LOCKED (9 page)

"Ok, so... your first
task..." Eddy rubbed his temples and pulled out some documents before
continuing.

"Um, let’s see…Ooh,
you're lucky! Tank is
gonna
join you on your trip.
First thing you've
gotta
know is that we have a
network. We send them money and supplies so they give us info and other stuff.
Sending '
em
messages electronically is too dangerous,
so you've
gotta
send this to this address; it's on
the other side of what WAS the city. You’ll find your way." Eddy handed me
two different papers in both hands. One had a rough scribbling of an address,
and the other had what looked like a doctor's note:

Need some antibacterial runnin low
pass Millerout

That was all that was
scrawled on the paper. I looked up at Eddy questionably, but he didn’t seem
concerned.

"And why do we need
Tank?" Danni inquired. She must have seen him and his startling
destruction already.

"You're
headin
' through the ruins of the city. You might find some
nasty guerillas,
ya
never know." Eddy explained.
He seemed to be done briefing us as he stood up and neatly filed the documents
(which seemed unlike him).

"Ok, I got Tank ready
for you while you two were
sleepin
'. The way out is
over here." Eddy pointed to a large metal door, not unlike a massive
garage. It was already starting to open. Tank's back was to us, and we could
get a good glimpse at a few more details of his iron body, such as a large pack
that may have been used as a battery, and jets on his "ankles" which
may have been used to help him jump short distances, considering how heavy he
must have been. In front of Tank were the ruins of our city. The skies were
bleak and gray, the clouds huddled together to mourn. The city from here looked
like it was made of little more than indiscriminate brown and gray bricks,
little more than rubble. Danni and I let out a heavy sigh, and began our trek
to the other side of the ashes of our home.

Once we passed Tank, he began
following, keeping our pace. He made no sound except for the high-pitched
squeal of thin pieces of metal inside of him moving around and an
earth-shattering thud every time one foot hit the ground.

"How long do you think
his battery will last?" I casually asked Danni after we left the hanger.

" 'He?' "

"Well, yeah. Eddy
refers to HIM like that." I chuckled.

"He's just a machine, I
don't get that." Danni threw her hands over her mouth once she saw her
fault. We both laughed it off as every step brought us closer to the city, and
that laughter would soon be gone.

It didn't seem to take as
long as we thought it would to reach the edge of the city.

"So how did you meet up
with U.S.P.L.? Eddy took you in?" I asked her.

“Yep, it was actually right
around the time all the fighting began. I panicked when I couldn’t find you
after we got split up, and the fighting started soon after. Eddy rushed to the
battle and found me, a civilian, so he got me to safety at the HQ, and
explained what he could along the way. He told me that this place that they
have now actually used to belong to a mechanics manufacturer, but it was swept
out years ago. He said it only took a few weeks to get everything back up and
running. Then he told me that U.S.P.L. had been hopping around from city to
city, a lot like Miller. Not necessarily conquering like Miller does, but
‘spreading awareness of the program’, whatever he meant by that. Oh, and he
told me he was the Chief Mechanic. He built Tank pretty recently; he finished
him up a few months ago and treats him like a diamond." Danni explained.

"How come he told you
all that but barely told me anything like that?"

"I guess I look like I
have a more trustworthy character!" she replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

Now we were passing through
what was once the business district of the town. Gloom sunk into the both of
us, pushing out the childish teasing as we waded through the ghosts of the
city, the rubble of what used to be a section of town we'd playfully avoid at
all costs. The air silently carried rumors and whispers, and reeked of split
concrete. A battered sign labeled "Welcome to
Burybury
!"
was underneath tons and tons of rubble, alongside a few haunting posters
littering the ground. Each one had the beaming face of Devon Miller with the caption
"CHANGE! REAL CHANGE!"

"BASTARD!" Danni
smashed her foot onto one and ground it into the pavement. I hastily put both
of my hands on her shoulders.

"Danni! Danni, there's
nothing we can do now..." I threw my arms around her and embraced her,
knowing that was just what she needed.

"I just... I want to go
home..." she exhaled with stress in her voice.

"I know, I do
too..."

"I just want to go to
school, play stupid games, and hang out with you like we did every day..."

"
Everyday
is gone, there's no going back..." her own grip on me tightened. I never
wanted to let go, unless letting go meant going back home.

"I feel... trapped in
this place. Like I could never leave, even if I wanted to. This is home, I
couldn't go, even if it looked like it does now. I was going to end up coming
back here sooner or later, no matter what. You’re locked up here with me, and
neither of us have a good excuse to leave." we both choked up, and I
couldn't stand seeing her like this. I clung to her tightly without thoughts of
warfare, or disease, or guerrilla fighters. The city respected our wishes for
silence as the wind was all I could hear besides ourselves.

After a few minutes of
unbroken silence and a few dried tears, we got back to walking once again. We were
crossing the business district and back into what was once our homes. Their
memories begged us to come back and gossip, come back and play, come back and
study, come back and waste time. We both declined their offer with heavy
hearts. Unconsciously, we both took the longer route out of the city to avoid
seeing our apartments and everything we had in ruins.

Then, without warning, Tank
shifted suddenly behind us. He leapt in front of us, shaking the earth beneath
his metallic legs. Danni and I looked between each other and in front of Tank,
as if asking "What is he doing?"

