Clockwork

Chapter Nine

Of course he had to be unprepared. Of course he had to forget a map. Of course he had to get lost.

Kyros chided himself over his foolishness. He was starting to regret his escape from the palace. He had been wandering across the countryside of Landmass 1 for about a day and was not having the time of his life. Having munched his way through 5 protein bars, most of his food was gone. At least he knew where he was heading. Not in the general direction, but he knew what he had to do. He needed to find that redhead who had his telescreen. Maybe he could get her to disable the tracking device.

Having never actually gone anywhere without an entourage of guards, Kyros was not used to being on his own. It was quite daunting, actually, but the Prince was determined to set things right. His mother would have to pay for what she did and there was no way he could help inside the palace walls.

                                                                                                       *

After helplessly wandering around what seemed like a giant field, Kyros finally came across some civilisation in the form of two children playing by an old highway. They were almost malnourished, skin hanging off bone. Despite this, they were still laughing and dancing, the girl making a daisy chain. Kyros felt himself envying them; he had never had anyone to play with. It was always Royal Duties first.

"Excuse me," He asked. The children shot up, the two seemingly younger hiding behind the tallest.

"I mean no harm," he continued, slowing inching forward.

The children did not dare reply, their large eyes wide and unblinking. Kyros stopped, confused. Maybe they didn't speak English?

"Hello?"

The tallest stepped forward, still clearly not trusting.

"Who are you?" he asked.

Kyros was silent for a moment.

"I'm... Lucien. What's your name?"

The kid ignored his question.

"You don't seem so sure, mister."

"You haven't answered my question. "

"Aiden." the kid answered, shrugging his shoulders in reluctance.

"This is Daniella and Devyn."

Daniella and Devyn came out from hiding behind Aiden. Daniella waved shyly at Kyros.

"Why are you here, Lucien? No one lives here but us."

"No? I'm just travelling. Wait, what do you mean no one lives here?"

Aiden hung his head.

"Because they came and took them. Me, Dani and Dev were in the fields playing. When we came home, they were gone."

"And your parents?"

Daniella shook her head. An awkward silence descended upon the group. Finally, Daniella spoke.

"You seem lost."

Kyros nodded, feeling his necklace slip out of his top. Too late, he noticed it and fumbled to put it away.

The children made a collective gasp. They reminded Kyros of his pet goldfish.

"That's the royal emblem." Devyn said, matter of factually.

"Are you a Prince?"

Kyros could feel the blood draining from his face. His hand flew desperately to his hair.

"Pfft, no. That's... That's ridiculous." He stammered.

"Then where did you get it from?"

"A friend?"

This seemed to satisfy the children. Devyn pulled on his brother 's sleeve, pointing to his mouth. Aiden sighed and shook his head.

"No food, Dev. I'll find some later, yeah?"

The younger child's hand fell. He stuck his lip out and stared longingly at the highway.

"Nice talking to you, mister, but we got to go." Aiden said, reaching for his siblings' hands. The boys began to walk but Daniella stood staring at Kyros. He stared back at her, taking in her features. She had soft brown eyes and long, tattered blonde hair. A birthmark was clearly visible through her sleeve, the only noticeable imperfection he could find under the grime that covered her from head to toe. The large, doe -like eyes blinked, making Kyros feel like she could read deep into his soul.

"I know who you are." she whispered.

Her voice scared him. It was like a ghost, beautiful yet mellowing. This child seemed too old for her years. He took a step back, confused.

"I won't tell if you won't."

"I'm sorry, I don't-"

"Please don't lie to me, your highness. You are very far from the palace."

Kyros walked towards the child, kneeling next to her so they were the same height. She tensed, ready to run if necessary. He took her hands in his and looked her in the eye again.

"I'm running away. I want to help people like you."

"People like me shouldn't be with people like you."

Kyros shook his head.

"I want to change that. It should have never been like this. I apologise for what my mother has done to you."

Daniella nodded, accepting his apology. She turned to leave.

"Goodbye, Kyros."

Kyros watched them leave, a sudden idea coming into his brain.

"Hey! Wait up!" he yelled, running after the diminishing figures. They stopped.

"Here," Kyros said, holding out three protein bars and a handful of dollars.

