Machine God: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller (Final Draft)

I will survive

She quickly walked away.

Wasn't ready for stranger talk yet.

Still, the tension eased. Hecto and the rest of our team sat down with the old man called Nathan, who seemed to be the leader of this survivor group. Glitch talked with some boys and watched their wristband tech and customized weapons. Of course he fell for that.

My ears rotated back to Hecto talking to the leader.

"What about the others?

"They were captured by the heavily-armored soldiers who attacked us."

"Scavengers?"

"I don't know. They wore heavy armor and carried weapons I've never seen before. We were no match."

Interesting. My curiosity kept surging, which didn't seem to please Hecto. I brought myself into the conversation.

"Where are these attackers?"

"They set up base inside a skewed skyscraper with the blood-smeared walls, many blocks from here. You know, the big unfinished one with the steel pillars protruding?"

A description that fitted half of the city.

"What do these soldiers want?"

"I don't know. I guess they're looking for survivors that they can enslave for their goals."

Sounded a lot like Bulwark's modus operandi.

His glance sank to the stained ground.

"They also captured my daughter."

Hecto, probably feeling annoyed by my constant interventions, tried to shift the conversation around.

"How many of your people have they taken?"

"Fifteen, if they're still alive."

I did the math.

Eight in this room, fifteen in the enemy's hideout. A total of twenty-three new citizens for the Bulwark. Good deal. Hecto must have thought the same, because he just started his persuasion.

"You're not safe here. If four of us can enter your mall undetected, your defenses are worthless. The previous attackers have breached your barricades once and will do it again."

The man nodded with a tired expression.

"I know, but we're not soldiers. And we don't have many guns."

"Let us take you back to our place. You will have free shelter, free food and safety for your family and friends."

The old man looked as if he pondered the suggestion, but something held him back.

"No," he said.

The decisive answer even caught Hecto off-guard.

"We can't leave our captured people behind."

"They might be dead," Darwin said, now part of the conversation.

The man wrestled with his emotions. Darwin carried the tact of a crowbar.

"I believe it when I see it. But as long as they're outside in captivity, we have to try everything to get them back. I'm not leaving my daughter behind."

Hecto licked his lips and pondered his next approach.

The response was clear as the sun-stormed sky.

To me, at least.

"Then we're going to help you free them."

The middle-aged man widened his eyes. A glimpse of hope ignited in his iris. It was time to spread it into a wildfire.

"We have the armor, the weapons and the tactical know-how to engage with an enemy of their caliber."

Whoever 'they' were.

I offered the man in charge the sunshine of a smile.

Courage rolled out with every word.

"Besides, our motto is to leave no man behind."

Not really, but it was the right thing to say.

These battered survivors needed hope more than anything else.

Hecto ground his teeth and pierced holes into my face. He looked like a pressure cooker one second before the detonation. His next words squeezed out like a hot turd.

"Can I speak with you for a sec?"

"Sure."

Hecto pulled me to the other side of the storage room.

I braced myself for a verbal beating.