Chapter 8 – Fope
*NOTE – Due to it's brief and rushed nature, this chapter has undergone extension. The original chapter is highlighted in bold. Thank You.*
I hurtled towards the ground at great speed, and on contact with the desert sand, my skull was almost crushed. Naturally, I was knocked unconscious, as is often the case when falling from great height. I must've lied there for hours, the sand drifting over me gently, when I slowly came round. I attempted to get to my feet, only to find that my mechanical legs had jammed with dust and sand. I couldn't move at all. I called for help as loud as I could, but soon realised it was hopeless. There could not have been a living soul around for miles. I had no choice but to begin slowly dragging myself in the direction of the railway line. There had to be some form of emergency telephone along the line somewhere.
For what seemed like ages I dragged myself along the line, finding little more than litter dropped from passing trains. Eventually, a small house came into sight in the distance. It was my only hope. I attempted to move towards it, but I was too exhausted to go any further. I slumped against an enormous metal support column, holding up the railway above, and fell into a sort of conscious sleep. I could hear what was going on around me, but I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes. Many a train rattled past along the line above me, and a sandstorm slowly began to take shape. But what was really peculiar was the barking I could hear. It sounded like a slog, but in these parts of Mudos? Such a thing seemed impossible. I was in the middle of nowhere. Sure enough, though, I could hear barking, and it was getting louder.
When I finally opened my eyes again, I was surrounded by a pack of slegs, the similar in appearance, but all the more vicious cousins of the slogs. You certainly wouldn't like to be caught alone with one of them, I can tell you.
"Leave him," came a voice from behind the slegs. It was the voice of a female, perhaps the owner of the slegs. "Let me talk to him." The slegs slowly backed away from me, and a short, grub-like creature approached me, which you've probably guessed was A Grubb, of course. She came towards me, brandishing a huge spear and pointing it towards my chest.She slowly lowered it and came in close, taking my rifle from my side. It was clear that she didn't want to take any chances
"Well, looky here," said the Grubb, leaning backwards and climbing back to her feet. "We got ourselves a slig. Don't often see sligs in theses parts. What's your name then, slig?"
"My…My name," I began, thinking back. "Oh, oh it's, er, Security Commander Grike, actually." I breathed deeply, trying to recall the last half hour of my life.
"Well, Mr. Grike," replied the Grubb, "You got a first name?"
"Yes," I said, "Alan." I wasn't actually sure what my first name was, so I used my first name that I had in reality.
"Okay, Alan. My name's Fope. Yeah, I know, I know. Unusual, isn't it? Parents couldn't decide between Fiona and Hope, so they compromised. Neat, huh? Anyway, enough chitchat, we gotta get you somewhere you can get better. C'mon."
After I had been brought back to my feet by Fope, she began to walk me towards her house. As we approached it, I noticed a barn, stables and pens. It seemed more like a farm than just a house. The pens were filled with a variety of different animals, from both Eastern and Western Mudos. Slogs, paramites, scrabs, even a magnificent golden-brown furred Steef. There was no pen for the slegs, but they probably lived somewhere more, let's say inescapable. There was also an empty pen in the far corner, presumably one that hadn't been filled yet. But what really unnerved me was something else. Laying against the barn wall, covered in rust and crawling with bolamites, was a pair of mechanical legs. Slig's legs. My blood ran cold. What did she really bring me here for? Why did she want me here? Was I her next farm animal? The pen seemed unlabelled, but it was hard to tell from this distance, which was a great cause for concern on my part. After all, it wasn't as if she was just going to invite me in for tea, now was it?
After putting the slegs away in the barn, Fope emerged through the doors, and firmly locked and bolted them. "So, Alan... Wait, are you alright" said Fope, seeing that I had turned as white as a sheet. A green sheet, mind, being a slig and all. But if I was a human at that moment, I would have been as white as a sheet. Fope, sensing my fear, walked towards the front door of the farmhouse and said something that proved me wrong. She said, "You wanna come in for tea, Alan?"