Bionica: The War

The Girl in Ohio

"Keep your knees high, cupcakes!"

The voice of Master Sergeant MacKenzie rang across the field as troops conducted their daily workouts. Corporal Hunt was among them, his knees higher than he thought was humanly possible. Then again, he wasn't really human, was he? Pushed from day one, Thomas had trained to be the best and the brightest of the corps. Whatever sort of regimen General Mereb had him on, it was working. While the soldiers across the field from him faltered while MacKenzie wasn't looking, he kept going the entire time. And his commanding officers were noticing.

"C'mon, keep it going! My grandma has more life in her than you saps do!" MacKenzie was starting to get a bit annoying by now, even Thomas would admit. He continued with the move, over and over again, until he saw Mereb walking towards them out of the corner of his eye. There was another man walking by him that Thomas didn't recognize. Mereb went and whispered into MacKenzie's ear. The drill sergeant turned back to the troops. "Break!"

Scores of soldiers dropped to the ground in anguish. Thomas rested his hands above his knees and caught his breath before MacKenzie started yelling again. "Hunt! You're wanted with the General!"

"Yes, Sergeant," said Thomas, and went to join Mereb.

The General put his arm around Thomas's shoulders. "Come with me to your barracks, Corporal," he said. They walked up to the barracks and talked at the same time. "This is the boy I got to do that assassin's job after we overtook the Haitian government a year ago."

"Is there a problem, General?" asked Thomas.

"Problem?" scoffed Mereb. "Far from it! Corporal, do you know who this is?" The man was still unfamiliar. Thomas shook his head. "This is President Zosur Stone. He's assembling a strike force for a campaign in Cleveland."

"All due respect, what could you possibly want in Ohio?"

President Stone turned to Thomas. "Are you aware of the efforts of Cassius Tronyx to seize power?" he asked. Thomas nodded; Tronyx had been in the news at least every week for about three months. "My sources say he and his supporters plan to march on my headquarters there in two weeks' time. I need a way to keep them in check. What I was hoping to gain from this visit is a group of elite soldiers trained to prevent a storming of the bunker. But it seems I'll be getting less than I bargained for. Mereb says you're the best in your battalion. What are you, eleven years old?"

Thomas was a bit hurt. "I'm fourteen, sir. But I've been training under General Mereb since I was six, sir."

"Six?" The president looked shocked. "Very well. Take me to your barracks."

They walked the rest of the way in silence. When they finally got there, President Stone looked around at the mediocre cleaning jobs most of the soldiers had done. One bunk, however, was dustless, its mattress and blankets perfectly folded. The president nodded. "And I assume this is yours, Corporal?" Thomas nodded. "Excellent work. If you fight like you clean up, I may not need anyone else." He turned to Mereb. "General, I would like to see him in action. Assign him to the team."

_______

Thomas stood outside a white building in Ohio with several other men, all at least five years older than he. While Stone was at the military base, Mereb had taken Thomas into a simulation room and coded a combat sequence. Thomas had passed the test with flying colors, and Stone had been convinced that he was the man for the job. So there he was, in a seemingly pointless corner of the country, trying to keep these people from storming the building.

A crowd was beginning to form outside the verandah. They didn't look vicious, but neither did they look happy. They stared up at the soldiers with hatred behind their eyes. Dawn broke and the crowd easily numbered a thousand. What good will fifty men do? Thomas thought.

The space fell silent. No cars rumbled, no children cried, no one so much as breathed. Then someone whistled.

And all hell broke loose.

Waves of people rushed towards the door. Thomas raised his acrylic shield, and he could see the faces and bodies pressed up against it. He heard Stone's voice over the piece in his ear: "Open fire!"

From the balcony, Thomas heard the sounds of gunfire. Scores of rebels dropped to the ground, silent. Thomas was horrified. This was not something he had planned on witnessing. In his confusion, someone knocked his shield away and he was left to fend for himself. He went into autopilot mode, punching and kicking at citizens who tried to come his way. Just as he was getting tired, he heard a twelve-gauge shotgun being cocked from the crowd. He heard the explosion.

And pain ripped through his chest.

He could feel the large pellets that had embedded themselves in his chest. Buckshot. It hurt so much. The edges of his vision began to tint with red and his hearing began to muffle. But he thought he could hear a girl's voice in the distance.

"Jackson, stay here," she said. "I'm going to help him." He heard nothing else until he saw a girl kneeling over him. Covering her body were tattered clothes: an old sweater, faded jeans, boots a size too big, and a thin jacket. She had long, dark brown hair tied back in a braid, and her blue eyes were the most beautiful he had ever seen. Of course, that might've been the delirium setting in, but he couldn't focus on anything else. She picked him up, her left forearm in the bend of his knees and her right supporting his shoulders. She looks strong for her size, Thomas noted.

"Help!" she shouted to no one in particular. "Help him, he's hurt!" She looked around in a panic, then began to run away from the battle. She set him down on the grass, looked at his dog tags, and ran off.

_______

Ruby ran as fast as her legs could carry her, back towards the riot. She had to tell someone about the boy; he was too young to die. She got back on the scene and looked for someone to help her. She finally settled on a soldier who was opening fire on the rebels.

She ran up to him and began to tug on his arm. "Please, sir, you have to help me!"

The man looked at her, a polarized visor shielding his face, and slapped Ruby's cheek. "Get away, girl!"

Ruby got up, persistent as ever. "I need help, sir! One of your comrades was shot! His name's Thomas Hunt, and he's only about my age!"

She had the man's attention. He turned from the battle and looked at her. "Bring him to me."

_______

When the girl didn't come back, Thomas began to reflect on his life. Most of it, he realized, had been spent in training. He regretted it now. He heard footsteps in the grass and thought it was his guardian angel, coming to take him to a better place.

But it was the girl.

She picked him up again and brought him back to the battle scene, where Sergeant MacKenzie took him from her. He nodded as the girl ran off, grabbing a little boy's hand as she went.

And that was when he blacked out.

_______

When Thomas woke up, he was in a hospital bed. There was no more fighting. Here he was safe. The sheets were soft against his skin, and the pillow was cushy under his head. Nothing could go wrong here.

There was a man sitting in a chair in the corner. Thomas was sure he recognized him, but couldn't put a name to the face. When the man saw that he was awake, he walked towards the bed. "Corporal Thomas Hunt?"

Thomas nodded.

"As you may know," the man started, "my name is Icharus Steele, head of Steele Laboratories. I just wanted to let you know that you were shot in the chest, with pellets embedded deep inside. It took the surgeons ages to get them all out. But anyway, I wanted to tell you about the procedure that was conducted. At Steele Laboratories, we've discovered a way to create fully functional, aesthetically-pleasing prosthetic limbs for those injured in battle and the like. So, with permission from General Mereb, we've managed to build you a new chest. Your left lung and the two left hand chambers of your heart are now automated, as well as a few arteries and bones here and there. I do hope you find it acceptable."

Frantically, Thomas touched his chest, hoping to find a heartbeat.

All he found was cold metal.