Earthbound

by Adam Lewinson

  “Which way?” I asked.

  “Toward the river!” Pace led us north toward the spot where we sat with Becca all those months ago, staring at stars or whatever. Not sure what advantage that’d give us. I supposed we could climb down the bluff into the Missouri. Maybe swim for it. We reached the clearing and caught our breath for a second. I was hunched over, my hands resting on my knees, panting heavily. But I wasn’t the only one panting. I glanced up. And right in front of me was a wolf. And not just one wolf. About twenty of ‘em. We’d just run right into their den.

  “Ash!”

  “Yeah, I see ‘em.”

  Pace pointed a Persuader at the wolves. That’d take ‘em out for sure. But I lifted a finger to Pace. Not yet. The alpha wolf, probably the new leader since I’d killed the last one, bared his sharp teeth and started growling. Yeah, he sensed fear. Probably didn’t realize what we were really afraid of though. I raised my Persuader and shot at the trees behind us. Pace shot me a what-the-eff look. The wolf pack seemed surprised too. But I did what I wanted. I created a pathway for those robots to follow us. Which they did. Mankins wheeled right through the fiery embers of the trees and brush. Seeing the interlopers attacking, the wolves immediately lost interest in us and went after their new metal adversaries. The wolf pack didn’t stand much of a chance, but they’d thin the herd as always. And give us a chance to run. I started to go for the edge of the bluff, but Pace grabbed my shirt to stop me.

  “I thought we’d swim,” I said.

  “I… I can’t swim very well,” Pace replied.

  Wasn’t too surprised about that. “Then why’d you run us up here?”

  “Figured it was a good elevation to pick them off before they got to us.”

  “Too late for that,” I said, seeing Mankins everywhere. A few of ‘em trampled over some wolves. One of ‘em had a wolf chewing away at its turret, and it just opened fire, splattering the poor wolf everywhere. We had to run. The forest wasn’t proving to be as much of an advantage as we’d hoped.

  We ran and ran, dodging in between trees, dashing through huge cobwebs, not really thinking what was likely crawling all over us. But no robots. I started to see glimpses of skyscrapers ahead of us. We were almost out. But then from out of nowhere a metal arm reached out and smacked us both in the head. Pace and I fell at the feet of a Bion. Our weapons knocked out of our hands. The Bion had just been standing there, probably waiting to intercept us. It had the drop on us. By the time we’d reach our weapons we’d be dead. I saw its Persuader aim at my head. We were done for. But then, miraculously, something rammed into the Bion. Wasn’t sure what it was but we used that moment to scramble to our feet and grab our Persuaders. Then we could see it clearly. It was the big thousand pound grizzly bear, up on its hind legs, its front paws trying to knock over the Bion. The Bion was sturdier than I thought, resisting the grizzly bear’s weight. But it couldn’t do much about the bear’s jaws, which snapped open the exoskeleton around its head with ease. I think I heard the Bion scream. Not sure about that though. Regardless I was just thankful for that bear as Pace and I ran out of the park and back into the city.

  I don’t think either of us had any idea which way to go. Any direction was just as good or bad as the next. We were on Park Drive. No robots in sight. “We could make it to the railway bridge,” I said. I figured if we could get across the Missouri, maybe they wouldn’t follow us, I dunno. I was hopeful. Maybe we had a chance. And as we started running, I thought I saw some flash of light whiz by. Then I felt something wet in my stomach. Like one of my water pouches opened up and spilled through my shirt. Pace stopped running and was just staring at me, looking horrified. I stopped too. I looked down. It was just water. No. It wasn’t water. It was blood. I’d been shot. Just under my ribcage. Mankin fire likely. If it’d been a Bion I wouldn’t have still been standing. The entry point had cauterized already so I couldn’t tell exactly where I’d been shot, but I could tell the wound was deep. Then blood started to leak out around the seams of where the laser fire cauterized the wound. I knew it was not good.

  “Ash!” Pace cried. By the look on his face you’d think I was dead. Instead I was just pissed.

  “Had to go after the gold!” I growled.

