by Pearl Foxx
Shaking her head, she disappeared into the crowd. He downed another glass, his heart pounding in his ears. Rubbing his forehead, he marveled over how bad he was at dating.
Holy nanoseconds, when was the last time I had to properly woo a girl?
The bartender swept in and a nod confirmed another drink was in order. Enver hoped he would shake loose the nerves hiding behind obnoxious jokes.
I wonder if Imogen is nervous too?
“So you and that girl are together?” The sultry voiced bartender returned with her black lipstick and crow’s feet.
“Y-yea, I guess we are.” He stared down into his drink, his reflection smirking back up at him. “Why’d you ask?”
“She was in here asking for information on Hiram over a week or so ago.”
Enver’s expression darkened, his mind racing. “Exactly when was that?”
She gave a sly smile. He had given her a reaction. “Not sure.”
“Was it close to when one of the bouncer’s got clocked with a beer bottle.”
Her eyes widened, and she stared off to the side, the kind of body language that gives away a lie. “You know, I think it was.”
“Are you Enver?” A gruff voice had approached from behind, an edge to his voice that set Enver’s teeth on edge.
Spinning around on his stool, he recognized it to be the man he pulled glass from. “Yea, how you doing, man? You need something?”
He tilted his head. “You gotta go, now. Fucking Hiram just snatched your girl up.”
Enver dropped the glass he held. Crash! The pieces scattered like a thousand diamonds, but it didn’t matter. “And you didn’t stop him? What the fuck?”
If the bouncer said anything, Enver didn’t hear him. He pushed through the crowd, searching. Fuck, Fuck, FUCK! He burst into the streets, the putrid mildews scent of the slums like a slap in the face as he heaved deep breaths. Flashing neon lights and flickering yellow street lamps cast more shadows than they lit up.
“Enver!”
He spun on his heel, running in the direction of her shout. He slung people out of the way and burst into a cross road.
Where the fuck did he take her!
The sound of truck tires kicking up dirt called his attention. He ran after it, she had to be on there. His ribs screamed, lungs on fire from the effort. Hiram’s head stuck out of the side window, waving before letting go of the small round object he held.
Enver’s wartime instincts took hold. His feet skidded to a halt and he dove hard to put a dumpster between him and the bouncing grenade. Screams erupted, the crowd dispersing. A bang left Enver’s ears ringing. Sulfuric smoke filled the air, making breathing impossible. Much to his relief it was a standard issue smoke grenade, he’d been trained how to deal with those.
He stumbling back into the middle of the street but had lost sight of the truck. FUCK! Ignoring the throbbing ribs, he ran back towards the Ward, a mile at least. Standing in the entrance way was the man who had told him Hiram had taken Imogen.
“I know where he’s going.” He pressed a code into his handheld comm. “He’s meeting some members from that ecovangelist compound in a factory passed the where the rivers join. My name’s Frank. You didn’t stick around for me to tell you he was already shoving her in the truck when I saw them. I could chase them or come find you. Seemed you’d be better at taking him down. That fucker hit the wrong asshole.”
Enver gripped his bad side, ribs aching, “Take me there, but I’ve got to grab something.”
“Be quick, my ride will be here any second and we’ll go after that.”
Scrambling for his keys, Enver erupted in the Ward. Heading straight for the cabinet, he was after one thing. Dammit I never thought I would be this desperate. Shuffling through the syringes and bottles, he found the one obscure military issued vial. A worn out warning label covered the outside and cracking it open there was a sterile and untouched injector. There were images of areas to inject to ensure an artery or vein would be hit.
“Is that what I think it is?”
Enver flinched, Frank had come to find him and found him doing the one thing he swore he’d never do again.
“We’re ready, but what do you plan on using that relic for?”
“My ribs.” With disgruntled resolve, Enver pressed the injector against his neck.
