fear and hatred into the hearts of every human still living on
Earth – the unmistakable mechanical sound of a robot.
Dragging her hand over her mouth, she took a cautious
breath and coughed. She had to get out of the smoke.
Summoning all her strength, she managed to will herself to
flop and roll across the blackened grass until the air entered
her lungs a little easier. She wanted to rest, to sleep, to give
in to her overwhelming sense of fatigue, but the screams
had gone silent, and it unnerved her. Staggering to her feet,
she pulled herself to her full height and squinted through
the hazy air.
Rrrr. Rrrr. Rrrr.
Through a tower of smoke emerged the deadly white
form of a robot, and its weapon-arm was pointed directly at
her.
“Up! Up! Come in, Up!”
The lieutenant coughed and reached blindly for his
crackling radio. “This is Up.”
“Thank dead God you survived. We saw that blast from
up here – how’s the rest of your team? We can’t get them on
the line.”
Up raised his head. He was on his belly on the ground.
All around him were the charred remains of seven human
bodies. The G.L.E.E. insignia was still visible on the chest
of the one nearest him, but he couldn’t tell who it belonged
to. He turned away, feeling ill. “There’s just me.”
A pause on the other end. “All right, Up, get yourself
back here. There’s nothing more you can do for these
people.”
“Got it.” Up winced as he stood, battered but not really
injured, and took in his surroundings. He had only taken a
couple of steps in the direction of the pickup location when
he heard a scream. A terrible, human scream, raw and edged