He was almost there. He was going to make it!

  The smile on his face that he gained from the realisations must have looked like an impudent sneer to Fate, for as he reached out to grab hold of the ledge, the world collapsed. In slow motion, the railing detached itself from the sky bridge, before the section he was gripping was sheared free from the rest. He could only stare in incredulity as his safeguard came away in his hand. Tossing away the useless piece of metal, Barsch looked up, into the glowing, golden eyes of an angel.

  The abyss beckoned to him, and with gravity as his invitation, Barsch hurried to meet his maker. Far below, but not as far as it would be in a few seconds, the plaza waited for him with open arms. Maloch had been right, but that no longer mattered.

  “Kingston is safe, and he will soon have his medicine. And with both Alza and Maloch by his side, I have no doubt that he will be able to escape the city in time. Father… I did not fail my friends, are you proud of me now?” was his last thought, as he was swallowed by the darkness.