Broken Things Page 14

  “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.

  2

  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.

  He didn’t recognize the vehicle. It wasn’t one of Kidsmith’s. He’d deal with them afterward. He had his employee badge in his wallet, if they questioned what he was doing here. He wished that he’d gotten around to making a smaller EMP generator, the bulky thing made his hunt awkward, and it would be useless for five minutes. He was half-tempted to fry the kid’s brain when he got the chance. Maybe I shot the wrong one.

  3

  Cody drove an old clunker. The thing rattled and banged with every bump they hit, and occasionally blew out a thick cloud of white smoke. Neil sat next to him in the passenger seat holding the tablet, navigating them after Josh. Once he realized where they were going though, he no longer listened to Neil’s instructions. He used to come here a lot, for parts and such, before he’d lost his job. Now he sent Neil to slip in and steal things.

  Things were tight for Kidsmith. They could barely operate this place, except that the State required them to keep it open, for all of the children that were shipped back. Ten years ago the government had required Kidsmith to open the place, to keep the children out of the public landfills. Some still ended up there, but Kidsmith Reclamation got most of them.

  The gates were open. A company truck sat in the middle of the road, headlights on and both doors open, and Cody watched as a man sort of ran into the bodies. He squinted, trying to see what the man chased, and if not for Neil he would have hit the body lying in the path.

  “Watch out,” the boy said, “Someone’s in the road!”

  He stopped just in time. It might’ve only been a kid, sometimes they were dumped in the road. A backhoe would come along and push them into the piles. The hills seemed quite a bit taller than he remembered them. He briefly considered driving over the body, but he had stopped already. He threw it into park and stepped out.

  The body was taller than a child. It was a woman.

  It was Angel.

  “What the Hell?” He dropped down next to her, searching for injuries. Her eyes stared at him unblinking.

  “Is that…” Neil didn’t finish, he knew the answer. “Is she dead?”

  Cody shook his head. “No… Maybe… I don’t know. There’s a pulse, but that’s it. It’s like she’s been shut off.”

  “Can you turn her back on?”

  “Not here.” He gently slipped his arms under her and lifted her dead weight. “Get the back door, Neil.”

  They slipped her into the backseat as gently as possible. He paused, staring at her. He’d forgotten how beautiful she was, why she was his favorite. It wasn’t just her looks, but the way she laughed at his jokes, the way she chided his sloppiness without judging. He’d never cared that her bones were titanium, that she had a computer for a brain. Real women had never been too fond of him. But he’d screwed up. He’d become complacent.

  “I’m so sorry, Angel,” he said. With a deep breath he turned to Neil. “Someone’s going to pay. Let’s find Josh and get some answers.”

  4

  It stood in the shadows of the building, watching. It had followed the boy’s emotions, had almost caught up to him at the last house, but he’d ran again before it could reach him. This child was different from all of the others, not just in its form of existence, but in fate. Everywhere the child ran, trouble seemed to follow. This child felt like… destiny.

  The heavy-set man and his boy companion ran into the bodies, leaving the woman in the back of their car. Once it was certain there would be no other intruders, it mad
e its way after the boy, following the fear. It passed through the radius of light, unafraid of being seen, until it came to the nearest mound.

  Now these children, they were confusing. It placed a weathered, worn, and blood-stained hand on the forehead of a little girl. They weren’t real, therefore it had no interest. But they were just like the boy, all artificial.

  The girl stirred against its hand. Yes, life still tenaciously continued here, repeated from body to body of all the children pressed together. These people, the corporations, they didn’t realize what they had achieved. It hadn’t sensed it at first, only in the boy. They’d created life and put it in the tiny frames of children. Innocent, eternal children. Humans… they longed for what they’d lost, but were blinded by their hubris.

  The weak echo of life extended from her throughout all the children. Were any of them truly dead? No… or maybe once. Now they’d become something more. They gave each other life here, where they had nothing else left. It could feel it, a pulse to the faux landscape, inside and beneath the surface. Mostly they slept. If it listened carefully, it could hear them collectively breath.

