by Gwynn White
So she says, “No, thank you. I can manage.”
The bot pauses, like she’s about to say something, then she turns and makes her way back to the raider.
Sidney continues to plan. She knows the general vicinity of this place where all the food is stored. She knows where she needs to go after that place, and she doesn't need Petra to get there. She certainly doesn't need the raider. So, come morning, while the bot's recharging and he's still asleep, she's out of here.
Chapter Fifteen
Petra
Petra's charger pings in the back of her head, and she opens her eyes. Today, the man should be healthy enough to travel—she's scanned him. The wounds are healing well and he looks competent enough to walk.
She knows Sidney is not keen on the idea, but hopes the journey won't be too problematic. After all, the goal is to get them to the rest of the healthy Allendians and make sure everything is set for the re-emergence.
Petra steps towards the building where Sidney's cooped herself up overnight and finds it—empty.
She scans the vicinity, but hears no heartbeat other than the man's. She looks on the ground, but Sidney's clearly masked her footprints as she snuck away in the night.
Still, Petra concludes that the child will be motivated to find the vault of food and medicine she'd mentioned. That's not a day's walk away, less if she were to run.
With the man as her companion, with the occasional rests he'd have to take throughout the trip, Petra calculates that it will take approximately three days to reach the vault. Sidney may get there and be long gone by then. Still, it will be as good a place as any to keep tracking her.
So Petra approaches the man's still form and says, "Will you be able to walk? It is time. Sidney has left so we need to find her and the vault of food on the south side before making our way to the outer limits of the dome."
He watches her for a moment. "Why are you helping me?"
"It is my duty to help all Allendians," she says as she pulls him up to a standing position.
He cringes then leans into her form as she holds him up without effort.
"How long will it take to get there?" he asks with another cringe.
"By my calculation," Petra says, "three days. Unless you heal faster than I expect, in which case, even less time."
He leans into her more, then pauses. "Wait, did you say she's gone there? By herself? Why would she do that? Why wouldn't she go with you?"
"I expect," Petra says, "that she is not comfortable in your presence, so she's opted to continue on her own."
"Without you? Wait, how long had you been her companion?"
"Just a day," Petra says. "I found her in the northern part of the city. I'd hunted her down but my primary scanner's broken and so we need to bring her to the outer dome, get her tested."
"I see—" the man says, "I see, and if you find that she is ill?"
"She would need to be eliminated."
"Of course."
They continue on their journey, only finding traces of Sidney every few kilometers, but the man notices that she's determined to keep herself hidden. If he weren't a tracker, he'd not know she was walking—or running more like it—through these parts.
"We need a vehicle," he finally says to Petra. "To catch up to her before she gets—there."
"What is 'there'?" Petra asks, remembering he'd objected to their general plans the first night.
"It would be a community of—well—bad folks. Not people I'd want a little girl like her to come across. That's where she's running to. That vault you're thinking of is no longer what you think it is."
Petra tilts her head to the right. His words are incomplete—censored—but the meaning behind the unspoken words is dangerous. She doesn’t insist that he elaborates. "I've only known that Sidney for a short time, but I’m certain she'll be able to take care of herself."
"Sure," he says, "sure… How long was she alone in the city, though? How long has it been since she's been around other people?"
Petra doesn't respond, unable to as she doesn't know. Still, she scans for any sort of vehicle they can find to get them to Sidney sooner than she'll get to the vault. Though the man doesn't go into detail, she knows she needs to protect the girl and hastens her pace as she scans.
Chapter Sixteen
Sidney
She runs until she can't anymore, then takes a breather, more water, snacks on some dried pigeon meat as she slows her pace and keeps moving forward.
She's never been this far from the city before, but her stomach rumbling reminds her that this is all worth it, that she needs to get to the vault so she can eat something other than lizards and all their gizzards for a while. Hopefully a very long while.
She finds a tiny enclave that looks to be an old outpost of sorts—she knows that Allenda has several of these throughout the dome—some were fueling stations, some water porters, most were just portable toilet and shower enclaves that travelers could rent.
Once upon a time they had different colors, indicating exactly what they were, but years of rain and no maintenance has leeched away all color, leaving them merely grayed out metal versions of themselves.
She inches up to the enclave, on the off-chance that it was one with a vending machine on the inside. Who knows what's still around, these days?
She approaches it quietly, keeping her ears and eyes peeled for any sound, any unnatural shadow. All's quiet, peaceful, as she turns the corner and opens the door to the enclave.
Empty.
But for the baby on the floor, cooing at Sidney as she plays with what looks like an old teddy bear. It’s dressed in a sky blue onesie, with small white frills on the edges.
What in the—
Then she hears it, a low hiss as a snake the size of her forearm slithers towards the baby from a hidden corner in the enclave.
Snakes don’t live inside the dome, she knows. They only exist in the dusty deserts in Allenda, but no matter how much her brain argues, the snake’s hiss increases in volume as the baby turns towards it, her arm outstretched as if to pet the thing. Her panic for the baby conflicts with her desire to run, but Sidney's already inside, rushing to the snake.
