Cryo-Man (Cryo-Man series, #1) (28 page)

             
As my vision fades, I hope I’ll never turn back on…

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

I no longer experience the dream of my lone memory the way I once did. My son’s laughter isn’t so angelic, his smile doesn’t fill me with the same intense feeling of love; the fear in his voice as I’m dying doesn’t break my heart quite so much. I feel like a spectator, strangely disconnected. I’m not so much in the memory as watching it. My mind wanders to the thought of my sons’ picture from the CIFPOL folder. The more I try to remember what the photo looked like, the less clear Henry’s face becomes, though at least my hearing still works in the dream…

My eyes snap open. The sun is still in the sky, so unnaturally bright that I have to shut my lids most of the way. I don’t think my shutdown lasted very long. I remain in the same spot within the stadium, which at first appears empty until I see a blur of movement in my periphery. Nej rushes in front of me, waving both hands to get my attention. His mouth is moving but I can’t hear what he says.

“Can you hear me?” I ask. “Something must be wrong with my wires, one of them must be loose. I can’t hear a thing.”

It’s odd not hearing my own voice when I talk. I feel the slight vibration of the robotic voice box near my throat, the only clue that my speech system also wasn’t damaged. The side of my head throbs and I want nothing more than to place my hand against the pain. I barely have the ability to focus on Nej, who appears frantic. I try to figure out another way of communicating but my body suddenly jerks forward and turns around.

The movements aren’t graceful like the way 37 controls me. Combined with the throbbing in my head, I also feel dizzy. For once I’m glad I have no stomach, the only thing stopping me from being sick; for once I’m glad someone else controls me, the only thing stopping me from falling over. My eyes focus enough on Nej to see that he’s holding the big remote, that
he’s
the one controlling me, or at least trying to control me as he rushes to keep up.

We head into the small group of trees located in the middle of the stadium’s field. I catch a glimpse of movement on the far end of the stadium but my sight is still blurred, whether from loose wiring or the actual punch I’m not certain. I try to focus on what’s happening but I no sooner blink long and hard when I open my eyes to see that I’m speeding directly toward a tree. Nej tries to steer me out of the way but he’s a moment too slow.

My shoulder slams into a big trunk; of
course
it has to be one of the few thicker trees that has grown here. Splinters of wood explode around me but so does a blast of noise, so loud at first that I assume it’s part of my auditory malfunction. But then I recognize three distinct noises among the cacophony: people yelling, the rush of air from running and lastly – and loudest – gunfire.

My hearing cuts off as quickly as it came back, plunging me into silence that’s far more frightening now that I know the sounds I’m missing. Leaves explode around me and I see tiny flashes sparking in the distance. I emerge from the trees near the end of the field to watch the large yellow goalpost – already severely decayed – suddenly falling toward me.

“Turn me!” I yell – at least I
think
I yell.

I turn suddenly and the goalpost collapses a few feet away. I don’t hear it smash down but I feel a slight shaking beneath my feet. Nej is nowhere in my view and I’m afraid I’m outrunning him. He doesn’t use me as protection, which leaves him vulnerable to whoever is shooting at us.

“Let me fight them, whoever it is!” I call out.

I stop and turn around, watching Nej emerge from the trees about twenty yards back. I frantically search for our enemies but see nothing beyond the foliage. When a few sparks emerge from within the trees, I figure out where they’re coming from. Nej catches up, several bullets kicking up the grass just inches behind his running feet. A pair of armed robots emerges, their guns flashing as they chase after us.

I sprint toward them, leaping at the last moment as bullets zip toward me. I feel the vibration of several shots pinging off my metallic hull but I remain conscious so nothing must’ve hit my important parts. I land behind the robots, which have focused totally on me, allowing Nej to concentrate on the controls.

He swings my arms at the robots, knocking them down. I leap high and land atop one, clumsily smashing down over and over. Nej lacks the finesse with which 37 controls me but I still crush the core of the first robot before the second one returns to its feet. The robot tries to raise its gun-arm to shoot again but my pincers grab hold of its arm tightly. Nej quickly spins me, ripping off the robot’s arm in the process. From there I swing wildly again, destroying it in a violent style of fighting that can only be described as gorilla-esque.

With the robots destroyed, I finally have a moment to think through the haze of pain and frantic confusion. Only one story makes sense for how this situation came to be: Nej must’ve had enough of this life, somehow stolen the remote from 37 and is now trying to escape from his father’s territory with me. Excitement flows through me but I feel several more pings crashing into my body and look up to see more robots flowing into the stadium’s entrance.

“Run!” I yell.

With our exit cut off, Nej aims me toward the collapsed section of stadium opposite the main concourse. I catch up to Nej in a matter of seconds. We leap over the railing and start heading up the stadium steps. Only a single section remains intact before we reach the rubble. Broken concrete continues to spark around us as the robots come closer to hitting their targets. I leap atop the nearest debris but know the young man won’t be able to climb it like I can.

“Stop me!” I call out.

It might only a matter of time before Nej falls too far back and gets shot, which would spell doom for both of us. I’m facing the wrong way, still deaf, wondering with each passing second if Nej is even alive. When he finally circles in front of me – nearly losing his balance on the rubble – I see his lips moving quickly.

“I can’t hear so you need to listen to me,” I tell him. “We have to leave your father’s territory as quickly as possible.” He nods frantically and I’m relieved I read the situation correctly. “Let me carry you. I’m faster than the robots so it’s our only chance.”

Nej nods but he mouths a single word that I understand: princess. I hadn’t considered her but it’s clear that Nej has.

“We’ll worry about her later,” I say.

