Whispers Through the Storm

Part One

The rain pelting on the small shack rumbled through the small room. Crouched in the corner sat a frail girl, and equally frail boy. The boy crouched protectively, his arms wrapped around the girl. She softly mumbled to herself, her pupils dilated and her tongue bleeding from her constant biting of it to try and escape her pain.
"An...And..." She murmured, clutching the bleeding stump of what used to be her left arm.
"Shh..." The boy whispered, squeezing her tighter. "Lil, we'll get out of this. Get out like we always do." He looked frantically about the cramped space, flinching whenever eyes came across Lil's arm or the pool of blood forming beneath them. "Everything'll be fine...be fine... be fine..." Andrew repeated again and again, trying to comfort Lil, but moreover himself. Through his scans of the room, Andrew found a small escape hatch, which he could only guess would lead to underground and just maybe, safety.
Lil's blood started seeping into the dirt below them and Andrews clothing. She began drifting in and out of consciousness, for brief spurts. Noticing this, Andrew rocked quickly back and forth.
"Stay awake Lil, stay with me, come on now, stay awake." Tears started to well in his eyes but he fought them back. Lil felt this, and when her stump brushed against the dirt, quickly and shrilly screamed in pain. Andrew slammed his hand against her mouth, clenching his eyelids and praying no one had heard her scream. However, seconds later a large and glowing figure threw the door open, the rain pouring in and wetting the dirt floor.
The figure drew a large spear from its back, and bellowed at the two.
"Smugglers! I have found the Vermin!"
while Andrew and Lil scrambled up and towards the hatch. Still, from their early set on starvation, they were seconds behind the large armored figure's reactions. In just those brief seconds, Andrew pushed Lil halfway into the hatch, before the figures spear flew into his spinal column.
"Andrew!" she screamed, her voice hoarse from her screams before. Lil froze, turning before being cut off by Andrew.
"GO! Lil go! Don't stop! Never stop! Promise m-EEEAAAAH!!" He said painfully, before screaming in pain as the figure pumped electricity into his spear, and Andrew. Stepping backwards into the hatch Lil watched as the figure stepped forward and picked up Andrew. Ripping his spear out, the figure smashed Andrew against a wall of the shack and sprayed Andrews blood everywhere. With her last bits of energy, Lil smashed her hand on the button labeled 'CLOSE HATCH' and yelled to Andrew, with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"I prom-"was all she could get out before the hatch door slammed down and separated the two.
"welcome to your new and fresh vacu-travel system. Please put on your safety system now, as we are departing."
The voice said happily, as if talking to tourists. Lil's stump, bleeding tongue and newfound shock rendered this welcomeness, pointless. She grabbed her shoulder, digging in her fingernails and felt the cold grip of death wrap around her. But Lil fought. She fought with all that remained of her when the floor opened up beneath her and she fell deep into the empty blackness. Falling, her eyes slowly began to flutter shut and she finally felt free.

He walked down the crowded underground alleyway, his knee squeaking from its mechanical joints. My knee again... I ought to just replace it... He sighed, elbowing his way through the throngs of people to get to the trash dump and excess runoff pile on the edge of the city.
Miles underground, the exolimb community lived and flourished. Exolimbs were introduced to the general population years ago, but masters of the craft had emerged and moved into the underground city. They were mechanical limb replacements created by connecting the limbs tissue and muscle fibers with new age flexible metals and steel exoskeletons. Instead of normal skeletons, exolimbs had their real strength and power on the outside to protect the owner's core and nerves connectors.
One of the exolimb technicians who took residence in the underground city was Adrastos. Adrastos was a tall, lean young man who had lost his parents in a house fire at the age of nine and was brought under the wing of a local technician, before becoming one himself. Although his master is still alive and supplies him with parts, Adrastos often scoured the trash dump to find extra mechanisms and mechanical parts. Today however, Adrastos was in for more than normal.
After finally getting to the runoff pile and scrambling through it, he found a rather large pool of blood. Slightly screeching, he dug further in, trying to find the cause, and found the body of a young teen girl. He turned to tell the authorities of another dead body, when he heard her exasperated whisper for help. Adrastos quickly ripped off his white coat, which had been stained with oil years ago, and wrapped up the girls stump of an arm. Rummaging around wildly, he found an abandoned baby carriage, which he ripped the top off of and placed Lil on. Running as fast as the wheels could go, Adrastos ran Lil back to his masters shop.
"Master!" He yelled, wheeling Lil in through the back door and blowing the long red hair from his face. "quick!" A rather older man ran out from through a doorway and cleared a nearby tale.
"Here! Quick Quick!" He said ,lifting Lil onto the now clear table and swiping a sample of the blood leaking from her shoulder. "AB positive!" the man yelled, and Adrastos ran behind the front counter, reaching underneath it and grabbing a pouch of blood labeled with scrawly lettering saying 'AB+'.
"Get me the anesthesia! She's awake!" He yelled before leaning in close to Lil's face. "Miss? This is going to hurt but I need you to bear with me. You're going to live, alright?" Lil's eyes were unfocused and she could barely see anything anymore.
No I won't... she thought to herself. I'm going to die... and just before she could black out again she felt a sharp pain in her neck, and hoarsely screamed as the coat helping stop the blood was ripped off. Lil could feel the blood flow out of her arm, but that was the only thing she could feel.
After hours of surgery and removing the dead and dying tissue, Adrastos and his master had finished.
"Thank you again master." Adrastos said, bowing his head.
"Now, now adras. No need. I'm just glad the girl will live. I probably should let you visit that scrap heap more often if you bring cute girls back." Master said jokingly.
Adras blushed.
"M-Master!"
"Relax Relax. I'm only teasing. But doesn't this girl look a bit familiar? I feel as though I've seen her before..." He said thoughtfully, scratching the rough stubble on his chin.
Snapping out of his own little world, Adrastos commented on his thought.
"Youre imagining it. I've never seen her before so how could you have? Especially you with your horrible memory!" He said smiling jokingly.
"Yeah." Master said hearing the shops doorbell ring. "Yeah you've got a point Adras. Ignore what I said!" Master said, rushing back through the door from where he entered.
Finally alone among the warm hum of machine parts and new age gizmo's, Adrastos left out a sigh. You just had to be so cute didn't you... He thought looking down at the now sleeping Lil. Smuggler, traitor, accomplice, and now, here you lay in our exolimb shop. He sighed again.
"I suppose there's no reason in going to the front and trying to get any work done. Master should understand." Adras muttered to himself, pulling a stool over from one of their work benches and sitting beside her.
Hours passed by, no movement or sounds coming from their 'sleeping beauty' as Adras thought of her. And as the dark hours of the night began to crawl by, Adras laid his head down nearby Lil's feet, and moments later fell asleep.