It turns direction and, before she can grab its body, it abruptly pulls back and throws its head at her. She darts back, narrowly avoiding its fangs on her arm, but trips and falls on her back. Not a moment sooner, she scrambles backwards on her elbows and feet.
Not fast enough. The snake lurches forward at a speed far too fast for her to get away. Her heart speeds up as she realizes she’s about to be bitten.
It hits her, once, twice, three times on the leg, before finally slithering past her through the door.
The baby starts crying, and Sidney sits on her haunches, wanting to go to her to comfort her. "It's—okay—" she croaks.
Despite the pain, the spreading wildfire in her leg, she keeps talking, trying to soothe the baby. She thinks the snake's long gone, so she leans forward on to her hands and knees, and tries to crawl to her.
She keeps talking but now her voice echoes in her ears and she hears nothing but gibberish. When she finally sits back on her haunches, she says, "Who do you belong to, baby?" She’s cognizant enough to know she shouldn't be in this enclave.
But her body stops moving despite her mind telling her to go pick the baby up and shush its incessant crying.
As the venom spreads through, she imagines it’s burning up her legs, her torso, her arms. Her ears burn. She panics again, wants to run, but can’t move as her body shuts down. Now everything goes numb. The pain's gone at least.
She lies down beside the crying baby, hoping she'll be found soon. Hoping she'll be okay, wondering what sort of world she lives in that babies are left on their own in snake-filled enclaves.
Just as she closes her eyes and feels the nice cool ground of the enclave on her cheek, just as she thinks, "Sorry, Nayne, this isn't how I should have died," the baby coos again, and places a tiny sticky hand on her cheek.
Chapter Seventeen
"I'm Henry, by the way," the man says to Petra as they work on the bike together. They'd found it not an hour after setting out to look for her.
Of course it wasn't working, but with all the right parts from other vehicles nearby, Petra scans its insides and sees it would be in working condition in a matter of minutes.
"What's your name again?" he says. "I'm sorry, I must have missed it last night. I wasn't thoroughly conscious—"
She didn't have a name for a long time, not until Sidney came along. "My name is Petra," she states, her head on an angle though her hands don't stop moving on the bike. "It is the name Sidney nominated for me."
"Is that right?" he says. "She's something else, that Sidney, isn't she?"
"She is a child," is Petra's response as she moves to drip oil into the bike. She estimates that this bike hasn't worked in several years. It also needs more fuel than what she's carried with her.
"She is also impetuous," she says, before realizing she finds it an admirable trait in the child. This is an older programming, allowing her to admire traits in Allendians—a program she hasn’t touched on in a while. "And a survivor."
"Interesting," Henry says. "And you, Petra? How would you describe yourself?"
"I am machine," Petra says as she slots an universal key into the ignition of the bike. She turns the engine and it sputters to life.
"This—" Henry says, as he caresses the bike's handlebar, "is a machine. You're not just this, are you?"
"I am," Petra states. "Perhaps with superior programming, but no less a machine." She finds his question curious, but knows better than to ask an Allendian adult to explain himself. Prior programming reminds her that would be inappropriate conduct, so she keeps the words to herself.
Henry looks her up and down. "Why is Sidney important to you, Petra? Who is she, to you?"
"She is a child," Petra repeats, "but my scanner couldn't determine if she is ill or not. I will need to bring her to an outer dome, to have her tested. As I will need to do with you."
Henry raises his brows to that. "To what end?" he asks, his voice gruff. "If it turns out that either one of us is sick, will you try to heal us? Or will you actually kill us?"
"There is no cure for the flu," Petra says as she straddles the bike. She waits for Henry to climb on behind her and place his arms around her waist. "She will have to be eliminated if she is sick. As do the rest of the sick. Otherwise the re-emergence will not happen."
Then she leans forward and the bike flies through the air, not an hour away from where Sidney fell.
Henry doesn't say another word on their journey. Petra takes advantage of the silence by continuing to scan for signs of Sidney, knowing every so often that they're definitely going in the right direction. She hasn't moved away from the path that would eventually take them to the vault.
Petra doesn't wonder why Henry's so quiet, doesn't wonder just what's going on in his human brain.
Finally, an hour after they'd started on the bike, it sputters and stops, skidding until it falls, as Petra and Henry fly off its seat. It throws up dust in the air. Petra hears Henry grunt in pain as her right side slides across the ground, the impact nothing more than an inconvenience should it leave a scratch.
"Well that's unlucky," Henry says, looking down at the defunct bike. "It's always handy to have a vehicle out here. Maybe we can find another."
"No need," Petra says, "for we're close. I see footprints, here, here, and here. Some of them match Sidney's. Take a look."
Henry crouches low to take a closer look at said footprints, then looks up at Petra. Realizing they're far closer to the vault than he'd originally thought.
"Right," he says. "Right."
"She is gone in this direction," Petra says as she rises to her feet and stares towards the east. "Though I am not sure why. That is not the way to the vault. Perhaps she misunderstood what I had told her—" That doesn't sound right to Petra, so she frowns, working through other scenarios that are more likely.
