Nara
Iwas going to get crushed to death for some Beanie Babies.I had promised Brone I wouldn’t, but anyone who had been at the rebellion for more than an hour knew how important those things were.
The logical side of my brain hadn’t understood it.Why does a stuffed animal from the late nineteen nineties matter that much to a cyborg?
But the other part of my brain, the one that had seen how happy they made the cyborgs, that one was bound and determined to find them no matter the cost.
Sucking in a lung full of dust, I coughed, waving my hand in front of my face in an attempt to clear the air in front of me. The red glow of the emergency backup lights guided my way, and while during the attack they felt ominous, now I was grateful for the small amount of light they provided.
The comm attached to my collar buzzed, the sound deafening in the stillness of the space.
With a frustrated sigh I tapped the button to activate the comm. “Yes?”
“You still doing okay?” Brone’s voice boomed around me and even though he couldn’t see my face I rolled my eyes.
“You asked me the same thing ten minutes ago, Brone, and my answer remains the same.” I sighed. “Don’t you have things to do besides comm me every few minutes?”
“No,” he declared the same time I heard Reaper’s voice over the comm say, “Yes!”
“Get back to work, Tank Class. I promise I’ll comm you if I run into trouble.” I tapped the button, ending the call.
I wouldn’t tell them, especially Brone, that this place had been giving me the creeps. I was used to it being so full of life and warmth. Now moving through the rebellion felt like walking through a cold and empty tomb. My body gave a little shudder.
I missed my cyborgs…and the lodge…and heaven help me, I think I even missed Brone’s smug face.
Not that he had been all that smug with me on the transport. The sweet side of him wasn’t something I had expected. For the small amount of time I had spent at the rebellion, he had mostly just watched me, his frame tense, hands curled into fists by his sides.
It left me feeling intimidated and uneasy. This new Brone? I found myself liking him far too much.Wait until he hears the truth; he won’t be sweet to you then.I frowned. The voice was correct. I should be distancing myself from the Tank Class but instead I was getting closer.
I had even held his hand like we were teenagers on a first date, not like we had been about to enter a highly perilous situation where his friend had been killed.
Maybe he needed it.Needed to hold my hand so that he could face what he was about to do. He had taken my hand to provide me with support, but maybe I had given him some in return. The thought made me happier than I wanted to admit.
Caring about Brone would be far too easy. A few more slips and those cracks that had appeared around my heart would spread. Tiny fractures that worked their way into my soul until a Brone sized hold had been carved from the inside out.
One that would be left hollow when my secrets were drug into the light for the world, and the rebellion, to see.
I couldn’t dwell on that right now. I had to find Iris’s box. I shined a light around the room, doing my best not to trip over all the fallen furniture. A maze of chairs and toppled over end tables sat like silent witnesses to the destruction the Global Allegiance had wrought.
Overall, the rooms had held up to the onslaught relatively well. The layers of reinforced concrete had offered some protection, but most of the corridors I had walked through had giant cracks in the walls, a sign that the building itself was no longer livable. It would take far too much effort to fix all the damage and no one was sure the Global Allegiance wouldn’t strike again.
Lennox had cleared us for this trip, but we were directed to proceed with caution and stay out of areas that showcased too many cracks.
The box had been the one thing Iris had desperately wanted me to locate from her room. That and Dash’s blue elephant. His item had been fairly easy to find, and it currently sat next to the collected group of stray Beanie Babies I had found that belonged to the other cyborgs.
Dash’s elephant, Reaper’s shark, Dax’s frog, and Viper and Oz’s rabbits were all accounted for, stashed snuggly into one of my bags.
That box was the last item on my list, and I was a woman on a mission. A week ago, I might have thought it was silly to risk my life for a box of beanie babies, but now? They were something to remind the rebellion ofhome.Something that would help them to remember all the good times and soothe the sting of the bad.
Dropping to my knees, I flashed a light under a table, my eyes catching on a plain brown box.Please let this be what I have been searching for.
Lowering myself onto my belly, I wiggled my way under the table, my hand reaching as far as it could go, my fingertips brushing against the box.Just a little more.Trying to make my body as small as possible, I scooted myself another inch under the table. That extra inch allowed me to catch my fingertips around a corner of the box, pushing it close enough to wrap my hands around it. Moving slowly, I inched backwards, holding onto my prize for dear life.
Once I had freed myself from under the table, I sat up and lifted the lid. Peeking inside, I found a mound of brightly colored Beanie Babies.Jackpot!Grabbing an empty bag, I carefully dumped the contents of the box into it before zipping it up to make sure I didn't lose any of the precious cargo.
Now to see if I could find some cat pajamas. Dash had been the one to ask, telling me that his Iris loved them, and it would help to make her feel better. Raiding the closet and drawers I found a few sets and dropped them into the bag. I hoped they were ones she liked. There had been endless sets of them and with limited space, I couldn’t bring them all. I was no means an expert on cat pajamas. I went with my gut and grabbed some that I thought looked cute.
I hit the comm and Brone’s voice flitted through the space, “You need me, beautiful?”