Robotics and Necrotics (Book 1): As Nations Fall

by Vale, Silas

  "Let's go." His voice was choked with emotion, and he threw the door open wide. He could see the truck, now that the wall was gone; it was maybe a quarter of a kilometer away. They could make it.

  And then they were running, their backpacks hammering against their backs with a fervent beat.

  And then they were there.

  And then the key was in the ignition.

  And then the truck started.

  And then they were gone.

  In My Time Of Dying

  Aisling melted into the foam seats beneath herself. She bounced her foot against the floor of the truck nervously, twisting herself to look out the back window as they drove away from the carnage that had been wrought against the safezone. "Fuck." She hissed through her teeth and collapsed back into her seat, holding her head in her hands.

  "Why us?" She ran a hand through her hair, fidgeting nervously. "Fuck- we didn't even do anything. Why are they targeting us and using us as their god damn guinea pigs?"

  Shaun shook his head unknowingly. He didn't have any enemies before the apocalypse, so he didn't know why something like this was happening to them. Maybe it was just random coincidence, that the two places bombed had been where they were staying.

  Of course, Shaun didn't believe in coincidences. There was something underlying in the world, waiting for him. That's why he had developed cancer, right before the world went to hell.

  "I don't know." The response he settled on was hopeless, and filled with despair. If they had any chance of being seen as innocent before, it had vanished when they had run.

  "We have each other." It was the only thought he was clinging onto at that moment.

  "… Yeah." She pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly as she glanced out the window to her right. "Let's just… Get as far away from here as possible. Even if we have to take a boat somewhere… I'm so done with this." She shook her head and hid her face behind her knees. "I want everything to go back to normal."

  She took a deep breath, and after a second or two leaned over so her head rested on his shoulder. "Don't go anywhere, okay?" She closed her eyes. "I need you."

  Shaun looked at her. He really did, and for the second time, he felt like he could tell her everything. He felt like she deserved to know what was coming. She shouldn't have to have the surprise of seeing him fall apart, without knowing why.

  "I… Aisling." His voice broke. He didn't know how to do this. He had never told anybody about this. Nobody knew.

  "I… I have to tell you something."

  She furrowed her brows and opened her eyes, sitting up straight again and looking over at him. She studied the look on his face, and felt a knot starting to form in her stomach. She knew that expression. "… What is it?" Maybe it was something about the relationship? It must have been that he didn't like her. She wasn't all that special, after all.

  She wasn't unique, or pretty, or smart. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened. Bracing herself for the inevitable, her nails dug into her legs anxiously. "Is everything okay?"

  Time seemed to slow. He took in all that was around them. The white of the snow, the green of the pine needles, the brown of the bark. He took in the footprints of a deer, most likely long gone by then. He took in the dens of the tiny animals, the only evidence of them being the small burrows in the ground.

  He looked to Aisling. He took in her anxiety. He saw her nails digging, her fists clenching. There was no way she would be expecting this. He knew she expected something regarding the relationship. Something about how they couldn't be together.

  It was then, for a fleeting moment, he thought about saying such a thing. He thought about breaking it off, telling her that they couldn't be together. He thought about lying about how far he had fallen for her.

  But he couldn't bring himself to do it.

  When he thought about her, all he could see was the blinding red passion he possessed. All he could smell was her scent, leaving her in waves as the fire that burned between them ignited. All he could hear were the sounds of love she made as they laid together, sweat leaving their bodies and the torturous space between them being closed.

  No. He couldn't lie to her. He could never lie to her again.

  Which is why he had to tell her the truth now.

  His knuckles were white, his hands clenched around the steering wheel much tighter than they needed. His heart thumped, its beat doing nothing to soothe him. He couldn't breathe, and then he could breathe too well. The cycle continued.

  His blood ran as ice, then as fire. His cheeks flushed, and then paled. His entire body convulsed with the energy of the truth he had to share. He couldn't hold it back anymore. His mouth opened, and the words spilled forth.

