Orion and the Clockwork (The Carmsborough Vigilantes #2)

Chapter 3

Orion had never been in a proper fight. Yeah, like every other kid of his stature and awkwardness, he'd been victim to intense bullying throughout his school career, but it had never come down to both sides throwing punches.

And it was certainly never a fair match.

Still, like the Clockwork in front of him, he raised his fists, nowhere near prepared for the potential battle that awaited him on the opposite side of the garage door.

"Open up, kid," a voice said. "We know you're in there."

"You'll have to come in here, I'm afraid," he replied.

A moment of silence passed before a crack of light appeared beneath the overhead entrance. Four goons lifted the door, all slightly intimidated by the towering machine.

The first approached, a knife in his hands, and came at Orion. The Clockwork punched out, sending the man careening into a wall. He laid against it, unconscious.

The other three hesitated a moment. This was not a machine that was going to give up easily. The one in the middle charged forward, prepared to strike or dodge, whichever he had the chance to do first. His colleagues followed suit, attempting to get on either side of the Clockwork.

Unphased, the Clockwork swung its incredibly heavyset arms, which collided with the two trying to loop around it. Then it kicked forward, connecting with the middle man's chest and throwing him out the door. Orion thought he heard more than one cracking sound, but didn't want to think about what that meant.

He turned to face his now former boss in his office, who was cowering behind his desk. For years, albeit illegally, Orion had worked for this man, who was willing to sell him out to a radical revolutionary in ten minutes flat. Why?

It didn't matter anymore. Where there were four, there were more. He and the Clockwork had to find a new spot to hide.

Maybe I should head home, he thought. Maybe Syndra would be less likely to check one of the more crowded sections of the Housing District. It'd be a lot harder to go door-to-door searching. That didn't solve the issue of the Clockwork being too heavy, but he could cross that reinforced bridge when he got there.

Without waiting for more visitors, Orion rushed out of the loading area and back into the streets and alleys of Carmsborough. The Clockwork followed closely behind, blissfully unaware of how obnoxiously loud its footsteps were. They were bound to draw the attention of more hostiles.

"Remind me why you're following me, again?" Orion asked the automaton, jogging backwards for a bit. It looked at him, responding with the low hum it constantly emitted.

"That's okay, don't answer me. You know, you're making things pretty hard. Your footsteps are too loud, you're literally cracking the pavement and rocks as you step, and you're like three meters tall. None of those aspects are good for finding a spot to hide."

The Clockwork continued to look at him. Orion thought he saw its eyes flicker, if for a second.

"And no, knocking the rocks out of those guys back there doesn't make up for any of it. They wouldn't have been an issue if you weren't here in the first place."

"There it is!" he heard someone yell from across the street. Orion glanced over to find a squad of armed men similar to the ones that initially chased him. Not wanting a repeat moment, Orion burst into a sprint, blazing down the strangely empty road.

Where were all the people? Had Syndra's threats terrified everyone into hiding?

The first bullet sounded off, ricocheting off of a wall somewhere behind him. He picked up the pace a little, and the Clockwork followed his lead. The second bullet pinged into a nearby trash can, sending it toppling.