“Run!” Dale screamed.
Lloyd and Dale sprinted out of the courtyard, the Boston Wrangler hot on their heels. Behind them, the crowd streamed through the open gates to freedom.
Inside the fortress, Stacey ran with Hank through the main building towards the entrance hall. She rounded the corner and saw that dozens of terrified production personnel and Marines were milling at the doorway.
Mendoza turned as Stacey approached. “Stacey, thank God!” he cried. “What are we gonna do?”
What are you asking me for? thought Stacey wildly. She fought down the wave of panic rising up inside her, remembering Mendoza was only an actor, not a Marine. Marty was dead and someone had to take command of the situation. And as the production safety officer the responsibility fell to her. She looked through the entrance hall doors to the courtyard beyond and saw the gates were now open.
“Evacuate”, she said decisively. “Everyone back onto the ship.”
Stevenson pointed at the Thumpers criss-crossing the courtyard. “How? We’ll get blown to pieces!”
Stacey scanned the courtyard, looking for the safest route to the gates and saw that the robot workshop wing had sustained the least damage. She shielded her eyes to cut out the glare of the sun and noted that Blast Furnace was positioned at the shutter entrance, sweeping its water cannon back and forth, repelling any approaching Thumpers. “We’ll go that way”, she said, pointing.
Still supporting Hank, Stacey led the group around the side of the main building. They passed the cafeteria, then turned the corner, edging their way along the exterior wall of the robot workshop wing. She paused for a second, checking for approaching Thumpers, but fortunately only half a dozen or so remained in the courtyard, bouncing from wall to wall like balls in a pinball machine.
Stacey started walking again and suddenly realized that their route was going to take them directly past Eve who hadn’t moved from her position from where she had slain Major Hacker. She cautiously edged past the robot, her eyes never leaving the purple stain on Eve’s blade. Her eyes involuntarily glanced down, expecting to see Hacker’s corpse, but thankfully there was no sign of him. A smoking crater was at the spot where he had fallen and Stacey guessed his body must have been destroyed by a Thumper robot.
She ducked under Blast Furnace’s high-pressure spray and nodded to McBride who was supervising the robot, Toby at his side.
“Are all the other competitors inside?” she yelled.
“Everyone’s here with their robots apart from Caitlin”, McBride answered.
Stacey glanced inside and saw all the competitors were huddled at the rear of the workshop. De Coza saw Stacey and ran forwards. Dumpmaster faithfully bounded after him and Stacey realized with horror that the robots were still on autonomous control; if the competitors left the fortress there was every likelihood that their robots would try to follow. She shuddered at the thought of Dumpmaster and the rest of the robots trampling through the bottleneck of people at the gate. “Stay with your robots”, she yelled. “We’ll come back for you.”
De Coza looked at her rebelliously. “Are you nuts?” he shouted. “I’m not staying here!”
“Do it!” Stacey ordered, with as much authority as she could muster. “You’re safe where you are!”
She looked at McBride for support and he nodded. “She’s the safety officer, let’s do what she says.”
“But…”
A Thumper detonated nearby, drowning out De Coza’s words.
“We’re staying put”, McBride told De Coza firmly.
Stacey shot McBride a grateful smile and prepared to leave.
“What about Caitlin?” said Toby anxiously.
“She probably headed for the beach along with everyone else”, said Stacey. “When I see her I’ll tell her you’re safe.” She turned and led her party towards the gates.
Inside the cafeteria, Caitlin was sheltering under one of the long wooden tables. An explosion shook the building and the three Speed-Feeders stomped back and forth, jostling each other like anxious horses in a stable fire. The robots were normally placid and dim-witted, used to a life of monotony and routine, and the arrival of the unpredictable Thumpers had thrown them into a panic. Caitlin knew it was only a matter of time before they started to stampede.
Another Thumper exploded nearby, causing the smallest Speed-Feeder to recoil and crash into its two brother robots, its serving tray spewing chocolate bars and cigarette packets. The other two Speed-Feeders panicked and rushed towards the door, forcing Caitlin out from under the table.
