MotherLand

Chrome

Chrome- Short story

She weaved hurriedly through the dense forest. Her hair flowed like fire behind her, leaving a trail of flames. The wind and rain howled threateningly through the tree causing the leaves around her to rustle and the branches to sway, as if reaching for her. With each flash of lightning that split the sky, her vision turned stark white, but was replaced with images of blood, dancing and horrors. She could hear the singing, chanting and rough timed beating of the drums. Calling. Yet forcing her to run. She could feel the drummers beating her own heart to the same ragged rhythm. Hear the chanting ringing her ears. And feel the sting of the blade still on her flesh. With every crack of thunder, memories of the steel-tipped whip danced across her back. The rain barely able to drown out the memories of her comrades agonizing screeches, their pleads, their silent weeps. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop the tears and cast out the memories.

With every landing of her footing the ground sunk further as it was soaked with rain. The dirt became mud in an instant, making it harder for her to run. With another flash and crackle of lightning, she slammed to the ground. The closeness of the strike had caused her to misjudge the fallen log that she leaped, slicing her shin on one of the off shooting branches. The ground that she had fallen on was bogged with water making it muddy, sticky but soft. As she sat up the ice cold rain continued to beat down on her, causing her wounds to sting. Now that she wasn't moving she could feel the damage of her wounds, feel the blood weeping and staining the ground. Warm tears leaked from her eyes, not from the physical pain but from the emotional pain that she was feeling. She hugged her legs close to her chest as she wept for her fallen comrades, replaying their tragic tale again.

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100,000 years have passed since the most elite of the Homo Sapiens species has left earth and lived a fully sustainable life in spacecraft, SS Halo. Every 100 years our highly esteemed scientists choose our most brave, strongest and intelligent subjects DNA, to create beings who were designed to return to earth to discover if it is re-inhabitable. Many of these subjects never return...

The shuttle shook with the resistance of the atmosphere, the outside metal glowing red and making popping sounds in places. Chrome looked back to the screen on the far wall, it still displayed the information about the Re-Earth project. Never return... The words sent chills down her spin, everything about the choosing ceremony made her sick. It was by pure accident that she was chosen. Chrome leaned her head back, thumping it against the cool metal wall, and covered her face with calloused hands. She hadn't been trained for this. She should have just stayed in her station instead of sneaking out to watch the ceremony.

The shuttle shook violently but it only seemed to bother Chrome. Her other 'comrades' were all very serious and stoic about the matter, taking every shudder with approval. The man sitting across from her was a typical brute type, shaved head, tattoos and piercings for menace, all he knew was fighting. The smaller man to his left was also a bred fighter, short styled white-blonde hair, a 5 o'clock shadow growing and eyes the colour of stars, but was leaner, probably more of a weapons guy and definitely genetically modified. The pilot was also a big, brutish man, with long purple-black hair, tanned skin, eyes as blue as the Earth's oceans.

Chrome caught sight of her distorted appearance in the reflective metal wall. Her fire red hair and different coloured eyes, one red and one lavender, along with her copper skin, gave away her experimental genetic modification. She was a blemish of the experiments. Defective. Abomination. She had originally been bred to be one of these 'super-humans', as they were dubbed, but was born a girl, something had changed in her coding that caused this, although no-one knew what. She was discarded by her family and adopted by the scientist, where she learnt, grew and secretly trained, to defend herself on the SS Halo.

But she had never wanted this. To go to Earth; it was a death sentence.

She was pulled from her thoughts by a red light flashing and the men cheering and 'woo-ing'. She fearfully looked out the front screen and saw the fast approaching blue of water. Upon impact with the water's surface, Chrome screamed as the windscreen shattered and luke-warm water gurgled to fill the air space. She managed the deepest breath she could before opening her eyes, to see two of her companions swimming to the surface, the bald one and the pilot. The third had passed out on impact and tangled himself in his chair. Chrome unbuckled herself and glided to him. The buckle was jammed and refused to come loose. Chrome had to act fast and found the closest sharp object that she could. A piece of metal had come loose off the nearby wall. Closing her hands around it, she yanked, slicing her hands in the process, blood swirled around her, but she yanked again, slicing deeper. With a final sharp yank the piece came free. With her hands stinging, she sliced the seat-belt, freeing her companion, and swam with him to the surface.

She had never been more thankful for oxygen, when she breached the water. Tugging the man onto the shore, she immediately started CPR, while her other companions looked on. Chrome glanced up at them, they stared down at her with distaste but looked with curiosity at what she was doing. After doing the chest compressions Chrome knew that she had to force air into the man's lungs, she tsked at the thought of technically kissing him. She went for it, 'Saving someone's life is more important than one's own morals', it is something that she had always been told and what she lived by. After the second breath, the man began to splutter and cough up the water, she rolled him on his side and sat back, taking gulping breaths. She looked at the men before her and noticed that their posture towards her had changed. She laid back in the sandy-dirt and sighed, covering her face with her hands, knowing that now they would all get along. Somewhat.

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The far off howls of mutts forced Chrome to the present. She scurried to stand but repeatedly slipped in the mud. The rain had lightened, and thunder rumbled in the distance. Chrome grabbed at the fallen trunk to steady herself, using it to support her weight. The howls of the tribe's hounds were closer now, the shouts and yells of the...creatures...were closer. Chrome's body shook with panicked breaths, her hair was matted with mud and her body sore. Fear clouded her eyes. She knew that she wouldn't be able to run for much longer. Forcing away the tears, a new resolve came over her. She would die on her own terms, not by radioactive-mutated...things.

Chrome used her new found resolve to push off the trunk and run. Letting her legs take her. Following her mantra. Left. Right. Jump. Slide. Using the wetness that the rain had left to aid her escape.

Coming to this planet had given her a place to belong, people who accepted and needed her. She thought that she didn't like her comrades but now she knows that she really did. They became her friends. She knew because she missed them. Left. Right. Jump. Slide. As Chrome ran she thought about the few months that they had spent together. What they had learned from each other and about each other. Left. Right. Jump. Stop.

The ground before her disappeared. In place was a cliff. Not just a cliff. A waterfall. Looking gingerly over the edge Chrome felt her stomach drop. The drop was too far to see the bottom. The screams of the things were louder now. They were almost upon her. Time slowed for a moment. And she was back in the cell, chained. Her friends had suffered. Their corpses too horrifying to look at. Looking down at one of her comrade's faces, a silent scream plastered on his face, was sharply replaced by one of the creatures. Chrome took a step back. The thing was bony, ghastly pale green and its skin sagged. Their outfits were crudely made from leather and fur. Weapons of bone and flint adorned their waists. The Elder creature took a step forward, causing Chrome to shuffle back, nearly falling off.

The creature let out a strangled voice, from a dry lipped and sharp toothed mouth. "Cooomme baaack!"

The struggle in its voice made Chrome queasy. The thing started to reach for her. A million questions flew through her mind. Did they want her alive so they could kill her? Why did they chase her? How far is the drop? As she was thinking, her body took an involuntary step back. And she plummeted. The elder swiped to stop her from falling and other creatures raced forward to reach for her.

But Chrome was too far gone.

Not accepting her fate of never knowing her answers, she changed her fall into a dive. Praying that there was water at the bottom. The rush of adrenaline had worn off and fatigue took over her body. The only thing she heard was the rush of water and a collective scream of the creatures. Feeling droplets of rain and water on her skin, before she blacked out.

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