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

Underground

I fell.

They fell.

Through the ground cell.

Instinct awoke.

My right arm stretched out in mid-fall and grabbed a plate still connected to the floor we had just slipped from. Ann-Lyze clung to my left leg, I told her to squeeze tight. Meters next to us, three diggers and a soldier plunged into the dark underground and shouted their lungs out. More and more rusty ground from the floor crumbled. Another section of plates tumbled, a trash pile collapsed into the abyss. Looked like half the floor sank into the darkness, together with the people.

Except for four.

The superior and his soldiers.

They scrambled for cover and made it to the other side. I shouted their names. The superior turned around and approached the new hole. Looked down at me with a sweat-covered face.

I said,

"Help us get back up."

He saw Ann-Lyze hanging onto my leg and ventured one step forward, but the floor plate under him squeaked.

He swallowed hard and stepped back. Checked his commcuff and licked his dry lips.

"The sandstorm is about to hit this area."

"Just give me your hand and pull us up. It's only going to take a few seconds."

He pondered my suggestion.

For a total of 0.5 nanosecs.

"Can't do it. Blame the storm, boy."

Coward.

Which came at no surprise.

"At least give us your grapple gun, so we can pull us back up."

He pondered my offer for a second but tilted his head away.

"I'm sorry. I have to move."

He left my field of vision and ran away with his guards.

"Come back," I said.

It was hopeless, of course he wouldn't.

The moron posed like a ruler when everything went well, but cringed at the slightest challenge. He'd probably return to the APC and ride back to the cluster without ever calling for backup.

Seriously.

The Bulwark had given their leadership positions to the most noxious people imaginable.

Fitting in a way.

"I can't hold much longer."

That was Ann-Lyze, squeezing my leg and grinding her teeth.

She looked up at me with fearful eyes.

Despite the predicament, I felt serene.

The adrenaline sharpened my senses.

What to do?

Ann-Lyze was a few seconds away from falling, and the ground plate I held onto was soon going to collapse with us. The other soldier crawled near the crumbled rubble in the underground and looked wounded. I shouted at him in the most authoritarian voice I could muster up.

"Soldier. Give me your grapple gun."

The guy's helmet faced me from below.

I said,

"Your superior has left you alone and he's not coming back. Help me and I'll help you leave this ruin."

Dramatic pause on my end.

"Now give me your grapple gun."

Staccato statements.

But they worked, somewhat.

He reached for his side holster, unsheathed the gun and tossed it at my direction. Missed by at least two meters which cooked up the saliva in my mouth.

"Try a little harder."

The guy crawled to the spot where the grapple gun hit the ground and picked it up.

"Aim at my direction."

This time, the grapple gun flew near to my legs. Ann-Lyze quickly let go of her right arm and caught the firearm. She almost slipped from my leg.

"Careful," I said.

"Got it."

She handed me the grapple gun and used both of her arms to wrap my left leg. With my free hand, I activated the gun, aimed its dart at a ground plate that looked solid and pushed the trigger. The dart connected, the cable unrolled itself.

"Now I want you to squeeze harder than ever before. We're going for a swing."

"I trust you."

When she tightened her grip, I let go of the ground plate over me and clutched the grapple gun. The cable swung us around like a pendulum. Ann-Lyze squeezed my leg like a mushy sausage.

I said,

"Still into me?"

"More than ever."

The faint humor broke some of the tension. When the momentum of the swing ended, I de-rolled the cable from my grapple gun and ziplined down into the underground. Ann-Lyze's boots touched surface, I landed next to her, just in time. Because many meters above us, the floor plates grated. Four separated from the ceiling and launched at our direction.

"Watch out."

I wrapped myself around Ann-Lyze and pushed her sideways. The plates collided with the ground and set off waves of dust. Ann-Lyze coughed and wiped some of the particles from her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded.

"And you?"

"Better than ever."

She looked up with her flabbergasted face, but it was true. Challenges like these made me come alive.

I checked the perimeter and looked for more survivors. We were in some kind of industrial tunnel basement which was ripe with trash and rubble from above. The dim light allowed me to recognize silhouettes and the basic layout of the area. I helped Ann-Lyze back up and maneuvered around the wreckage. A coarse voice sounded behind us.