“You’ve gotta be out of your mind, cyborg.” He shook his head. “That crap was outlawed after that botched mission when a unit of cyborgs losing their shit. It was all over the feeds.”
“It was a suicide mission.” Enver shoved passed Frank, his ribs already feeling better with each step. “And no amount of nanites or adrenaline could have fixed what they put us through.”
“Us?” Frank chased him out the door.
Enver threw a leg over his motorcycle, ignoring the bulky bouncer.
“You were fucking there. You’re the guy they gave some honorary medal off-feed. No one ever even knew who you were, just that you’re the only reason we captured the Gaul territory.”
Enver gave him a sharp glance, the growl in his throat drowned out by the roar of the bike coming to life.
“Sorry. Head west, cross the delta and stay on the south side of the river. Follow the road until the derelict fuel station and take a left. You can’t miss the factory. Only fucking building left out there with a roof on it. We’ll be close on your heels, try not to kill him before I have a turn bashing his head in.”
A plume of dust bloomed out from behind him as the bike took off. He had no time to worry about the nanites. They would speed up healing, sure, but it was a temporary fix and a one off shot. They couldn’t bring the dead back to life, he had tried. They were incapable of discharging shrapnel from flesh, he’d tried that too. They could mend bones and speed up muscles tears, cuts, smaller inconveniences that added up quickly to hinder a soldier.
He had one thing going for him. He was the only cyborg alive to know what the side effects were for a cyborg with this generation of nanite treatment. There was a reason even the military didn’t use them anymore.
He better not fucking hurt, Imogen.
Chapter 23
Imogen
Enver was nervous on their first ever date, the cheesy humor making it loud and clear. She didn’t blame him, she felt the same way. It felt a little ridiculous being this giddy when they’d already done so much to each other’s bodies in the privacy of his room. She excused herself to the restroom. She needed a moment to gather her nerves.
Who knew I would be so antsy on a date with a grumpy cyborg like Enver?
Someone reached out and grabbed her wrist. She yanked away but they tugged her a few steps from the bathroom.
“Hiram.”
He dragged her, towards the door.
“Let me go,” she screamed into the deafening music the bar played.
“Silence.” His fingers tightened and dug into her arm. “You’re fucking going back, you whore. You’re my ticket home and I will not let you fuck this up for me again.”
He pulled her out into the street.
“Enver!” She locked eyes with the large man from before, the one Chance had finished up with. “Get Enver! Please!”
It was all she could think of, if anyone could help her, he could. She knew he could fight, even injured, and Hiram wasn’t enhanced or a cyborg. She clawed at the top of his hand with her nails, trying to rip free. Blood swelled up and dripped down her arm.
Hiram was unmoved, his mind disconnected and shattered in a million directions. He seemed to have lost all rational thought.
“Enver!” Her throat ripped apart from the volume it produced.
She lunged forward this time, her teeth sinking into Hiram’s forearm.
He stopped, turning to her animalistic desperation with a sneer. He backhanded her and the world tilted and spun.
I don’t want to go back…
Her vision twisting into darkness, her legs began to give out.
Her feet and arms dangled h
eavily. She fought to open her eyes and her cheek throbbed. Something dug into her stomach as her body bounced, weightless. She slipped into blackness and back out again to find herself in a vehicle. Her body shoved backward, the truck launching into acceleration. Groggy, she turned to the driver, confusion building.
Hiram clenched his teeth on a ring, pulling a round object away.
Imogen’s eyes widened. He’s lost his mind! She rolled, smashing a cheek on the seat in order to see behind them. Enver ran full steam behind them, chasing after her the way she’d known he would. She turned to Hiram in time to watch his fingers drop the grenade out the window.
The world slowed.
Enver. She watched as his expression filled with dread. He dove and BANG a wall of smoke was left in the wake of the explosion.
Fury filled her. She Punched and kicked at Hiram in a wild flurry. The truck swerved all over the street. He pulled something from his coat and slammed it in her side. Her body went heavy, looking down to see the tranquilizer shot before her eyes rolled back and the world disappeared.
