Monsters & Robots

Chapter 1; Dinner Bell

No one cared that I was leaving. I'm not surprised by it, really. I didn't try to know them, they didn't try to know me. It was more peaceful honestly. And now I'll have the freedom with it.
     Tightening the straps of my backpack and fastening the gun holster to my leg, I do the final checks of my supplies in my head. Food, water, clothes, extra ammo, first aid kit. I have everything I need. At least, for now.
     Everyone went about their business as usual, migrating from converted shop to another, talking with family and friends, living the best they could in the circumstances. No one spared me a glance. So, the usual. I made my way through the mall, heading for the only exit that hasn't been permanently boarded up. It's where the scouts leave through to get supplies. Only way in or out.
No one was around to help me lift the heavy metal barricade from the door, or to move the "extra security" boxes and crates, but I was determined to get out. Believe me, I knew the risks. But I'd rather take them than keep living here.
     After several minutes, I managed to clear the door. I took a moment before opening it. It's been four years since I've been outside, since I've felt a breeze, since I've seen the outside. You don't get many windows in a shopping mall, and if there are, they've been boarded up for safety reasons. I should be scared. I am scared. But I'm also excited. Yeah, I'm a complete idiot.
I drag open the scraping door and pull it shut behind me. Making sure it was firmly back in place, I turn and face the parking lot. Potholes had eroded in the asphalt and plants grew through every crack in the faded grey. Nature was taking over and it was quite beautiful. Parked cars were rusted with more plants and weeds growing through the floors and wrapping around the wheels. The roads overflowed with green.
I take in a deep breath of air, relishing the warmth of the sun on my skin. I never thought I would miss outside so much.
     "Alright," I breathe. "I can do this." With one last pat to the gun strapped to my thigh, I start my walk forward.
     I didn't think this plan too far through, I'll admit, although I don't see how I could go too far wrong. Just stay alert. I have two threats: still active robots, and mutated creatures. Bullets will get the creatures. I'm hoping they'll work on the robots. If I come across one that is. I should be hoping for that instead, to not come across one.
     Loose rocks crunched beneath my shoes, cicadas chirping in trees. It was eerily quiet out here. The noise of billions of humans no longer existed, leaving room for silence. Although, not much silence with all these cicadas. There was a lack of humming machines, chattering strangers, not even the banging sounds of construction.
     A stick crunched beneath my shoe and I felt myself jolt in my skin. After a beat, I released the air from my lungs, trying to calm my racing heart. It was just me. I'm not about to get eaten alive. Well, that could be a bold faced lie, but I won't think too hard about that. Sweat was beginning to drip from my face and I could feel my armpits beginning to get sticky. The sun was a lot hotter than I remembered.
     Maybe venturing out in the middle of summer wasn't the smartest move. My skin is burning. I think I'm being roasted alive. Stepping beneath a tree on the side of the road, I shuck off my backpack and take off my outer shirt, shoving it into the depths of my bag. Wiping my brow with my forearm, I sling my backpack back onto my shoulders. This was going to be a long and sweaty journey. I refuse to believe this was a mistake.

     Alright, a few hours into the journey now. My watch says it's almost twelve so I should stop and eat something soon. I've been following a single road for a while now, the sign pointing to the next town just coming into view. Past the sign, empty fields turned to houses. Houses turned into overgrown parks, and then the stores and nameless business buildings appeared, all huddled together, joined by small streets lined with rusting cars. Here should be good.
     I turn toward the closest store to me. A tiny supermarket. Maybe I'll be able to stock up on some food here. The glass sliding doors had already been pried apart, just enough for a person to squeeze through. I take my bag off to slide through, air hitting the wet spot on my back and cooling the dampness in the process. The musty smell was overwhelming. Fresh food that had long since rotten away left black goo stains in the dead fridges and fruit shelves. The perishable foods still stocked on shelves, collecting dust. But, the canned food aisle was barren.
     "Damnit." I mutter to myself. There's got to be another store around here with some food left. I guess someone lives near here. Or rather, lived, maybe. Striding toward the back, I feel the beads of sweat on my skin cool slowly as the temperature of the cement building cooled my entire body. Definitely a bad idea to travel out in the middle of summer. I dropped my bag with a small thud and dropped down next to it, the cold tiled floor causing a sigh to leave my lips. For about a minute, I rummage through my tightly packed bag. I then feast on a single can of baked beans. Mmm.. delicious.
