Chapter Three
Elise
Outside the abandoned city where my militia was stationed, there was a vast outstretch of desert. There were mountains, deep canyons, and strange crops of forestry throughout. It was the same area that I had found an abandoned mech in the day before.
I’d left the security of the hotel just after sunrise, making sure to do so in secrecy. I brought two laser pistols with me, a sackcloth in case I could find any game while I was out, and an emergency set of tools: hammer, screws, screwdriver, wrench, and even a battery charger. Anything that seemed like it could be useful for starting up an old piece of tech made its way into my pack.
The journey out into the desert took a handful of hours. Some militia bases still had access to hovercrafts and vehicles, but we certainly didn’t.
I traveled on foot, which was fine by me, as I loved the scenery of the desert.
As the day grew on, I removed my sweater and could already feel the heat starting up: the dry air that made my throat close up. I watched as mountain goats and foxes raced up the immense spires of red rock, kicking pebbles and stones down with hollow thuds as they made their ascent.
The desert towers made me nervous: made my hands sweat just by looking up at them. I wonder what could be on top that made them so worth climbing: made the animals choose life above ground to the lush green patches in the desert below.
I spotted the mech in a patch of forestry and let out a bubble of air.
“Well, hello there!” I cheered as I approached the burgundy and steel creature.
The robot had a round center and long, thin legs. I wasn’t used to seeing such a happy, friendly looking robot. It had mounted guns on its shoulders, and a beam weapon tucked in a compartment in the back end.
I climbed up the ladder on the back end of the unit and crawled into the tiny cockpit.
I worked at it for what felt like hours, charging up the mech and watching it power down again. After tinkering with it for a while, I decided to let it charge for the rest of the day before trying to start it up again.
The next thing I knew, I had dozed off and dusk was approaching. I jolted awake and pulled the mech’s wires from the charging station. I pulled the two levers to the right of the pilot’s chair, and the machine sprung to life, lighting up and making familiar beep-beep-boop noises as I shifted it into gear, ready to take my first steps.
My first steps in the machine, as it turned out, reminded me what a bad pilot I was, as the machine came quickly tumbling down: rusted and unsteady.
The robot came crashing down with such intensity that I screamed at the top of my lungs, gripping onto the seatbelt that was unbuckled across the pilot’s chair as my body was flung sideways and the battery pack came flying at my arm, surely bruising it.
My body flew sideways as the mech hit the ground, taking a few palm trees down with it.
“Holy shit,” I whispered and steadied myself, trying to get upright once more.
Then suddenly, I heard a groaning noise from underneath the mech.
I took a quick inhale of breath and tried to calm my pulse: my blood pressure shot from the sudden action. And then I heard it, a scream. More of a groan, really.
I grabbed the laser pistol from my holster, and I craned my neck to get a visual on the source of the noise.
Pushing the back door open, I crawled down the side of the machine’s leg and jumped to the ground below. I stayed crouched for some time, waiting to hear footsteps or any sounds of danger.
“Hello?” I asked, finally. Too unsettled by the silence to let it go on any longer, even to keep myself safe.
There was another groan and a struggle: a rustling from in front of the mech. I walked around with trepidation, and then I spotted it.
A Vithohn, trapped under a small tree that had fallen after the mech fell.
The creature was handsome and wild looking: pure sex. Tan skin with deep red tribal markings along his face. He has sharp angles and wide horns that stretched from his temples to back behind his head, then fell down into the limp spires that the Vithohn were so well known for. His eyes were as large and expressive as they were haunting and dangerous.
Of course, he would be a lot more frightening to me if he weren't subdued by the machine that had trapped him between a palm tree stump and the rocky ground beneath us.
I traipsed around the creature, and he watched me furtively.
“Whatcha doin’ there?” I asked, hopping down in front of the Vithohn with a wry grin.
Of course, this infuriated the creature, which only made me smile wider.
“Sunbathing,” he snapped with a furious sarcasm. “What did you do?”
I looked down at him and blinked in surprise. “You’re actually talking to me right now?”
Encountering a Vithohn wasn’t for the lighthearted. They were dangerous and aggressive. I already had my hand pursed over my laser weapon when he began speaking.
“I’d do my best to start ripping you apart, but I’m fresh out of super strength to whip this machine off of my body,” the Vithohn snipped.
“You’re a feisty one,” I teased and continued to march around him. “What were you doing out here?” I asked, setting both my hands behind my back and leaning far over to inspect him. “Is this your mech?”
The creature flicked his eyes up. “No.”
“A-ha!” I announced, pointing a finger at him. “Correct, because that was a trick question! All the mechs belong to the humans, and you are all dirty, rotten thieves.”
His diamond-scaled skin shimmered with sweat, and I could see now where the tree had him pinned, right on his thigh. Vithohn blood, blue, dripped from his side lazily, and I wondered if I had hurt him more than I thought. He narrowed his brows and tilted his head back as though he were scrutinizing me.
“We are not in agreeance on that,” he seethed.
“I bet you want to be let out of there real bad, huh?” I said with a grin.
