Got to get this off my comp. files an into the web before my computer crashes. And i don't own Wall-E's rights.

TRIVIA! about the title of this chapter, its the name of the song by B.J. Thomas and it was the song that Andrew Stanton wanted to be the track for the chapter of Wall-E taking care of EVE. Thomas Newman instead wanted to make something more original instead.

CHAPTER 10. RAIN DROPS KEEP FALLIN' ON MY HEAD

Come morning, twilight creeps over the eastern horizon; the sandstorm has calmed down overnight, but Wally hasn't. Since Eve put herself into hibernation, he was wide awake and worried sick; thinking she was hurt or he did something wrong, making her shut herself off from him. Since then he had been wide awake, trying to wake her up, but to no avail. Due to the fact she was cryogenerically frozen in place, and technically she's clinically dead, unresponsive to Wally's cries for her. But he still tries, not willing to give up on his only friend.

He sat there and stared at her pod in the truck for hours after countless attempts of pounding on it to awake her. He kept thinking of how to get her out, to bring her out of the freezing shell and back to life. But how? He did not know…"Aha!" He shall try to unfreeze her!

With the sun now above the horizon, Wally has moved, or better yet, labored Eve's cryotube outside, to where he would get his pacemaker recharged at the same time. Her pod was, not bulky, but very heavy; around 350 lbs because the density of the great cyrogeneric residual ice inside the pod combined with the density of Eve's frozen solid body. It took him an hour or two of pushing against the pod, out of the truck, down the ramp, and into the sunlight. Manual laboring didn't help Wally take his mind off of Eve, but he at least got her in the sun's warm rays in the expectation for her to awake.

Now all he could do was wait, and see if the sun could melt through the pods -100̊ C chasis. So he stood by her side on the bridge, staring at the frozen figure of Eve, waiting for the ice to thaw out and let her go, so he could see her warm open eyes and hear her voice again.

He lets those happy results run through his head as he waits patiently….

…And waits… …and waits… …and waits…

Midday.

By now the sun's heat is beating down on the surface as hot as it will irradiate. It's almost unbearable, even for Wally. Though he grew up here, it's the hottest summer on Earth he's ever experienced. He sat down on the sizzling concrete of the broken bridge. His worksuit and skin is soaked with sweat, and his mouth crisp dry from dehydration; Wally doesn't care, for he's more concerned for Eve waking up any moment now, the same thought that's been running through him for the past few hours.

He looks back up at the pod; she's still frozen as she was this morning. Outside air temperatures have hit 50˚ C (122̊ F), and not a single drop of condensation has dripped from her pod. Wally drops his head down in disappointment, nothing, after hours of waiting, has happened.

Patience, he told to himself, reassured that she will eventually thaw.

...

It's almost sundown, Wally is only slightly bored and Eve is still where she was at, motionlessly frozen in her pod where he put it, it's green light still pulsating. He is fiddling around with his tools on the still sizzling ground, wondering if he could work his way through the pod to release her. As he sorts through what he could use, he hears rumbling sounds in the distance.

He looks up to see darkness spread across the horizon. It wasn't a sandstorm, for there where no winds to kick up dust. These columns of clouds are all grey/black and towering high into the sky. Flashes of light could be seen in the blackness, it's where the soft earthshaking sounds are coming from.

"Uh-oh" He realizes it's a thunderstorm.

It seems it will be over them by nightfall, which is not long. Though they are not as powerful or deadly as a thunderstorm, it is still serious to find shelter because of flooding and lightning. He has witnessed some of his comrades suffer those fates, no where to hide from Mother Nature and died in the rain.

Wally has no idea how durable Eve's pod is against the weather, but just because its hi-tech doesn't mean it can last out here. He won't have time to move Eve back into the truck. Her pod is too heavy to move and because of the slope of the ramp, it might fall on him if he tries to move it up. Worse, he might hurt Eve inside it.

Wally remembers he has some ancient anti-rain devices in the truck. People used them against rain and where called 'umbrellas'; but he had only one.

Considering the situation, he could use it to protect Eve himself. It's very rare for a thunderstorm to pass by these times, mostly in dry heat or cold. Wally has forgotten what it felt like for rain to pour on his skin. And he never bathed as much as he could remember, there was not enough clean water to do so if there was any. The rain could be good since he was out in the heat all day. He felt like he could use a small bathing in the rain…

…later that night…

Wally's sleep-deprived eyes shot wide open in total shock as another lightning bolt stuck and missed him by a few meters; frying the ground it touched. The ungodly sound of electricity crashing down is painfully deafening to his ears. It's the 10th time in the night he was almost electrocuted. But he kept his spot, next to Eve's pod, holding an umbrella over it as he stood out in the downpour.