  "I… I have cancer."

  Aisling's lips parted as if she was going to speak, but no sound came out.

  Her face paled, her veins went ice cold, and the world seemed to fall out from under her, leaving her with a sense of weightlessness that didn't do much to help convince her that this was, indeed, reality. All other sounds fell away, until all she could hear was her own heartbeat in her chest as it picked up speed.

  Her nails tightened against her skin, leaving crescent moon-shaped divets in their wake. Her face was dangerously pale, and for a reason she couldn't explain, she felt so much colder than what the wind and snow outside could ever do to her.

  "… What?"

  That's all she managed to breath out, in a hopeless, raspy whisper. Every fiber of her being prayed this was some cruel joke, but she knew that Shaun would never say something like that to mess with her.

  She didn't start crying. That was a bad thing. She was in the stage of disbelief. That would end very soon.

  "I… I don’t know how long I have left, but… I don’t think it’s very long." He said it in a rush, as if he just wanted the words out there and then to never speak them again.

  He didn't know if he had less time than he thought.

  It is a terrible thing, watching hope leave the person you love. But he couldn't keep the lie up any longer.

  "I'm… I'm sorry…"

  The rush of reality suddenly filled her when he kept talking, and all the air left her lungs. It felt like someone had punched her in the gut.

  Tears welled up into her eyes and silently spilled down her cheeks, though she hadn't even said a word. She stared at him for a moment or two, the sparkle in her purple eyes dying out so they were nothing more than bleak purple chips rather than irises.

  And in one sudden motion, she leaned her body against the car door, looking out the window. "… Why didn't you tell me?" She looked over at him from where she was huddled up against the door, choking up as more tears flooded her vision.

  "I… I just didn't want you to have to deal with it." His voice was solemn. He couldn't look at her; if he looked at her, he would break down into tears. He couldn't do that in front of her, not now. "I wanted to make it to the end without you knowing, so it was less painful, but I… I couldn't lie to you anymore. Not after… Everything we’ve done."

  He continued to stare forward, allowing the snow to take up the entirety of his vision.

  He extended a hand to her. His were shaking, but it wasn't from the cold.

  "I just… I don't want any more lies."

  She looked down at his hand silently, but didn't move to take it. "S- So…" She bit back a whimper, her voice shaking somewhat as she looked down at her knees to try and keep herself from breaking down. Her world was falling apart around her, and she could do nothing to stop it. "H- How… How much time do we have? Before… Before you can’t travel anymore?"

  She paused for a moment, stifling the sobs welling up in her chest.

  "B- Because I don't know if I- I can make it without you…" The floodgates opened. "Y- You're the only person I've ever… I've ever trusted and I can't- can't just…" She buried her face in her hands to hide her face, taking in a sharp stuttered breath. "I could've- I- I- I would've…"<
br />
  It broke Shaun's heart to hear that stutter. He couldn't bear it.

  "Aisling, I will fight this thing to the very end." His voice was sure, and his tone was set. He knew that it was the truth. "I won't leave you alone until the damn thing pulls me under." It was a harsh statement, but a true one. He would never willingly leave her alone.

  "But you'll have to learn to survive without me. I will give you my entirety for however long we have left, and I promise, I will love you with every fiber of my being. But…"

  He put his hand on her thigh and squeezed.

  "I need you to be there with me when it's time to go."

  She shook her head, almost flinching away from the contact before she stopped herself and sat still. "I- I…" She sniffled, rubbing her eyes and slowly lowering her hands from her face. She looked towards him, before lowering her eyes with a heavy, defeated sigh. "I- I don't want to lose you too. Because then I'll have nobody left."

  Shaun’s heart fell.

  "I don't want to survive on my own, because the truth is… I'd just be more scared." Her voice was soft, and she spoke slowly as to not work herself up again. "… What kind…?" Her brows furrowed, and she hesitantly lifted her gaze up towards him again.

