"Get up." One of the thugs said as he kicked Jakes side. Jake was really getting annoyed with this routine with these bandits or as he recently had come to know them slavers. They would travel for the majority of the day avoiding the hunters and other terrifying machines as they went.
Meeting up with other thugs and slavers with more people in chains. Jake had lost count how long they had been travelling but he estimated about a week. One long grueling week. The thought of where they might be going terrified him. He imagined scenario upon scenario of they had in mind for him.
He guessed that the fear showed on his face as it seeped through, he tried his at most to hide it but Gwen would give him strange glances from time to time.
She in contrast to him didn't seem anxious or nervous or really anything at all. She didn't ever get frightened by anything the slavers did. She never seemed eager to escape. She was a something... something he couldn't quite figure out. He wished he had whatever gave her the serenity she had.
As the trudged on through the decaying and rusted metal tunnels and structures they would sometimes encounter a machine or more that even for the slavers who numbered somewhere in the hundreds was too difficult to kill.
This was when they became as the friendliest possible, they could and set people free with no strings attached. Only they would only set them free in the direction of the machine while they cowered and waited for the inevitable panic and screaming of the newly freed slave to kick in.
This would almost always attract the machines attention, if only to get a good enough distraction to kill it if they noticed that the "free slave" was going to die too quickly or in most cases to slip past undetected.
This only amplified Jakes anxiety. That in addition to unstable floors that would lead you to a falling death or to the clutches of the machines. Falling derby that would either crush, trap or fatally wound you.
"Hey." Jake swung around trying to see who touched his shoulders. As his head completed its half revolution his eyes darted around as if unsure where to look.
"Relax, its only me."
"Uh... yea... yeah I'll try to."
"You sick or something." Gwen said flatly.
"No just you know, looking for any of those machines. I don't feel like getting splattered or crushed."
"I'll take that as a yes."
The slavers barely gave them enough food and water, just enough to keep them going. Well for most of them anyway. Many times, Jake had seen someone collapse from exhaustion.
The woman they had first met Jake had guessed was the leader of the slavers. She didn't do much herself except shout orders, shoot and occasional take some of the nicer clothes and jewelry some of the other slavers had picked up.
She seemed to take a liking to Gwen's bow and had kept it on her back wherever she went. Jake wasn't sure what to make of the situation or when they'd be used as fodder or an example for the rest of the slaves but the thought of that was giving his anxiety.
She routinely strutted between all the slaves all happy like. No one dared to look at her. She would often test some of them by quickly turning around and looking whoever was unlucky enough to be standing behind her straight in the eyes. If they didn't look away fast enough, they'd be the next lucky volunteers.
"Who wants to go free today?" She said still strutting around flexing the obvious authority she had over everyone as she walked in semi-circles. "Really no one wants to be free. Not one of you?"
One of the more recently captured people put his hand up. "I... I would like to be free." He said barely audible.
As soon as he said that there where hushed whispers going around the rest of the slaves. Many shook their heads others dared not to move as they tried their best to blend into the crowd.
"That's absolutely fantastic." She said as she grabbed his shoulder a little too tight. "Boys, why don't you put him at the front so he can be... free." She said as she flung him to some of the slavers.
"Yes boss." They said as they scurried off with him. There was a heavy silence between the hundreds of slaves they knew what would come next. All of the slaves who have lived this long knew what was to come.
The mechanical thumping could be felt as the metal vibrated up ahead. Some of the weaker metal would fall and shatter as it hit the ground. Something big was marching ahead up them and it was getting louder ever so slowly.
The face of fear could be seen all around them, Jake most of all was afraid of what was coming. His mind ran wild with thoughts of what it could be and why it would come straight for him first. Sweat ran down the side of his forehead, he would habitually wipe it off but in truth in didn't help much to stop his sweating. His eyes would occasionally dart to loud clanking of the chains or the shouting of the slaves.
Gwen on the other hand seemed to be unphased by the nightmare. She stood quite unamused looking at all the other people panic around her. She leaned against one the walls waiting for whatever had everyone so worried to happen. The ominous marching of the behemoth machine not making her nervous.
Jake could feel his legs wanting to run, to get out of here. Even though he was chained to several others he didn't care he would drag them all with him.
As Gwen surveyed the others panic rising, she noticed Jakes profuse sweating and occasional darting eyes. The next moment he was holding his cheek.
"Ow" He yelped in pain. "What was that for?"
"I didn't want you drawing attention to me."
"But did you have to slap me?" Jake asked as a red handprint became visible on his face.
"It was the easiest way to snap you out of it." Gwen said still surveying the area.
Jake was holding his cheek still staring at Gwen in surprise. "Well next time can you just like shake my shoulder or something less violent."
"And how is slapping me not drawing attention."
She didn't pay him any attention and instead went back to her musing and looking at the other slaves.
Jakes attention was quickly drawn to the slaves all facing the front of the slave chain. Jake could hear the footsteps and they were close right above them on the next floor. Dust shuddered and drifted down as it walked. The rusted and cracked floor allowed the occasional streams of light to squeeze through the gaps.