  I pulled Pace forward. We had to keep moving. But our path ahead was now blocked by Mankins. We did a 180 and ran north, but pretty quickly we saw Mankins filling up the street ahead of us too. I grabbed Pace and we headed east down 3rd Avenue. It was hard to run. The pain from my gut was staggering and Pace was still hobbling too. We only made it a few yards before we saw Mankins up ahead of us again. They were behind us too. We were surrounded. I grabbed Pace and we ran into the closest lobby I could find. We collapsed on the ground and hid beneath some huge chunks of rubble. That’d come in handy. Keep us safe for at least a few moments. I hated getting surrounded like that. But ultimately it’d become a numbers game. There were just too many robots closing in on us. I could hear their wheels encircle our position. We glanced at each other. We were effed.

  Pace exhaled deeply, finishing the last of our water. He leaned back against crumbling drywall. He didn’t want to look at me. I don’t blame him.

  “Sorry about Rebecca,” he muttered.

  I didn’t respond. I was too fuming. He should be really effing sorry about Becca! It’s a worthy apology. But probably too vague for someone facing certain death. Is he sorry that we went after the gold instead of her? Or sorry that we’re both in love with her, and she chose him?

  Then a moment later he looked over at me to make sure I was still listening. Still alive. I shoulda been concerned that my wound didn’t hurt anymore. That’s not a good sign. It shoulda really effing hurt. Oh well. I’m gonna be dead soon anyway. I should be grateful it doesn’t hurt.

  “What are they waiting for?” Pace asked.

  I just shook my head. I wondered, what are they waiting for? We were outnumbered over a thousand to two. Bad odds, even for us. But it’s Mankins. They don’t think. The person doing the thinking obviously wants them to wait. Shādo Shay must want them to wait until I bled out. Lower the odds.

  I heard the march. Jackboots. That unmistakable clank of metal marching in unison. It was pretty faint but it was slowly getting louder. Shādo Shay gave us way too much credit. I wanted to tell him he was effing crazy. There was no need for Bions.

  The jackboots got louder and closer. Pace just laughed. I shot him a what-the-eff look.

  “So much for getting starbound,” he howled. That kept him in stitches. I didn’t see what was so funny. That was his dream, not mine. I wish he had fulfilled his dream.

  I reached into my pack and grabbed my last bite of buffalo jerky. Never did like it. Too salty. Never got to use that salt Becca gave me. I would’ve made some great jerky.

  I loaded two of my last few charges into my Persuaders. I looked at Pace. He and I knew it was time to take our stand before the Bions got there.

  “This is gonna be difficated,” I said.

  We crouched into position. I knew I was gonna die in the Old City. Decompose amongst the decay. Finally a place where I belonged, where I could call home.

  I wondered if there was anything I was supposed to say. I really wanted to tell Pace, I dunno, about how I was glad he agreed to do that first robbery back in Great Falls. That decision ultimately cut our lives short. But at least we lived a little. I looked at Pace. I saw this slight moistness in his eyes. He’s not scared, that’s not him. It’s something else. I felt the same way. But eff him if I was gonna say it out loud. Instead we both nodded. It was time.

  So the story has come full circle. Death is certain. But at least I get to go out alongside my best friend.

  As I apply some pressure on the triggers of my twin Persuaders, one image pops into my mind. Becca. Why the eff should I think of her? Other than she’s the most beautiful effing thing I ever seen. I can’t believe I never even told her how I felt. I’d do it now. If I ever had the chance.

  Pace and
I rise up in unison. Instantly we feel the sting of energy blasts whizzing past our cheeks. I don’t mind the singe, I just want to keep shooting until they connect with my skull or my chest. Man, they’re everywhere. We line our backs up against each other, as we always did when we got cornered. He takes one flank, I take the other. They’re easy to kill, these Mankins. I kill a dozen. Maybe more, I have to stop counting, but I can’t help myself. I really enjoy killing Mankins. I’m kinda hoping I survive long enough for the Bions to get here so I can kill them too. I know there’s humans in there. But killing ‘em is something I’m good at it.

