She Ran Like Hell and Brought Its Flames to Paradise

Time seemed to slow. Oliver lunged at the human, but he was too far away to stop the human before they could fire. I needed to activate the disruption field on my powerspear to deflect the shot, but the human already had me in their sights. Would I make it?

Better to try than do nothing. I pressed the button on the powerspear’s shaft, keeping my eyes on the human. A glowing orb formed around the tip of the spear, but it was small and growing so, so slowly. If it managed to block the bullet, it would be by pure luck.

At that precise moment, a beam of light lit up the darkness, piercing the human through the head before they could pull the trigger.

Time resumed its normal pace. I experienced a wave of relief that the danger had passed followed by a wave of horror that I had just seen someone killed. I didn’t even consider the possibility that whoever had shot the human in my defense might be a threat as well.

As I caught my breath, a faint, high-pitched sound caught my ears. Metal rubbing against metal. Turning my ears in its direction, I noticed it was accompanied by a cacophony of other noises: dull thuds, popping, crackling, and the whirring of tiny motors. So many tiny motors. At the same time, my savior stumbled onto the road, a rifle in one hand, a suitcase in the other.

At first glance, I couldn’t tell she was one of the Federation’s gynoids. Her brown hair and artificial skin had been eaten away, but it wasn’t the miasma that had done the most damage: She had a hole where her left hip should be, no doubt blown away by a gunshot. Despite that, she still walked on two feet. Her left leg was the source of the mechanical noise that assaulted my eardrums, as it slowly, shakily took steps toward me.

With a sudden pop, she pitched forward, her leg finally giving out, and she faceplanted in the dirt. Pushing herself up onto her elbows, she locked eyes with me and called out. “Help me. More of them are headed this way.”

Being closer, Oliver reached her first, but this time, I wasn’t far behind. As he helped her up, I took the rifle from her, prompting Oliver to give me a worried look. “You ever handled one of those before?”

“How hard could it be? Just point and pull the trigger, right?”

“Better let me carry it.” After helping the gynoid onto his back, he grabbed the gun and gestured toward the suitcase. “You can take that. Run ahead and warn the village.”

I wanted to argue that we should stick together for safety, but given that Oliver seemed to keep a clearer head in danger, I decided to listen to him. The suitcase was heavier than it looked, about 20 kilos or so, but I knew it was nothing compared to the weight of the gynoid he was now carrying. As quick as I could, I took off toward the watchtower, shouting for them to sound the alarm.

To my dismay, Apollo was the first to arrive. Though I hated owing him a favor, I pointed him in Oliver’s direction. By the time the two of them arrived, carrying the gynoid between them, the rest of the village had assembled, including the shut-ins. Several gasped as they saw the gynoid. For those with no interest in the outside world, it was their first time learning that such machines even existed. Dozens of murmured conversations weaved their way through the crowd, but they all fell quiet when the gynoid spoke.

“You must flee for your lives. There is an armed militia in the area, two hundred strong. Once they find this village, they will destroy it.”

The conversations immediately resumed. From the bits I could make out, some wanted to run, but most wanted to stay and fight. This was their home, the only they had ever known, and that made it worth defending. Besides, we outnumbered them, and sticking together would allow us to protect the children and elderly. Even those who wanted to flee at first appeared convinced by this argument.

But me? I wanted to run. My life had come within a second of ending, and the memory shook me to my core. I wasn’t about to die for a village I never cared much for in the first place, so I forced my way to the front of the crowd, still carrying the suitcase, and shouted as loud as I could. “They have guns, and we don’t. It doesn’t matter how strong we are. If we try to fight, we’ll all die.”

Silence once again overcame the crowd. They could not easily dismiss the prospect of death, but at the same time, abandoning the village was almost as dangerous. The wastelands surrounding it were harsh, and miasma storms could rot even the heartiest from without and within.

From the crowd, a brash young male stepped forward. Though I knew his name at the time, I have long since forgotten it. Smaller than Oliver, he nevertheless stood a full head taller than I, and he tilted his head to look down upon me, as if challenging me would somehow invalidate what I said. “Let them come. I don’t fear their guns. We are stronger than them, faster than them. If they attack, we will take their guns from them!”

Some in the crowd roared their approval, mostly young males in their prime. Many of the elderly shook their heads, their ears drooping. When a young male thought himself invincible, they knew there was no reasoning with him. He would have to learn by experience.

Assuming he survived it.

Lea decided she would be the one to give him that experience—an act of mercy, though he was too thick to realize it. “You don’t fear their guns? Then you’re a fool.” She grabbed the rifle from Oliver, pointed it directly at the male, and fired a round into his left shoulder. He roared in pain, but rather than backing down, he lunged toward Lea. Fortunately, she was prepared for this and pressed the muzzle to his forehead. Finally realizing just how much danger his life was in, he froze in place, the hair on his tail standing on end.

Seeing that, the opposition crumbled, and the crowd hurried to secure supplies and get out before the militia arrived. With the same idea in mind, I placed the suitcase down next to where the gynoid sat. Before I could leave, however, she grabbed my wrist.

“You must take that to the Federation. If the militia reclaims it, they could cause another world war.”

Apollo happened to still be nearby, and when he heard that, he charged up to the gynoid. “Yer sayin’ they’re comin’ here for this? You led ‘em here?”

The gynoid stared directly into his eyes. “I had no other choice. If they started a war, this village would be wiped out regardless.”

“Oh yeah? What’s so special about a teensy briefcase anyway?”

“It contains a nuclear warhead.”

Big dumb blockhead that he was, Apollo had no idea what that meant. In fact, the gravity of the gynoid’s statement was lost on most of those who remained near the watchtower. Only Oliver, and Lea, and I recoiled in terror.

Pulling away from the gynoid, I backed up several steps. “And you want someone to carry that all the way to the Federation? What if it blows?”