Escape From Metal

Chapter 9: Freedom and Slavery

"Get up." One of the thugs said as he kicked Jakes side. Jake was really getting annoyed with this routine with these bandits or as he recently had come to know them slavers. They would travel for the majority of the day avoiding the hunters and other terrifying machines as they went.

Meeting up with other thugs and slavers with more people in chains. Jake had lost count how long they had been travelling but he estimated about a week. One long grueling week. The thought of where they might be going terrified him. He imagined scenario upon scenario of they had in mind for him.

He guessed that the fear showed on his face as it seeped through, he tried his at most to hide it but Gwen would give him strange glances from time to time.

She in contrast to him didn't seem anxious or nervous or really anything at all. She didn't ever get frightened by anything the slavers did. She never seemed eager to escape. She was a something... something he couldn't quite figure out. He wished he had whatever gave her the serenity she had.

As the trudged on through the decaying and rusted metal tunnels and structures they would sometimes encounter a machine or more that even for the slavers who numbered somewhere in the hundreds was too difficult to kill.

This was when they became as the friendliest possible, they could and set people free with no strings attached. Only they would only set them free in the direction of the machine while they cowered and waited for the inevitable panic and screaming of the newly freed slave to kick in.

This would almost always attract the machines attention, if only to get a good enough distraction to kill it if they noticed that the "free slave" was going to die too quickly or in most cases to slip past undetected.

This only amplified Jakes anxiety. That in addition to unstable floors that would lead you to a falling death or to the clutches of the machines. Falling derby that would either crush, trap or fatally wound you.

"Hey." Jake swung around trying to see who touched his shoulders. As his head completed its half revolution his eyes darted around as if unsure where to look.

"Relax, its only me."

"Uh... yea... yeah I'll try to."

"You sick or something." Gwen said flatly.

"No just you know, looking for any of those machines. I don't feel like getting splattered or crushed."

"I'll take that as a yes."

The slavers barely gave them enough food and water, just enough to keep them going. Well for most of them anyway. Many times, Jake had seen someone collapse from exhaustion.

The woman they had first met Jake had guessed was the leader of the slavers. She didn't do much herself except shout orders, shoot and occasional take some of the nicer clothes and jewelry some of the other slavers had picked up.

She seemed to take a liking to Gwen's bow and had kept it on her back wherever she went. Jake wasn't sure what to make of the situation or when they'd be used as fodder or an example for the rest of the slaves but the thought of that was giving his anxiety.

She routinely strutted between all the slaves all happy like. No one dared to look at her. She would often test some of them by quickly turning around and looking whoever was unlucky enough to be standing behind her straight in the eyes. If they didn't look away fast enough, they'd be the next lucky volunteers.

"Who wants to go free today?" She said still strutting around flexing the obvious authority she had over everyone as she walked in semi-circles. "Really no one wants to be free. Not one of you?"

One of the more recently captured people put his hand up. "I... I would like to be free." He said barely audible.

As soon as he said that there where hushed whispers going around the rest of the slaves. Many shook their heads others dared not to move as they tried their best to blend into the crowd.