Survivors

36

It was night and we were sneaking through the jungle as we made our way to the compound.

"Come on," Brooklynn whispered. We all crept closer before hiding behind some trees.  "We still don't know what Kash's next move is, or why he wants to control those dinos."

"Uh, I know why. The dude's a total psycho. And the longer Darius is with him, the more danger he's in," Kenji whispered.

We all waited for Darius to show up for our meeting. After a few minutes, Darius didn't show up, making him late.

"He's late," Ben pointed out.

"What if something happened to him?"

"Don't," I hissed. "Just don't."

"Nothing happened to him," Yaz reassured.

"Uh, what if something did?"

"Not helping," I hissed while shooting Sammy a look.

I turned towards the compound when I heard the sound of opening doors. Darius ran towards us but something at him and it exploded behind him, causing him to go flying. A small yell escaped my lips and I quickly covered my mouth.

This black robot walked to stand in front of Darius as it stared at him. Kash then walked out of the compound with a golf club.

"I see you've found your new babysitter. Or rather, it's found you," Kash said. "It's part of my new fleet of upgraded models. I call it BRAD-X. After you disappeared, it seemed like a good time to take this baby for a spin. BT-dubs, what are you doing out here?"

I lightly hissed. Hated Kash before, hate him more now.

"Honestly? I've been cooped up all day, and I'm bored," Darius lied. "Can't I go for a walk?"

"Sure you can. And from now on, BRAD-X will be right there with you. And in case you get any ideas..." Kash then started beating the BRAD-X with his golf club. When he was done, the BRAD-X was untouched while the golf club was bent. "The new model's virtually indestructible." Kash then walked back into the compound, Darius and the BRAD-X following. Before the doors closed, Darius turned towards us and held up six fingers. He then disappeared behind the closed doors.

"Six..." Ben whispered.

"What does that mean?" Kenji asked.

"No idea. But we need to know what Darius knows," Brooklynn said before we ran back to our cave.

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"That coward turned a robot loose on a child?" Mae asked after we told her what happened.

"That thing is no joke. Kash went to town on it and it didn't even get a scratch," Kenji explained.

"Just because it's tough on the outside, doesn't mean it isn't touch on the inside," Sammy said.

"What do you mean?" Brooklynn asked.

"It's just a robot, right?" Sammy asked.

"A robot that can literally explode anything and everything," I said. "But, yeah. Just a robot. Or clanker as I like to call them."

"Maybe you could shut it down, or reprogram it to be good instead of evil," Sammy suggested.

"So if we can find one, B can hack it, and we can swap it out with Darius's," Yaz said.

"Oh! Um, not sure if-"

"We finally have a way to communicate with Darius!" Ben cheered.

"Wow Brooklynn, is there anything you can't do?" Mae asked.