The rain was coming down hard, and from every direction because of wind. He was drenched right through his suit from head to toe, shivering in freezing rain, but he doesn't mind one bit. Although he does regret that he underestimated the terrible conditions of the storm; he'd give his other arm for some heat. The temperature dropped rapidly and had only then realized that he had to stay awake and hold an umbrella over Eve's pod until the rain stopped, his arms were becoming outstretched for holding it all night. But he didn't know how to find a way to get it back into the truck or to a safer place.

All he knows is that it will be dawn in a couple of hours, and hopefully the storm will be gone with by then.

Just as he finished that though, the 11th near-missing lightning bolt struck the street light next to him, screaming and jumping in surprise.

"IF we make it to dawn" He thought as he looked in terror at the molten metal of the struck light post.

…A few hours later…

The rain had passed, but the cold has not.

A dark overcast hung over Sector NA-001, preventing sunlight from warming the surface that morning, its now below freezing (0˚ C).

"Why of all times of the year for weather on this planet to go from extreme to extreme?" Wally wondered to himself as Wally shivered in the freezing air.

Since the Earth's protective atmosphere has long been chemically tainted and eaten away, the climates have become volatile to temperature changes, from very hot to very cold if there was sunlight or not over non-clouded or darkened regions of Earth.

It's getting way too cold now; Wally was shivering uncontrollably, his teeth hurt from it. His suit was wet from the downpour but he has no other forms of clothing to change into or dry off in. Standing out in the windy open air, the wet uniform stung his skin like needles; adding more misery on top of sleep deprivation, shell shock, and a common cold he got in the storm. He was thankfully astonished that he made it through 33 lightning bolts that came within a few feet of him, almost frying him on the spot, and he hasn't succumbed to hypothermia from freezing rain.

Wally looks at the source of his misery and his endurance, the still hibernating form of Eve. She was alright, as far as he could tell; no water droplets or electric bolts have touched her pod. He stood by her side all night, with an umbrella in his biologic hand (because of the lightning, his mechanical arm is a huge metallic attraction for electricity, but keeping an out stretched for hours holding an umbrella was very straining), its a wonder he hasn't succumbed to exhaustion either.

Her pod hadn't changed since she went into slumber, no more or no less frozen.

"But must be kept safe regardless" he thought to himself.

He went back into the truck, and comes back out with his blanket.

Sure Eve is cryogenically frozen, but Wally couldn't be sure. Her pod was hollow and not very thick, she probably felt what was happening outside. The cryopod was to preserve her from aging, not from external harm.

Wally drapes the blanket around her pod, shielding her from the dropping temperature. As he ties up the blanket around her, he imagined what it would be like to embrace her if she wasn't frozen, to shield her from the cold and feel the warm of her presence in his arms; to just protect her and let her know how much he really cares for her.

Oh did he want her so badly.

He finishes tying up the blanket ends, satisfied he is willing to look after her well-being. The rush of the wind against his damp suit reminded him of his own, he started to shiver again. He doesn't have anything else to spare to keep himself warm, but even if he did, he would be more than content to give it to Eve.

She was safe and it was all that mattered to him.

He stares at Eve as he sits in front of her pod, curled up on the ground, holding his torso with his arms trying not to freeze; he imagined it was Eve holding him and not himself to stay warm. He will stay there until she wakes up, no longer how long it took; until then, he turns to his only sources of warmth: his bundled up body facing away from the wind, and her in his thoughts.

…The next day…

The winds are kicking up; a sandstorm is coming by nightfall. He has anticipated a storm would happen, but won't be able to move Eve's pod in time; he has to find a way to protect her and survive from a storm out in the open.

So all he could do was cover her pod with anything to protect her from the sand, she still had his blanket; so he added a trash can over the top, and container boxes concealing the sides, and he weighed everything down to be sure she was anchored. He just used the sheet of his hammock to cover himself up; since he can't fit in the shelter he made for her.

He stayed out there to be sure she didn't get blown away or hit by flying debris.

...

…17 hours of watching through the darkened clouds of sand and powerful gusts later, the sandstorm ended…

The bridge was covered in sand, and the winds seemed to have been blowing hard still, but the dust has settled.

Something stirs in one of the dunes of sand. Wally dug himself out, getting as much it out of his hair and off his suit; he is completely unfazed by the idea of surviving being buried alive, he has done that for hundreds of times, unlike his brothers. But he immediately checks up on the most important thing.

He digs out the trash can/boxed up cocoon out of the sand. And there she was, right where he left her from the storm. No sand seeped into the makeshift shelter, he seems satisfied. Despite having sand in his eyes, mouth, hair, and suit; she was still safe.

