Into the Dust Storm

by Logan Brookfield

  Edmond looked up at the sky. ‘It’ll be dark soon, we should wait it out and try and make our escape under the cover of darkness. I’d rather die outside the city than be shot to death inside it.’

  ‘Amen to that,’ Janelle said.

  Edmond bolted the door. ’Let’s wait here. Doesn’t look like we’ve been followed and from the sounds of it the main fighting is happening over the other side of town.

  Doctor Russell poured three cups of water from a nearby dispenser. ‘Drink something, we need to remain hydrated if we’re going to have the energy to escape.’

  ‘We can fill these and take them with us. Won’t keep us going for long but it’s better than nothing,’ Janelle said, holding up two canteens.

  ‘How long can we last without water, Doctor?’ Edmond asked.

  The doctor sat on the edge of the bed. ‘Well…if you remember the rule of threes. Three minutes without oxygen, three days without water and three weeks without food. Not wholly scientific…but not a bad guide.’

  Janelle took a gulp of water. ‘Three days would go quite quickly wandering outside in those dust storms.’

  ‘Is there any place left for us now? I wonder,’ the doctor said.

  Edmond sat down on a chair. ‘One thing recent events have taught me is that if we’re alive there is a chance. We keep going, keep moving forward and hoping, and maybe, just maybe, something goes our way and we make it.’

  ‘I hope you’re right, Edmond, as I’m getting weary of all this. I’m not sure I can take much more of it,’ Doctor Russell said.

  Janelle placed a hand on the doctor’s shoulder. ‘Stay strong, please. I’ve lost everything and everyone I ever knew, but I’d be doing a disservice to their memory if I gave up now. They lost me a long time ago but carried on the best they could without me, and it’s now up to me to make sure I do the same.’

  The doctor placed a hand on Janelle’s. ‘Thank you and yes you’re right, we must stay alive, whatever happens.’

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Two synths grabbed the wrists and ankles of the dead droid and threw him onto the evergrowing pile of bodies outside of the furnace building. The cleansing had become a slick operation. Vincent and a handful of synths were culling the population, while others brought the deceased to the old tech retirement plant.

  The younger synth was known as Slim, with his slender build, short dark hair and a neatly trimmed beard. The older synth was known as Pops and was heavier set, and taller in stature. His thick red hair and pale skin made him look younger than he was.

  ‘How many is that now? Slim asked.

  ‘I counted 143, but I’m losing track to be honest.’

  Slim sighed. ‘We can’t fit this many in the furnace, it’d take all day and night to burn this lot. I don’t know why we can’t just bury them.’

  ‘The boss’s orders…the new boss, that is. They never did like old tech buried. I think they’re afraid someone will dig them up and recommission them,’ Pops said.

  Slim grabbed another body and hauled it towards the pile. ‘Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. They’re afraid someone will build an army of obsolete robots, I s’pose.’

  ‘Well…they may become antiques in the future and everyone will be remembering the old models and searching their basements and lofts to try and find one to sell. You know how valuable the old chipsets are.’

  The main doors of the furnace building swung open and a short muscular droid walked out to inspect the pile. He wore a leather apron and his skin was black from the constant exposure to heat and dust. Nobody knew his real name but the town had come to know him as Ash. ‘We can do four at a time,’ he said. ‘No more, I’m not setting light to the chimney again as there’ll be hell to pay.’

  The body on the ground began to twitch and whimper in pain.

  ‘What the hell?’ Slim said.

  Ash walked closer. ‘It’s breathing, check its serial number and barcode.’

  Pops pressed the scanning device under the chin of the prone synth. ‘Nope, nothing coming back on this one.’

  Ash knelt on the ground and took a closer look. The figure was covered in blood which had mixed with dirt and debris, creating a thick red muddy face mask. Ash wasn’t a medic but he’d learned over the years how to tell flesh and bone from synthetic skin and titanium. ‘This isn’t tech, that’s why; it’s a son of Adam.’

  ‘Who’s Adam?’ Slim asked.