It had to be a nightmare. Her head throbbed and the ground was hard beneath her. A mold-filled scent invaded her nostrils and she fought to push her eyelids open. She had been drugged. Hiram had drugged her. Her body fought the disconnection it caused. Finally managing to flutter her eyes open, she glanced around the broken factory.
Movement flashed in the corner and she forced her body to try and roll so she could see.
Voices echoed through the empty building. She laid far enough away not to be noticed. She could see where Hiram stood in front of two hooded men dressed in the uniform she knew full well belonged to the elders from the compound. Straining, she listened to the argument unfolding.
Hiram flailed his arms about, something had gone wrong.
“What do you mean I can’t come back?” He paced in front of the tight-lipped elders. “You’re going to fucking take that whore back, but abandon me here!”
One spoke, stern and cold. She recognized Addington’s voice. “She still has value to us as a breeder.”
Imogen’s stomach flipped, nauseous at the idea.
“I have value.” He raged, his voice echoing through the factory. “You promised if I brought her to you I could go back! I could go home!” He wailed on, covering his face.
“That was before you drew so much attention to yourself.” The other elder shook his head. “We don’t need your trouble following us back to the compound.”
“I didn’t know.” He lurched to grab the elder and the other pulled a knife. Hiram retracted his fingers.
“Now, give us Imogen so we may leave this shithole.”
He froze and glared in her direction. “No.”
“It wasn’t a question.” Addington turned, walking away expecting his dictates to be followed just like they always were. “It was an order, Hiram.”
“Elders,” a new voice beyond Imogen’s view called out. “The cyborg is on his way.”
“Grab the girl.” The icy-toned elder had marched away.
The second elder shoved pass Hiram, marching towards Imogen.
She wriggled as best she could, desperate for her arms and legs to move. Her body weighed a ton, numbness and paralysis still raiding her nervous system. Tears streamed down her face.
The elder grinned, closing the gap between them faster than she had expected. Staring at him, she recognized him. Grayson. He had beaten the living snot out of her once for running off and when he’d come after her the last time, had stabbed Chance so badly he’d needed a new cybernetic lung.
She grit her teeth and wobbled onto her hands and knees.
He reached down for her, but his face twisted. Recoiling away, he grunted in pain. Blood flowed out of a wound in his side, dribbling across the ground.
Hiram gripped the elder’s shoulder and shoved his knife into his gut. One, two, a flurry of angry stabs as he roared in blind rage.
Imogen rocked back onto her ass, unable to move.
Hiram’s wild eyes fell on her and he pointed the blood-soaked blade at her.
“This is your fault!” He took a step closer, “I’m going to enjoy cutting your throat, you harlet.”
“N-no… Hiram please…” Her body was sluggish, she couldn’t shuffle backwards without banging an elbow into the concrete floor. She rolled over and started to claw away from him.
No words would slow the footsteps running towards her. She clenched her eyes, choking on the sobs and screams fleeing from her lips. It was a primal cry to spare her life. This was it, this was how it would end.
Ka-thud – Clank!
Imogen’s heart jumped in her throat but when she turned toward the noice, more afraid to not know her fate than see it coming, her eyes locked on a cybernetic arm and two shining metallic hands.
Enver crushed the knife in his hand. She could see the rise and fall of Enver’s back.
He eyed her over his shoulder, a look of relief in his onyx eyes.
Hiram picked himself off the ground. The impact of Enver’s cybernetic punch had knocked some teeth loose. Blood drooled from his bottom lip. Spitting, a tooth bounced across the floor.
“She must have fucked you good.” He reached inside his coat. “I’d hoped you’d show up. This time I have something that’ll take you out for good.”
Hiram charged forward and Enver caught him by the throat. He was no match for an ex-military cyborg. Hiram slung his fist down against Enver’s chest. A device sizzled through his shirt and seared his flesh but did nothing else. Fear drowned the rage in Hiram’s face. He slammed the device against Enver’s bright red flesh again. Another round of sizzling.
