Programmed Love

Chapter Two: Unexpected Turns

     Awakening from a dreamless sleep, I fluttered my eyes open only to realize the pitter-patter of rain had disappeared. The fire had died down to a single burning ember while my bag was clutched to my chest. Rubbing any drowsiness from my eyes, I proceeded to let out a yawn into the silent space that surrounded me. Small streaks of light filled the rundown, dingy room coming from the curtained window. 

      Standing up, I stretched out my aching joints before walking over to the dresser to check my clothes. A small amount of dampness had clung to the articles of cloth, but the small amount of chill they would provide could prove helpful if the temperature rose today. Removing the tight fitting clothes from before, I neatly folded them before placing them back into the bottom drawer with a silent 'thank you'. Before placing my original clothes back on, I checked out the robotic bite mark that had bruised my calf. Besides the terrible bruising, the wound wasn't as bad as a few I had previously gotten. 

      Placing the looser, threadbare, long-sleeved black shirt onto my torso, I did the same with the black yoga pants that had acquired many rips and tears over the past year. Soon, I would have to find new attire. These ones provided little protection anymore. Locating my hair tie, I half-heartedly pulled my hair back. This was my normal morning routine. 

      Thankfully it seemed as though nothing had discovered my sleeping form throughout the course of the night. No disturbances in the disheveled little apartment building made themselves visible at the least. Taking quiet, cautious steps towards the window, I peeked around the outside corner of the curtain for any signs of 'life'. All I saw was a few scattered, dying trees and wet soil covering the ground. This place was just as barren as every other place I had encountered in the past. 

     After allowing a 'huff' of air to pass my slightly parted lips, I started walking back towards my bag. Picking up my black combat boots, I wiggled them onto my feet and slung my backpack over my shoulders. 

      The heels of the shoes had been muted by placing felt that I found on another journey across them and taping it together. This small work of art had saved me many times. Finally deciding I was ready to go, I walked to the door and surveyed the room once more. Once upon a time a mother and child lived here, and once upon a time they had to flee to safer places. Oh how much I wished they made it. 

     Putting my brown eye in front of the small peep hole, I watched the hallway closely for any movement. After a few moments of careful observation, I slowly twisted the knob and creaked open the door. Internally cringing at the unnecessarily loud noise, I moved my fastest to squirm out of the amount of space I had opened and closed the door. Moving my fingers across the door I spelled "Thank you" and began moving at my naturally brisk pace. 

     Doing little half trots across fallen beams and rubble, I quickly made it to the end of the entire complex only to discover it was completely blown out. This could potentially aid me in an escape if a Patroller were to come across my path. Making an exit through a large hole was easier then leaving through a small door. That was a lesson I had learned long ago as well. Peering around the edge of the fallen away bricks, I searched for any shining silver tints that could mean a robot. 

      It seemed to be an especially quiet morning. By this time I had normally always encountered at least one type of AI. Not taking this opportunity for granted, I calmly walked out the side of the gaping expanse with tightened muscles ready to run at any given moment. 

                           •               •             •

          I had probably been jogging around this mostly desert-like place for about an hour, and the sun was already beating down on me. Everything had warmed up many years ago when all the factories were made to produce those heathens that lead to our downfall. A few tumbleweeds had even crossed my path. 

          No robot had made itself known,  and I was getting more and more suspicious as the seconds ticked away. Silence invaded the large expanse of land. I couldn't even hear my own soft breaths. Sweat was starting to align my brow, and I was thankful my clothes had at least been damp enough to keep my body temperature normal. 

         'What if I'm finally the last thing on Earth?' I asked myself while a smile made its way onto my visage. I hadn't smiled for a long time and it felt unnatural on my face. It truly was a silly thought. No matter where you go there will always be something already waiting for you. I most definitely was not the last one. 

BANG 

     The sudden, deafening sound startled me to the point of almost losing my balance, but it was nothing compared to the sudden howl of pain that immediately followed. The noise came from far in front of me. I was willing to bet one of the Patrollers had encountered an animal and was feeling the need to kill something.

