SOJOURNER (III): tmr gally

51: I should avenge

Michelle 51

"Michelle, let's go," Doug pleads.

I ignore him, hitting bulb after bulb. My clothes are beginning to soak through my skin and down to my bones. Lightning cracks down around us. The few bots that are left standing are making their way closer to me, slowly. There's only ten of them, but that's too many for me to handle on my own.

I've got to kill this one. Really, I do. I've got to stab at it until all its bulbs break. Until it is lying on the ground, its cold metal next to Rose's dead body.

I know that somewhere inside this thing, there is a camera and a control system. I want to hit it until it dies. I want WICKED to know that it can't shuck around with me anymore. Not after Dave, not after Gally, not now, not ever again. Someone will see me, in this lightning storm, topple a monstrous creature. Then, they will know they can't mess with me.

The bot swipes at me, so I duck, rolling away.

Doug manages to hit the bot that has been attacking him one last time. It goes dark, falling to the ground. "Michelle."

I am not going to leave the thing that killed Rose to walk around. I'll let it kill me first.

I roll on to my front, pulling myself off the ground. The bot reaches for me again. It scratches my arm with its nails, and I recoil in pain. Adrenaline keeps me going though. Adrenaline won't let me think about the ache in my arm. If I don't want it, then it isn't there. I am in control of my body and my mind. Pain only exists if I think about it.

The bot has a few small lights, flickering. Lightning strikes down, smashing into the coffin Leo and Dawn hide in. Klunk. I hear a scream, but I don't go to check for them. Running to them won't bring them back to life. If they are dead now, I can't save them.

It's odd, how I can feel the rain becoming my tears.

Finally, Doug leaves me. He runs to the small coffin behind me, but I don't watch him enter. Instead, I face the bot alone.

It lurches for me, and as I move away my boots slip in the mud. My back hits the ground, the wind knocked out of me. Though the bot is barely able to move, with only one bulb left, it manages to crawl over top of me. It kicks me and the cut slashes my calve, and I feel a guttural roar escape my throat.

A knife clangs into the back of the monster's head. It turns away from me to stare at Doug. I try my best to pull myself to my feet, but my blood gushes out of my leg. As I stumble forward, I watch the bot's arm collide with Doug's stomach and send him flying into the ground.

Then, the bot turns to me. I manage to swing my hammer behind me and I smash open the bulb. The bot's knees click. It crashes to the ground in one swift movement. Shucking finally.

I turn away from the beast, wiping sweat off my forehead. Thunder cracks down, hitting its metallic body. Klunk. We've got to go.

With all my weight on one foot, I grab Doug under both of his armpits and lift him out of the mud. He groans in pain, but I ignore his mutterings. Slowly, I pull his body over towards the metal coffin where Leo and Dawn are hiding. Doug is a lot heavier than I thought. Klunk, it must've hit him in the leg badly. Probably shucked it up. Maybe as bad as mine. Maybe mine will get that bad.

I rip the coffin open, choosing not to look over at Leo and Dawn. I would rather find out they are dead after I'm hidden safely, so that I don't change my mind about climbing into this thing. I'll die if I don't.