Chapter 6

 The motorcycles were slower than the car and it took them almost twenty hours to move the less then the distance they moved in ten in the car. But they were back on track, and One Forty Two followed behind Ikarid with Alistair on his back. He was far enough back and to the side to avoid the on slaught of dust bing kicked up by Ikarid’s bike, but his eye still watered from the intense wind and dust in the air.

The entire time they had been riding, they had seen the same thing, miles and miles of desert stretching on for what seemed like forever. The two days they had been travel had been nothing but dirt and sweat, and the night was cold and hard. One Forty Two’s back hurt from sleeping on the ground, but he wasn’t one to complain, it was Ikarid that wouldn’t shut up that morning.

Afternoon approached and One Forty Two could feel his stomach begin to eat itself.

“Are hungry?” Alistair asked, noting the time and the fact that One Forty Two had been denied food earlier an the account of their slow speed and limited rations.

“No?” He responded with confusion.

There was silence for a second, then One Forty Two realized he implied question hadn’t gone through.

“Why would you ask that?”

“Ask what?”

“Never mind.”

One Forty Two focused his attention back to the desert and slammed on his brakes. He skid and twisted his bike to a stop, now facing the parked Ikarid, who was ten feet behind him waiting with her arms crossed and her nose high in the air.

“You finally noticed?” she asked condensendingly

“What, that you were stopped?” One Forty Two said. “Yeah, that’s why I’m stopped, Boss.”

Ikarid rolled her eyes. “Theres something out there,” she said. “Over there.” She lifted her arm and pointed to something behind One Forty Two.

He turned to see something, a dot on the horizon. He put up his arm and measured it up against his thumb, and it looked about the same size.

“I’d say that it’s,” he said while squint at his thumb and the object, “about half a mile away from us. Maybe more?”

“What is it?” Ikarid said, turning to look at him sternly.

One Forty Two gave her a quick glance out of the corner of his eye and then turned his attention back to the house. His camera eye zoomed in on the object, revealing more details about it.

“It’s a house.” One Forty Two said blankly.

Alistair’s head jolted up with the words.

“A house?” he asked, as he jumped off the motorcycle. He took a step towards the object they were all looking at. “Out here? Are you sure?”

“I was told there shouldn’t be anyone for most of our trip.” Ikarid interjected. “But I should already know that our information isn’t all that accurate.”

“No, no.” Alistair said. “They were expected, we are some what off course, we crossed through their territory. But a lone house, out here?”

“What’s so weird about it?” One Forty Two asked. “There’s gotta be people somewhere.”

“Not in the desert.” Alistair insisted. “Not enough water. Way to many bad people and bad things.”

“I thought we weren’t supposed to see any body!” Ikarid yelled.

“No settlers. Just raiders. But that’s why we have you.” Alistair looked up at One Forty Two as he finished his sentence.

“Well,” One Forty Two said as he got of his bike. “Let’s go.” He picked up Alistair who began to squirm.

“Why should we go? We don’t know who they are!” He yelled.

“We don’t need any more distaction One Four Two. We go around it.” Ikarid said as she got back on her bike and started it up.

“What if they have supplies? Food? We’re going to need it if are trip’s going to be that much longer.” One Forty Two said in a tone that Ikarid didn’t quite like. She glared at him silently, waiting for him to clean up his mistake.

“I-I mean, I see what you’re saying, Boss, I just think… I mean, if they’re dangerous, that’s why I’m here, right?”

“We don’t need you looking for more trouble.” Alistair protested.

“Fine.” Ikarid said, ignoring the robots warning. “We’ll get close, then you’ll go off on your own.”

“But-” Alistair attempted to say.

“And take Alistair with you.” She said. “I don’t want to here him any more. Plus, he can send me a message if it’s clear. Or fix you if it’s not.” She said her words with a sneer and flicked her fingers at the two before revving up her motorcycle and heading out. One Forty Two got on his own motorcycle, let Alistair crawl on his back and cling tightly to his shoulders, and followed behind.

One Forty Two left his motocycle fifty feet from the building and carried Alistair in his left arm. It was an old home, a before the war home, somehow left mostly intact, with a shamble little shed to its side and a farm in front. A boy, no older than ten, was in the farm, carrying a small bucket of water and spinkling it in the dry patches of what looked like grass. It wasn’t until One Forty Two was almost at the gate that the boy noticed him.

