Girl Cyborg: A Dystopian Action Adventure Thriller

Cherry Tears

Rock by rock they lifted the pieces away, the security cybers lifting chunks the size of Bess without visible effort. They might lack her gymnastic flexibility but when it came to heavy lifting, she had to admire their grace.

Capt. had placed himself in front of Cherry without saying a word. None of them handled the sight of dead children well, but Cherry would have nightmares for weeks.

With the near evacuation of the building, only bodies of the old and infirm had been recovered so far. These were the types of people the Academy called fourth priority (after cybers, soldiers, and able-bodied civilians). If the baby were still alive, it would cheer them and take some of the ache out of those lost lives. For once, Cherry would be able to go back to barracks satisfied, job well done, a little less wet behind the ears but without the emotional hit of recovering a child.

Bess loved her friend, and the Academy wanted to make them the best they could be, but sometimes she wondered if the school had made a mistake with Cherry. A girl like her would be happier in a medical unit. She was too soft and Bess feared that one day her emotions and squirrelly attention span could get her killed.

"Waaa."

The cry was so weak Bess barely heard it. Capt. didn't react. Cherry had hearing augments like Bess but she was behind a group of security cybers. Bess was the closest, and the only one who heard it. Her heart pounded in her chest. She put down her shovel and dropped to her knees. That wail was so weak, so close.

With gloved hands, she started tossing back bricks, pulling debris away from an upright wall that had miraculously remained standing in the rubble. Just a little further. There was a faint heat signature down inside the wall. Bess had to clear out the crushed plaster dust and wallboard between her and the source. Where was it exactly?

Not directly in front. She moved her head slightly, left and right, sensing for heat and movement. Not on her right side. The left. She was so close now she could sense a tiny body cooling on the other side. Bess took a knife from her belt and drew the tip straight down the drywall. She couldn't hear it breathing but could sense its body accurately enough to insert the knife. It seemed to be just behind the wallboard but it hadn't made a sound since that first weak wail.

They weren't too late. Couldn't be.

Bess felt like slamming the wall to get through faster. The baby might need oxygen but it would have to wait for her to cut a door in the wall, and for her fingers to ease away the wallboard chunk by chunk. She widened the hole enough to get both hands in and then started pulling away gyprock until her headlamp revealed the most beautiful sight.

A dust-covered baby, swaddled tight like a newborn trapped inside the wall. Its eyes were closed but its chubby lower lip trembled. The baby's arms, which were not bound up in the blanket, dangled limply as she lifted it out and cradled it against her chest. She could feel its rapid heartbeat, loud in her ears after straining so hard to hear.

"This child is my child," she said as she held it gently above her head for the others to see.

"This child is our child," answered the team. Cherry was smiling, eyes glowing at Bess. A tear tracked a line down the white dust on her face.

"When we save this one..." Bess sent out the call so every medic, rescue specialist and security cyber could share in their victory.

"We save the world!"

Their words broke over Bess like a wave, filling her with a joy better than any boost. 

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