G. Wright - Broken Things

“Are you there?” he asked a little louder, “Is anyone still alive?”

The mound rippled. Here and there it shifted. Suddenly an arm shot out and grabbed his wrist. A little dark-haired girl, maybe ten, lifted her head and cried, “ Help us !”

Josh screamed and tried to jerk away, but she held onto him tightly. He dropped the tablet and pushed away using her face for leverage until she let go. She continued reaching, her thin arm outstretched for a few seconds more until she collapsed, too weak to put up any more struggle.

The light from the dropped tablet continued to shine upward, revealing movement all along the mound. Not the girl, she didn’t move anymore, but countless others did. All of them were too weak to move much. Some gasped for breath, while others managed petulant cries for help. The wail of an infant carried above it all.

“I can’t help you,” he said, scooting backwards, “”I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do.”

He staggered to his feet and stumbled forward into a blind run. He didn’t know where he was going, only away from the pit, attempting to leave their cries behind. The further he ran the children still slept, oblivious to the diminishing cries behind him.

Josh ran toward the lights of the buildings, heedless of obstacles. As he entered the cusp of where the light hit the shadow he tripped over something, maybe nothing, or even his own feet, and he fell to his knees. He buried his face in his hands, seeking to block out his surroundings. He couldn’t run anymore, his strength sapped out of him.

His fear of the monster paled in comparison.

He didn’t hear the engine of the truck approaching, nor did he look up until the headlights were right in front of him. The white truck with the Kidsmith logo drove slowly, throwing up a trailing cloud of dust, but he couldn’t get back to his feet. Nightmares surrounded him no matter what direction he chose to run.

The truck stopped a few feet away. “Josh?”

It was James. He opened the door and the cab light revealed his female passenger, Angel. He carried some sort of weird gun. She followed right on his heels as he got out and walked slowly over to him. The headlights lit up the nearest mound, exposing the still, broken children. Angel’s steps faltered as it sunk in what she saw.

Josh watched her, expressionless. Her eyes were wide, horror and disbelief waged against each other across her face. She looked at them, and back to the bodies. She tried to speak, her mouth moved with no words coming out. She could only shake her head. She gulped, forcing her throat to work and asked James, “What is this place?”

“The Kidsmith Repository,” James said, “It’s for the unfixable children. You okay, Josh? Is your monster here?”

“It’s hell,” Josh said, fighting back tears, “God doesn’t see us, does he? All of the children, they’re still alive. I just want to go home. Please take me home.”

“There’s so many,” Angel said as she knelt down beside him. “What’s that sound? Where’s it coming from?”

“It’s just the wind,” James said, “Did you see the monster?”

Josh’s glared at him through his tears. When he spoke, he couldn’t restrain his bitterness. “It’s not the wind. It’s the children. You’re the monster. You… people...”

“Now that’s not fair, not all of us are. I’m here to help you. Just like how I fixed your arm, remember? We’re not all bad.”

“No, you just want something. Like everyone else.”

“What about Angel? She cares about you.”

Josh turned to face her. His anger melted when their eyes met. He saw his own feelings mirrored in her expression, created by the overwhelming sadness and the despair of the place. He also saw something else that he didn’t have. Resolve.

He turned back to face James. “ She’s not one of you.”

“What? Of course she is. She’s…” James words died. His eyes met Angel’s and he suddenly realized the truth. “Well… what do you know?”

Angel squeezed Josh’s shoulder. “Everything is going to be okay. I don’t know how we’ll do it, but I’ll get you home.” Angel stood and took Josh’s hand, helping him to his feet. He hugged her. Her body went briefly rigid, and then relaxed. Her arms wrapped about him and she held him tight. For the first time since the mountains he didn’t feel alone.

“He can go home after we catch the android,” James interrupted.

She shook her head. “You stick around and wait for it. We’re done.”

Josh reached for her hand. She met him half way and gave it a squeeze. Together they walked toward the gate. James had left it open when he drove in.

“Angel,” James growled, “I need that kid.”

“Use your own,” she said over her shoulder. Josh tried to look over his shoulder but she tugged him forward gently. “Don’t look back,” she said softly, just focus on where we’re going.”

“I have to have him,” James said, “I have to return with him or it’s my job.”

Josh looked up at her and smiled. She returned it warmly. She looked radiant, she was his hero. “Thank you,” he said.

“Thank you. You made me question my purpose. I don’t have to be what others expect me to be. You and I are going to make things better.”

“Don’t you two walk away,” James hollered, “Look at me!” Josh tried to ignore him, but James followed, his boots crunching through the gravel behind them. He heard a click and an electric whine. “I will shoot you. I warned you what this would do to an android.”

Josh didn’t see fear in Angel’s eyes. “We’re going to be fine,” she said.

The only sound he heard of the gun was the electric discharge, which came out as a brief ‘ pop’ . All of his hair stood on end as though he was suddenly exposed to static electricity and everything went momentarily blurry. He staggered as Angel’s fingers went limp within his own.

He looked back at James. He had shot them… but with what? He turned to Angel, but her expression had changed. Her face looked… empty. She stared straight ahead, unseeing, like the mounds of children. From within her head came a few last clicks as though something were winding down. Any spark of life had instantly been extinguished.

He watched helplessly as she collapsed, her hand slipping from his. He fell to his knees beside her and lifted her head from the gravel, brushed the dirt and rocks from her cheeks. “Get up, Angel,” he pleaded, “We have to go!”

“She left me no choice,” James said, “Come with me. Stop wasting my time.”

“You killed her! Why?”

“She’s just a robot. You need to come with me before anything bad happens.”

“ I’m just a robot!”

From down the road, Josh became dimly aware of another set of headlights approaching. James saw it too. “What now?” James asked.

Josh lowered her head gently back to the ground. James reached out for him but he darted under his arm and ran toward the mounds and the darkness of the shadows. He’d felt so close, he’d felt hope for a brief instant, just to have it taken away again. As he ran into the children he realized, I’m already one of them .

Behind him came the sound of James’ pursuit. The man was out of shape and he hadn’t run far before he was panting and wheezing. Josh quickly left him behind. “You little shit! I’m going to break you! You think you can cost me my job? You think you can get away from me? I can find you wherever you go. There’s nowhere for you to hide.”

He didn’t look back, but ran deeper into the valley of children, straight for the Pit.

James could hear the sound of the kid’s feet dwindling rapidly into the landfill. Maybe he hadn’t handled that very well. The sun would be rising soon, but tracking the kid would still be difficult. But he had Angel’s tablet. It would lead him to within five feet. He quickly grabbed it from the truck and with one last glance at the approaching vehicle, headed into the garbage.