When the boy noticed him, he gasped and dropped the bucket. He stood there, frozen for a second, eyes growing wider before dashing back for the house.

“Mama!” He cried. “Mama!”

One Forty Two paused for a second, and watched the child run into the house. Unphased, he continued walking, with Alistair squirming in protest.

“I think we should stop walking now.” He said.

“Why?” One Forty Two responded as he continued forward.

“Obviously we’re not welcome.”

“We’ll be fine.”

“But-”

“You! Hey you!” A woman screamed as she burst through the front door of the house. She ran out towards the shed while pointing and screaming. “Don’t you move! Stay right where you are. George, they’re here!”

The little boy stood at the door, with only his sticking out from behind it, curiously watching the whole affair.

“They’re here!” The woman yelled as she ran into the shed.

One Forty Two did as he was told and froze in place.

“So now you are going to listen.”

“I was going to tell them I’m friendly, I didn’t know they’d be this scared.”

“You do not know anything about the Outside. Everybody is scared.”

One Forty Two looked down at Alistair, before a sharp boom interrupted them.

“Yah hear that?” A man yelled as he walked toward them from the shed. “that’s the sound of a ten inch piece of metal being shot out of this here.” Here shook the large metal contraption in his hand and shove a sharp piece of metal down it’s barrel. “Now you no what it’ll sound like when I’m killing you! You want wanna these through your head?”

One Forty Two shook his head slowly and raised his right hand.

“What you got in your left, boy!” The man screamed.

The woman was back with the little boy at the door, and she continuously kept pushing him back into the house, telling him he couldn’t poke his head through to see while she did.

One Forty Two dropped Alistair on the ground and the robot land on it’s side, crushing his legs with his own body. His legs pushed him back upward and he stood on his own, his sturdy metal unaffected by the drop.

“I didn’t say drop it I said tell me what it is!”The man continued to walk towards the duo, and One Forty Two took a few steps back.

“Where do you think you’re- did that thing just move!” The man was looking down at Alistair, who was crawling to catch up with One Forty Two. When The robot reached him, he hid behind his legs, looking out from behind them like the boy and the woman did with the door.

“What is that?” The man yelled again.

“A robot!” One Forty Two yelled back.

“What the hell do you want.”

“Nothing, we’re just travelers.” One Forty Two insisted blankly. He raised his left hand up for the man to see.

“Put that down,” the man screamed. “What the hell are you!”

One Forty Two’s hand dropped down to his side. “I-” he began.

“Who the hell are you?” the man asked again.

“Travelers.” His voice was filled with more fear now, sensing the situation might get out of hand. “I don’t know who you think we are, but we are definently not them.”

“If I believed that every time you pieces of s**t came for me I’d be dead. It’s always the same with you raiders, which group you from, huh?”

“We’re not raider, we thought you might be. We just wanted to-”

“We are escapees.” Alistair interrupted, emerging from behind One Forty Two’s legs with shaky confidence. “We are from the other side of the mountains, we escaped.”

The words resonated with the man, his angry faced unscrunched itself slightly, and he let the robot speak some more.

“We just want to get to the nation. To go home.”

The man hardened back up a little. “Oh, I’m sure you’re definently from the nation,” he said sarcasticly. “And where’d that kid get all the extra gear?” He said, pointing in the general direction of One Forty Two’s arm. “They really giving out half- face peircings in the Nation’s little shops? Or are you some f*****g expeirement?” The man got angry again and began to yell. “Or maybe, you’re wanna of those f*****g techno freaks, aren’t you? What the f**k do you call yourselfs, what the ‘Progressors” or some s**t?”

“No.” Alistair said. “He was injured, working in the factories. I am sure you have heard of them.”

The man shut his mouth and weakened a little once again.

“And then, they also punished him…” Alistair lifted up one of One Forty Two’s pant legs to reveal his prosthetic boot. “It’s not real, nothing below either of his knees is.”

One Forty Two gasped and jumped back, pulling his leg away from Alistair in a furry of embarrassment.