  His eyes flicked towards her for the first time, and he took in her curled up position. This was why he hadn't wanted her to know. This was why he shouldn't have told her. It would just be more painful in the long run.

  "A frontal lobe tumor. Hopefully I have a few weeks before I… Well, you know… I might start forgetting things. Acting differently. And… I don't want to become someone I'm not." He glanced at the back seat, where the pistol laid.

  He didn't want to do it. But he couldn't find himself forgetting Aisling. If that happened, he would never forgive himself.

  "Please… Don't hate me. I can't live the rest of my life knowing you hate me."

  She shook her head and chuckled dryly. "I don't hate you…"

  She shifted a little bit and looked down at the floor. "God I- I love you. That's why I'm so fucking upset, you big oaf." She hid her mouth behind her knees, squaring her jaw. "And I'm afraid of losing you. You didn't get your ass chemically burnt just for this shit- God." She pressed her hands to her temples to massage them. "… I'm going down to hell and I'm going to drag your sorry ass up out of it." She narrowed her eyes at him.

  "I wish I could say anything else, something that would make this easier. But… I don't have anything." His voice was broken, like someone lost who desperately wants to be found.

  "I just…" He stopped talking once he saw something out in the distance. Something he hadn't expected to see out in the open for a while, but there it was, soaring up into the sky like an estranged animal.

  "Smoke?"

  "Huh?" She furrowed her brows, staring at him for a moment before she shifted her gaze towards the windshield. Her lips parted in surprise, and she sniffled, wiping her eyes so she could see better. "… That's not good." She murmured, shaking her head and biting the inside of her lip. The last thing she needed right now was any more danger, after her life had been such hell.

  She hesitated, before leaning over and resting her head on Shaun's shoulder again. She really just needed contact right now. She was silent for a couple seconds, and then spoke quietly. "Guess we can't avoid it, can we?"

  Shaun was so glad, so glad, when she put her head on his shoulder. It meant she really didn't hate him. It meant that maybe, just maybe, everything would be okay. As he drove toward the smoke, he thought that maybe he could fight this thing. Maybe he could kick cancer's ass, without all the fancy machinery of the modern world. People in the past had done it, right?

  Shaun halted. Wait a second. What was that? It was orange, and seemed to dance around the…

  Holy shit it's a fire.

  The smoke wasn't coming from some sort of camp. As Shaun pressed the breaks into the floor, he took note of the trees in front of them. They were being licked by the flames of a fire, one that seemed to go back for miles…

  "It's a goddamn forest fire."

  The truck squealed into reverse as he looked backwards, cursing under his breath.

  "You're fucking kidding me." Aisling cursed, sitting up again to peer out the front window. "We can't go back. They'll fucking kill us. They think we're the ones who blew everyone up." She laced her fingers into her hair, a lump in her throat as she watched the flames dance from tree to tree. It was just one thing after another.

  She looked to Shaun. "What do we do?"

  He had turned around, and currently had them speeding off in the opposite direction.

  "We either go around, or drive straight fucking through. Maybe we should warn Kristen and her gang that a goddamn wildfire is heading her way." Shaun had never said it explicitly, but he really didn't like fire. He had been scared of it ever since… Well, ever since the car crash that took his parents’ lives.

  His speed was rather frightening; he was swerving around trees, and it was only a matter of time before one of the wheels slid on the snow.

  And then it happened.

  The struck slid across the slush, with the driver's side careening directly into a pine tree.

  "Shit!" Ais screamed, lifting her arms up to protect her head as the truck slid out of control. "Oh fuck, fuck, fuck!" She clenched her teeth, her body tensing up as she braced for impact.

  She couldn't keep doing this. It was all too familiar. The cold rush of blood as her senses heightened, the tightening of her chest, the sinking hopeless feeling of despair that settled into her bones.

  But here she was anyway.

  Forgetting Everything

  Blink.

  How the fuck am I not dead yet?

  Blink.

  Shaun's eyes opened, and he looked around the cab. Aisling was fine; he was bruised, but fine. The truck, on the other hand…

  "Fuck."

