Waiting for Amber Skyy

Chapter 29

Speck made sure of it too. She didn't like the fact that she could've missed the train, despite me clearly knowing she'd be fine. I knew basic physics. Her focus was more on tying my bandages tight around my waist. I winced as she pulled the last of the bandage and tucked it under. She then dug into her bag for antiseptic stuff to put on our cuts.

"What were those guys?" I asked, gently touching around the wound. Beads of sweat sat on my neck; I could still feel the pain in my side. But it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Not compared to being back there, and that's saying something.

"No idea," Speck mumbled, clearly trying to understand them. She dabbed stuff on her cuts. "They were robots, I could tell by the humming but-"

"They also looked like Erasers," I cut in.

"Yeah, but why would they need robots? It's not like they're running out," she wondered. I nodded. There were plenty of Erasers back where we came from. But they couldn't fly.

"Maybe they can only get robots to fly, and not the actual Erasers," I suggested.

She shook her head, "No, I've read about flying Erasers."

"What?" I blinked. "But none of them had wings back there."

"Not at that branch."

That branch. Of course, there were more, I forgot about that. There were even more kids out there like us. Mutants. My stomach twisted, only to make me wince in pain again. I touched my side. "Well if they're not at that branch," I asked, looking at her finishing up covering her cuts. "What branch are they from?"

"Let me check," she pulled out the laptop from my bag and started searching. I leaned back on the boxes in the car, feeling them shift a little under my shoulders. I let my wings relax, stretching them a bit before letting them drape over my arms. My ears twitched to the sound of the train horn blaring, which somewhat startled me. But we were taking this train pretty far; I had to get used to it.

"This train goes to Chicago, right?" she asked, sounding unsure.

"Yeah, why?" I wanted to lean forward to see what she had up, but the pain kept me from moving.

"Apparently Erasers are dying out, everywhere," her eyes widened at the screen. "They're getting rid of them." I wondered if that also meant Jacob, and I hoped that was the case. The thought of him made me cringe, and also want to kill him if I could. But it sounded like I didn't have to.

"They're replacing them with M22's, the new breed of robotic Erasers. They're easier to control, better in fighting, and easy to build," she rambled, the screen reflecting in her eyes. She scrolled down, clearly reading an article of some sort. "They originated from-" I saw her squint at the screen. "Germany?"

"Germany?" I echoed. "That's in Europe, how'd they get here?"

Her eyes widened a bit, "That's the headquarters." She turned the laptop towards me, which revealed a website for a company. It had pictures of their employees shaking hands, wearing hard hats, and smiling with little kids. There were also pictures of different factories and their products: sodas, diapers, you name it. My stomach churned at the big letters strewn across the top saying, "Welcome to ITex!"

"Oh my god-" I cupped my mouth. Now that I was seeing their products plastered on their site, I remembered. All of the products I grew up with as a kid had their symbol on it. On the bottoms of my sippy cups. On the tags of my clothes. It was everywhere. They owned everything. And experimenting on kids isn't enough? I felt anger boil up inside me the more the pictures cycled through: kids smiling at a tour, people advertising their clothes line, business people shaking hands- I slammed the laptop shut.

"Hey! I wasn't do-"

"What's wrong with them?" I shouted, quieting Speck instantly. "I mean, isn't owning like half the world enough? Why would they be experimenting on us? On kids? What the hell is wrong with them?" I forced myself to a stand, feeling a twinge in my side as Speck rose with me. I shooed her away, "Why do they do this?" I felt water in my eyes. "Why us? Why kids? Why-" My mouth wavered before I could say 'me' and I covered my face with my hand, trying to keep myself from crying.

Speck moved her hand to hold mine, "It's because they're sickos. Psychos. Whack jobs."

I shook, "But w-why-?"

She wrapped her skinny arms around me, making me wince so she loosened her grip, "I don't know. I don't know. But without them I wouldn't be alive." I paused my hiccupping at her words. She was right. Without them, she wouldn't even be here. I would've never known about her. Without her I would be living a normal life. Without them, she wouldn't even be a figment of their imagination.

I heard her sniff, "I wouldn't be here without them." How could I shut that down? How could she? She's living a life they made for her. Her life. A life she has no control over, until now.

I pulled her close to me, ignoring the shooting pain in my side. I could feel her body heave a bit and her tears reaching my clothes. Putting a hand on her head, I gave her a little kiss and petted her hair. "It's alright. You are the one, good thing that came from them. That's all that matters." That's all that matters. She was human, to an extent. Life is not something handed to you, it's a gift. And she was a gift. Out of the horrible, crude beings that emerged from that place, she was the sunshine of heaven. She broke through that barrier. Yeah, they made her, but that's not what matters. She's Speck. My Speck.

"Really?" she sniffed again. Oh geez, did I say that out loud?

She chuckled and my cheeks pinkened, "You're the best, Amber." She hugged me tightly, reminding me of the wound I had. But she didn't stop. I lightly laughed, so glad to have her here. I felt another twinge in my side and winced again.

"You're the best- ah- but could you let up a little? Please?" I tried to gently push her away.

She shook her head and rested her head against my chest, "Nope. This is what you get for almost letting me fall to my death."

"Hey you're the one who let go!" I retorted.

"You're the one who told me to!"

"Exactly!" I playfully smacked her hand and she gawked, a smile spreading on her face as she lunged at me with a playful shriek. I reached for her, tickling her as she tickled me. She shrieked and pushed me down, trying to wrestle for dominance. I laughed and battled back, all until we ended up on our backs giggling like long lost sisters.

Once that died down, she spoke up, "Amber?"

I turned my head to look at her, smiling eye to eye, "Yeah?"

"After we're done with this... finding your parents and all... will you remember me?"

I paused and thought of it. What does happen afterwards? Do I stay with them? I assumed yes but, will they even accept me for what I am? With everything? And do they even remember me? I doubted it. And what about Speck? I couldn't just leave her on her own.

"Of course not!" I sharply said, making her whip her head at me with pleading eyes. I grabbed her hand with mine, "You're staying with me, I'm not letting you go ever again."

She smiled, a tear welling up in her eye, "Like sisters?"

I smiled back, "Like family."