Chasing you Around the Docks (GXG)

Fuck Robots

"Flair!" Shiloh runs up to me with a frustrated look on her face.
"Yes Shi-Shi?" I ask with a grin while swinging around a pole to face her.
"That wasn't Fair! You can use jump-boots while racing!" Shiloh shoves me back as I laugh.
"Another rule? Alright I'll add it."

I pull out my notebook and flip over to the 'Docks Racing Rules' section.
"Rule 137, no jump-boots." I scribble it down then close my notebook dramatically with one hand.
"Well there wouldn't be so many rules if you didn't cheat so much!" Shiloh pushes me back again and I laugh once more.
"How am I supposed to know what's cheating and what's not if it's not in the book?" I laugh as I launch myself up onto one of the floating docks near the ruins.

The wastelanders like you use the docks to tie up their flying ships. Me and Shiloh practically live there along with Kit and Jett.

"Get down here Flair!" Shiloh calls to me as she starts climbing up the old ruin. The bricks crumble as she struggles.
"Aww, having a hard time?" I tease her.

Shiloh grumbles for a moment but then a grin appears on her face, I can't help but wonder what goes on in her head, endless ideas and inventions no doubt.

Shiloh reaches into her bag and pulls out a grappling hook.
"Shit!" I turn away but she catches my foot and I go flying down towards her.

I crash into her and we go tumbling down the ruins laughing.

We finally stop rolling and I lift myself up so I am hovering over her. She's still smiling and giggling as her platinum blonde braid lays across the cracked road.

I smile too and take a moment to look at her, how can anyone be so perfect?

"Get off me!" She laughs and shoves me aside as I start laughing too.

I stand up and start brushing off my clothing when I hear a distant yelling getting closer. Suddenly Jett thumps down in the ground with a smoking back.

Jett is the most stupid genius anyone will ever meet. He can invent anything but he never thinks before doing.

"Whew, that didn't work." Jett stands up and takes off his smoking backpack. Jett has dark brown hair and he's a little pudgy. He is only a little younger than us at 17 and he likes to dress himself in clocks and gadgets to the point where one could guess the only reason he wears cloths is completely for function.

"What even is that?" Shiloh kicks his back pack of crap.
"I call it the jet-pack!" Jett says excitedly.

I snort laugh and Shiloh lets out a giggle.
"What?" Jett whines while adjusting his goggles.
"You named it after yourself?" Shiloh giggles again.
"No!" Jett jumps up and down in frustration, "it's a backpack with jets! It's supposed to help you fly!" He turns to me hoping I will understand.

Before I can answer Kit seems to appear out of thin air behind me.
"Sup losers." She walks by me and I nearly jump.
"How do you keep doing that?" I say while trying to keep my cool.
"Doing what?" Kit looks turns around with a smug look laughing while still walking backwards towards Jett.

Kit has always been the coolest one in the group. Somehow she always finds tires and chains to make her outfits out off and she won't tell us where she finds them. She has dark skin and her hair is a half shaved curly mohawk that she pulls off nicely.

Kit turns back around and puts an arm around Jett.
"Whatcha got there J?" She asks him.
"I call it the jet-pack, it's supposed to help you fly." He explains.

I feel gloved hands wrap around my waist and a head on my shoulder and I know it's Shiloh.
"Race ya to the big dock," She whispers in my ear, "no boots this time." She giggles.
"It's on," I say turning off the jump setting in my boots.

"3...2-" she runs off before getting to one, which is against the rule book SHE had me make but I don't have time to argue about that now. I bolt after her as she climbs ruins and broken buildings to the big dock.

"Guys wait up!" Jett yells while jogging after us. Kit stands back and laughs.

"Give it up Flair! You'll never be as fast as me!" Shiloh calls from ahead.
"Shut up Shiloh!" I yell out of breath.

Of course, Shiloh makes it to the top first. Damnit!
"Shiloh! You ran off before you go to three!" I yell as if it would have made a difference. But Shiloh is frozen there, "Shi-Shi?" I call out to her as I get to the top.

She stays frozen, staring at something towards the back of the dock. I walk over to her and trace her vision down to a dark corner.

There is something moving. I squint my eyes trying to get a better view and see that it's a robot. Metal exterior with wires coming out of what's supposed to be it's torso.

I grab Shiloh's arm and watch it as it uses its front half to climb onto the dock. It's head slowly turns to us as it getting onto the dock and is starts crawling towards us fast.

"Fuck robots!" Kit jumps out from nowhere behind it and smashes it with a machete. The sound of its battery lowering rings throughout the alley.

"What-... what's... what's happening." Jett finally climbs up onto the dock completely out of breath and sees the robot.
"Woah..." he says nervously.

I didn't realize how tight my grip of Shiloh's arm was until then. I loosen my grip and look at her to make sure she's okay. She is still, not making a noise. The only indication that she is alive is her soft breathing.

Shiloh doesn't look like anyone else I've ever met. Unlike the rest of us with dark hair, she has platinum blonde hair in one braid down her head to her back but the roots have started to turn black. She has these gray eyes that captivate me to this day. She has a smile that makes anyone feel like everything's okay no matter the situation. She's just... perfect.

"Shi-Shi?" I whisper cautiously. This isn't the first bad run in she's had with robots. No one knows where they come from and apparently they are the ones that ended civilization.

Shiloh turns to me and forces a weak smile.
"I'm okay Flair." She says in a soft soothing voice attempting to assure me, but I don't believe her.
"We should get out of here." Kit says pointing to a giant flying ship coming for the dock.

Me and Jett turn on our jump boots, Shiloh takes out her grappling hook, and Kit backs away into the shadows.

We all make our way off the docks and back onto the ground, Jett nearly fell off the edge but Shiloh uses her grappling hook to snag him last second.

All still a little spooked by the robot we decided we would go back to our homes and see each other around.

Kit was already gone somewhere and Jett starts walking the opposite direction of me and Shiloh.

~

I watch Shiloh sit and tinker with her grappling hook.
"I know you're staring at me." She says without looking up. I don't say anything, "I told you I'm fine." She looks up and smiles at me. I roll over in the bed and face away too stop bothering her.

I hear her get up and get into the bed so I move over. I roll onto my back and stare at the cloth ceiling. Our home is a small broken down building with cloths to substitute for the broke walls.

Shiloh takes my hand and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. She does it every night and every time I let out that breath. She makes me feel safe, she makes me feel like I can protect her and she will protect me.

I don't know what I would do without Shiloh.