  I give Pace cover while he reloads. He does the same for me – or tries anyway. I get nicked in the thigh. Have to keep standing. Have to hold up Pace. He’s not as good a shot as me. I think I just killed my fiftieth. We’re nearing the end of our ammo. I’m disappointed, cause the Bions are here and I wanna kill them. All of ‘em. They’re raising their cybernetic arms and taking aim. I raise up my arms too. But unlike those stupid robots, I don’t need to take aim – it’s second nature. My father must’ve felt the same way. I never fulfilled my dream, just like Pace, but maybe I fulfilled my destiny. I am my father’s son. My mother was right about me. Way too late to prove her wrong. I can manage two more Bion kill shots, one from each gun before the others beat me before I have the chance to beat them. In the end, all you can do is go out in style. I pull back the triggers.

  I shoulda told Becca how I feel. Damn.

  And then everything turns white.

  12.

  My eyes slowly open. But I can’t see. Everything’s white. Can’t be in heaven. I know that much. Maybe it’s that effing hypernova, finally blowing up and taking the entire Earth with it, a couple hundred years too late but just in time to take out all those robots along with us.

  I grab the gaping hole in my gut, but I can’t find it. All I feel is my flesh. Guess whatever the afterlife is, they fix you up good cause you don’t need to bleed to death when you’re already dead.

  But I’m starting to see shapes. Buildings. Skyscrapers. My vision’s coming clear. I’m still in the Old City. And somehow – I’m alive.

  “Pace?” I say, getting control over my vocal chords. I can’t hear too good. It’s like my eardrums are vibrating. I manage to sit up, expecting great pain from my wound but it feels fine. Perfect actually. I feel around but there’s no fresh blood. Just a dried blood stain on my shirt. My thigh is healed up too.

  I see Pace lying down next to me. I shake him. “Pace? You alive?”

  “Uh-huh,” he mutters. I help him up. “You too, huh? You’re not bleeding!”

  “I know, and I’m not complainin’. You too.” The spot where Pace got nicked in the heel looks perfectly normal.

  “What in the hell was that white flash?”

  “I dunno. But look.” I point out. All of those Mankins lie around us and they’re all crapped out. Keeled over. Lifeless. The ones we shot and the ones we didn’t. The Bions too.

  “What killed them?” Pace asks.

  Then we heard a voice. It was a deep baritone. Forceful. Authoritative. But not unfriendly. Maybe even a little melodic. And it had an accent. Asian, maybe?

  “It’s called an EMP blast. Electromagnetic pulse.”

  Pace and I turned around to see who was speaking. It was a tall man. Easily six feet. Maybe middle aged, I dunno, with a perfectly shaven head and a neatly trimmed goatee around his lips. He’s dressed like any other kinda cowboy, but it doesn’t suit him. Seems like he should be wearing some kinda flowing robes or something. His dark eyebrows kind of curl upward with curiosity. Oh and he’s definitely Asian. I’d only seen an Asian before in the movies.

  The Asian man continued to speak, hovering over us. “It disables all electronic equipment within a ten mile radius. So every Mankin and Bion in the vicinity is inoperative.” Pace and I both instinctively grab our Persuaders and point them at the man. He laughs at us. “I said all electronic equipment. Including your Persuaders.”

  I aim at the man’s feet and fire. He says they won’t work, let’s test it on his toes. Yeah, well, I pull the trigger and nothing happens. He’s right. We toss our Persuaders. They’re garbage now.

  He grimaces at me. “It’s not very friendly to shoot at the man who saved your life.”

  That pisses me off. “You’re Shādo Shay, right? You saved our lives after trying to end ‘em! It’s not really friendly to call in the Bions! That was overkill.”

  “That was the point,” Shādo Shay replies. “I needed to get your attention.”

  “You’re effing crazy,” I say.

  I get a good look at this guy, this menace who’d been on our trail since Conrad. He doesn’t look so bad. Doesn’t look like he’s about to gun us down, that’s for sure. Course that doesn’t seem to be his style. He hasn’t exactly gotten his fingernails dirty – instead sending out a bunch of robots to do his dirty work for him. That makes him either really smart or a real coward.

  Pace isn’t angry like me. He’s kinda happy somehow. “You fixed us up?”

  “While you were unconscious. Simple repairs when you have the right supplies. You’re not much use to me dead.”

  “Why save us?” Pace asks.

  “You aimin’ to collect the bounty on our heads?” I ask. Not gonna remind him it’s worth quadruple for dead instead of alive. That’s kinda important.

