[Part IV]
Dawn came far too fast for Peter's liking. To make matters worse, when he woke up, the only men he saw in the village square were Renard and Quimby.
"Where's everyone else?" asked Peter.
"I tried to wake them up for this, but none of them wanted to go. They said that it was wrong to fight against other humans like that," said Renard.
"I think they're just cowards," added Quimby.
"Not cowardice. Conscience," said Peter. "Now let's go. Time is of the essence."
With heavy kit on their backs, the three advanced through the forest outside. It was simple for them to find their way; the fallen trees and charred robots from yesterday's battle still lay there, housing some of the local wildlife. Staying alert, they continued their slog; lucky for them, only insects and large animals were there, not dangerous robots. A few snakes and monkeys unfortunate enough to get in their way, though, met a gruesome end at the muzzles of their assault rifles.
The sun had risen some more when they reached the edge of the forest. And what they saw floored them.
Two shiny new facilities, with dozens of humans guarding them. They had that dead look in their eyes, as if in a sinister trance. Dozens more climbed out of the facilities.
"Let's go back. It looks like everyone else will have no choice," said Peter.
"Maybe there's a way we can talk to them," said Renard.
"Much as I would like that, I'm doubtful," replied Peter. They returned to the village; by that time, everyone had woken up to do their morning chores.
Peter took a deep breath. "All men, arm up!" he shouted as loud as possible. Everyone looked in his direction and stayed silent. "I spotted a large number of other humans preparing to march through the forest. I'm sure they want to destroy us specifically. At this point it doesn't matter if you're frightened by this unusual enemy -- you will have to fight!" After a while, the murmur died down, and everyone grabbed whatever weapons they had, be they guns or farm implements.
Peter turned to Quimby. "Go into the town and warn everyone, this'll be a tough one," he said. Quimby nodded in agreement and went to his house to get his motorbike, which he rode toward the town in the distance. Despite his lapse yesterday, he was still Matarobos to them.
Peter and Renard scouted the forest; the invading humans were already pouring in. Barbed wire had been placed around the more useful entryways into the village, while men with rocket launchers and machine guns waited to rain holy hell on any attacker, whether human or robot. All in all, though, the operation weighed heavily on Peter's mind.
No. No time for self-doubt.
Peter heard a familiar rustling, but instead of engaging as he usually did, he headed back to the town and warned them of the incoming foe.
"Don't forget to make it hurt!" Peter exhorted. He got behind the barbed wire and stood beside the other men. He looked back and noticed that several of the women and children had taken up positions as well.
The attackers finally emerged from the forest. The savage roar of gunfire drowned out every other sound, and the blasts of explosions ripped the attacking humans apart. One by one, they screamed as they went down.
None of it deterred the enemy advance one bit. There was none of the panic or scattering that normally happened when humans got into a fight with an implacable foe. The villagers retreated as they took down foe after foe and tree after tree. The enemy then waded right through the barbed wire; it cut them, but they did not react to it at all.
How are they doing this?, thought Peter. Maybe he was mistaken. Maybe they were just robots built to look like humans. No...they couldn't be. Robots did not bleed that way, and when bullets shot them to pieces, all that came out were chunks of flesh and bone -- not a single microchip.
The villagers retreated further. The onslaught continued, and now the attackers slaughtered cattle and torched houses. Several of the villagers fell to bullets and bomb blasts as well, but Peter just kept shooting at the onrushing tide of humanity.
Bullet by bullet, blast by blast, they beat back the tide. The villagers fought as one and shot the attackers down one by one, but even as their charge was halted, they showed no touch of emotion, only a methodical attacking retreat. Peter pushed on, silencing all hesitation in his head.
Renard, however, wasn't so lucky. Peter didn't even notice it before, but he had fallen to enemy bullets. It would only be a matter of time before the enemy reached his wife and children.
With a powerful yell, Peter blazed ahead, emptying magazine after magazine into the attackers. However, he wasn't worried about the dwindling numbers of attacking humans. He was worried about the facilities. Already, the forest's trees fell like bowling pins. A facility soon rolled into the village, crushing the barbed wire like it was loose thread and running right over any villagers that happened to be in its path.
"Strike the facility! Attack until you can attack no more!" shouted Peter. He took the lead and threw grenades at the gigantic tank. Though the bombs had trouble penetrating the reactive armor, the mounted guns fell easily enough. Then new ones popped out and picked off more of the villagers. Still, Peter's ears reeled as explosion after explosion peppered the facility. After dispatching the last of the attacking humans, he threw another grenade at the facility, this time punching a hole in it. When he looked around, he saw that the village itself was losing people at an alarming clip.
That facility was getting a little too close to his house.
Drat, thought Peter. He tossed a grenade into the hole and blew out its circuitry just in time. His wife took the grenade launcher that Peter kept under his bed and launched another one in that hole. Another loud boom blew out the armor from the inside out. Peter ducked and covered, dodging the stray shrapnel. When he got up, he saw his wife, bleeding on the ground from a triangular piece of robot in her chest.
Peter deflated right there. He checked around for his kids, and amid the chaos, he found all of them, a bit scraped and covered in blood but still alive. The village let out a cheer for having destroyed the marauding facility.
But Peter didn't just see one facility back there. He had seen another. And it just came rolling in, guns blazing. The tired villagers expended the last of their bombs.
Then, the thrumming of several motorbikes could be heard. Quimby had arrived, with much of the town's people behind him, all armed to the teeth. Having been protected by the fighters on the periphery, they were rather out of shape compared to the villagers, but guns and bombs paid no mind to the wielder's muscle tone when they wreaked their destruction on the enemy.
"All right everyone, you know what to do!" Quimby shouted. Peter could see the relief in the townspeople's eyes; Quimby almost certainly told them they had to fight humans, but all that was in front of them was a massive robotic tank.
The roar of rocket fire took it down in short order.
Machine Crusher Matarobos
Part III
Part V Finale
Above image from the National Library of Scotland.
All my stories can be found here.
I'm Rawle Nyanzi, a professional author who seeks only to entertain. My blog is a convenient place where you can find all my writings and some of my opinions on various topics relating to politics, pop culture, and even gender.
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