Say Geronimo

Chapter 1

The thrum of machinery clouded the air like thick smoke. The side-road workshop filled with mechanics and engineers using and selling their wares. The smell of rotted oil and crackling electricity filled Valerie's nostrils as she inhaled and exhaled slowly. She loved that smell.

"Have you heard about this new outbreak?" Tsin straightened the newspaper on a bruised worktable and glanced up at Val.

"It started in the Third Quarter - That's miles from here. I don't think you have to worry yet," She involuntarily glanced down at Tsin's mechanic arm. It severed off right below the elbow, a thin band of metal and wires separating the burnt flesh from machinery.

Tsin rubbed her hand over the metal. On some days she could swear there was still some feeling left in her arm. As though she could still feel the  goose bumps from cold mornings and warm rays of sunlight. "They're calling it the Cybrid Virus. So far, only cyborgs and androids have contracted it, Val."

Valerie turned her back on Tsin and opened the charging panel on her rover. "It's still miles from here. I really think there is no reason to worry."

She rolled her eyes and flipped the page. "It's easy for you to say."

Valerie ignored the comment and lugged over a charging cord and inserted it in the socket. The barbed end slipping in easily. She watched the screen inside the rover and waited for the blinking light that told her the charge percentage. The plexiglass remained black.

"The damn thing won't charge again!" She kicked the broken piece of machinery. It whirred loudly at her. She hissed at it in return.

"I told you to just get a new rover. The older models aren't compatible with the new chargers anyways."

Val pulled out the cord and kneeled next to the opening. "He just needs a new battery, that's all."

Tsin folded the newspaper and set it on the table. "You tried that already."

"Oh, shut up. I'm the mechanic; not you."

Her metal arm clicked against the table as she stood. "I'm going to say hello to Manny while you figure out what to do with this piece of junk."

"Yeah, okay." Valerie slid under the suspended rover. She grabbed a rag and a small bottle of spray and got to work on the filthy underbelly of her mobile.

It was several moments after Tsin left that she polished enough of the battery case to see that it was indeed fried. Again. Valerie sighed and released the battery, tossing it under the car into a scrap pile. She would need to replace the entire engine at this point.

A warbled scream rippled through the workshop and extinguished every noise in its wake.

Val pushed herself away from the rover and let the bottle of cleaner fall to the ground and shatter. "Tsin!" She ran in the direction of the scream. It didn't pause a second but continued its wailing serenade.   

She pushed through a large crowd of people where the scream mingled with cries of horror. Tsin's face appeared before her.

"I can't see who it is!" She said breathlessly.

Valerie pushed past her friend and after a few moments found the center of commotion.

A young boy lay upon the floor where a loose circle had formed around him. His body writhed like a snake on the broken concrete. His back arched and he was suddenly facing them. He stared at them in mid-scream, a mechanical eye and a blood shot eye wide in terror. She could see him silently pleading for help . . . For mercy.

Blue sparks popped out his mouth in a flurry and skid across the floor. His body lurched as he coughed. Blood sprayed from his mouth and pooled on the floor. Then his body stilled. The young boy's bulging eyes staring blankly at the fluorescent lights above him.

"It's here," A distant voice whispered. And that whisper grew to a steady scream that erupted in the hollow workshop. Repeating just two words.

It's here.