"A trade," he proposed. "You can have these if you take me to the nearest town."

Kyros could almost see the clockworks moving in Aiden's head. His eyes darted from the food, to his siblings, to Kyros. Devyn's eyes had lit up, his excitement evident. These children had probably not seen so much money in the whole of their life.

"Okay, but I get that cloak," Aiden said, motioning to Kyros' spare cloak. It was the one piece of extra clothing he had bothered to take. Made of pure wool, it was very warm, perfect in these winter months.

"You have yourself a deal."

With that, the boy snatched the cloak, neatly tearing it in three and handing the pieces to his siblings. Delighted with their new acquirement, the boys skipped off. Daniella offered her hand to Kyros which he took. They began the long walk to reach the nearest town.

                                                                                                      *

Felicity woke up to the sound of an engine. For a moment she thought that she was still in Amortia. Waking up next to a snoring Hunter changed that thought, however, and she was reminded that she was sleeping in an engine-less shell of a jet. She shook Hunter but he was too far gone to be awoken. Giving up, she made her way towards the door to watch the sunrise.

Sunrise was always Felicity's favourite time of day. She loved watching the scarlet sky turn amber, then magnolia before heralding the blue of day. She sat watching the sun blaze, forgetting for a moment her worries. A flock of birds caught her attention, flying towards her in a v formation. She watched them come nearer. Too near.

Surging to her feet, she darted towards Hunter's sleeping form.

"Hunter! Wake up! We need to go!"

"Why? I'm sleepy," Hunter yawned.

"The Iron Guard."

This was enough to make Hunter wake up fully. His eyes were wide with terror.

"How? Already? Flicky, we need to go!"

"Don't you think I would have thought of that?" Felicity snapped, pulling her bike off the jet wall.

"Get the engine running. I need to grab some stuff."

"Hurry, I see them getting closer!" Hunter said, frantically looking out of the window. He grabbed the bike and turned the key. The engine roared to life, a surprisingly reassuring sound at this time of danger. He lined the bike up with the entrance of the jet.

"C'mon Flicky! We need to go now." His voice shook. Felicity came charging towards the bike, her sack balanced precariously on her shoulder.

"Drive!" she shouted in Hunter's ear. Hunter needed no encouragement. The bike shot forward into the blinding light of the sun.

Felicity could hear the hum of the drones getting nearer. She knew that it was almost a matter of seconds before they deployed the GD6-0's. She did not want to be on the receiving end of those.

"Head towards that woodland," She told Hunter.

The bike swerved and changed direction and Felicity could have sworn she heard the sound of a gun being loaded.

"Incoming!" Hunter yelled as the first wave of ammunition hit.

Patches of grass either side of them disintegrated, centimetres from the bike. Felicity screamed, grabbing onto Hunter tighter. Hunter forced the bike to go faster.

The drones were getting so close that Felicity could see the markings on the side of them. They bared the Queen's emblem, an S. Felicity couldn't have seen a sign she hated more. The royal blue drones sickened her, their uniformed formation, the sound of their engines. Their engines annoyed her the most as she could hear the bad craftsmanship that they had been through. It was common knowledge that the drones used to be jets used by the British to fight in the Apocalypse. They had been up-cycled into killing machines, the once strong engines ruined by the new technology favoured by the Queen. God, they made her blood boil.

"Earth to Flick! Hello?" Hunter was screaming. His knuckles had gone white, drained from their blood.

"Just make it to the forest!"

"Then what?"

"Trust me!"

"Trusting you is probably one of the worst ideas I've had!"

As the forest neared, Hunter's confidence grew. Hey, they might actually make it! That was until the back wheel was hit. Hunter swore he had never screamed so much before. They were rapidly loosing speed, time and luck. He could feel Felicity fiddling behind him and decided to concentrate of accepting his imminent death.

Suddenly, Felicity yelled triumphantly. For what reason, Hunter couldn't tell. Maybe she was ready to end it all. He never knew with that girl.

As they entered the dark of the woods, a large explosion threw Hunter and Felicity of the bike. Hunter landed with a nauseating crunch. Stars dancing in his eyes, he could only make out large, fiery patterns in the sky before everything went black.