“He does not like to talk abou it.” The robot said, looking back at One Forty Two to see his hurt and confused face staring right back at him.

“And you?’ The man asked, in a calmer tone. “Where’d you come from?”

“I’m a medical bot,I worked with him… a lot. I helped him escape.”

“Just you two?”

“We have a friend,” Alistair said, looking up quickly as the man asked his question, not wanting to be confused for a liar. “She was one of them, she helped us escape. We would not have made it without her.”

One Forty Two looked on at the conversation with confusion, but kept his mouth shut.

“Where is she?” The man asked. He began walking towards them again.

“We left her behind. Like we said we thought you were dangerous, she wanted to be safe.”

“Can you call her over here?”

“I already have.” Alistair looked back behind him, where a small plume of dust was growing. Ikarid showed up on her bike not long after, and took a look at the house and the man.

“Hello.” She said plainly with a nod.

The man nodded back at her. “How’d he tell you?”

Ikarid pulled an ear piece from her ear and held it up for the man to see.

He nodded and continued talking. “And you’re with them? You helped them escape?”

Ikarid nodded slowly. “We just wanted to check to make sure you weren’t dangerous. And ask for some supplies, if you have any to spare.”

“How’d you get here? The Mountains are a thousand miles away, you wakl or some s**t?”

“We had a car,” Ikarid said slyly. “It broke down, we found some motorcycles. We’re trying to get to the Nation.”

The man’s eyes widened. “One of those curvy cars, with the low wheels?”

Ikarid raised an eyebrow. “You’ve seen one?”

“I have one.”

“Where?”

The stopped for a second and thought. His eyes bounced back and forth at the people in front o him, analyzing their faces, judging their trustworthyness. Ikarid was the only one he couldn’t get behind.

“Can you fix one? If you had the parts?”

“Maybe.”

The man walked up to the gate and swung it open, rushinghis hand down from the gun and then back up, making sure not to lose his gaurd. “Don’t you f*****g try anything.” He said as he motion for them to come in. He watched them walk, one by one, eying them through the sight on his gun.

“What are you doing?” the woman asked as she walked out of the door and took a step towards them.

“These three are going to help us.” He said nodding towards the group. “In exchange for supplies, a meal, and a good nights sleep. You fine with that, Martha?”

She nodded and took a few steps down the porch. “They gonna work on the car?”

“Yep.”

“Oh, he won’t be able to help with that.” Ikarid said, pointing to One Forty Two. “He’d be better of with some manual labor, or something else that doesn’t require a brain.”

One Forty Two gave a wuick glance at Ikarid, but kept his mouth shut

Martha noticed this and crossed her arms and her , still behind the group, raised an eyebrow at the comment.

“Why’s that?” Martha asked skeptically.

“He’s a slave,” Alistiar blurted out. “From the otherside of the Mountains. He did not get taught much, they did not even give him a name.”

“Is that true?” the man asked, looking at One Forty Two.

One Forty Two flinched, surprised that the conversation had finally found its way back to him.

“They just called me Number One Forty Two,” he said quietly with his head down. “They just numbered us, I guess.”

“You guess?” the woman asked, still skeptical. “Are you sure they even came from the mountains, George?”

“They didn’t teach me the inner workings of their slave numbering system, ma’am.”

George lowered his gun and walked in front of his group. He stood in front of his wife and spoke to her quietly. “I’ll explain it to you later. If they were raiders, why would they lie? What would they have to gain from sneaking into a little farm house? We’d be dead already.”

Martha gave him a nod, and he turned back around to face the group. “Martha and I have been working on this for well over a year now. That was back when we found it. Been trying to get it up and running ever since.” He nodded back owards his wie and continued. “She hurt her back a coupla days ago, so she hasn’t beeen working, but you can come with me. Bring your robot if you need to.” He pointed at Ikarid, who nodded at Alistair, and the two of them followed the man back to the shed.

“You,” the woman said to One Forty Two. “You can help Timmy with the farm. Did you work on a farm?”

One Forty Two shook his head. “Factory” he said wuietly.

“Well, timmy’ll teach you. Its not that hard. I’ll go get “im.”

She turned around and walked back into the house, leaving One Forty Two alone in the field.