The Human Pet: A Sci-Fi Romance

Part 38

Kayla

I make the Hydra hand motion to open the door, but it stays shut. To get this far but be stopped by something as simple as a door?

I jolt when I suddenly hear a loud beep. A delivery robot rolls slowly behind me, hauling a cart with only a few small rodent-shaped packages down the hallway. I can't help thinking how inefficient these delivery robots are, hauling a large basket with such a small shipment. I mean, even I could fit in those baskets, which means that maybe... Huh, there are not many options available to me right now, so I get into the basket.

The robot ferries me into a room. I cringe when I see a scourge, his back to me as he works with projected diagrams on the wall. This apartment looks identical to Tarak's place. I jump out of the cart, keep my head low, and hide under the bed.

The robot rolls to the scourge and beeps. The scourge stops engaging with the wall and removes the delivery from the cart. The robot chimes and leaves.

I peek from my hiding spot. I can't get out now; the scourge has settled into his desk chair, opening one of the packages. Witnessing a scourge devouring the rodent-like snacks is a whole new level of disgusting with bone-crunching and slurping. The scourge eats one after another and soon, this scourge's hands and arms are covered in a black fluid that drips onto the floor. I hold a hand over my mouth because if not, everything in my stomach might end up all over the floor.

The scourge finally stops eating and goes into what I can only assume is the pool room.

I get to work on the computer, and the first thing I do is pull up my program to monitor the movement of medical supplies.

My heart skips a beat when I read the most recent update: an urgent delivery request of one large box of bandages for room 2054, although the order has not yet been fulfilled. An opportunity, maybe? I modify the order; fingers crossed this will give me more time.

"Where did you come from?!" the scourge bellows, emerging from the pool room, a big towel wrapped around his midsection.

I push the chair in the path of the charging scourge, barely getting out the door.

The scourge roars, chasing me down the hallway. We must be quite a sight—because during the pursuit he loses his towel and is stark naked.

If he gets a hold of me, he will tear me apart.

So even though I can barely pull enough air into my lungs, I run. A forked hallway is in front of me. One path has a familiar sign over it—a picture of a robot and the number 65—I veer, following the signs.

Robots zoom along the expressway. I take a shaky breath, keep my eye on a target, and leap.

Wham! My knee hits one of the carts and stings, but at least I'm in the cart.

The scourge bellows, standing in the middle of the expressway.

I chose this path to get away, but I do not want to hurt my pursuer. So, I try to warn the scourge, waving my arms in the air at him, hoping that he understands my message: Expressways are dangerous.

The scourge does not heed my warning. Instead, he raises his fist in the air and robots collide with him. The robots bounce off the expressway, and the scourge topples.

I gulp, feeling guilty. There isn't much I can do, especially with the delivery robot rapidly carrying me away and the robots and the scourge already becoming small dots behind me.

The delivery robot slows as we roll into the storage room, I jump out and wander. Several-floor high pallets are in every direction. Robots maneuver between them, rolling together in lines as if guided.

Jumping on the back of the cart had saved me from the angry scourge, but now...? I am far away from where I need to go. I wander between pallets, and eventually, I'm drawn toward the 50 or so robots assembling in front of a stack of boxes.

I get closer to this robot mob. A robot holds a box, its fingers rearranging into shears, and it slices open a box. Individually wrapped sutures spill from the box. That same robot drops sutures into the delivery robots' carts, one suture at a time. It's the modified order I placed.

I climb into the cart of a delivery robot in the robot queue. Once the sutures are distributed between them, together, these robots leave the storage facility, going back onto the expressway, and eventually slowing as we exit. Room 2054 is so easy to find now because of the open door. Outside the room in the hallway is a robot traffic jam with dozens of robots waiting to make their deliveries.

I abandon the delivery robot. The robots provide cover for me, and I crawl through the door undetected. A scourge is placing individual sutures onto a shelf. So many beeping robots are around this scourge. As soon as he empties a cart from a delivery robot, that robot can't leave because of the giant line behind it. I want to laugh. This modified plan worked out much better than I imagined.

A second scourge hollers at the first scourge putting the supplies away. "What is taking so long?"

I keep myself low to the floor, staying hidden behind the robots.

"I'm doing my job, putting away this shipment," answers the first scourge.

"Do we need all this?" asks the other, looking at the line of robots extending out the door.

The scourge simply shrugs. "I'm not the one in charge of ordering supplies."

"Well, hurry it up."

I can't believe that these scourges are fine with this robot pileup. This works for me, though, and I make my way through the next door.

I am in a lobby and the door from the direction I just came from closes. In front of me, a new door opens, and when a human-sounding wail comes from the same direction...

I take a deep breath. A fellow human is in trouble. I rush through the door.

Loviatar is tying Ava to a table. At the same time, another scourge with the biggest needle I've ever seen tries to inject Ava. Ava thrashes and cries.

They might be immune to her cries, but I'm not. On behalf of all humans, I will fight them.

I grab a tray with surgical tools, rolling it closer to me. I grip a pair of scissors, take aim at the scourge holding the needle, and hurl it. The scissors fly in a perfect arc, hitting the scourge's head and bouncing off it. He bellows, dropping the needle.

Both scourges step toward me. I keep the tray between me and those scourges. When they get too close, I fling whatever tools I can grab from that tray at them—another pair of scissors, forceps, and even a bowl which makes a clunk sound when it strikes Loviatar in his head. I think I might be winning because the scourges duck behind some medical equipment.

Time for Operation Save the Human, so I scoot the tray to where Ava is still bound. I grab a scalpel from my tray, slashing at the ropes.

Fragments of rope fall to the floor, and I pull Ava to her feet.

The two scourges re-emerge, flanking us from both sides.

I stay at my post, pushing Ava toward the door. Ava needs the time to escape. The scourges snarl and try to get at me. I pelt the scourges with every remaining tool on my tray.

The scourges rush me. I get behind the cart and run at them, using the rolling tray as a projectile. The doctor howls when that tray with my weight behind it smacks him in the stomach. I back up and make another run at Loviatar. I release the careening tray and Loviatar slaps the tray, and it flips over.

Both scourges growl at me. Their tails thrash, knocking over equipment, and I run for the door.

One of the scourges grabs my foot and I crash to the ground. A massive hand covers my nose and mouth. The open door is before me, but–

Can't breathe. I fight, but the hand is tight on my face.

Darkness.