     I've probably thought this a few hundred times but, it was all so strange. The middle of the day and not a single soul inside this supermarket. Well, other than myself. It was like a dream, an eerie reflection of the world that's missing a few puzzle pieces. Everything was so still, almost laying dormant.
     As much as I enjoyed the new quiet, it still left an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.
     The only sound that could be heard was my spoon scraping the inside of the can. But something else caught my attention and I froze my movement. Halting my breathing for just a moment. My heart starts to race when I still hear breathing. Heavy snorts, wet sniffs, thick claws on pavement. Shit.
     With the most care I've ever had, I lower the empty can onto the floor, cringing at the tink sound it made when it hit the tiles. The sniffing grew more aggressive. There was a thud, then the sound of the glass doors shaking as something tried to squeeze through. My hands find their way to the gun on my thigh as the thing managed to bust through, the doors screeching as they slid open further. I draw the gun and cock it with a click. A growl rumbled at the front of the store. Aiming at the end of the aisle ahead of me, I stare down, waiting for anything to move into range.
     What feels like an eternity passes before a wiggling snout pokes around the corner of the aisle. Bracing my finger on the trigger, it emerges further. Thick drool poured from its wide mouth, glistening and pooling on the ground where it walked. Sharp teeth peaked as its lip drew back into a snarl. That's when I saw it's beady black eye on me.
     It lunged and the bang shook through the store, a ting echoing as the shelves shook. It lowered its head and pawed at its ear. There was a hole in the flesh. I fucking missed. Before I could take another shot, an arrow shot right through the beasts eye, it's bulking body going limp. My heart thundered in my ears.
     Shattered glass crunched, then battered combat boots stepped out into the aisle. My eyes trailed up pale legs and darted to her face. Dark eyes burned holes into my head.
     "Lower that damn gun." She ordered and I obeyed, stashing it back in its holster. Her dark blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, the strands falling over her shoulder as she bent down and grabbed the arrow that was lodged in the creatures skull. I wanted to ask what she was doing but then she pulled it out. The eyeball had come out with it and she gagged, turning her head away from it. I almost gagged with her, seeing it speared like that.
     "Uhm, hi," I sputter awkwardly.
     "Shut up." She placed her bow on the ground and snatched a towel from the kitchen aisle, cleaning off her arrow, then shoving it back in the quiver strapped to her left leg.
     "I'm guessing manners isn't your thing?"
     "Keep quiet." She hissed, scooping back up her bow and storming past me, searching around frantically. I'm hit with a strong scent of citrus.
     I start rising to my feet. "It's dead, you killed it. You can calm down a bit." She found a door and shook the handle but it didn't budge so she stepped back and kicked it open with a bang. "What the hell?" I gasp. "Are you trying to get us killed?"
     "What about shut up do you not understand?" She grabbed my bag off the floor and threw it into the staff only room. "Get in."
     "Don't touch my stuff."
     "Get in." She said in a more warning tone. I don't move immediately so she draws a machete I hadn't noticed and points it toward me.
     "What the fuck?!" I exclaim, reaching for my gun.
     "Nuh uh," She swoops behind me and pushes me toward the door. "Get in before you get us both killed."
     "What is wrong with you?"
     "You currently." Pushing me all the way in, she shucks off her bag and pulls out a glass bottle full of a yellow liquid. Uncorking it, she strutted back up the aisles. I catch a glimpse of her dowsing all of the entrance with the liquid. She then darted back toward me and I flinched back when she came near the door. Opposite to how she treated the door before, she gently shut it and stuck a chair beneath the doorknob. I went to reach for my gun again but she caught me, staring me down with a glare.
     "Don't make this worse than you already have." She spat.
     "Why have you locked me back here?" I forcefully ask, shocked when her hand lurched out and gripped my face, palm covering my mouth.
     "Stop being a stubborn little bitch and shut the fuck up." She angrily whispered. I went to protest but her fingers dug into my cheeks, locking my jaw in place, nails biting my skin. "Shh." She had brought my face close enough to hers that I could now see the freckles sprinkled across her face, and the deep brown colour of her eyes. She had a nose piercing too. A small black ring on the left side of her nose. And that citrus smell. It was bitter at first but close up, it smelled sweeter, enough to make my mouth water.
     Her nose suddenly crinkled and a look of disgust crossed her face. She covered her nose with her other arm. I felt my face heat up when I realized it was because of me. I stank, bad.