A Thumper bounded past the cafeteria and the two Speed-Feeders piled up in the doorway, registering danger. The Thumper paused as if considering its options, bounced left, bounced right, then promptly head-butted the drinks Speed-Feeder in the chest. The robot exploded like a dropped soda can, a rainbow of carbonated beverages spraying from its shattered body.
Caitlin recoiled, blinded by fizzing cola but otherwise unhurt. She wiped her eyes and saw that the surviving food Speed-Feeder was charging round and round the cafeteria in panic. It careered towards Caitlin, arms outstretched, and she turned and fled from the cafeteria.
Caitlin heard the crash of breaking glass behind her and realized the robot had followed her out into the courtyard, taking the more direct route through the plate glass window. She turned and saw the Speed-Feeder coming at her like a charging elephant, 5 tonnes of lolloping chrome and steel. Caitlin neatly side-stepped and the Speed-Feeder hurtled past her.
Straight into the base of the toy robot statue.
The Speed-Feeder’s deep-fat fryer exploded on impact, releasing a massive orange fireball that roiled up to the very tip of the giant robot. A shockwave of intense heat blasted Caitlin off her feet, hurling her through the air. She smashed into the cafeteria wall and crumpled to the ground, the wind crushed from her lungs. She gazed up at the toy robot statue, her skin scorched and her hair crinkled, and saw that it was ablaze, covered from head to toe in burning cooking oil. The robot seemed to be screaming in pain and then Caitlin realized that the shrill metallic noise wasn’t emanating from it’s mouth, but far lower in the robot’s body. Her eyes travelled down and saw that the statue’s entire right foot had been obliterated by the explosion, the base of the statue now a mess of broken concrete and snapped-off steel struts. The screaming sound intensified into a fingers-down-a-blackboard metallic shriek and Caitlin saw the robot’s right leg was starting to buckle as it took all of the statue’s weight.
The sky abruptly darkened and Caitlin was dimly aware that she was now seeing the statue from a new angle, glimpsing the dial and circuit-board paintwork on the robot’s chest. She tried to scramble to her feet but her body refused to obey, still stunned from the blast. The statue started to topple and Caitlin gazed up helplessly as the giant robot came screaming out of the sky towards her…
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
EVACUATE!
Inside the robot workshop, Toby stared in horror as the giant robot toppled towards Caitlin. He sprinted across the courtyard as the falling statue picked up momentum, plummeting to the ground like a falling redwood tree. He reached Caitlin just as the statue was almost upon her, managing to scoop her up and fling her away in one fluid motion. Out of the corner of his eye he saw one of the robot’s clawed pincers hurtling towards him. He tried to leap away but was too slow. There was a blinding flash of pain and then everything went black.
The giant robot smashed into the main building, the impact shaking the entire fortress like an earthquake. It rebounded then rolled sideways, finally coming to a rest in front of the robot workshop wing.
At the gates, Stacey saw that the fallen statue had sealed the competitors inside the workshop. She made to go to them and a hand grasped her shoulder, pulling her back. She turned and saw it was Brad, his face bleeding, his clothes charred and blackened. “We’ll go back for them later!” he yelled. “We’ve got to get these people onto the ship!”
Stacey nodded reluctantly,
and with Hank between them they led the group down the jungle path towards the ocean. They reached the beach and Stacey saw with dismay that escaped Thumpers were now bounding around the beach, seeming to revel in their new freedom.
“So now what?” said Brad, glancing at Hank. “We can’t go through there with him.”
Stacey saw that he was right. The beach resembled an obstacle course, with much of the debris from the morning’s opening battle still strewn from the palm tree terrace to the sea. Pockets of people ran back and forth, trying to find an opening through the tangles of barbed wire straggled between destroyed Pulse Cannon Robots, so they could reach the ship beyond.
“Down there”, Stacey yelled, pointing to the sea.
Brad nodded and they headed down the beach, Hank grimly clinging onto them. They waded into the water then followed the coastline towards the ship. Movement appeared in Stacey’s peripheral vision and she realized that a group of Thumper robots were keeping pace with them further out to sea, bursting out of the ocean like leaping salmon before disappearing back into the murky depths again.