…A few days later…

Still anticipating for her to wake, his patience however is being put to the test. Wally thought about it real hard, but has come up with another way to help Eve wake up, try to unfreeze her himself. Remembering that she froze when the pod encased her, he will have to reverse what it did by deactivating the pod. Though he knows absolutely nothing about the inner workings of a cryogenic pod, he is willing to give it his best shot. He examines Eve's pod for any access point.

The cryopod's surface is flawless; a transparent metallic cylinder with no power source, internal lines, systems, or controls, just a symmetrically designed tube. Wally had to admit its very interesting technology, but he mentally cursed it for keeping him from Eve.

Nothing, all there is to access the pod is the pulsating beacon, the outlines of an opening can be seen, and it'll have to do.

Wally grabs a crowbar and pries it open.

Inside is a battery cell, a circular disc with a green light flashing on and off for the beacon, there are frosted CO2 (dry ice) lines linked with it, it had to be the pod's cryogenic supply that kept Eve frozen in place. He pulls out his pacemaker's charge cable from his belt; his best chance would be to short-circuit the pod.

He links the cable to his pacemaker; its alternator unit should provide enough charge to deactivate the device. Before he continues on, he contemplates his thoughts for a moment, thinking of finally getting to awaken Eve.

He thinks about what to say to her, how she will react; will she chew him out for awakening her? Will she kill him? Or…will she embrace him for saving her from being frozen for no reason? The last thought caught his attention, maybe she was unintentionally frozen and unfreezing her seemed like having being so grateful and she will thank him, hug and kiss, happily ever after. That warmed Wally's mind, giving him the motivation to go ahead and see what happens…

ZAP!

Wally is instantaneously confused. One: he was on the ground a few yards away, Two: his entire body (especially his chest) jerked and stung like hell and smelled like smoke, and Three: "What the hell just happened?!"

He looked up, his questions were answered, and his idea and fantasies backfired. He was electrocuted and knocked off his feet, by the cryopod's automated defenses. A few thousand volts was too much to overpower with his pacemaker, it's a wonder it wasn't fried, otherwise his heart wouldn't beat properly and die of cardiac arrest/electric shock.

"Let's not do that again." He sighs in relief and slight disappointment.

…Later that afternoon…

The sounds of creaking wheels fill the streets of the polluted city, as a figure tugging on a cylindrical object can be seen.

Wally is tugging on an ancient red wagon, which contains Eve's pod, standing vertical. It's wrapped up in Christmas lights, all shining but not plugged into any power source.

Wally decided on one last way to somehow persuade Eve or her pod to let her wake. After some serious thinking, while remembering scenes from Hello Dolly, Wally learned that the man takes the woman on a special social engagement that involves taking the woman out to certain places in the city for certain activities when he wishes to convey his romantic emotions to the woman.

What was it called again? He wondered, "A deep? Dent? Dat? D-Date? Yeah that's it, a date!" He decided to take her out on a date to wake her up and let her know how he feels about her! But while she's still in her pod, it'll be a challenge; but it's good that he's too determined.

It took a while for him figure out how to pull it off, but he managed to slide her pod onto a wagon from a ramp he made. After an hour or two of laboring, she was on the wagon, the wagon buckling while trying to support the pod's weight.

Wally also remembered it was customary for the man to express to the woman the way they felt around them by certain things they hold important, at least to one of them. So he draped some Christmas lights over her pod, shining as soon as they touched. He wanted to show her that she brings light to long dead objects like the light bulb she lit up with her touch, and all the colors imaginable on her beautiful form best fitted on how he wanted to express her in his mind.

Then he went about to treat Eve for a date, following the way it was done in the movie, almost exactly to the lines the man used and the activities used.

From a nice brisk walk down the streets, to rowing down the sludge river (not without laboring her pod into a raft), to an improvised fancy dinner with a picnic blanket he found, draped atop a crate with the lighters used as candles. He even had food (his canned survival stuff) prepped from his truck, earlier he was worried she might starve in her pod, so he kept offering most of his survival provisions to her, setting canned food and water in front of her to proprably draw her out of hunger. However that effort also failed, though she can't eat when she's frozen and perfectly preserved, he just goes along with it, eating sparingly and speaking politely, awaiting eagerly for her to wake up any second.

After a rather one-sided and uneventful dinner, Wally carries Eve to the final place for the date, and if he remembered correctly, was also the most crucial and romantic to any male-female outing: the sunset.

Wally has just finished engraving WALLY + EVE onto the side of a trash can with his laser, he and the frozen Eve sit side by side on a secluded bench overlooking the dried up valley of the Hudson Bay. It's a beautiful sunset; through the polluted atmosphere, the chemicals in the air alter the color spectrum of light in the sky. With rays of purple, crimson red and orange shining through clouds and smog on the horizon, bathing Wally and Eve in a warm and intimate light.