The young man frowns but nods. He carefully maneuvers my arm into the shape of a seat and climbs into it, allowing himself to be cradled. Once he’s in position, he springs us forward. Climbing the mountain of stadium rubble is tricky but Nej quickly improves his ability to control me. Plenty of debris begins to slide when my feet touch down but he never lets me stand in one place too long before leaping again. No more bullets come close to hitting us from behind and we soon land on the grassy parking lot outside the stadium.

That’s when the gunfire starts flashing in front of us. A combination of robots and armed humans – Nej’s half brothers – shoot at us from a few hundred feet away. I catch a glance of 37 among his army. Our eyes meet for a split second. My vision has finally cleared enough so I see the look of pure rage in the older man’s eyes.

“To the left!” I call out to Nej.

He follows my orders without question, not that I’d be able to hear any questions he had. By going left instead of right, we’ll be running closer to the enemies, but that’s also the direction of the clearing with the wildflowers. There must be a place on the opposite side of 37’s forest where the override signal ends but I feel much better escaping to a specific location.

37’s group spreads out as they follow but I quickly lose sight once we head into the forest. My movements are jerky at times and I’m still slow to avoid obstacles in our path; Nej is being jostled so severely in my arms that it’s impossible for him to control me smoothly. Still, he never slows down once, a good thing since several shots are fired from different sides within the forest.

             
37’s forces descend upon us from all angles, squeezing in on our position. One shot comes so close that it distracts Nej, who doesn’t turn me quickly enough to avoid a tree. My brain once again rattles in my skull and Nej is jostled within my arms. I look down to see him barely hanging on. I wish we could communicate but it takes his full concentration to hold onto me while keeping us moving forward.

             
As freedom gets closer, so does the possibility of death. More of 37’s collection fires at us, many of them from straight ahead, just within the boundaries of the old man’s forest. There’s no way his army could’ve followed and then overtaken us, which means 37 sent them here the moment he knew there was trouble. I hate being so predictable, hate that the cruel old man was in my head in more ways than one.

             
“Jump!”

             
Nej flicks the appropriate knob and I leap into the nearest tree, skipping along branches until we reach the top nearly thirty feet up. It’s not the best hiding spot – especially since I’ve banged so many branches that a storm of leaves falls from our tree – but it gives us a chance to regroup.

             
“We’re almost there,” I say. “But you need to get off me now.”

             
Nej climbs onto the nearest branch. I see his lips moving but my hearing still doesn’t work. Through the leaves below, I see the flash of several guns and watch bullets slam into the tree around us. With every second we remain stationary, more of 37’s ‘collection’ surrounds the tree. It’s only a matter of time before one of them takes a lucky shot at Nej or me.

             
“I have to fight them,” I say. He looks concerned but there’s no time for that. “Now! Jump me down before it’s too late!”

             
Nej shimmies his way along the branch and lies on it belly-first, allowing himself a better view of the ground below. A bullet strikes the branch just inches from his face but he’s pretty well shielded. He looks at me and mouths three words that I understand.

             
“Are you sure?”

             
“Now!”

             
I see him push buttons on the remote and I leap from the branch, plunging three stories. I land atop a smaller robot, crushing it like an oversized tin can. But four robots still have me surrounded, four robots that don’t hesitate or feel pity for their crushed metallic comrade. But Nej doesn’t hesitate either, even from his perch high above. The robots fire simultaneously but I leap, no longer standing where they shoot. Several are hit in the subsequent crossfire, no death shots but distraction enough for me to land behind them unnoticed.

             
Nej works the controls much better now that he’s not bouncing around. He directs my first attack at the nearest robot. My arm shoots forward violently, my deadly pincers exploding through the robot’s back, yanking out a handful of wires and circuitry, destroying its core. The second lump of metal is down and a swing of my arm decapitates the third robot. The two remaining robots move slower than usual, one damaged from being shot in the crossfire. I punch through one of their cores and pick the robot up, using it as a shield as I approach the final metallic warrior. The last robot fires shot after shot, the bullets pinging my new shield as I stomp forward. I launch the broken robot at the intact one, the force creating a tangle of twisted metal, silencing their guns and ending the threat, at least for now.

             
“Come on, we don’t have a lot of time before more show up!” I call up to Nej.

             
I aim my eyes up and see the movement of Nej climbing down from the high branches. He climbs slow and I wonder if he should’ve had me leap up to carry him back down. But he needs to concentrate on what he’s doing so I stay quiet and wait, my patience running thin as I eye the clearing just through the woods ahead. My body shifts slightly and I glance up to see Nej hanging precariously from a branch, the remote bumping against the tree.

             
“Be careful,” I say.

He swings his leg back onto the branch and continues his slow descent. Nej is about halfway down when I feel a vibration throughout my body. I look down to see that the solar panel nearest my core has suddenly cracked. At first I wonder if Nej made me bump into the tree but then I watch a small piece of tree explode in front of me.

              “They’re here!”

             
I look toward the forest for any sign of humans or robots but only the occasional flash of a gun tells me which direction 37’s forces approach from. Luckily, they’re not too close so if Nej can hurry up and finish climbing down a bit faster, we should be able to –

             
Another flash of a gun is followed by a blur of movement falling a few feet in front of me. I don’t hear the gunshot or a groan or the plunging scream or the thud of a body hitting the forest floor, but my mind immediately imagines that chain of sounds as I see Nej lying on the ground. My body shifts slightly again, this time a result of the remote hitting down next to Nej.

             
I’m ashamed to admit that my first worry is for the remote, though it’s worthless if Nej is unable to use it. I wait for him to start moving but time passes painfully slow as the robots and humans seem to move faster.