      At this point I realised I had three choices; stand here and wait for them to come to me, turn around and bolt, or go confront them. I was never a cold-hearted person, but being nice in this world could easily kill you. However, that animal could very well still be alive and those terrible monsters could be watching it squirm in pain as it died. Just the thought of it sickened me. The least I could do would be to end its misery.

       Readjusting my bag, I unzipped a small pocket and pulled out my pocket knife and gripped it in my dominant hand. I then pulled out a blackened pair of brass knuckles and placed it on my opposite fist. However, if I did this correctly I wouldn't have a need for them, but it was always good to be prepared. Assuming the robots to be Patrollers, I knew they would be coming up this dusty road in a specific route, so if I was to sneak up on them I would have to take a long detour. 

       Going over the hasty plan in my brain, another gunshot broke my train of thought. I took the gunshot as my opportunity and sprinted at an angle to the left side of the road for it seemed to have more places to hide along the way. Truly this wouldn't be a huge detour because I still had to move forward, but the AI's were in my way. 

       After finally being partially winded, I decided to turn back towards the road and quickly walk straight. In the distance, metallic armor could be seen. The rank of the Patrollers depended on what metal they were made of. The more durable the metal, the higher ranking they were. The more valuable their armor, the lower their rank. Based on the shine I could see, I would be dealing with two mediums and one higher up. This job would be more difficult than I previously thought. 

      Luckily, the one with the g*n was one of the mediums. Their reasoning behind that greatly confused me, but today had been going right for me so far, so I decided to take this as well. Watching them carefully as I took tentative steps forward, I realized they had their backs turned on me and were facing a large, white lump on the road. I had never seen a beast that large before. 

      The creature released another growl of pain that caused me to flinch as distorted laughter soon followed. By this time I could see their metallic frames in detail for I was only around twenty feet away. Small stains of crimson littered their uniforms. The smallest of the three threw his head back while laughing and caused his grey hat to fall away. 

       I only had a few seconds before he turned and saw me, so I had to act fast. Using the last bit of energy I had in my legs I pushed myself forward as quickly as possible and took aim at its neck with my knife. One of the best ways to disable a robot was a certain wire in the neck that was almost the same as the neck artery in humans. That certain wire carried almost all signals from their minds to every other place in their robotic forms. 

      Throwing the knife with a small spin, I realised it really must be my lucky day. The blade hit its target perfectly and the Patroller instantly fell to its knees and gained the others' attention. Placing their abnormally glowing eyes on my running form, I had enough time to pounce on the one closest to me before it released fire.

    The Patroller's mind hadn't had enough time to process the information before it because it presumably thought I would have taken a different course of action. Quickly pressing my finger into its semi-soft, orange iris, it attempted to push me off. My muscles were straining to keep my place on the abomination until my finger finally had pressed in hard enough to one of the few buttons that deactivated Patrollers. Its body went limp as I was thrown to the side. 

      Being winded from the harsh fall, I didn't have enough brain capacity to comprehend what happened next. The lead Patroller had quickly pinned me to the ground and was beginning to strangle me. My lungs began begging for oxygen as the robot's iridescent green eyes stared into my own as if trying to read my code. 

       Pretending to go limp, the robot lessened its grip. Using my small reservation of strength, I brought my fingers into a fist and swung a punch as hard as I could. Dazing the AI, I rolled the automaton off of me and attempted to crawl towards my knife that was still stuck in one of the Patroller's neck. The one behind me grabbed my feet and yanked me back, causing a gasp to stick in my throat. Being rolled once more onto my back, the being straddled me once more before speaking in its own distorted voice. 

      "This is quite the interesting case... I can't find you in any of the files. Who are you, Mush?" It questioned in a male's voice as it grabbed my wrists and held them together. I simply stared into the green orbs knowing I couldn't answer, and even if I wasn't mute that I wouldn't. 

     "Fine. Let's do this the hard way," it said as one hand ripped the top of my shirt down, causing it to tear down further than what was considered modest. "It seems you don't belong to any tribe, but that should make you even more known in the files. Apparently no one else has seen you either. It's hard to find such a shade of brown hair and light brown eyes together on one of your kind. Maybe I should take you to the head? Let's ask, shall we?" 