"Aw" Wally cues at the site of the falling sun.

Throughout the years, he's never seen the sunset in this whole new light before. He just regarded it as an indication of the end of a work day, a relaxing reminder, but he always end up knowing it'll be the same thing the next day, another day of meaningless labor. But now, with Eve in his life, and learning about love, the sunset really reflects everything he has been longing for ever since he watched IOTAM. It was something very safe and precious; everything he could want or need, giving him light for the events of his life to him in order for her to exist and for him to meet her, and maybe a future with her.

He looks to Eve on his left, the most wonderful source of warmth and love in the universe, more than he ever dreamed of was right next to him; but felt unreachable, all because of the cursed cryogenic abomination that encased her from him.

He places his left hand on the pod, over where her right hand is; it was the closest he'd get to hold her hand, that magical gesture that could instantly fill the void of his lonely heart. It could tell each other everything they need to know about love, a simple way for him to feel where his life belonged. He looks into the closed eyes of Eve, silently begging her to at least let him know that she can hear what he wants to tell her so badly.

"I love you." Though frozen, he breathlessly pours his heart out to her stasis form, his puppy dog eyes reflecting the longing he felt.

If only she were awake…

Wally's left hand stings badly. He is snapped out of his thoughts when he learned he can't pull his hand off her pod.

He tries harder.

"Ah!" his hand hurt and stung even more. It was stuck to the frost on the pod's surface.

He gives a hard tug; still nothing but pain.

He gives it one hard tug; some of his hand's skin peels off as his hand comes free.

"AAAAHHG!!" He screams as razor-sharp pain stings his palm.

He forgot to put on his glove whenever he moved the pod around. His bare skin was frozen to the surface of -100˚C cryogenic frost.

The pain is so bad tears formed up in his eyes and he drops to ground clasping his hand, he nearly loses his dinner at the site of bloody tissue layer in his hand and the bloody hand print of skin on Eve's pod.

He misses the sun disappearing below the horizon as he passed out from the pain.

…Later that evening…

Nighttime has fallen on the sector, and it's a very peaceful one too; with light winds and a cool air outside, as soothing a polluted place could ever get.

Outside of Wally's truck, he has set up the old TV screen and Eve's pod so they could enjoy the night and the rest of their "date". He's playing a match of Pong on the TV, the broken down game console still works after all these years. The score is Wally - 8000, Eve - 0. Though she is frozen, he just put another controller in front of Eve to make it seem she was at least there, just not participating in the match. Wally just flows with it, only anticipating her revival.

It's getting late, his mind nags about getting back to work tomorrow for a strange reason, but its a routine that's been imprinted into him; must complete your directive.

But he won't give up on Eve, for he can still… ...

Wally tries to think of another alternative to get her out, but he has done everything from waiting, jumpstarting, short-circuiting, and courtship, only to realize that the date was the best idea. He has run fresh out.

And nothing worked; but like in Hello Dolly, the characters always brought out their emotions on a date. He reassured himself that the film was the universal method that how dates turn out guaranteed. He thinks about the evening, how things went; he followed every scene to the way the date was done and on his part, was exactly what happened in the movie, he thought, it should work. Right?

He glances over to Eve one last time to see if any of his outing's efforts worked.

Just the hum of her beacon.

Nothing.

He slumps to the ground, sighing in defeat; he finally gives up.

"All for nothing.." he said to himself, almost on the brink of tears.

As rare a peaceful night like this was on Earth, the dark and calm chill reflected the hopelessness of getting a response from her. Nothing happened, he felt like it was the worst night of his life; and he felt that lonely feeling again all through the night.

…The next morning…

Wally has decided that since there is no need to waste any more effort to wake Eve up, he will return to his original duties of garbage collecting. If he can't awaken her, the only choice would be to wait, but that wait could be a very, very long time; but there isn't much else to do but pass the time with a routine until then.

He just finished packing his usual things as he heads off to work, but not before he takes one last look at Eve, still mentally clinging to a fading light that she will somehow be there to greet him the moment she's in his sight.

Same as always, out on the ramp near the truck, still frozen solid, nothing else; she isn't going anywhere or doing anything.

It shattered whatever hopes Wally had left in him, as he slowly continues on to work defeated, with Hal close behind. A look of pure gloom is on Wally's face, his eyes were blood-shot pink/red from a week (168 hours) without sleep, energy drained from exhaustion, and lastly, his tears.

Poor Wally, but just wait until when Eve learns when he cared for her! Serious writing for that!

Hope you liked my longer chapters and detailed POVs. Chpt 11 soon!