  The curse escaped his lips, and he twisted the key. The engine didn't start. "Fuck!" he said louder, twisting the key again, and again, and again. Nothing.

  He looked to her. Hopeless. Lost. Not wanting to be in that world anymore. "We have to go." His voice had lost all emotion. He had said those words too many times before. He grabbed the pistol from the back and tucked it into his belt. They were only about half a kilometer from the camp. They would have to go back. They could tell them about the fire, and hopefully, maybe, they could spend the night. Even if it meant no food, no water, and confined to their rooms.

  He pulled Aisling's door open for her, and helped her step out.

  What a ragged pair, walking through the dense forest together, with a tumor and a terrible secret between them.

  It didn’t take too long to reach the compound, if one could even call it that anymore.

  Most of the walls had toppled, and the sickening scent of chemicals was heavy in the air. A pillar of smoke came from the middle of the town, and one could only assume it was the cafeteria.

  Aisling clutched Shaun's arm as they came closer, visibly nervous as her eyes swept over the destruction of the compound. She tightened her grip and began crossing the bridge over to enter it with Shaun by her side.

  A stray guard who had been wandering alone by the ruined gate spotted them, and raised his rifle with a shout. "Don't move!"

  This was it. This was where it would all be tested. This was where they would figure out if they could re-enter the compound.

  "Please! We have to tell Kristen something. First, it wasn't us that set the bomb! Second, th-" It was then that Shaun's tongue seemed to quit working. He tried to move his jaw, but that too had locked into place. In fact, as he tried each limb in succession, he found that none of them would move.

  And then the pain came.

  The pain that struck behind his eyelids was so massive, so blinding, that he couldn't help but let loose a lock-jawed scream. His eyes rolled back into his head, searching, searching for the thing that caused so much pain.

  Eventually, he couldn't do it. He co
uldn't keep himself standing any longer.

  Shaun collapsed to the ground, all of his muscles finally relaxing as his consciousness left him.

  Snuffed out like a flame.

  "SHAUN!" Aisling's eyes widened and she rushed to him, all the air leaving her lungs. "Oh fuck, oh no, no no, no, no…" She picked him up in her arms, tears filling her eyes as she put her hands on his cheeks. "Oh God no, Shaun, please…" She sobbed, and then lifted her head to the guard, squaring her jaw. "HELP US!" She shouted. "WHY ARE YOU JUST STANDING THERE?!"

  The guard hesitated, lowering his gun. After a second, he pulled a walkie-talkie from his pocket and muttered something into it.

  A guard, one lonesome guard, rushed from the building.

  He was rather tall, but not inhumanly so. He had kind eyes, at least from a distance, and his sandy blonde hair looked soft and flowy once he arrived to the fallen man.

  "This is the guy with cancer, right?" The man said to Aisling, lifting Shaun into his arms. He was buff, and Shaun weighed practically nothing to him. "The doc said he would probably be coming back. She looked over the books about his tumor, and it's a nasty one." He was obviously trying to make small talk, but he probably made things much, much worse.

  With that, he began to carry the broken man toward the hospital ward. What a day it had been for him.

  Waiting For Disaster

  Aisling sat in the waiting room of the hospital. Her knees were tucked tightly to her chest, and her mouth was hidden behind her knees. The hospital was currently bustling with activity, though people kept a wide radius around her. Nobody seemed to trust her, that was for certain, but she couldn't find it in her heart to care. She didn't want to be talked to, and she feared if she was, she'd break down all over again.

  She hugged her knees a little tighter, pressing her eyes shut. She just wanted this nightmare to end. But it just kept going and going and going.

  She was ready to wake up now.

  Wake up.

  Shaun sat bolt upright. He recognized that voice. But he couldn't quite place it. The doctor sat in front of him, a sad smile plastered over her face. "Good morning. You still have all your belongings, but you are restrained." He tested that by tugging at his arms and legs. She had told him the truth; they were bound.