He scoffed and then, perhaps realizing I was the only help around for miles, said, “…Yes.”
I laughed. “What are you gonna do for me if I let you out?”
“I will destroy you,” he said smoothly, looking away.
“See, you’re not makin’ a great case for yourself there, partner.”
His eyes went wide at that: furious.
I shrugged at his response and crossed my arms, pretending to take my leave of him. “Hey,” I scoffed, “It’s only a leg you’ll lose if you pry yourself loose. I’ve seen animals do it before. They go on to live strong, fulfilling lives, post-leg. Until I shoot them and eat them.”
The creature cocked a brow and looked slightly disgusted at my sentiments, which made me laugh.
“Tell you what,” I said, ready to announce my plan of attack to him. “If you do me the great honor of having sex with yo—”
“Excuse me?” he interrupted.
“Look,” I said, crouching down toward him and turning my boot in the sand for traction. “I know this sounds a little strange, but my friends have a hunch that…” I trailed off, startled by the loud noises in the distance. I looked over at the Vithohn, and he looked absolutely terrified.
I crouched down, petrified, and could hear the metal footsteps storming the skyline off in the distance. Whoever they were, I didn’t want to find out.
“What was that?” I whispered. “Are those your people?”
“How should I know?”
“Were you alone? Is someone coming for you?” I demanded, but the Vithohn didn’t answer. “Hey! Buddy! Are those your people?”
The red-flecked creature didn't answer, but I wasn't willing to wait around and find out. I jumped back into the mech and turned it on, pulling the levers far back until the hinges twisted and the robot ended up on both feet, upright once more. If the others in their mech didn't know there were people out in the desert, they did not. The sound was so screeching and loud I could have sworn the Vithohn in their mechs would come charging toward us.
That's it! Way to go, Elise. Stealth, all the way!
I tapped the gel screens until the cameras came on. I looked down through the screen to see the Vithohn had stood, freed from the tree that crushed its leg. He limped along but quickly fell back down.
I bit my lip, feeling guilty, but not enough to stay and help him. I was scared enough. Instead, I began a slow march into the deeper woods with the mech, back toward my abandoned hotel.
The mech's feet stomped and stormed against the rocky ground. I got a couple miles away and then stopped. I propped the front of the cockpit out, creating a ledge for me to stand on. I walked out and breathed in the warm air and then crouched: listening. I listened for the mechs, for militia or Vithohn, and heard nothing.
It seemed the miniature army we'd seen had gone the other way.
I crawled back into the cockpit and tapped on the backup camera, zooming in on the Vithohn and feeling a lilt in my stomach when I saw he was still just... laying there.
I sighed inwardly and, after scouting around for a while, I decided to make my way back to the thing. I owned him that much, I guess.
“Okay,” I announced, hands on hips as I approached the creature. “So, I took pity on your ass and came back. Ta-da!”
The Vithohn said nothing.
He laid on his back and struggled to swallow a thick gulp of spit. His eyes were skyward. He seemed so resigned to death that a shiver went down both my arms from the sheer weight of his expression.
“Okay, grumpy,” I breathed out nervously. “Come on, you’re out now! Let me help yo—”
“Get away from me,” he interrupted, jerking his arm away even though I hadn’t touched him.
“Oh, come on,” I said in a motherly sing-song. “I came back for you.”
His brows flicked down then, annoyed. He cornered his eyes at me and scoffed, “You crushed me.”
I swallowed hard and bent down on my knees next to him. “By accident!” I finally replied.
“Yeah, nice save.”
“And besides,” I argued. “I am pretty sure we could both come to some sort of agreement.”
“Well, you’ve already offered to give your body to me.”
He said the words with mild disgust, and it was then that I realized that he didn’t need it. My body.
I snapped my fingers. He’d already bred with someone. Of course! He was already calm and collected, or as much as somebody could be after being crushed by a falling mech. He was able to talk and, while he seemed aggressive, it didn’t seem to overpower his thoughts of his ability to function.
“Which you obviously don’t care for the thought of.” I paused and set a finger in my hair, scratching curiously. “If that was correct English.” Another pause. “Was it?”
“None of you humans speak normally,” he insisted, still looking upward.
“Right, right,” I said absent-mindedly. “Well, look, I’m sorry about your leg. Can I… bandage you up? I can see you’re bleeding there. Maybe bring you back to my camp and get you some food?” I shrugged and then playfully offered, “I can be your personal nurse!”
The Vithohn seemed to think on this and then suddenly something clicked. He seemed to warm to the idea and turned his head to me, sitting up with some effort.
“And, what does that entail?” he asked and I found myself enticed by his voice: the deep, foreign tones from the wells of his throat.
“All things…” I wanted to say dirty but went with ‘medical’ instead. “All things medical! I’ll bandage you up and feed you. Let you sleep in my bed. Who knows, maybe you’ll even learn to love it.” I paused again, for comic effect, hoping to win him over. “But don’t get used to it because that ain’t my job, boy.”
He blinked, tired and irritated as he repeated, “Boy?”
“Just…” I waved him off. “Come on; I’ll help you up.”