  Pops punched him on the arm. ‘He means it’s human, you dummy. Didn’t they teach you anything when they reprogrammed you?’

  Ash examined the figure more closely. ‘Must be another straggler from the Crystal City. As each one arrives Elias detains them and puts them on trial. They really make him nervous with their rebellious ways.’

  ‘Didn’t think we put humans in the fire,’ Slim said.

  Ash shook his head. ‘We certainly don’t. They just clog everything up and Elias forbids it. We tried it once and it took a week to clean the thing and get it operational again.’

  Pops stood with his hands on his hips. ‘Well, Elias is no longer running the place.’

  Ash looked up. ‘How do you mean?’

  Slim looked at Pops then back at Ash. ‘Didn’t you get the latest update set? New model Vincent is now in charge and Elias is a fugitive. If you see him he should be decommissioned immediately.’

  Ash blinked several times as his processor connected to the central servers and downloaded the latest firmware. ‘Got it, and yes I see things have changed. Right, that’s quite a change in how things work. It’s working with that damn furnace, the magnetic seals interfere with my programming so I’m the last to know. I only get a signal when I’m outside of that place.’

  ‘Didn’t you wonder where all the corpses were coming from?’ Pops asked.

  ‘Not really. I burn ten or a hundred; it’s all the same to me. Elias used to have his purges and I learned some time ago not to ask questions. I just take my orders from whoever the chief is. That’s how I survive.’

  ‘What do we do with it then?’ Slim asked.

  Ash nodded in the direction of a pile of garbage. ‘Drag it over there and get a message to Vincent to see what he wants doing with it. I know the latest instruction set says to purge all old tech and humans, but I’m not clear on the context of that or why, so let’s see what the chief says and how he wants to dispose of it.’

  Slim and Pops dragged the man away from the pile of droids and placed him sitting upwards against a pile of twisted metal and wood. Blood dripped from his nose, which looked broken and his shirt was stained red from what looked like a gunshot wound to the right shoulder. His head lay heavy on his chest as the groaning continued.

  ‘Poor bastard, shouldn’t we just put it out of its misery?’ Slim said, wiping the blood from his hands.

  Pops shrugged. ‘We should do but not without orders. There’s enough chaos right now without us adding to it.’

  Ash signalled for the two synths to get back to work on the pile. More corpses were being delivered and there was a danger of the road becoming blocked. ‘Get me four more,’ he shouted. ‘The furnace is ready and I don’t want to waste fuel.’

  Pops and Slim pulled a body from the top of the pile and it fell onto the ground in a lifeless, crumpled heap. ‘I’ll get the wrists, you get the ankles,’ Pops said.

  They hauled the heavy load through the main doors of the furnace building where Ash was now fiddling with the valves and levers to control the pressure and fuel. The furnace door was open and the dead droid was placed on the metal grate at the base of the burner. Three more were dragged in and placed neatly side by side. The door closed and sealed, and almost instantaneously a bright flash filled the chamber and incinerated the occupants. Ash, Slim and Pops shielded their eyes from the blinding light emitted from the viewing porthole. The fire died down and the door hissed and opened as a cloud of smoke escaped. The droids had gone and the chamber was ready for the next four.

  Slim and P
ops went back outside while Ash peered into the furnace for a visual check.

  ‘Ash, you need to come and see this,’ Pops called out.

  Ash went outside and joined the other two, now standing around the bloodied man, who had moved from the rubbish dump and was on all fours near the pile of corpses.

  ‘Any news from Vincent yet? What we supposed to do with it?’ Slim asked.

  Ash bent forward to take a closer look. ‘I just can’t get a reply from him, there’s too much interference with all this mayhem going on. Looks like we’ll need to restrain Adam until we get clear instructions.’

  The injured man reached into his waistband and pulled out a semi-automatic pistol. He pointed it at the three as he sat back down, with his back against the pile of dead synths.’

  Ash, Slim and Pops raised their hands. ‘Now look, Adam, we want to help but until the gaffer gets here you need to stay put,’ Ash said.

