Escape from Metal
Chapter 3: Escape

Location: On the wall of the pit.

Jake was laying on something hard. He wasn’t quite sure what and as he tried to open his eyes his body willed him to stay laying there. He was inclined to agree with it, to stay in a place far off away from it all. A place where he could have peace.

An insistent feeling on his face pulled him back into reality as his shuttered eyes slowly opened. To a hand slapping his cheek no, a hand attached to a person.

“Wha-What’s happened?” Jake asked groggily. “And why is the floor so hard?”

“What do you mean?” A female voice said. “The floors always hard.”

Just then Jake remembered where he was and jumped up as he sat up straight. His eyes widened and his breathing quickened as his eyes darted from side to side.

“Where is it? Where is it?” Jake asked as he started to panic.

“Where is what?” The woman said calmly as she got up from here crouched position.

“You know the thing.” He said still looking around wide eyed. “The big thing with the... the big red eye and the menacing four swords for arms.

“Oh, that yeah... don’t worry about the hunter. They are dangerous up close but not the brightest.” She said as she brushed it off as if a menial problem. “Although it is probably looking for you now.”

“What! We have to go somewhere... we have to hide. Wait where’s Ben? Jake said with slight concern in his voice.

“I’m sorry your friend has expired.” She said flatly.

“So, we can still replace him?”

The woman still facing away from Jake took a small breath and said very flatly to Jake. “No, no one returns from the pits depths.”

As she stared into the pit, empty an infinite with no end in sight. An infinite with no smell and no colours only the metallic patterns staring back at her.

This was the first semi good look he got of her she had an athletic build and long sleek copper coloured hair.

The two stood in a few moments of silence and suddenly the urgency of what’s chasing Jake came back.

“Dumb question but where are we?” As he snapped her thoughts back to reality

“You’re standing on one of the edges of the walls. That’s what I’ve called them. In one of the pits, you almost fell in earlier.”

“How is it that you know nothing that is going on? Brain damage, denial or stupidity?”

“I’m um not sure what you mean.” Jake said.

“The latter then.”

Suddenly a little robot the size of a small dog dropped from the roof. It plopped onto the ground a couple meters from Jake.

Jake shot up into the air as he tried to get away from the little robot.

“W-what is that. Something else sent to kill me?”

The robot up righted itself as it stood up. It had 3 legs on each side and was ball shaped with its green eye consuming most of the front of its body.

“Target detected, engaging.” The machine said as two slink arms popped out of the top of the machine.

“Oh no not again.” I’ve almost been impaled several times today and now this little robot is going to rip me into tiny pieces. No, no, no, no.” Jake said as he slowly backed up towards the wall.

Gwen all the while was watching from the side with her arms crossed. She didn’t seem scared or happy. She just had a blank expression on her face, she was just there.

“Hey lady, aren’t you going to do something? Anything?”

“No, I want to see if you are worth saving. Surely you can handle this little torture machine and his 100’s of ones just like it on their way.”

“I can definitely not.”

Jakes back hit the wall. He had no where to go and this little machine and many more like him were going to kill him.

The machine slowly approached him with its two tentacle like arms facing him. Jake closed his eyes, he could feel his chest tightening and his breathing getting shorter.

Jake waited and waited but nothing happened. He could hear a little buzzing below him. He slowly opened his eyes to see the little machines lasers aimed at the wall and not at him.

“Why isn’t he trying to kill me?”

“This would be the first time I see a maintenance bot hurt anyone much less kill someone. It’s too bad, its probably one of the last one’s left. They are the most essential to keep this place running but also the most susceptible if something goes wrong on a large scale.”

“You really let me think it was going to kill me?”

“Yes. Come on we have got to go, before she replaces us.” She said as she notched another arrow. Aiming across the expanse of the pit.

“Oh no, not again.” Jake said as she shot another tethered arrow across the pit.