Gene. Sys. by Aaron Denius (best ereader for comics txt) 📕

open the door, I see a drone with an eye patch covering his left eye. “80?”

He taps his eye patch. “You like it?”

“Yeah. It looks tough.” I’m happy to see him. I would rather it be him that brings me to Rene.

“Follow me.” He walks off toward the library, away from the medical ward. I don’t question him; I just follow. He leads me to a door near the library and into the open field.

This is where the battle against the outsiders took place. I look down and see that the blades of grass are still stained with blood. They moved the bodies while Ev and I were down in the simulation room. He is definitely not taking me to see Rene. “Where are we going?”

“I have a surprise for you.” He looks back and smiles, and picks up his pace to a light jog. I have no choice but to follow as he makes it to the wall.

“They are going to be waking up Rene soon.” My heart is pumping. Whatever 80 has planned has got me excited.

“I know. It’s the perfect time.” He works his way down the wall, checking his surroundings as he goes.

“For what? What are we doing?” I mimic every action he takes as he ducks his way to the corner of the wall.

“Going to the pyramid.” He shoots a giant smile at me, and I can’t help but reciprocate. “You said you wanted to go. Besides, everyone will be focusing on Rene, so no one will notice us leaving.”

What we are about to do is so wrong and will get me in so much trouble, but ever since I saw the top of the pyramid from my vantage point on the roof, I have wanted to see it up close. Before I can even think about objecting, I see 80 scaling the wall’s corner like a spider. He places his hand on one stone and his foot on another. I do my best to follow his path as we climb the thirty-foot wall.

He is every bit as physically able as I am, but he seems to possess a lot more fearlessness. My hands shake as I look down at the drop beneath me. One miscalculation, and I could very easily fall to my death. 80 makes it to the top and looks around.

I’m about to reach up for the top of the wall when my foot slips. My heart stops as I begin to fall, and the only thing that crosses my mind is that I failed Ev. I am snapped back into the moment when 80’s hand grabs mine, stopping my thirty-foot plunge. He pulls me up, and I regain my bearings at the top of the wall. That close brush with death has made me reconsider this adventure. “I shouldn’t be doing this. We should go back.”

“Stop!” Three drones are running at us from different directions.

“Too late. Go!” 80 has ushered me to the edge of the wall, and before I know it, I’m climbing down on the other side. 80 is on the wall right behind me. We make it to the ground and run in the direction of the first place we can find cover. It appears to be an old metal shack with most of its exterior rusted, stolen, or blown off. We crouch behind it, both breathing heavy and trying to catch our breath. We look at each other and laugh.

We barely have time to think before we are off and running again, this time in the direction of the pyramid. The bottom is obscured by the city before us, but I see more of the top than I ever have. The city is a mix of steel and glass buildings with stone and metal huts. It’s a plethora of juxtaposition with no middle ground. The only thing that they all have in common is that they have been worn down, torn apart, or blown up. Anxiety grips me as we get closer to the border. The outsiders do not come across as welcoming hosts, and we are running into unknown territory for both of us.

“Come over here.” 80 waves me over to a pile of rubble. “We need to change out of these clothes. We’ll stand out to the outsiders if we don’t.”

“What would happen if they spot us?” I step next to 80 as he bends down and grabs something.

“They’d kill us.” 80 pulls the corpse of a young man from under the rubble. The smell coming from his body is repugnant. His entire left arm is missing, and his face is covered with blood. His dead, empty eyes stare up at me through the blood. My stomach tightens, and I look away.

“I’m not wearing a dead man’s clothes.” I try hard to keep everything in my stomach.

“Atom, it’s the only way. Nobody outside of the compound wears what we have on,” he says. “Just don’t look at their faces.”

I take a deep breath and turn to see that 80 has already grabbed a second body and is midway through changing. I walk over to the first body and slowly pull off his outer layer. “How are you able to do this?”

“I have been around death since I was created. The drones are expendable, so they wouldn’t even bother fixing someone with a broken leg. They just replace them with someone new. I’m not the first one named 80.” He jumps back into the rubble and scavenges.

This reminder of the lack of humanity the scientists show toward the drones reignites my anger at Rene. It confirms my resolve to make it to the pyramid and defy him. These thoughts help me get through the daunting task of putting on a dead man’s clothes. I finish changing, and 80 steps out of the rubble holding a handgun and a long staff. He hands me the staff and conceals the gun in his pants.

“Let’s go.” 80 heads into the city.

I follow. “How do you know which way to