"Look!" I pointed
out in the distance to a series of tall buildings that were lucky enough to not
be demolished. A very small speck seemed to be jumping between them, kicking
off bits of glass and dirt with every monkey-like leap. We could hear thousands
of tiny gadgets shifting around in Tank's head, processing everything around
him in milliseconds. We watched the little speck jump around, almost like an
insect. The tension rose as it just seemed to repeat this action for about a
minute. Tank stared at it motionlessly. Danni and I began to back up for fear
of something happening, and we did so just in time. First, we heard the
whirring and saw a twirl of smoke in the distance. Next, Tank pushed us back
with his left arm, and braced himself into the ground. He ground his heavy
metallic legs into the pavement, splitting it into concrete and dirt as his
foot pounded through. Then, what we were able to identify as a missile for a
split second before it made impact made a brilliant ball of fire as it struck
Tank. His upper half shifted back a bit, but his legs were in the ground
firmly. Danni and I ran into a nearby pile of rubble. We tossed out some rocks,
jumped in, and piled enough back onto us, hoping we wouldn't be seen. We moved
just enough so we could watch everything that was happening, too scared to make
any more movements.

Two more missiles hit Tank
in rapid succession, creating a blaze of flames which fizzled out quickly. Two
small
mechs
leapt out from behind a small building,
and did not walk, but jumped constantly. They were leaping high into the air
with the hydraulics built into their legs, a little over Tank's own height with
every jump. They shared a humanoid figure with Tank, though their build was
more stout. They had disturbingly long, skinny arms, longer than they were
tall. They were about half of Tank's size, and had large, rectangular windows
on the front that seemed to jut out over the body. Their bodies seemed to be comprised
of scrap metal, though they were still able to produce an impression of
intimidation. Upon closer inspection, I could tell that they were actually
being piloted by men!

Tank uprooted himself from
the ground, and was ready for combat. He revved up the drill on his right arm,
and drove it straight into one of the
mechs
in
mid-air. Its body spun on the drill and smashed into the other enemy mech for a
moment before Tank threw it off into a nearby wall, splattering its owner.
Three more
mechs
joined the fray, including one with
a rocket launcher attached to its shoulder; that must have been the one that
was shooting Tank before! Tank immediately reached for this mech. It prepared
to shoot another missile at him, but Tank grabbed the launcher and pointed it
at another mech that had just landed and was preparing for another bounce. The
missile fired, and the mech went up in a burst of flames, parts flying
everywhere. Some smaller bits even landed on top of the makeshift shelter Danni
and I created. The mech that had been damaged before when Tank smashed its ally
into it leapt upon his back, and instantly started clawing at Tank's neck. It
gripped and dug like a dog trying to find something under dirt. Tank was
clearly struggling, as neither of his arms could reach the little mech in its
position. By now, Danni and I silently both knew that these were the guerilla
fighters rather than an enemy of another faction; their small numbers and
tactics gave them away. Meanwhile, the mech that was on Tank's back was able to
pull out a bundle of wires from his neck. He let out a terrible screech, like
metal being cut by a saw. His movement instantly became much more erratic. Tank
shook from the left to right as hard as he possibly could, just enough to make
the mech stumble. Tank grabbed his chance by grabbing the spider-like arm of
it, yanking the body off, and slamming it into the ground as hard as he could.
The pavement under it cracked. On the head, the glass didn't shatter, but the
pilot's brains painted it red. The other two guerilla fighters clearly knew
they were outmatched. They hopped away, scurrying like helpless animals.

Danni and I waited a few
minutes to come back out. Tank simply stood in place, and let his self-repair
center mend any wires he had destroyed. Danni and I cautiously moved aside the
stones we used for our shelter, and Tank had no reaction. I walked over to him
to see if he had any serious dents or scratches... not a single one, not even
where he had been struck by missiles three times. He simply stared straight
ahead with his crimson glowing eyes, waiting for his next mission. I looked
around, and saw a very literal depiction of hell’s tales of fire and brimstone.
I looked over what was left of one of the guerillas. The sound of static
erupted from Tank without warning, and I heard snippets of Eddy’s voice.
Apparently Tank was a communications center as well!

“Hey—
wha
—
ing
on there?” his voice came in short breaks.

"Eddy? EDDY! Do you
have any idea what just happened?!” I screamed at Tank. He responded about
thirty seconds later.

"No. All I heard was a
ton of rumbling. What're you
talkin
' about?"

"We were just attacked
by guerillas! We’re fine now, but…it was nerve-wracking to see them in person.
Not a whole lot more I can say about it that you don’t already know...” I
awkwardly ended. Not another word was spoken for a minute, so I assumed he was
done listening. We started walking again, but I heard his voice from Tank once
more.

"Is Tank OK
though?"

"Yeah. Not a
scratch."

"OK, we’re all set
then. No problem.”

"Tank ripped them to
shreds. Literally..." I turned my face away from the particularly gruesome
and gory scene Tank had made.

Now there was silence again.
We were able to walk uninterrupted again, Tank trailing behind. His threatening
eyes loomed over anything that was ahead of us, like a hunting dog looking for
prey. We were getting close to the edge of the city, and close to our
destination. I looked over to Danni, and noticed how beaten up she was; she was
covered from head to toe in bruises and cuts. Perhaps a little chit-chat would
help ease the painful walk?

"I just
wanna
say... I saw you open up a lot more the past few
days. Like, you were always sort of a tough bitch before this." I laughed.
She chuckled a bit and looked at the ground when she walked.

"I guess I’m usually
like that, but... I really couldn't help it the past few days. You're basically
the only friend I have left now..." she sighed. I went to give her another
hug, unsure of how to react, but she stepped away.

"Don't think because
I'm being touchy-feely now, I'm not still a tough bitch!" she smiled. I
rolled my eyes, and knew she was still unbroken.