7 Road Kill (1/2)
2034
Several of the mercenaries hop out of the back of the front truck. A bazooka is pulled out and aimed toward the shadows in the sky. Vanessa and the men hop out of the back and crawl underneath the truck. Sia begins to follow before she spots the shadows in the sky and lowers her goggles to get a better look.
The discharge of a weapon near her right shoulder makes her stumble forward and fall to her knees.
”Princess, get down here,” Vanessa hisses at her.
She ignores the woman and looks at the first truck. Two men are trying to remove the tire. She puts her goggles back on and starts over to them in a crouched position.
”Aaay, Princess, get back here!”
When she gets over to the front of the stranded vehicle she tugs on the animal corpse with her gloved hands. The men continue to pry off the lugnuts. After dragging the deformed corpse off to the side, she jogs back and asks one of the men where the spare tire is.
One of them signals at the back of the vehicle and yells, ”Underneath!”
He hops up from unscrewing lug nuts and runs to lower the spare tire from the tire mount. The mercenaries have stopped firing at the flying beasts, but they are patrolling the caravan checking for any more incoming predators.
Sia struggles to pull the tire from underneath, but after getting it out she rolls it over to the two men. Smiling in triumph, she settles the tire down near them, nods, and runs back to the vehicle she was primarily riding in.
'Had to get back some of my honor. Can't let them think I'm some unhelpful damsel in—-'
Sia is snatched and dragged right off the ground.
Eli squints at the bird corpses in the distance before ordering everyone back into their vehicles. Something moves in his peripheral vision and he jumps to action. He pulls up his weapon to aim at the large rodent running up to their vehicles, but it's too late.
”LOOK OUT!”
Sia's head bobs around as her waist is held up to the rodents' chest. It escapes the caravan and scurries toward a cluster of dilapidated buildings. She is dangling upside down, with her back to the rodents abdomen, and its' legs can be seen on either side of her.
VISUAL IMAGES ACCESSED
CRUSHING PRESSURE DETECTED ALONG PELVIC GIRDLE AND LUMBAR VERTEBRAE
STRAIN INCREASING IN CERVICAL VERTEBRAE
DISABLED PHYSICAL CONDITION
SUBJECT 001 DEFINE STATUS
”I'm going to die! HELP!!”
SYNTHETIC INTELLIGENCE DEVELOPER PRIORITY #1: ENSURE SUBJECT 001 STATUS REMAIN STABLE UNLESS COMMANDED OTHERWISE
NANO INFIRMARY PROTOCOL INITIATED
tRainQuilT646 RUNNING
SYNTHETIC INTELLIGENCE DEVELOPER PRIORITY #2: ENHANCE SUBJECT 001 BODY
Sia's body becomes limp and her arms slacken in the air. The Synthetic Intelligence Developer overrides her consciousness and lifts the body so it folds in half. That gives it the position it needs to have access to the rodents' hand that is grasping Sia's waist. It tenses the muscles in Sia's left arm and positions her fingers into a spear before striking at the animal. The rodent cries out in shock, drops Sia's body, and before it can turn back to pick her back up two shots ring out.
A bullet splits the squirrels tail and embeds itself into its shoulder before another pierces its head. It collapses a few feet from Sia. Sia's body lay still for several moments before she gasps for air and rolls onto her side. The injuries from the fall are quickly healing, and as Sia lifts herself off the ground she sees the skin on her fingers knitting back together.
”No...no...no. Stop!” she frantically hisses at her hand.
'Stop healing these!'
NANO INFIRMARY PROTOCOL TERMINATED
She examines her hands and sees tiny scrapes along her knuckles. Her jumpsuit is torn and dusty, but overall, she is alright. The cut along her head is not bleeding as much as head wounds usually do, so she smears the blood from her arm along her forehead before turning toward the figures running in her direction. It didn't take her far from the makeshift road, but the rubble and tight spaces between the buildings make it hard for the vehicles to drive in her direction.
Looking back at the freakishly large squirrel, she shutters. She picks up a rock and tosses it at the dead creature. It twitches, and she squeaks before hobbling away. She limps toward her rescuers at a slow pace.
”Back to square one.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
2035
Sid is fixing his pants when he hears footsteps thunder behind him and a snarl. He takes a step forward and looks behind him before he is pushed up against a tree.
”Ha ha ha. Finally found you,” a panting voice whispers behind him.
The hairs on Sid's arms raise as he recognizes the Savage leader's voice. The crazed man pulls out a blade and holds the tip to Sid's scalp.
”I finaaaally fouuuund you,” the deranged voice repeats in a singsong voice.
The sharp edge activates Sid's survival protocols.
J44S2v1V4l.Stay ENABLED
tRainQuilT646 RUNNING