I can’t find any words to say. The view in front of me is like nothing I could have even imagined.

  “Corax,” Vince rips me back to reality. “Are you feeling alright to help with one more thing?”

  Corax cocks his head at him.

  “Could you find us a safe way down? There should be some tunnels hidden around here somewhere. Look for little buildings along the rim.”

  Corax’s pouting vanishes in an instant, repced with determination. He takes off from my shoulder and begins to circle high above.

  “There are tunnels down? Why? And how do they keep them clean?” I ask.

  “At some point Vegas decided a few more rest stops on the road would increase profits, so they carved a few automated tunnels. They close as soon as a storm gets close, and someone comes around occasionally to sweep out the sand that manages to get in.”

  “How?” That would have been a feat even before the end of the world. Maybe they needed the stone anyway?

  “No idea. I wasn’t around here when they put them in.”

  “Found.” Corax nds on my shoulder out of nowhere.

  “Well alright then. You lead the way.” Vince takes the driver's seat.

  “So why do people live down here?” I ask once we start moving.

  “You’d be hard pressed to find a pce with more safe areas. Plus, being so far into the earth, it’s fairly easy to tap into all the water down there.”

  Corax leads us along the edge of the canyon until a metal doorway appears in front of us. The sides are lined with expandable joints, I guess to adapt to the sand’s height after a storm. In front of it are two lights, red and green. The green one is shining brightly. Two numbers are painted on the side proudly, 18.

  “Ah, shoot. Little Blue, can you ask Corax to find another?”

  “It’s fine.” Cassie says before I can move. “Just head down.”

  “But you said-”

  “Just drive.” Cassie cuts him off once again, a growing frustration in her voice.

  “Alright, if you’re sure.”

  I roll down the window for Corax, who glides inside.

  “You did good.” I reach up and pet him. I’m gd he could get over his feelings from losing the race so quickly.

  Vince takes us into a shallow, spiraling tunnel. It’s wide enough for a truck to squeeze through, although barely. Our car is forced to move at a slow crawl to avoid the walls.

  It takes almost twenty minutes to finally exit into the valley. It looks as if it’s night down here with the sun hidden by the canyon walls, but the sky above is still a bright blue.

  Next to us there’s a deep crevice in the wall. Bright light shines out of it, and a small windmill sits at the entrance, quickly spinning in the breeze. A guard bunker has been built into the wall, with three guards stationed inside and one sitting at the entrance. Cassie’s agitation only grows when she sees it.

  Vince drives the car towards the small crack in the wall. The single guard steps forward, and Vince stops about 100 feet away. He steps out, showing he’s unarmed and walks the rest of the way to the guard.

  I’m guessing he’s doing that to not make the guard panic? It’s dangerous though, which is probably why Ivy and Cassie have their guns ready to draw at a moment's notice.

  A few minutes ter, and after an exchange of money, Vince returns to the car.

  “Alright, I got us a private room for as long as we need it. Blue, Corax, try to be little androids for the night. They won’t kill you on sight, but I don’t want to leave an easy trail if a Ranger stops by and asks questions.”

  “Ok.” Corax answers for me.

  “Cassie, Ivy, this pce has been short on food for a bit. Eat from our stocks.”

  Vince slowly takes us through the crack. The entrance is just small enough for our car to sneak through, but it widens considerably once we’re inside.

  We drive down a main street, with a couple of street vendors desperately trying to sell what they have. Buildings are constructed directly into the high walls on either side. Brick and rotten wood fronts fuse into the natural stone. Signs of combat cover most of the older surfaces. Bullet holes pepper many of the bricks and scorch marks can be faintly seen further up, far out of reach.

  The vilge has buildings stacked on top of each other in a half dozen yers. Rickety bridges and walkways criss-cross through the sky.

  At the very end of the ravine is a fair sized garage dug into the wall. A few cars are already parked inside, which we join.

  “Don’t leave anything here you’re not willing to live without.” Ivy warns me.

  “Ok.” My entire life fits in a backpack, that won’t be hard.

  It looks like everyone else is in the same boat. I help carry as much food and water as I can, although it’s not that much. Sure I can technically carry a lot, but the torque needed means I’ll be moving far slower than the others.

  A local man comes into the garage to collect us. We follow him upstairs, through a narrow, well worn stone staircase. After two floors we follow him out onto a balcony, and then our guide opens a door.

  “This house is yours for as long as you stay.” The man says.

  “Thank you.” Vince reaches into his pocket and passes him a few bills before heading in.

  The man nods appreciatively and holds the door for us.

  The inside is small, but nice. A main living room with a few scattered, makeshift chairs and tables. A small storage area we can use as a kitchen is attached. Two open doors lead to bedrooms.

  “The outhouse is just outside to the left. Don’t be afraid to ask if you need anything else.” The man says.

  “Thank you. We appreciate it.” Vince says and the man closes the door. “It’s nicer than I expected.”

  Cassie immediately goes for one of the bedrooms and sms the door behind her. Ivy follows behind, with a few bottles of alcohol in her hands.

  “I guess I’ll get started on dinner.” Vince says to himself and pces the hot pte on one of the tables.

  “Is Cassie ok?” I come up beside him.

  “I doubt it.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “That’s not my story to tell, Little Blue.” Vince finishes unloading a few jars of food onto the counter. “Sorry, I don’t think there’s much for you to help with cooking.”

  “That’s ok.” I sit in one of the chairs with Corax. “Are you ok if I read aloud?”

  “Go for it.”

  For the first time in a little bit, Corax and I can finally resume our book. It’s one of the few non-romance books that Cassie gave me. I try to stay quiet to not disturb Vince, and more importantly, Cassie.

  “I remember that book.” Vince says after only a few minutes of listening.

  “Really?”

