The Human Inside

Chapter 8

Los Angeles Rural District Fourteen

    "Help us! Help! We're trapped in here!"

    Listening to the cries, a U.S. soldier crawled his way through the remains of a bombed out home. He made it to a door which appeared to be stuck and hammered on the surface loudly.

    "This is the U.S. Military! I'm trying to break through!" he shouted as loud as he could but then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw his bracelet light up.

    "Move!"

    A voice from his bracelet instantly projected an order. The soldier turned around and moved out of the way just in time to see an amborg punch through the door. The door stayed in place but the amborg's arm had punched a hole through. He retracted his arm and the door was ripped back out.

    At that moment, explosions outside of the building shook the building. The ground shook really hard and the soldier was knocked off his feet. As he struggled to pick himself up, the amborg extended its hand to him.

    "Get up soldier," he said through the soldier's bracelet a second time. "We need to get inside."

    Not questioning the command, the soldier immediately grabbed the hand but then was instantly tossed into the air and felt himself flying through the destroyed door.

    "Oof!" he exclaimed when he hit the ground.

    He looked up and then realized he had landed next to a group of children. They all stared at him in bewilderment and were suddenly at a loss for words. The man noticed their frightened expressions, grinned and tried to get on his knees.

    "Cavalry's here kids," he stated as positively as he could and tried to ignore the pain emanating from what he had landed on.

    At that moment, the amborg jumped inside with them and sat down. He was carrying something long and he placed it in his lap. The soldier then turned to see which amborg it was. It was hard to read the number on his jacket in the dust so he looked down to see what they had brought. His stomach lurched when he realized what it was.

    "What?" the amborg asked casually and was shrugging. "You never saw a detached leg before? It looks more painful than it actually is. We still need to be positive for the kids so keep smiling."

    "Pardon me for staring," the soldier replied. He looked casually over to the kids and gave them a thumbs up as well as a forced smile. "Everything's ok kids!"

    "I said be positive," the amborg said impatiently. "Don't force it or they will instantly realize you are psychologically manipulating them and it is statistically not healthy for the development of children. Let it flow naturally."

    Annoyed, the soldier turned his back on the kids and frowned at their one-legged savior.

    "Flow naturally?" he whispered in a tense voice, "Have you seen the immediate surroundings? It isn't psychological manipulation when we're in the middle of a warzone! It's only a lie when you say out loud that it is..."

    "No one's perfect," the amborg said holding up his leg above his head.

    For a minute, the soldier thought that the amborg was going to attack but then his bracelet flashed again.

    "Hey kids!" he said cheerfully, "Want to see the leg of an amborg? Don't be concerned. The bad guys and I just had a disagreement and they tried to steal my leg but I got it back."