Old Wounds
Note: This story is set in Cold War/Vietnam War post-era. Not as futuristic as you think. Since this is in that era, expect major gore and lots o' cussing.
Semper fidelis.
"Wake up..."
"We're losing him!"
"Dammit, do it again! We have no choice!"
Electricity surged over David Graham, immediately waking him up.
Speaking through gritted teeth and pain, David managed to speak, "What the fuck?!"
"David, nice to have you back. For these past hours, we've been trying to crack open that head of yours."
David seemed confused, squinting his eyes. In front of him was a man who seemed to be in his late 40's.
"David, back to 1968, Vietnam, you were infiltrating the Charlie's bunkers on robotics."
"Yeah, I remember. I went in with Logan Cook, fucking Marines. It all went to shit."
1968
"David, vượt qua tôi blowtorch đó."
David passed the VC scientist the blowtorch, all the photographer could do was watch as he molded the robot.
An explosion caused the bunker to shake, David was used to do this. He and Logan had been in these rat tunnels for about 6 hours while the Marines fought the Charlies.
"Charlie!" A marine called out the two scientists, pulling out his revolver. A Charlie soldier popped out, immediately killing the marine.
That had put the scientists on the edge, they started to pack up the robot. Charlie soldiers started to enter the rat tunnels, all on full alert.
David could see the sweat run off of Logan's forehead, with this much activity, David would be scared as well.
He wasn't, simply because he wasn't a marine.
"Hai, bạn có được những robot và ra khỏi đây!" A Charlie soldier yelled at David, the photographer could not understand a single word.
"Bạn không nói ngôn ngữ của tôi, con chó Mỹ?" The soldier started to raise his weapon at David.
Logan couldn't take it anymore, pulling out his revolver. The Charlie screeched, the soldier's brain chunks flew out of his head, staining the wall.
The two went to cover, as the scientists bailed. "Shit! What the hell, Logan?" David shouted, bullets whizzing by.
"Trust me- Marines, this is Logan, we are pinned down. Need immediate assistance!" The marine shouted into his radio.
"November Golf." The other marines replied on the radio.
Logan seemed furious, "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!" The marine put the radio into his pocket, sighing and calming down. "David, you ready?"
David nodded, adrenaline pumping. Logan threw a frag grenade at David, the pin off. The photographer shrieked, throwing the grenade at the Charlies.
Covering his ears, the soldiers died due to shrapnel and an explosion. Although the scientists got away, David and Logan survived.
"Damn, you hot sierra, David." Logan chuckled, using his Marine phrases.
"The fuck does that mean?" David inquired, rubbing the sweat off his forehead.
"Means you hot shit, dumbass." Logan stood up, scrubbing off dirt from his tee. "Damn, look at all these Charlies."
"What does Charlie mean?" David asked once again.
"A name we gave to the Communists. Come on!" Logan ran into the rat tunnels. David followed.
Present
"That's it?" The interrogator asked.
"I mean, what else do you expect? It all went to shit!" David yelled at the interrogator, he didn't have time to deal with a reclusive 40-year old man.
"Shock him."
The room lit up as David was electrocuted. The photographer screamed in pain, squeezing his eyes. His veins bulged from his arms and hands.
"I need more! We need to know where the robots are located."
"Oh, the robots. Heh… those fuckers." David chuckled, smoke erupting from his body. The photographer started to guffaw, slowly dying down before passing out.
1975
"Okay, Freddy, take this easy and slow." David calmed down the frantic brown bear, as he took his first step.
These robots were way ahead of their time and very valuable.
Due to this, David was a man on the run. He'd never thought it happen. Logan Cook had even turned against him. Now he was safe.
David always wondered if the NSA and FBI could find him in Alaska, it almost seemed impossible.
Nothing was impossible though.
Freddy started to get used to walking, David opened the door to the snowy outside.
The brown bear cheered and jumped out, lying in the white pillow of fluff and coziness.
David grinned, it was as if he was raising his own son. He still had work to do, the other animatronics. They hadn't been activated yet.
"These robots are the definition of android and A.I, meaning they come with human features. Make sure to install these in last, more info on pg 39..." David recited the lines from the manual.
The photographer had to translate the whole thing from Vietnamese, David studied Vietnamese for three years, in preparation for the animatronics' capture.
"Bonnie Model v0.1- prototype." David read aloud the words, as he screwed in the head of an indigo bunny.
The construction was hard, especially the materials needed. Forty dollars gone in a flash due to these needed materials.
"Sir David." A voice called out from behind of the photographer.
"Yes?"
"I feel cold." Freddy whimpered, shivering. David almost completely forgot about the human features, they experienced the same thing humans could do. They were alike, human and machine.
Left with no options, David took off his bubble coat, wrapping it around Freddy. Assuming the brown bear was done, David peeped out of his cottage before slamming the door.
"Can I go to my room, sir?" Freddy questioned like a 10-year old boy. David smiled, pressing the button.
The room beneath them opened up, leading to an underground bunker.
The brown bear skipped to his room. "Hey, Freddy," David called the brown bear, stopping him. "Don't call me sir please, call me dad."
Freddy nodded before continuing to his destination. David sighed, wiping sweat off his forehead.
"Fuck, this bunny sure is hard." Putting the screwdriver down, David went down to the bunker as well.
Present
"That's it. I'm not taking it anymore!" The interrogator stormed out the room. David awoke from his nap ten minutes later, confused. Realizing the interrogator was gone, he took this as an advantage. Slipping through the cuffs due to the blood that the cuffs had created.
"Fuck ups aren't good, man." David ran out of the room, alarms blared throughout the room.
"Was waiting for that."
Soldiers exited the door behind David as he sprinted through the hall. "Freeze!" They shouted, the former photographer continued to go.
Seeing the window in front of him, David decided to wing it. "Please, God." The former photographer jumped through the window, shattered glass shards falling to the ground.
For David, it felt as if the world slowed down just for him.
Did I leave the stove on?
David's train of thought was cut off by barrages of lead whizzing past him. Landing hard on the ground, David screeched. The pain was unbearable, as if a hot iron nail was driving through both of his legs.
The former photographer attempted to crawl away, gripping at the cement for life. "I will not die here!"
David could only get to the street until they finally caught up to him.
"David Graham, you are under arrest for treason and attempted escape!" His interrogator yelled at him, holding a Colt.
David spat out blood, the crimson fluid seeped into the old cement. "Golf Tango Hotel." The interrogator growled, slammed his muddy boot into David's jaw, teeth and blood flying out.
"How does that feel, huh, David?!" The interrogator dragged David to the alley, leaving a bloody trail.
"If they won't take care of you, I'll take care of you myself."
"Fucking do it then!" David instructed the interrogator to pull the trigger. The interrogator smirked, soon David was caught in a monologue by his own interrogator.
The monologue was cut off by a bullet meeting the interrogator's neck. Gasping, the interrogator clenched his fists as blood spewed out his neck like a running faucet. He fell to the ground.
David was confused, his vision was hazy and he was dying.
Nice.
David's unknown savior wore a trench coat and a fedora. "I know you, David. That interrogator wanted to kill you, I couldn't let it happen. I wanted to collect the money directly."
Turns out he wasn't his savior at all, the assassin pulled out a silenced ASP, two shots to David and the fog was cleared for the former photographer.
The assassin quickly left the scene, never to be heard of again.
Father, wake up.
Dad!
Come on…
please...