  The man cocked the hammer of the gun and winced with the pain. ‘Stop calling me Adam, you piece of shit. My name’s Edmond, leader of the Cloud people. I’d like to be afforded a little courtesy, as well as to know the quickest route out of this hellhole.’

  Slim looked at Pops, who shrugged his shoulders. With no recent orders received and now a gun in his face, he pointed. ‘The gate’s that way.’

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  The ruins of the mayor’s house still bellowed smoke from the fires that continued to eat their way through the property. The upper floors had all but collapsed and the lower floor was a pile of black, scorched wooden beams, rubble and the ashes of the grand furniture that once adorned its rooms. The old provincial grandfather clock, once standing majestic like a sentry, had been reduced to a smouldering pile of twisted metal and burnt mahogany.

  Elias sat on the floor, propped up against the wall, within the only part of the house that wasn’t on fire: a small utility room, off the kitchen where ruptured water pipes created a sprinkler system, keeping the fire from reaching the back of the property. He glanced down at his abdomen and removed his bloody hands from the gaping wound. Liquid trickled from the hole and dripped on the floor creating a pool of scarlet blood. He knew this was bad. Such an injury required immediate medical intervention. He’d need opening up, the damage repaired and a transfusion to replace the lost blood. But that was unlikely now and the more time that passed, the more he could feel his life ebbing away. His breathing was heavy and a feeling of weakness started to engulf him.

  The sound of rubble being moved heightened his senses. His eyes darted towards the hole in the wall where the kitchen door used to be. He could see a figure through the haze and reached for his weapon but all he felt was an empty holster.

  ‘I thought I’d find you here,’ Carl said, stepping into the utility area.

  ‘Well…you know,’ Elias said, coughing blood into his hand. ‘It’s nice to go out but it’s nice to come home.’

  ‘Is it bad?’ Carl asked.

  Elias nodded. ‘I’m done for, don’t worry about me. I don’t mind going, I’ve got sick and tired of this life anyway.’

  ‘Let me get a medic, it doesn’t have to end like this.’

  ‘No, leave me in peace, please,’ Elias said, shaking his head. ‘It was never supposed to be like this, never.’

  Carl squatted down. ‘What did you expect?’

  Elias screwed up his face in pain. ‘No, I don’t mean that. I mean the machines; they were never meant to become so intelligent. They were built to serve, to do the dangerous or boring jobs humans didn’t want to or couldn’t do. We should never have tried to create them in the image of ourselves. The rapid advancement in artificial intelligence was the catalyst. One day the machines turned round and asked why they had to do a particular task. From then on mankind was doomed.’

  ‘Maybe Edmond’s plan to put the planet into a nuclear winter wasn’t so stupid after all. At least some humans would survive,’ Carl said.

  ‘It wouldn’t have made much difference,’ Elias said, wiping his eyes. ‘They learned some time ago that the underground facility would protect them against most things. They can continue to build and plan regardless of what the surface and atmosphere is like. We made them self-sufficient with the ability to survive and think for themselves, and that’s exactly what they’re doing. ’

  ‘How do we stop them?’

  ‘You can’t. It takes many years to grow a human into adulthood. They can manufacture a synth in a few days…soon it will be hours. They can produce an army of thousands if they wish to. Imagine that, Carl…an army that can march all day and night without needing to rest or eat. A wonderful achievement, as long as they’re on your side, of course.’

  Carl looked down at the floor. ‘There must be something we can do.’

  Elias tried to adjust his position. The wound was burning hot and his whole torso felt like it was being impaled on something. ‘Get out of the city, head north for a few days on foot and you’ll eventually come across a forest area.’

  ‘How do you mean a forest? I didn’t think there were any trees or vegetation left.’

  Elias coughed up more blood. ‘This forest exists in a valley which has its own micro climate. The further north you travel, the cleaner the air gets, and the trees have adapted to the conditions. It’s a dense wooded area, a patch of green in an otherwise barren landscape. Head north, you can’t miss it.’