     My eyes widened at that statement as I began to struggle harder. This couldn't happen, not now. All those eleven years on the run would be for nothing. The next moment the sun suddenly filled my vision and blinded me as the Patroller disappeared from my sight. The sound of metal being crushed echoed in the wide space as the beast I presumed was dead released a roar of anger. 

      "Get off you mangy bear!" The Patroller yelled in rage as the "bear" fixed its gaze on me. It continued to chomp down on the robot while staring intently at me as if saying something important. 

      Finally realising it wanted to help me, I began to move. I shimmied to the hilt of my blade as I braced my muscles to pull it out. Achieving the knife, I brought myself to my feet as I moved towards the Patroller who was still struggling with the white bear. The Patroller finally brought up a g*n of its own and shot the creature in the chest, causing it to fall over with a thud. 

      "Now to finish y-" the robot was able to get out before my knife pierced the armor around its neck. The glow of its eyes immediately shut down as its arm holding the weapon also went limp. Staring at the hunk of dead metal for a few moments and regaining my composure, I finally realised the bear was making small whimpering noises towards me. 

     As I fixed my eyes on the creature, I noticed it was motioning its large head in a certain direction. Moving my own head that way, I noticed there was a small bush that began ruffling. Narrowing my eyes in curiosity as I held my knife in front of my body, a small,  brown and white animal came from the bush. It appeared to be a miniature version of the white bear in front of me with the exception of the coat. 

    The small creature suddenly took off in a run towards me as I tensed, only for it to run past me to the dying animal. Turning once more, my mind finally processed what had happened. The Patrollers had come across these 'bears' and after the larger of the two was shot, the smaller one fled to the bushes. 

     'This must be a mother and her child,' I thought to myself as the baby began nuzzling into the dying one's head. It reminded me of my own mother for a second before I was brought back to reality as the small bear made a squeaking noise. The mother looked at me once more and pushed the baby towards me before she slowly closed her eyes and went stiff.

     A cord was struck within me at the sad sight. The little bear was still trying to nuzzle into its mother and making little whimpering noises before it turned to me. Such a sad little gaze met mine as an instinct came to me. I had to watch over this small creature. It was the least I could do for its mother who saved my life, or at least my purpose. 

     Kneeling down to its height, I held my hand out for the bear to smell. Tilting its head to the side, it pressed its wet nose into my palm before head butting me. Looking down towards its belly I concluded it was a male animal. Putting both my hands forward, I grabbed the little bear and pulled it to my chest before standing to my full height once more. 

     'Well, little buddy, it looks like it's just you and me now. I think I'll call you Orson,' I thought to myself as I buried my own nose into his soft brown and white coat. The bear put up no fight as I began walking forward. I eventually leaned down and picked up the g*n of the robot who had almost cost me my life and placed it in my waistband. Placing Orson on the ground, I grabbed my bag and opened it only to place the little bear inside. Luckily, he was still small enough to fit comfortably. 

   With that, I was on my way once more with yet another tear in my shirt. 

                                                                              •               •             •

        Carrying Orson around had tired me out more than I had previously thought. I had also gotten many little nibbles on the ear from the mischievous little bear. Luckily, I had found another little hut to camp out in for another night. This was quite unexpected because I normally only found a place to sleep once or twice a week. 

       Scouting the area around the house, I found nothing but a few weeds. This was always good. After climbing through a broken window in the house, I found a small bedroom in the higher reaches of the place. In all my years of being on the run, I had only found five or six usable beds. This entire day had been rather eventful. 

      Placing my bag on the ground, I moved to the bed and flopped down onto my stomach. Orson had crawled out from the bag and was beginning to paw at my feet to which I was able to release a small exhale of air that sounded like a giggle. Reaching down to him, I placed him onto the bed with me and cuddled him to my chest. He reminded me of a small stuffed animal I had as a child. 

     I hadn't kept my guard up, and that was one of my mistakes that night. Another was that I hadn't checked all of the house. My brain had been too muddled with thoughts of sleep and how sore I felt that all I thought of was rest. I didn't even check for spare clothes. 