  They seemed to be waiting for something. Salvation, perhaps?

  It had to return to the hunt. It could ponder the afterlife later.

  The girl’s hand snagged its shirt. It pulled gently free, but the girl’s eyes held it in place where her tiny hands could not.

  “Are you the devil?” she asked.

  “No,” it responded. The sound of its own voice shocked it. It hadn’t uttered a real word since returning. It sounded dry and full of rocks. It could only imagine its appearance. It had avoided reflections, only making a rudimentary effort to hide its withered and broken body. It could only imagine the nightmare it must resemble.

  “Oh,” she sighed, “I thought he’d finally come, but he’s forgotten us too, I think.”

  It fought to form the words. They came out with difficulty, but it managed to say, “Why do you wait for him?”

  “Because I wasn’t good enough.”

  It held her eyes a few seconds longer and turned away.

  5

  Josh ran. He could hear them, they whispered, as though talking amongst themselves. He couldn’t make out their words though. It all blended into an indistinguishable hum. Before long he’d reached the pit again. The sky had begun to lighten now, becoming a dark blue, and he could begin to make out the shapes of the broken children. He could make out the other side, maybe the distance of half a football field. Though it would take too long to go around, he thought he could make it across. The bodies should support him. He was light enough, and hopefully it would be more difficult for James.

  He sat down, dangling his feet over the edge. The sheer drop looked steep. From behind him he heard the man approaching rapidly.

  “I see you, there’s nowhere to run,” James said. Josh could just barely make him out in the emerging dawn. “You don’t have to do this the hard way.”

  Maybe he didn’t have to drop, if he stuck close enough to the side he could slide down. He leaned his body out over the edge, balancing only on his hands.

  He let go.

  The ten feet went by quickly, and when his feet hit the bodies his legs buckled and he fell to his hands and knees. The bodies shifted somewhat, but held. He rose slowly, fighting for balance. As long as he stepped directly in the center of each child on the top, he thought he could make it. He took his first step as James reached the edge.

  “Damn it, kid,” he cursed, “Give me your hand. I’ll lift you out.”

  Josh took another step forward. He suddenly realized that the word ‘kid’ had lost its original meaning. It objectified him. It no longer implied a young human, but something less than human. It sounded derogatory coming out of James’ mouth.

  He looked back to see James aiming his odd looking gun at him. He tried to walk faster, but his foot caught in a t-shirt nearly tripping him. He tried not to step on their faces. The light crested the mountains, spilling over the mounds and giving him a better view of each step.

  The children had their eyes open. They did not stare blankly, but watched him in interest as he passed over them. “I’m sorry,” he said, “I have to get away. I don’t mean to.”

  He heard James slide down, followed by a thud and a loud curse. “You’re only making it worse on yourself,” he called, “The more you run the more trouble you’ll be in. Do you think anyone else wants you? You’re broken. Nobody’s ever going to want a kid all torn up like that, it’s no wonder your parents threw you away.”

  Josh blocked out the taunts. The other side still looked impossibly distant. He saw a slope that didn’t look too steep, and altered his path to reach it. He heard a click and hum as his pursuer charged his gun.

  “I’m not going to chase you,” James said, “I will break you.”

  Like Angel. He remembered her blank stare, more lifeless than these children. He stopped, and slowly, awkwardly, turned back around.

  “That’s good,” James gestured with the gun, “Now walk back over here.”

  Josh shook his head. He couldn’t run from him, but he couldn’t go toward him either. He looked down at the broken things, the children staring up at him. They shifted beneath him and he staggered, losing his balance and falling backward. He landed softly, in the arms of the other children.

  Their hands were all over him. They rolled and moved about him, the bodies shifting and separating to pull him under. Strangely, he was no longer afraid of them. He closed his eyes as they pulled him down into their dark embrace, deeper into their numbers.

  “What?” James’ disbelieving voice came through muffled. He could barely hear him as he sank deeper.