The light raced as it illuminated the emaciated slaves. The slaves that had downtrodden expressions on their faces but most of all it illuminated the terror and anticipation they had.
One the the slaver goons strapped a round metallic device to the man who was going to be set free. Everyone except he knew what was about to happen. All the slaves were prodded and poked to move towards the stairs that lead to the next floor.
Their chains clinked and clanked as they slow moved towards the stairs. Hundreds of slaves lined up as they slowly shuffled towards the stairs and disappeared into its darkness. Like a hungry beast prancing around its domain, it devoured them.
Jakes eyes burned as he squinted, all he saw was ruff silhouettes of everyone and their chains slowly dragging along as they walked up the stairs. Most eyes opened wide as the gawked at the towering machine as it stomped around.
Jake felt like he should stop, that he had to stop and that he shouldn't face the machine up the stairs. Judging by most people's reactions as they stepped into the light of the next floor. He felt as terror ran down his spine. Playfully tugging at his nervous as it jumped down all throughout his spine.
His sweat was back as it trickled down the side of his head and as his shirt grew damp. His eyes, he felt the familiar twitch of them wanting to dart around but he couldn't. Not at risk of being tossed out like trash with the other man.
So instead, he looked to a familiar face. She still seemed so calm in a situation like this perhaps she was the only one among thousands, perhaps the only one among them all. Her being calm didn't make him anymore calm though it just made him more nervous.
"How could she be so unphased and unmoved by all this" Jake thought to himself.
"Perhaps she knows something I don't."
"Alright, who's ready to be free?" The slaver boss said as she dragged out 'alright' a bit too much.
It was when Jake finally came to the surface again. That same surface with the looming towers, the same surface with the death robots.
It's then when he saw what they had been hearing. A gigantic machine stood before them slowly wandering the area. Whereas the previous machines they had encounter seemed more to unarmed with the exception of their blade arms, this one was different.
It was equipped with what looked like 2 side mounted machine guns or at least something reassembling that he couldn't quite make head of tails it. Its design seemed completely foreign to him.
Its armour seemed to be thicker as well. This machine wasn't built for merely hunting one or two people, it was built to fight. Built for war. It stood at least 4 floors tall. For a second Jake felt relief as it seemed to him that this machine of death was just as lost as Jake. That feeling quickly faded when he saw its single eye glance in their general direction.
As it walked it seemed as if it's left gun battery was damaged, unlike the other gun battery this one slouched down sparks occasionally jumping out of the holes riddle throughout it and its secondary barrel looking as if it could snap off at any time.
Despite its impressive stature and the trembling around it from its slow-paced footsteps, the thing that scared Jake the most was its eye.
A single red eye. Jake started to think about one of the hunters that had chase him and Ben earlier and how the only other person besides Gwen had died trying to survive just like him. It stared at them or seemingly so. The eye seemed to echo the screams of Ben as he fell into the pit.
"Alright, since I'm such a kind person I'm going to point in a direction with the highest possible survival odds." The boss slaver said as she pointed left of the machine.
The man eagerly although slightly wearily ran to the left of the machine. As soon as he got a hundred or so meters away. The boss signaled the goons for them to take all the slaves to the right of the machine.
"Highest odds of our survival that is." She said with a smile.
Jake felt like he had to do something, had to say something but he was just too terrified to do anything. Once the man was directly to the right one of the goons hit a switch and the round metallic object on his back started making a terribly loud noise. The machine slowly started turning towards the man.
Jake couldn't wrap his head around why he would listen to them he guessed that desperation of freedom had driven him to believe anything that they would say.
Jake couldn't see the man clearly at this distance, but he was willing to bet he was scared out of his mind. Jake could hear the clicking of what he assumed was the gun getting ready to fire but before he could look to see what would happen. His chain was yanked as he was pulled forwards.
"C'mon." One of the goons yelled to all the slaves as they tried to sneak them past the war machine on the other side of the terrified screams and rattling gunfire.
They were in a sort of ravine, giant walls of steal surrounded them, the man could either run away from the machine further and further into the distance or return and get them all killed. Judging by the screams getting softer and softer it was a safe bet to say he chose the former. Perhaps by the slaver leaders design she made sure the machine was between them and the victim. So truly he didn't have many options on where to go.
The slaves moved as fast as they could with their chains on. Even the goons seemed to be slightly unsettled by this machine. If the circumstances would have been different Jake would have probably found some measure of pleasure in their panic, but he was more stressed than they were.
When they were about halfway to getting past the war machine. A bunch of people appeared out of the walls as they shoved down the rusted sections of the wall. Canisters with smoke coming out of them rolled ahead of the ambushers.
Jake couldn't see where he was or what was going on within a few meters. All he knew is he was struggling to breathe, and they were trading fire as blue bolts flew overhead and alongside him. The next thing he knew his segment of the chain was broken off and he and a bunch of other slaves were being dragged to the holes in the rusted walls.
Jake didn't have time or the focus to think about who these people were or what they wanted from him, but they couldn't be worse than the slavers. He didn't remember much of what happened, that is after a piece of one of the walls fell square on his face knocking him out cold.