My name is Arabella and the world is never what it seems. I found out that there are giant robots all over the world and most of human population doesn't know about them. How does that even happen? It doesn't help when your a car thief and they can...
I'd been on the road for hours now. The city I'd grown up in was far behind me. This is what I'd wanted. To leave. But I couldn't help but feel sad. Sad that I'd had to leave everything behind. Now, at least, I can lead a somewhat normal, safe life.
My headlights shone down on the dark highway. Large trees were on either side of the road. I was in some hilly biome. It was well into the night, and I knew I needed to stop. Drowsiness was starting to take its toll. I was starting to sway to and fro on the road. What finally convinced me is when I almost ran off the road. I sighed and pulled to the side of the road and a little way into the trees.
I hopped out and reached under the tarp to my duffel bag. It was fall, so it was still alright during the day, but even colder at night as we got closer to winter. At some point, I started heading for Idaho. I didn't have a certain destination in mind, but I would continue driving tomorrow morning.
As I started to dig around in my duffel, it heard a large crash off in the forest. It sounded large and metallic. My hand immediately grabbed the .22 that I'd set into the driver's seat. I pointed the gun into the darkness of the trees. The sound of a loud engine sounded on the highway as I listened. I looked over just in time to see a red Aston Martin with golden wheels speed by. My gaze quickly darted back to the trees as a metallic groan shouted followed the scraping of metal on metal.
For a moment, all was silent. Even the crickets didn't music for the night. I cocked the gun and slowly walked further into the trees. My eyes swept left and right looking for the origin of the noise.
'I swear, if it's aliens, I will beat the crap out of them! I don't care if they're little green men. They'll be going down!' I thought with determination. My grip tightened on the gun. The terrain sloped down to a small creek that flowed by peacefully, but it did nothing to calm my nerves. I turned North and started following the creek.
'This probably isn't the best idea to go wandering through the forest at two a.m.' I thought. I rounded a rather large boulder and found a HUGE mouth to a cave. I mean, this cave's ceiling had to have been fifty feet high.
"Why haven't people found this yet?" I said aloud. I stopped and sniffed the air. There was a strong smell that was a cross between fuel and burning rubber. It was coming from the cave itself. I ventured deeper into the cave and kept an eye out for any danger. The cave led me around a bend. It didn't look like a natural formation, but not quite man-made. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw the yellow Camaro just setting there is the dirt.
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"Why the fuck is this here?!" I asked aloud. Some creepy stuff was going on. I look over the Camaro and its condition. This thing looked like it had gone through hell and back. It mainly looked like a messed-up paint job from the outside, but there were these large bullet holes and scorch marks all over it. Under the car was a large puddle of green liquid. The strange scent was the strongest here.
"What happened to you?" I asked rhetorically. I went to the driver's side and popped the hood. My eyes widened at the condition of the engine. It looked like it'd just fall apart right then and there.
"Nope, I'm fixing this. No muscle car like this is going to be left in such condition, especially not me. If I knew who'd left you like this, I'd find them and leave them in worse condition. I literally ran for the mouth of the cave. I'd never wanted to fix any car more in my life. Who leaves a car in that condition in the middle of nowhere?
'Yep, I'm fixing it. Then it will be my car. I will very likely love it forever.' I thought. I pulled the pickup as far as it would go into the trees before going to the back and pulling out all the tools I could. First, I picked up the portable stick welder, put the helmet on my head, put on the gloves. Second, I grabbed the jack. Lastly, I grabbed one of the toolboxes.
'I may very well end up moving all my tools down here.' I thought.
Miraculously, all the tires were fine. There were no flats, holes, or gashes. Although, the engine was a different story. I worked on it first. After I was done, at least it didn't look like it was about to fall apart. I then wanted to work on finding the leak, but I'd have to move it away from the pool of the unknown substance. I opened the driver's side and looked at the interior. A hum of satisfaction sounded in my throat. I had no doubt that it would look beautiful once repaired.
After putting it in Neutral, I went to the front of the car and started pushing the car backwards. When, the green pool was in front the car, I stopped and got the jack. Once the bottom was off the ground, I grabbed my tools and laid down under the car. The different leaks stood out to me immediately in the light of a flashlight.
"What kind of fuel is this? And it's not just in one line. It doesn't just go from the fuel tank to the engine. It's all over." I observed. "Is it even fuel? It also leaking from where oil should be. Same thing goes for brake fluid. Do you have some sort of custom engine? If so, why were you left in such condition? You'd think it'd be very expensive, so why?" I announced me train of thought out loud while repairing the lines.
"Now that these aren't leaking, lets weld this leak back together." I said and put on the knight welding helmet. Once my gloves were in place, I turned on the machine and grabbed the electrode holder. I turned the dials to a wire speed and amperage that I thought would be suitable for the metal.
I started to weld, but immediately noticed the signs that the weld wasn't getting hot enough. There were tones of cold spots and the electrode kept sticking to the metal. I turned the amperage up and returned to welding. The hole was starting to seal nicely now.
Suddenly, the green liquid surged from the hole at an alarming rate. It fell on me and immediately burned through the long-sleeve shirt I had on. It burned like fire as it sizzled against my skin. A scream tore its way up my throat. I quickly finished the weld so that it'd quit pouring down on me. I dragged myself from under the car and ripped off my shirt and helmet.
Every spot the stuff had touched was already developing second degree burns. The helmet was tainted in spots as well. The metal looked darker and shinier where the chemical had touched it. Thankfully, I didn't get any on my face, but I didn't have any water to treat the burns either. I looked at the car and sighed.
"What was that?" I asked and heaved myself off the ground. The dirt from the ground stained the backside of my pants. I went out to the stream that flowed near the entrance to the cave. I soaked my now ruined shirt and put it on the blisters that had formed. The cold from the water was relieving, but not all the pain was gone. The blisters ached. The pain was dulling, but it now felt as if my entire torso was in pain. I took the shirt away to look at the blisters.
They were pink in color and looked as painful as they felt. I'd have to get some pain reliever and cream or my burns tomorrow, but right then I wanted to finish closing the leaks so that I didn't lose more of that chemical. I walked back up to my truck and grabbed more shirts, three to be exact.
After that, I repaired that remaining three leaks. None of them had gushed the liquid like the first. When I had finally finished, I put all my tools away and climbed into the driver's seat. It felt so soft, but that could have been because I was so exhausted. Just as I was about to fall asleep, the radio made an almost inaudible sound.
It was a voice.
"Bum...bee...you read?" A deep voice came over the speakers. It was static and fading in and out.
"We can't... location... you read?" The voice wasn't getting any clearer. I frowned at the radio and looked at the ignition. There was no key, the radio was off, yet the radio was making noise. I'd have to fix that tomorrow. I snuggled into the seat and let myself go to sleep.
Unbeknownst to me, the car I was in was slowly gaining consciousness.
