Advanced Clockwork: Young Writers Prize 2014

Chapter 18

As soon as the elevator doors closed she slipped on her jacket, making sure it covered her arm as she put on a glove to cover her hand. Gig never liked gloves, but she was going to need one if she was going to walk around down here with all the salvaged people walking around. And even if she was a leader, she could still get mugged if she looked at someone the wrong way. These people down here had learned to survive, they didn't hesitate to kill anyone if it came to it. Hell, she wouldn't either if she watched her family being slaughtered for being different and then watch their homes get burned to the ground.

As soon as the doors opened, she didn't take the time to look around at the underground city of dirt and rubble. She ran fast and silently through the empty dirt streets as she made her way through to the safe house, making sure not to disrupt anyone in the mud based housing as she swooshed by like the whispering wind. She didn't jump from roof to roof like she normally would with the upper city streets cause she didn't want to end up hurting anyone should the clay break beneath her feet. That, and she would have some pretty pissed off people to deal with.

As soon as she got to the dark edge of the dirt city, she unlocked the rusted metal doors and stepped back as the dust settled in around her. She gazed in at the rusting copper and brass creations that waited within, just the four wolf and fox like creatures that stood in stillness as they waited for their time to awaken in use. Without taking the time to admire any of them like she would have in any other situation, Gig saddled up the mix-breed machine with ease and jumped on top of it. Trying to remember how to turn on the contraption, she pressed her palm to the flat surface between the shoulder blades with her mechanical hand and watched as blue light engulfed the machine beneath her in a blinding display.

The rusted copper creation roared to life like a fire given a spark , the fire growing and growing as it caught to the fuel it would need to survive. The gears began to turn, moaning in pain as the rust got in the way but they kept spinning till it all fell to the floor beneath them. The eyes of the large wolf-like creature glowed blue as the engine roared to life and a low growl emanated from behind the silver fangs and four ivory tusks. It lifted it's head, the green copper plating that covered up the inner workings clanking together just a little as it looked around and scanned the area like a hawk would to find it's pray. As it's tiger tail swished and it's wolf ears twitched, the green and copper clockwork creatur waited patiently in one spot as if it were waiting for a directive from the rider.

Gig looked between the clockwork animal and the futuristic technology on her arm, venturing to try something new as she placed the gauntlet to the back of the creature's neck. If she knew how the strange silver gauntlet worked, it would use take from her thoughts and get this whole adventure started. She closed her eyes, thought long an hard on the map that showed the way to Eve, and prayed that this was going to work.

The creature blinked a second, it's gears clicking and squeaking as it's eyes glowed even brighter blue. It's wolf paws scrapped the dirt underneath them as it walked quickly to the small storage hanger doors, not looking back at it's brothers and sister that waited in rust to awaken. It looked quickly around but took the fastest way to the world above without so much as a second's hesitation, the beast moving quietly into the escape tunnels and quickening it's pace. She watched as the darkness ahead was torn in half by the clockwork creature's glowing eyes, as if it were fallowing a path set out for it that would lead them straight to the creator of this fine machine.

The closer they came to the end of the tunnel, the faster they would go. Rider and creature, pressed low as they burst through the exit into the night that would greeted them with sharp bites of cold that stung Gig's skin. But the Wolger did not care for it, and as soon as they were out of the tunnel fully it took off at a fast pace across the sands as if it were the wind itself. Gig pressed herself down so that as she rode she would not be hit with cursed cold that flowed right over them as rider and steed took off into the dark desert before them.

Gig looked back at her home she had never left, looking up at the sky as a crackle of thunder shook the earth beneath her feet. The sky was a ugly green, the storm clouds seeming to give her it's menacing smile as she flew away from the acid storm's path. She felt sorry for the people of the city now, knowing that when that storm hit that the unlucky ones caught in it's acidic rain were going to wish they died at birth than go through that pain. She prayed that it would pass the city by, that the cyborgs and Samuel would not fallow after her and get caught in the acid's warpath. But it was too late to worry about it now.

As she turned her head to face forward, she watched as the world around them came to life. Creatures popped their heads out of the sand as they passed, big eyes staring at them in the darkness as they took in the sight of the strange creature and it's rider passing. She could not name any of them, but when she heard the howl of a snaggle-toothed wolf she willed the creation to move faster.

"This is going to be a long night." She whispered to the clockwork steed, petting it's stripped plating as they flew through the sands as if they had wings and were riding the air. "Hope you're not going to get homesick on me."

It purred at her, or something between a purr and a pant from the sound of it, as it looked back at her with it's blue eyes. She noticed as she stared into them that they were not just blue, but also a gorgeous gold color flecked with silver stars within them. It gave her a wolf-like smile and turned back forward, shooting off faster over the sand like a rocket. At this rate, they might actually reach Eve in time. In time for what, she did not know. There one only one thing on her mind, and that was simple and easy for even a simpleton to understand.

Save her friend.

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Samuel ran as quickly as he could to catch up with Gig, his breath ragged from running though the silent streets of the makeshift town. He did not know what she was going to do, but he knew that she was going to end up getting herself killed if she did this alone. As soon as he thought this, his heart started racing. He wouldn't loose the one thing that made all this fighting worth it in the end, he needed to keep her alive. He heard the roaring from the storage hanger and froze, the scratching of gears echoing around the small town like a siren.

Tired people looked out from their windows and looked around, trying to find the source of the noise that had woken them up. Two cyborgs ran up to Samuel, both ready with swords and a few riffles at the ready.

"What is going on?" The one with the replaced eye and robotic arms asked, looking around like he was trying to find an intruder. "What is that gods awful sound?"

"And where's Gig, she's usually first on the scene for weird crap like this!" The other asked, his two robotic legs squeaking as he walked from the rust that was growing in them. "Don't tell me she's still asleep!"

"Not this time." Samuel growled, looking up at the storage hanger just in time to see something walk out of it. "She's the cause of it."

"Scale of one to ten on this insanity?" The one with the eye asked hesitantly as they started quickly for the hanger. "Or is this the pigeon incident all over again?"

"Oh this is way off either scale." Samuel growled, their footsteps echoing off of the stone and mud streets as they came to the outer edge of the city. The two men behind him looked at each other with a little more than just fear in their features.

"Oh no." The other cyborg whispered, skidding to a stop as Samuel stopped before him. "Not good."

Samuel watched as the tiger tail of the Wolger disappeared stealthily through the emergency tunnels to the other side of the Delphium wall. Samuel growled angrily, turning to look at the two cyborgs behind him. "Either of you two ride?"

"Easily." One of the men nodded. "You need us to fallow her."

"Assist her if needed, but be careful." Samuel warned. "She's on a hunt." Both men looked at each other and gulped a little.

"Screwed?" One asked the other timidly. The other nodded hesitantly.

"Screwed."