"She's not alone," Henry adds. "I see two, maybe three other prints here. See?" He points to where things don't add up.
"So many—?" Petra says. She analyzes her database, she hasn't come across that many people in one go, none of the others before her had. Not in years. The database indicates most groups comprise of these so-called raiders. Even then, they're all healthy so Petra's older versions had no reason to hunt them.
"They're heading in this direction," Henry says as he continues walking east. Petra follows, calculating that these people are within the close vicinity. They wouldn't have gone far. They are stationed here.
Chapter Eighteen
Sidney
Her eyes are heavy but she fights past the heaviness to crack the left one open, then the right. She's being carried, so Petra must have found her. Her heart soars.
Then she realizes two sets of hands are holding her up on either side. The realization hits that the raider must be here too, and her heart plummets. She wants to fight him off, to keep his grubby nastiness to himself before he bites into her flesh. Her arms don't listen to what her brain screams.
They stay heavy and limp by her sides. She's facing forward, her chin down, with her feet dragging behind as they carry her along. Spit drools out of her mouth and lands on the dusty ground beneath.
"She's waking," a voice whispers. Not Petra's she realizes. Not the raider's voice either. She fights to pull her chin up and the minute action makes her neck hurt so much she only succeeds in dropping her chin to her chest again.
But she tilts to the left and see someone's—dress? A floor-length, light-blue cotton number. A woman! That has to be a good sign. Women in this world are good. She knew her nayne and she knows Petra. Well Petra doesn't really count given that she's an android and also that she would kill Sidney if given the chance. Still, she knows women don't make for good raiders—Nayne said she'd never seen women with raiders that wanted to be there. So this is good. This is good.
They shuffle along forward, longer than she can count. Her brain's still frozen from the venom that snake had shoved into her. Why am I not dead? she thinks.
Finally, after shuffling up a flight of stairs, they stop and she takes a deep breath. She can't help it. Everything in here smells like warmth—apples and cinnamon and vanilla and cream. Her eyes flutter as her belly growls in appreciation of what's to come.
Finally, they place her on a bed, then gently push her back until she’s on the softest, cleanest crisp sheets. She's never had a real bed, but she knows that's what this soft cloud comfort must be. Her eyes fight her and close shut as her brain starts to follow suit. She mustn't fall asleep, she tells herself. She doesn't know where she is, doesn't know who these people are—she can't fall asleep!
So she opens her eyes wide, fighting back.
"It's okay, child," a female voice says. "You are safe and you will be okay."
The voice is as warm as the smells, soothing and calm. Sidney looks up to see its owner, and a woman smiles down at her—the same woman dressed in the long sky-blue dress. Her smile is so soft, Sidney thinks. She has long brown hair, clean and fluffy like she's just showered. Do they have a working shower here? Sidney's never had one, but her nayne always said they were the best things.
The woman’s smile widens as Sidney stares, and she repeats herself. "You're fine. You're safe. You can sleep as long as you like."
She doesn't want to, but when the woman places a soft hand on hers and strokes her fingers through her hair, her eyes flutter closed again and she takes a deep breath. She can't move anyway, her arms don't want to listen, neither do her legs. Her brain tells her to be wary but the rest of her body won't comply.
So when she lets the heaviness take her, she leans her back into the soft bed and her eyes finally close tight. She thinks of clouds and blue sky and warm apple cider, the kind her nayne used to make any time they'd find an orchard of apples on their travels. They were never big enough
or yummy enough to eat fresh, but they made for the best apple cider...
Chapter Nineteen
Petra
Petra and Henry walk another twenty minutes east and stop when they come to a wall of trees, uniform in every way, the way all trees in Allenda have been planted. They reach up to the sky as if begging for a way out of the dome.
"Douglas firs," Petra analyzes. "Not as old as the other ones across the dome." If there's anything that's survived the Allendian decline out here, it's the trees. They can withstand anything. "Doesn't look like the rains this way are acidic—yet," she claims.
"Okay," Henry says, "and I’ve lost the tracks. Where do we head now?"
Petra stares through the trees. Though she doesn't see any obvious signs, she notes a couple of branches have been pushed back, their needles not as fresh as the others.
"I believe they've gone through here," she claims, her arm raising to point at the trees.
Henry looks in the same direction. "Doesn't look likely," he says. "Hardly any space to get in there. Besides—" he walks up closer to the mass of trees to peer through into their dark depths. “What's usually behind these things out here? Not useful to us right now, is it?"
Petra knows what he means. Every section of the domes in Allenda are planned and structured. Park areas full of trees and grass always have a lake, grassy hills for Allendians who enjoy the golfing sport and nothing more. Just miles and miles of grass.
However, Petra's instincts tell her something is different behind this mass of trees. Something not quite planned by Allendian Engineers. So, without speaking another word, she pushes through the first tree’s branches and walks through the forest to whatever lies beyond. Henry follows suit, like he knows better than to question a robot's instincts.