  Shādo Shay looks at me with this condescending glare. “What would a man such as myself have need of your piddling bounty?”

  “Then what the eff do you want?” I ask.

  “Well I’m not here to kiss your respective asses,” Shādo Shay replies. That cracks him up. Right, that’s the message Pace asked that banker back in Conrad to get to Shādo Shay.

  “Guess you got my message,” Pace chuckles.

  “You’re very clever, I suppose,” Shādo Shay states. He’s now leaning in and talking to us all confidential-like. “My needs are simple. I want my money back. And if you’re dead I’ll never get it.”

  My spirits lift. For the first time in, I dunno, months, I think we’re gonna get out of this alive.

  “So let’s give it to him,” I say.

  “Not so fast,” Pace says to me. Then he turns toward Shādo Shay. “Don’t you think we’ve thought this through? Don’t you think we knew there was a good chance you’d follow us? It’s not the first time you’ve tracked us. It’s what you do.”

  “So?” Shādo Shay asks. He’s getting impatient with our nonsense, I can tell.

  A transport rumbles up and stops near us. Horseless. Not sure exactly how that works. Runs of an engine or something like that, I dunno. Pace looks real effing excited by the transport.

  A functioning Bion steps out. It must’ve been beyond the range of that EMP blast. Maybe it was up in the air, I dunno. The Bion extracts what I’m sure is a working Persuader from out of its ribcage and points at our heads.

  “The gold,” Shādo Shay says. His tone of voice is calm but I can tell there’s venom in there too.

  “Where are our horses?” I ask. I’m looking around, don’t see Charon or Flashbound.

  “They’ve been extracted from this… unstable situation,” Shādo Shay responds. “They are being well tended to. They are lovely creatures. I, like you, have a fondness for horses.”

  On that we agree. I’m relieved, I gotta say. Anything happens to me I deserve. But not Charon.

  “Whaddaya think, Pace?” I ask.

  Pace’s eyes are darting around. He doesn’t look too convinced. “Can we do something about the Persuader pointed at our heads?”

  Shādo Shay raises a few fingers and the Bion lowers his weapon. A peace offering I suppose. “Give me my gold and you will remain unharmed. That is my promise.”

  Pace and I nod at each other. What choice do we have?

  We lead Shādo Shay and his Bion escort toward where we’ve got the gold stashed. It’s not far from here. I notice Shādo Shay is looking a little green as he stares at all t
he decay in the Old City. “The way mankind used to live,” he remarks. “So much filth. So much disease.” Like it’s gonna give him cooties or somethin’. Then he looks at me. Why the eff is he looking at me? “I’m on your side Ash. Believe it or not.”

  “Uh-huh,” I reply.

  “Are you familiar with the story of Robin Hood? He stole from the rich to give to the poor?”

  “Sure. Somebody used to read me that story.” Becca, of course. “That’s kinda like what me and Pace are. We’re kinda like Robin Hoods.”

  Shādo Shay laughs. “You’re stealing from the rich and hording it for yourselves. That isn’t charity. You’d have to distribute that gold to all the needy across the settlements.”

  “Well then maybe that’s what we should do.”

  “There is no need. I am already doing so. In my own way.” I don’t really care much what Shādo Shay has to say. “Ash, may I share with you a secret? Do you know why I fancy myself to be a Robin Hood? Why my forefathers were Robin Hoods? Because we stole everything from the rich and gave it to the poor. We stole this entire planet and gave it to them!”

  “I don’t understand. Everybody who wanted to left in the Exodus except those who wanted to stay behind. It just turned out those were the poor.”

  “No. The poor didn’t decide to stay behind. They weren’t given much of a choice. They couldn’t afford the fare.”

  I look up at Shādo Shay to see if I can read his face. Doesn’t look like he’s lying. Not sure what reason he’d have to lie. He’s getting what he wants.

  We lead Shādo Shay and his Bion to a particularly shabby-looking skyscraper.

  “In here?” Shādo Shay cries. He looks scared. Pace and I laugh. Yeah, that building’s gonna come down anytime, but that’s why we chose it. Shādo Shay nods at his Bion and the thing lock his Persuader onto us.

  “That’s not in our deal,” Pace protests.