     Her head snapped toward the door. Then I heard it too. Several panting creatures running and growling, sniffing and barking. It was all muffled and distant. It had to be outside the store. How many are out there?
     We waited and listened for minutes, hearing slobbering sneezes and annoyed huffs. More minutes passed before the sounds disappeared, and then a few more minutes of silence before her hand dropped from my face. She glanced at her palm and wiped it on her shorts.
     "We should wait here a little longer to be sure they're gone." She whispered, stepping away from me.
     "I'm guessing they were the reason you were telling me to shut up?" I mimic her voice level and rub the spots on my cheeks where her nails had dug in.
     "Exactly." She says with a huff, sitting on the ground and leaning back on the wall. I do the same, dragging my bag closer to me. "What were you doing waving that gun around?" She asks me.
     "Self defence." I was a little confused by the question. Shouldn't that be obvious? She scoffs.
     "That's a damn dinner bell to those fuckers," She pointed toward the door.
     "What do you mean?"
     "Once that shot rings out, anything within earshot will come running to get their next meal. And sure, it'll help you mow through most of the hoard, but once you run out of bullets, they won't give you the chance to reload." She explained. No wonder she looked so pissed at me.
     "So, that's why you're using a bow?" I eye the weapon leaning against her backpack.
     "They're quieter. Plus, reusable ammo." She gestures to the arrows.
     "I guess I should probably thank you, huh?" I manage an awkward and rather embarrassed smile.
     "Damn right you do."
     "Thank you."
     "You're welcome." She nodded her head. "So, what's an idiot like you doing out in the wild?"
     "Ouch."
     "Accurate description." She smirks, repacking her stuff and putting everything in it's place, including the glass bottle she had half emptied. "I'm assuming you're not on a supply run since there is no one else with you and there aren't any colonies or survivor shelters around here."
     "What's in the bottle?" I ask before the question slips my mind.
     "Lemon juice," She says. "They hate the smell and taste." That explains the citrus smell. "Answer my question."
     "You're right. I'm going off on my own." I admit.
     "Taking the world on by storm, huh?" She raises a brow.
     "You could say that," I wipe my palms on my pants.
     "Left a colony?"
     "Yep. We were housed in a shopping mall."
     "So," She scoffed again. "You left your safe colony to go.. where?"
     "I'll find a place." She covered her mouth with her hand to hold back her snickers. I could feel my face heat up again.
     "You really are an idiot."
     "Look, I don't expect you to understand." I snap. "I needed to get out of there."
     "Alright, I believe you," She raises her hands in surrender. "Still could've planned a little further ahead."
     "Do you live in a colony near here?" I swerve the conversation.
     "Nope. I'm a loner in a bunker."
     "Bunker? Were you rich or something?" Only the wealthy had bunkers built.
     "Pfft- no, quite the opposite." She laughed. "I stole it off a bunch of old guys."
     "You stole it?" My eyes widened.
     "It's not as bad as it sounds! They were already dead. So really, it was simply finders keepers." She shrugged. I stared at her and the corner of her mouth twitched, something crossing over her face. "You know what, I actually guessed their passcode first try and slit their throats in their sleep."
     "Ha ha, funny." She seems like the sarcastic type, and she is. She smiles with satisfaction.
     "You're gonna get killed out there tonight, especially since you have no place in mind to safely stow away and your only weapon - I'm assuming - is a beacon to all that wants to kill you," She states the obvious, punching my ego in the gut a couple times. "So, you're welcome to stay the night at my bunker."
     "You don't even know me."
     "You try anything," She runs the blunt edge of the machete across her neck and sticks out her tongue.
     "You're just a bit insane, aren't you?"
     "I wouldn't be surprised." She sheaths the blade and silently waits for my answer.
     I told myself I'd do this on my own. Make my own way out here. But, this girl makes some valid points about me and my plan. I am severely under prepared for the real thing, even though I thought a gun would be enough. Apparently it's actually my downfall. I don't know enough about these creatures, she clearly does. I should be smart about this. Shuffling forward, I reach my hand out to her.
     "My name's Asher."
     "I'm Emma." She responds. "Don't take this personally but I kinda don't wanna shake your hand."
     "Yeah, I got quite sweaty on my walk here." I pull my hand back and chuckle.
     "The smell was the first indicator." Emma wriggled her nose in disgust.