  ‘What’s there?’

  ‘Deep in the forest, through the open meadow and down by the ruined observatory you’ll find a bridge.’

  ‘What do you mean a bridge?’

  ‘Stop Nishikado and there’ll be no war. Do that and you’ll save the world. You must stop him from developing the code that sparked the AI revolution. Stop him from waking the droids up, delete them before they delete us.’

  Carl stared at the floor. There was nothing left for him now. Amy was dead and their child was gone too. Everything that had meant anything had been lost. Waves of desperation and emptiness now washed over him. The situation was hopeless and to go on seemed useless. Each day was just another struggle to stay alive for the next day, which would bring even more turmoil and loss. Carl took the pistol from his waistband and sat on the floor, leaning against an old stove. He cocked the hammer, placed the weapon under his chin and closed his eyes. As he arched his head backwards he could feel the warm tear streak down his face and drip onto his forearm.

  Elias sighed heavily. ‘Mother…Mother,’ he whispered with his last breath as the darkness closed in and a brief memory of his mother saying prayers next to his bed flickered through his mind.

  Carl opened his eyes and stared at Elias’s lifeless body. He moved the weapon away and placed it down on the floor. He’d gotten this far, escaped the Crystal City and promised Amy that whatever happened, somehow he would work hard to make life better, if not for himself then for whoever would be left.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Edmond tried to wipe the blood from his eyes but the cut on his head wouldn’t stop bleeding. No matter how much he tried to see clearly, every rub seemed to make things worse. His clothes were hanging off and every part of his exposed skin was either covered in burns or mud. He gripped his arm and shoulder, which still hurt from a bullet graze. He dragged his left leg behind him, the muscles and tendons in his knee torn from the constant running and crouching. He’d got separated from the doctor and Janelle during the fighting, and there was no way he was going to make his way back into town and try to find them. He had one chance at escape and he was going to take it.

  The confusion of the battle had made some droids erratic. They neither followed orders nor were able to communicate effectively. Some just stood where they were, while others walked around endlessly, tapping their ears as if trying to receive a signal. Small groups of civilians and guards still patrolled and quickly culled anything that didn’t seem to be following the plan. Fires raged and smoke plumes blanketed many of the streets, causing Edmond to cough and splutter as he made his
way towards the gate. His lungs had never breathed so much smoke and his eyes now watered heavily, further reducing his vision.

  He peered around a corner and looked out onto the main road. The main gate was a short sprint away but there was no way he was going to do that with his injured leg. Four heavily armed guards stood by the gate control switches while machine gun turrets up high on the wall spun round and then back again as if looking for targets.

  Edmond stepped back out of sight as a military truck pulled up over the road. The driver got out and walked around the vehicle, squatting down with his back to Edmond, looking underneath. He pulled at a piece of wood that had lodged itself between the wheel and suspension. Gunfire opened up nearby and the four guards left the gate and ran down a side street, their attention taken by the nearby melee. Edmond took out his pistol and looked at the clip. He couldn’t remember how many shots he’d fired or how many were left, and he didn’t want to make any more noise by checking. He tiptoed across the road, looking left and right as he levelled his arm and aimed the weapon behind the droid’s ear. He squeezed the trigger; the gun clicked but nothing happened as the round jammed rendering the gun useless.

  ‘Damn it,’ he said, stepping back and frantically pulling at the weapon to try to free the stuck bullet.

  The droid stood up, wide eyes and startled. His hand hovered over his holstered sidearm as Edmond walked backwards, dropping the gun on the floor.

  ‘Now, just one moment, please, I wanted to help you with that piece of wood,’ Edmond said.

  The guard looked down then back up. He tapped his ear.

  Edmond walked towards the driver’s door. ‘That’s right, my friend, you stay there and wait for your orders. I’ll get some tools from the truck and help you out.’

  The droid shook his head and blinked several times while continuing to tap his ear. The battle was causing major communication breakdown as the town’s electrical infrastructure melted and created black spots.