“They’re heading right for the ship!” yelled Brad.
Stacey, Brad and Hank splashed through the water towards the ship’s entrance ramp and joined the throng of people waiting to board. The captain and a group of Marines were positioned at the base of the ramp, pulling people onto the ship as fast as possible.
The captain grabbed hold of Hank and hauled him onboard. He reached for Stacey and saw the Thumpers bounding towards the ship. “Close the doors!” he ordered. “We need to get this ship moving!”
“There’s still people on the island!” Stacey screamed. “What’s going to happen to them?”
“What’s going to happen to the ship if one of those things hits us?” retorted the captain.
The ship’s engines roared into life. The people on the beach realized the ship was going to leave without them and started to panic, thinking they were about to be left behind. They scrambled through the water, hurling themselves through the hull doors.
“Move yourselves!” yelled the captain and blasted the ship’s horn.
Inside the fortress, Marty heard the ship’s horn blast mournfully in the distance and groaned, starting to regain consciousness. He blinked in confusion and then realized the warped mass of metal he was staring at was the seat of the holo-phone chair he had been sheltering behind, now totally blasted out of shape. Amazed that he was still alive, he uncurled his body from around the chair’s pedestal then winced in pain. He tenderly touched his temple and his hand felt tacky with dried blood. The horn blasted again and Marty’s eyes registered bewilderment swiftly followed by panic.
The ship! They were going without him!
Marty kicked away a section of the holo-booth wall that had fallen onto him and staggered to his feet. Ignoring the pain, he raced down the rubble-strewn corridor. Sunlight flooded in through a gaping hole in the wall and Marty scrambled over a pile of collapsed masonry to the courtyard outside. He faltered for a second, his eyes travelling across the battle-scarred courtyard, taking in the burning buildings, the fallen robot statue, Toby’s body to the side of it, Caitlin kneeling beside him.
The ship’s horn blasted once more, galvanizing Marty into action. He raced through the courtyard, past the gates and down the jungle trail. He burst through the jungle canopy and saw that the ship was preparing to leave, the last of the production crew scrambling up the ramp.
“Hey!” Marty yelled, “Wait for me!”
He sprinted down the beach, oblivious to the barbed wire strands that tore at his skin and the Thumper robots straying into his path. He reached the water’s edge and saw that several Thumpers were clustered around the ship, their glossy black heads bobbing up and down like frolicking sea-lions. As he watched, one of the Thumpers detached itself from the group, bouncing towards the ship’s ramp. The ship started to pull away, its ramp withdrawing.
“Hey, what about me!” Marty screamed, signalling with both arms like an island castaway. “Don’t leave me here!”
The ship kept moving, accelerating out of the bay.
Marty watched in horror as the Thumper followed the ship, hurling itself through the closing door. He glimpsed a flash of light followed by a dull crump that echoed across the bay. The ship rocked under the impact of the explosion but remained seaworthy. Marty held his breath as the ship headed further out to sea, waiting to see if she was going to capsize. The ship went east, trailing black smoke and disappeared from view.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
ALONE ON THE ISLAND
Toby felt like he was swimming in black oil, drifting lower and lower. He dimly became aware of a female voice, repeatedly calling his name…
Toby… Toby… Toby…
The swirling eddies of black oil slowly changed colour, rich veins of scarlet and gold emerging. The whirling vortex transformed into Caitlin’s shimmering auburn hair, coiled into a ponytail and Toby suddenly realized he was back at school, watching her fight in a school tournament.
“Toby… Toby… TOBY!”
Caitlin’s voice lost its dreamlike quality, its anxious edge snapping Toby back to reality. He opened his eyes and saw Caitlin’s tear-stained face gazing down at him.
“Thank God, you’re alive!” she cried.
Toby looked past Caitlin, dazed and confused. He seemed to be lying in some sort of robot graveyard. Chunks of smashed-up Thumpers, Speed-Feeders, Camera-Drones and Troopers were strewn around him as far as the eye could see. He turned his head and saw the vast impassive face of the toy robot statue staring at him from the other side of the courtyard.