  “Mm-hmm. Silver and I used to read Cassie to sleep. She really liked that one.”

  “Why would she give me such an important book?” It just doesn’t make sense.

  “No idea. I guess you’ll have to ask her.”

  “Maybe when she’s feeling better.” Corax and I return to our book.

  Vince eventually finishes cooking, and delivers two ptes to Cassie’s room. Only a few seconds ter he returns to the living room and sits next to me.

  “Is she doing ok?” I ask.

  “She’s certainly trying to look like she is. Those two kicked me out pretty quick though.” Vince slowly works on his food, savoring every bite. He must have made something special, probably to make Cassie feel better.

  Vince doesn’t speak while he eats. He’s either enjoying the story or deep in his own thoughts. It’s impossible to tell which.

  “Alright Little Blue. I think I’m going to turn in for the night.” After a few chapters, he breaks the comfortable silence. He leaves his empty pte on the table and stands up, stretching a little. “Just wake me up if you need anything.” He grabs his backpack and heads for the second bedroom.

  “Ok. Sleep well.”

  Corax and I read long into the night. Right around two in the morning, Cassie finally leaves her room. She barely even looks at me as she walks out the front door, a full beer in her hand.

  If she didn’t have a drink in her hand, I’d assume she was just going to the bathroom again. I guess she could just be grabbing more from the car, it’s not really my business what she’s doing. That is, until she’s gone for over ten minutes and worry slowly begins to dominate my mind.

  “Go.” Corax climbs off my p and gives me a nudge towards the door.

  If he climbed off of me, he doesn’t want to come for some reason. I’m not sure why, but I trust his judgment.

  I step outside, into the near freezing air. The town looks all but abandoned. A few dim lights dot the walkways, and a guard stands at the entrance to the town. The only other person visible is Cassie. She’s sitting with her back against a walkway railing one floor beneath me. She’s just staring at a door, with her empty bottle knocked over beside her.

  I find some stairs and head down to her, she shouldn’t be alone out here.

  She barely even reacts as I approach. Her face has two prominent tear streaks she hasn’t bothered to wipe away.

  What do I even say? ‘It’s cold, you should come back’? She already knows exactly how cold it is. ‘Whatever you're worried about will be ok’? That’ll only make her mad. Instead, I wordlessly sit beside her.

  She turns her head limply towards me. She looks at my face for just a moment before returning to staring at the door.

  “This used to be my house.” She mumbles out after a few minutes of silence. Her speech is so slurred I have a tough time understanding her.

  I’m not surprised by the revetion. I’d probably be in just as bad shape if we were forced to stop by the b.

  Again I’m lost for words. Telling her I understand won’t help her feel better.

  It’s funny, everyone has spent so much time helping me, and now when it’s my turn I don’t know what to say.

  “Do you want me to leave?” AI killed her family, I don’t want to make things worse by being here.

  She shakes her head.

  “It doesn’t matter.” She picks up the empty bottle and tries to get another drop from it. When it doesn’t come, she ends up just staring at it for a moment. “You need to rex.” She tries to hand me the empty bottle.

  “I’m not sure I can drink.” Although, maybe I can? My brain is organic. I’m not sure exactly how it works, but putting a little bit of alcohol in my water intake might have the same effects? Although with how small my brain is that might just kill me. Plus I’m not sure how I’d ever filter the alcohol out?

  “Just, pour it on your circuits.” She leans on to me and pretends to dump the bottle on my head, making a quiet spshing sound with her mouth.

  She’s almost ice cold! How can she stand to be out here?

  “I’m not sure that would work.” For a few reasons actually. The vast majority of my surface area is waterproof, unless I choose to open the skin ptes of course. Even if she poured it in a few of my exposed joints, I’d just end up being fried.

  “But you’d be fucking hirious.” She whines.

  “Really? Maybe I can pretend sometime.” I don’t think I want to do that, but if it helps distract Cassie I will.

  “It’s not the same.” She lets her head drop onto my shoulder. “How’d you get so warm?”

  “That’d be the plutonium.”

  “That’s so cool.”

  “I’ve never seen you charge your limbs. How are they powered?” It’s a weird question, but it’s the only one my brain can come up with.

  “I don’t know.” Her eyes have closed and she’s barely mumbling loud enough for me to hear. “Some internal thing.”

  “That’s really cool too.” I reassure her.

  “Yeah, but it doesn’t keep me warm.” She puts even more weight against me, slowly going limp. It’s not long before she’s fully asleep.

  Great, how do I get her home? Can I even carry her? How much does she weigh? It can’t be all that much. She’s already very short, and with how slim her legs are, they probably weigh less than organic legs would.

  There’s nothing to do but to try. I maneuver the best I can without disturbing her, eventually managing to loop one arm under her legs and use the other to support her back and head.

  She’s only a little over 100 pounds, but I’m still forced to nearly max out the torque on my joints. I slowly stand up and head back to the house. She’s heavy, but my servos can just about handle it, even if I’m walking incredibly slowly.

  As I walk I adapt to the weight. I end up bancing almost entirely on one leg, extending the other, and then rocking myself forward on the other leg. It looks weird, but I’m traveling closer to a normal speed even with all this weight. Stairs are a different matter, and those take quite a while to manage.

  When I reach the door, I have to reach up with one foot and open it to avoid bumping her into the wall. It’s tough, but Cassie is almost entirely limp in my arms. If she was moving around I doubt I’d be able to bance like I am.

  I carry her into her room. Ivy is already asleep in the bed, and I pce Cassie next to her and pull the covers over her. I make sure to y her on her side, just in case she throws up.

  She’s going to feel awful in the morning. I go to the kitchen and grab two rge gsses of water and a jar of dried vegetables. I leave them both on the nightstand.

  “Good night you two.”

  JanePtinum