We all slept in late this morning, so we only just a short time ago stopped for a bite to eat in a small place called Wofford Heights. Torrance says the secret facility is just west of here, at the edge of the Forest. Normally a road trip like this would work up an appetite, but none of us were all that hungry. Too much to worry about.
After we walked out I saw a figure watching us, but he went around the corner when I turned to get a better look.
There was an unsettling mechanical sound on the air, like a clock counting down the moments you have left in the world, or a heart monitor waiting for your will to give up, but with metallic clanks instead of beeps.
"Hey!" I called, and followed the man to the alley behind the joint. The others were behind me.
And we found it wasn't a man, but some sort of robot, an android or cyborg. And even then, not just one.
They knew we would give in to curiosity. It must have been a setup.
They quickly surrounded us, and the leader marched toward me. Torrance and I quickly drew our guns and fired, but the bullets glanced off their metal skin. Didn't slow them down a bit. Then the leader reached me and firmly grabbed my throat with its unhuman arm, ready to crush my windpipes.
But before it could, there was another sound behind us.
"Halt," the one choking me said in a monotone. "What are you doing here?"
I struggled free and turned to see several people coming toward us. But their gait was jerky, and as they got closer I could see that their eyes were glazed over.
I knew instantly they must be under the control of Evan's Witch, for among them was our anonymous source: Pirate Percy.
I'm just disclosing this fact now, as I wasn't sure readers would believe that our source was a puppet from a kids' show (lots of people these days being--reasonably--skeptical of everything), and since I didn't know if he would get in trouble with his Puppet Queen for helping us.
But now it was clear that she was fully aware and was for some reason aiding us, with Puppets.
They leapt between us and the cyborgs and Percy yelled at us to flee. Before we did, however, we saw the cyborgs raise some of the Puppets above their heads and smash them on the ground. Some of these came apart like cheaply made toys. These Puppets, as well as those still standing, began to wrap the cyborgs with strings, which then started piercing the surface of the metal men on their own, while the cyborgs fired at the Puppets and us with some futuristic sort of firearm. A bolt of light hit one of the Puppets and incinerated her on the spot. We backed away while both groups distracted each other.
As the strings hooked themselves into the cyborgs, their shots became more erratic, until finally they were entangled enough that they could hardly move. That's when built-in saw blades popped out and began slicing through the webbing, one strand at a time.
A few members of each group broke off from the fight and started toward us.
At that point, we raced to the cars. A Puppet almost caught up to Larry and actually grabbed his shoulder as he was sliding into his seat; he slammed the door closed into the Puppet again and again, until finally, its skin splintering, it fell away. After that, we stepped on the gas and left as quickly as we could, speeding down the road.
I feel guilty for not helping any of the Puppets, since they no longer have any free will of their own, but I knew if we had stayed to help, the cyborgs might have killed us, or in anger the Witch herself may have turned us into Puppets as well.
But those cyborgs, or whatever they were. Where did they come from? Were they once people too? And why were they after us?
No comments:
Post a Comment