  6

  Cody and Neil reached the pit just in time to see Josh pulled down into the bodies. James ran awkwardly over the children, arms swinging and legs wide, looking strangely comical as though he’d stepped out of a cartoon as he tried to keep his balance atop the unstable mass. He dropped his tablet and device and attempted (and failed) to lift the limp bodies to dig him out.

  The two watched him struggle for a minute, not saying anything. Finally Cody called out, “Hey!”

  So intent on his prey, James didn’t hear him. Cody yelled two more times before he finally stopped and looked up. Sweat soaked his shirt and ran down his face, and he breathed heavily. “Go away. This doesn’t concern you!”

  “I believe it does,” Cody said back, “It appears that somebody hurt my girl. What did you do to her?”

  James glanced down at his gun and back at Cody. He didn’t reply but his eyes narrowed menacingly.

  “I take it that means it was you. Nobody messes with my girls.”

  “So what are you going to?”

  “I’m thinking that nobody’s going to find you in this pit.”

  James rose awkwardly and picked up the device. Cody watched him suspiciously. It had an odd shape, more like a box with a copper coil sticking out of the top of it. The front had an antenna, making it almost resemble the barrel of an old science fiction ray gun. A toggle switch poked out of the side of the box.

  “What, you built a laser gun? You’re going to shoot me with that?”

  James ignored the jab. “That kid with you… he friends with Josh?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Two kids escaped from Kidsmith two days ago. It looks like I won’t have to return empty-handed after all.”

  Neil stepped to the edge of the pit. “Screw you.”

  James flipped the switch. No laser shot out. It briefly made a high pitch whine and a popping sound. Cody shook his head and laughed. “I think your toy is broken.”

  “No, I think yours is.”

  Next to him, Neil went limp. Before he could react, the boy’s body tipped over and dropped to the bottom of the pit. He landed upside down on top of the other bodies on the back of his neck with a sickening crunch.

  “Neil!” Cody shrieked.

  “He’s property of Kidsmith,”
James said, walking back with as much arrogance and dignity as the bodies he walked upon would allow. “Now if you have any proof of ownership?” He waited a few seconds for an answer, but Cody was speechless with shock. “I didn’t think so. Now if you’d be so kind as to get lost, I won’t have to report you for trespassing.”

  Cody weighed his options. He could go after Neil, but did the boy really matter that much to him? He valued his freedom and anonymity, and he knew of people that went to prison for his hacking… and theft… and sabotage… Hell, there were a lot of reasons he didn’t want them investigating. He decided to cut his losses. He turned and ran.

  7

  James set the EMP generator down gently next to Neil. He had one boy, and he knew where the other one was. He suspected that Josh wouldn’t be coming out any time too soon. He’d turn the location over to his superiors and be through with it. They could worry about the killer android, he’d done his part. Still, he had witnessed something that didn’t make sense. Every child was disabled before being sent to the landfill. None of them should’ve been operational.

  Twenty feet away a metal ramp led out of the pit. He dragged the boy awkwardly over the bodies, each step a struggle to keep from falling. He hated carrying disabled kids, but he hadn’t planned on using the gun on them either.

  He had the feeling of someone watching him. He looked up just as the killer android slid down the embankment and joined him in the pit. He dropped the kid and lost his balance. His arms flailed as he sought in vain for anything to grab onto, and fell roughly onto his back. He backpedaled in a crab crawl away from the grotesque thing.

  The light of the morning sun enhanced the horrible appearance of the thing. Black stains covered its clothes, red and flaking dried blood still painted its face and hands. The EMP generator rested by its feet.

  It picked up the generator and walked awkwardly toward him. Its eyes didn’t blink, its face showed no expression, yet it focused on him with an intensity that made James’ bowels release. He saw his death in the android’s eyes. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. The screen wouldn’t come on. The proximity to the electro-magnetic pulses must’ve fried it. He dropped it, scrabbling backward for another five feet, before turning over and crawling. Twice he stood up, and twice he tripped, the bodies refusing to stay steady. Were the children shifting beneath him on purpose? The ramp remained only a few feet away, but it might as well have been a mile.