“Fuc-” All he could produce was a croak as Enver’s fingers tightened.
Enver slung him across the span of the room like a rag doll.
Hiram landed in a heap among some old debris.
Her cyborg turned, rushing to her.
“Did he hurt you?” He kissed her forehead and he scooped her up in his arms. “I swear I’ll march over there and finish what I started if he fucking hurt you.”
“I-I’m ok, now that your here, I’m ok.” A rush of relief washed over her and her tears fell in a rush. Her fingers gripped his chest and she folded into his arms. “You came… you came for me.” She released her grip and slid her fingers over the burnt holes in his shirt and touched the unblemished skin underneath. “You weren’t hurt?”
He frowned, “I had a feeling it would come in handy.”
Giving him a bewildered look, they had made it outside where his motorcycle laid on its side where he had abandoned it. Coming in hard and fast was a vehicle sporting the familiar symbols and colors of the Cyn City PD.
“What the hell did Hiram hit you with?” She marveled, her legs still numb and weak. Enver gripped her arm, allowing her to catch her balance. “Your shirt is charred, and there’s some blood but no wound…”
“Military grade Nanite injection. They don’t last long, burning through joules like a son of a bitch, and I’ll have to make up for the calories later. But they can heal bones, minor injuries, cuts, and they have an added bonus we discovered in the field. They absorb Anti-Cyborg E.M.P. devices. They soak up that power surge meant to scramble the cybernetic enhancements.”
Imogen paled, “That’s how you got through the desert. Is that what he hit you with? Twice?”
“I figured he was a resourceful little shit.” He pulled Imogen against him. The heat of his body bring her back to life. “I told him you were mine. When he took you, no matter what the consequences, I was ready to chase you all the way to the compound and take you back by force if I had to.”
Wrapping her arms around him, her fingers dug into the muscles of Enver’s back. “I love you.”
He lifted her chin, stealing a kiss. “Wait till we get back home. I’ll need help burning the rest of these out of my system after getting hit twice with a ACE device. Hope you can keep up.”
Shivers rattled through her as th
e trucks parked all around them. Enver scanned the officers pouring from them and raiding the factory. Mason waved, approaching them.
“You were too fast for us to keep up to.” His green eyes dropped to Imogen. “I see you got what you came for.”
“Hiram should be still on the floor. He won’t be moving anytime soon.” Shouts and commands echoed through the building.
“Stay safe, brother.” He thudded a heavy palm on Enver’s shoulder and marched inside.
Chapter 24
Imogen
“Ouch.” Imogen winced. Enver sat his chair next to his bed. He lifted an eyebrow as if to say, Stop being a baby. He was cleaning up her elbow where the concrete had scraped the skin and left it angry and bleeding. “Not so rough.”
“I thought you liked it rough.” Sighing, he gave it one last check and let go. “Sorry. I’m so sorry I let this happen to you, Imogen.”
She grabbed his hands, the metal scuffed from the night’s events. “I wouldn’t be breathing without you.”
“How’s your body feel?” He rolled closer, leaning his forehead against hers.
“I think the tranquilizer wore off.” She cupped his jaw and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “I’m fine.”
“And what about now?”
A cool metal hand slid up her thigh. She had forgotten she had worn a skirt for their date. It was in rags, portions of it ripped and doing nothing to cover her legs.
He slipped his fingers through the gaping hole where her knee hung out. Her skin crawled with anticipation as his fingers crept ever closer to their goal. Their foreheads pressed harder against one another, tantalizing stares passed in the short span. He stopped shy of where she needed to feel his touch, squeezing her upper thigh.
Her back stiffened, her body’s growing want electrifying her arousal.
“A little higher.” She grinned, her lips teasing for a kiss, “I think you need to check higher.”