Suddenly the memory of the falling statue came back to him, and he flinched, trying to scramble away from the giant robot.
“Easy, son, easy”, a man’s voice said soothingly and Toby saw that McBride had joined Caitlin. He looked down at Toby, concerned. “That was quite a knock you took. You’ve been out cold for hours.”
Toby painfully sat up and saw the sun was now low in the sky, shadows falling over the cracked and buckled concrete floor. His head throbbed painfully and he delicately touched his scalp.
Caitlin pulled his hand away. “Don’t, you’ll start it bleeding again.”
Toby licked his dry lips and tasted the metallic tang of blood. He looked around him. The fortress resembled a war zone. The studio wing was a smoking shell, the roof caved in, mounds of rubble spilling out of the wrecked shutters. Blast Furnace was positioned in the front of the building, its water cannon trained on the upper floor. The main building was in even worse shape, smashed into two sections by the falling robot statue. Only the robot workshop wing was still intact, the smoking statue still blocking the entrance. Toby could see a section of the robot’s leg had been cut away and guessed that this was how McBride managed to get outside. A wave of dizziness came over him and he shook his head, overwhelmed by the scale of the destruction. “I was hoping it was a bad dream”, he murmured.
The sound of approaching footsteps neared and everyone turned towards the fortress gates. Marty walked towards them, his face scratched and bloody, his expression dazed. “The ship. It’s gone”, he said simply.
Caitlin stared at Marty, uncomprehending. “Gone? You mean they just left us?”
Marty didn’t answer, looking near to tears.
“So how many of us are still here?” asked Toby.
“Us four”, said McBride. “Thumper and Coach Kennedy are still in the main building, trying to get the holo-phone to work, that makes six.” He jerked his thumb at the robot workshop wing. “Plus De Coza and the others competitors. Which makes, what, fourteen of us?”
Caitlin looked apprehensively at the smouldering studio. “What about in there?”
“No one”, said McBride decisively.
“How can you be so sure?”
McBride nodded towards Blast Furnace. “Her heat sensors would have picked up any survivors. They’re sensitive enough to detect a person’s body heat in a burni
ng building.”
“What if someone’s… not producing body heat?” asked Caitlin.
“She’ll still pick ‘em up. Believe me, there’s no one apart from us in this fortress, dead or alive.”
Coach Kennedy and Thumper emerged from the main building, their faces grim. “Looks like we’re on our own for the time being”, Kennedy announced. “The holo-phone’s totally out of action.”
McBride looked around the ragged band of survivors. “We need to get together and decide what we’re gonna do.”
Everyone nodded sombrely, lost in their own thoughts.
McBride sighed. “Okay, let’s break the good news to the others.”
He started walking towards the robot workshop, patting the side of Blast Furnace as he passed. The robot’s internal sluice snapped off and it obediently rumbled after McBride, its tentacle-like water hoses withdrawing. Marty, Kennedy and Thumper followed McBride into the robot workshop and Caitlin turned to Toby. “Shall we go?”
Toby looked at her uneasily. “There’s something that nobody’s thought about.”
“What?”
Toby pointed at the charred remains of one of the Trooper Robots lying near the courtyard entrance. Its foot was twitching spasmodically, the tip of its boot kicking one of the gates, creating an eerie wind-chime ring. “The Toymaker’s robots.” He looked through the gates with a frown. “God knows what’s out there waiting for us.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
THE BODY IN THE STUDIO
Toby started walking towards the studio and Caitlin looked after him anxiously. “Toby, the whole building could come down at any moment!”
“I’ll be okay. Just keep an eye on that robot and tell me when it’s deactivated.”
Toby carefully stepped through the wrecked shutters and entered the studio. He looked around him cautiously. All the fires seemed to have either burnt themselves out or been extinguished by Blast Furnace’s water cannon. The studio seemed unnaturally quiet, the sodden wood and masonry damping down any echo, giving the room a dead, lifeless feel. The only sound was a monotonous drip, drip, drip.