     Getting comfy on the bed, Orson wriggled up beside me and got comfy as well before l*****g my face and closing his eyes. I was truly glad I had taken him with me. A friend was always needed in this world. Closing my own eyes, I failed to hear the pitter-patter of feet outside the door. As my consciousness left me, the door squeaked open to reveal a child-like figure. 

       Moving towards the bed my own form rested on, the figure placed a knife above my neck. Bringing the blade closer and closer to my vital veins, I peacefully slept while Orson began sniffing the air. Suddenly, a cold, slick object against my neck woke me. Confused brown orbs gazed into very pale blue ones filled with regret. The knife started to wobble as if the one holding it to my throat was shaking. The figure's thin, pink lips started trembling before a small bit of pressure was applied to my throat. 

     Once I realised what was about to happen, my eyes went large and stared into the person's eyes while I slightly shook my head 'no'. I had almost died once today, but if this person wanted me dead, I had no upper hand in this. Suddenly the person moved the knife away and dropped to the ground in tears. 

      "I CAN'T DO THIS!" A feminine voice cried out in agony. Finally registering the knife was nowhere near me, I peered over the side of the bed at the small person. It was obvious now that it was a little girl. She had pale green hair that was in a half-up hairstyle while the knife lay beside her. I reached out to touch her, but flinched away as she looked up at me. 

      "I'M SO SORRY! I'm such a pitiful human being, please forgive me!" The girl begged as she got closer making me back away on the bed a bit. 

       "Why won't you say something? Please, anything! I almost killed you, and you're not saying anything!" She exclaimed a bit perturbed. I gazed at her with a look of pity on my face as I tried to motion that I couldn't speak. After a couple tries, she seemed to catch on. 

       "Oh.... I've never known anyone that couldn't talk before. I'm sorry, I didn't understand. I should have never tried to kill you. I'm just so hungry," she explained to me. For a few seconds I was confused, but then I noticed the pale green tiger stripes across her cheeks. I gave her another confused look to see if she would continue to explain. 

      "You're probably wondering what I mean. OH! And I haven't even told you my name! First I try to kill you, then I don't even introduce myself, today is not my day. I am terribly sorry. My name's Hanna. I'm ten-years-old, and I used to be a part of the Atakapa tribe. I was exiled because I wasn't able to eat humans," she explained while casting a downwards glance as if she still felt shame. She then placed her wrist in front of me and started talking again, "See this bracelet? It tells my former tribe where I am and if I'm still alive. Once I die they'll come and collect my body to feast upon."

     I looked at her in pity once more. No child her age deserves that fate. All she has to look forward to every day is to survive. No matter what there will never be a happy ending for her. I reached my arms out to her and she flinched away as if I was planning on hitting her. Once she noticed my true intention she looked quizzingly at me. 

      "You want to hug me? Even after I tried to kill you?" She asked in disbelief. I sent a small smile her way and nodded my head before she slowly moved into my outstretched arms. Wrapping my arms around her frail form, I noticed how malnourished she was. Her baggy clothes hid it well. I had forgotten how nice it was to hug someone, and it seems she had, too. You couldn't simply hug someone in this era without being stabbed in the back, literally. 

      I positioned myself to grab my bag as the girl stayed in my arms. Unzipping the bag, I pulled out my last few crackers and handed them to her. She was skinnier than I was. She needed them more. 

     "No, I can't take your food. I'll find my own," Hanna said as she moved away from me. "I have to get going. I'll see you in the morning. I hope we can be friends, even though I tried to kill you," she said while scratching the back of her neck in embarrassment. Once she realised I wouldn't stop holding the crackers out to her, she awkwardly walked away and out of the room. 

      'She is quite the strange girl, don't you think, Orson?' I mentally asked as I pet the little bear who had been hiding behind me the entire time. I held a cracker out to him as he chewed a little piece before taking the whole thing. I ate the other cracker before I lied down once again, but this time I hopefully wouldn't be awakened by a blade. 

     Once Orson had finished, he curled into a ball beside me and began making little snoring noises. Placing an arm on my forehead, I shut my eyes once more and fell into a dreamless sleep while Hanna quietly watched me from a c***k in the door.