Metallic Oblivion: Persecution Complex

Metal rots and wind scatters dust as humans roam a world built on a foundation of washed-out memories. The world has turned bitter, and its inhabitants have turned bitter with it. At the turn of the century, men were to coexist with a new race, one of steel and wire. But rather than find harmony, the machines sought to replace humanity. Now all that remains are sad relics and generations of aimless souls. The Earth now is nothing more than a dying valley of the damned, a wasteland of grey sand and two races torn asunder.

A black doorless pickup truck crossed the empty desert, carrying with it two desolate survivors. In the driver’s seat, Cirilla, and in the passenger’s seat her partner Lex. As they passed over the barren grey terrain, Lex flipped through the yellow pages of his book while Cirilla drove across the sand, humming some tune she could barely remember. She tapped on the fuel meter in an effort to adjust it, but the bar stayed close to empty. Under the beaming sun, seconds passed like hours, and as their worn-out truck forced itself forward, it felt like an eternity passed before they reached the metal gates of the warehouse.

Cirilla stopped the car a few feet from the gate and took two revolvers out of her pockets.

“Open the glove,” she said as she made sure her guns were loaded.

“I don’t know what you’re doing all that for, we’re here for an exchange,” Lex said while he put his book away. 

“Well Trixie has a strong reputation for being a conniving bitch, so I’d rather not take my chances,” Cirilla bent down and lift up her pant leg, confirming that her combat knife was still there.

“Oh since when?” Lex asked. He opened the glove box and shifted through its items. He placed his book inside and took out an old pistol and a large metal rectangle with a glass front.

“Since she shot Other Tony for trying to steal back his own gear,” Cirilla opened the center console and checked the chamber of their other guns.

“Well, you know how people are about rumors,” Lex holstered his gun.

“Yeah, and I know how you are about her,” Cirilla reached into her pocket and took out a few loose bullets. Lex turned away from her as his freckled face turned red. After she had inspected everything, she holstered her twin revolvers before the pair exited the truck.

As they approached the warehouse door, the breeze covered their leather long coats in dust and dirtied their already tattered jeans. Cirilla’s short, thick curls barely moved in the wind as she stopped and looked up at the door.

“Trixie, open up!” she shouted as her dark skin took in the sun’s rays. After a minute, the gate slowly came up to reveal a white woman with short brown hair. She was wearing a black jacket, and her hand was gripping the heavy pistol sitting on her hip.

“Oh, it’s you,” she took her hand off the grip. 

“You’re late and you have the audacity to yell outside my door?” Trixie ushered for them to come inside.

“Well we would have been here if you gave us the right directions,” Cirilla said as they entered.

“Not my fault you can’t drive. Now come on, I’m too far off schedule,” Inside the warehouse, guards lined the walls, nailed to their posts. They stood at attention as the door came down, their fingers shaking over their triggers as they watched Cirilla and Lex’s every step.

“Really needed all this muscle just for us?” Cirilla asked. She started scanning the shelves of the warehouse, taking note of what was where and what could be taken unnoticed. 

“I have other guests coming later. Believe me, if I really needed to I could take you myself,” Trixie explained. Lex followed close behind the two as he brushed the dust from his locks. Moving along the shelves, his mind was full of thoughts about Trixie’s hair, her face, her rough hands, and all the things he would say to her if they were ever alone. There was no doubt about it, he was head over heels in the worst way possible.

“Lex?” Trixie looked back into his light green eyes.

“Y-yeah?” he wiped the smile from his face and quickly fixed his hair.

“How are you doll?” Trixie said, ever so softly.

“Oh, well I… I’m fine. I’m alright, and you?” he responded

“Lex, come on!” Cirilla shouted while she perused the shelves.

“I’m as good as ever. Come on, your partner is a little antsy today,” Trixie caught up to her and continued to lead them to the back while Lex tried too hard to think of something sarcastic.

The main part of the warehouse was the storeroom, with the quarters, armory, and Trixie’s office in the back. It was fairly large, and filled with rows of shelves containing machine parts and old gear sealed in crates. The parts being stored there were older than they could comprehend, and everything from the stone floor to the dim ceiling lights was covered in a film of dust. As they walked toward the back, their boots left faint footprints on the ground, and they could see the dust particles move through the air around them.

“You two stay here, I have to go check on some things,” Trixie said as they reached the back. She took a key ring from her pocket and began unlocking the leftmost door.

“And you, don’t bother my men,” she gave Cirilla a sharp look before entering the hall and closing the door in their face. Lex leaned on the wall and started twiddling his thumbs, while Cirilla quietly scanned the room.

“You see it too don’t you?” she asked as she started moving a bullet between her fingers.

“See what?” Lex sighed.

“Trixie is fine, to the point as usual. But her guys… there’s obviously something wrong,” The guards shifted in their positions, gripping their guns as tight as possible. Seemingly out of habit, they kept looking behind them at the wall, and at each other.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with them. They look… I don’t know, scared? Trixie has an equity system right?” Cirilla put her bullet back in her pocket.

“Feels pretty temperate to me,” Lex replied.

“So why the hell are they sweating so hard?” Before they came up with a sound theory, Trixie came back to the storeroom, interrupting their train of thought.

“Ok here’s the deal. The doors are in the back, and you two need to help move them,” she explained.

“Get one of your guys to do it, it’s not like they’re busy,” she gestured towards one of the storeroom guards, who was wiping the sweat from his brow.

“I got a guy in the back. Me, him and you two are gonna carry the doors to the truck, then you can go. It’d be quicker that way,” Cirilla twirled her finger in the air, signaling for Lex to turn around with her. As they whispered to each other, Trixie whistled a few notes and tapped her foot.

“Ok, let’s go,” Lex said as they turned back around.

“Ok, cmon,” Lex held open the door as Cirilla and Trixie walked through. Once they were in he let the door swing shut.

She led them down the hall, looking back occasionally to make sure they were still following. The hallway was big enough for three people, though Cirilla and Lex made sure to stay behind her. Lex couldn’t help but notice the small paintings that decorated the walls and detailed drawings of what he hoped were fictional events.

“You keep kids around here?” Cirilla asked. Trixie traced the cracks in the wall as they passed a painting of a pink rabbit.

“Down the other hall, yeah. But they have their own space for painting. Some of my men like to draw, it keeps them sane. The stuff that’s too hard to talk about they put in this hallway,” Cirilla looked at one of the painted scenes. A tall dark scribble was drawn in front of a few smaller scribbles, and next to large red squares. It was crude, and the strokes were brash; Cirilla figured it was made out of anger. Or maybe regret. She reached out and touched the paint, tracing every line as the residue rubbed off on her finger. After a minute she snapped out of it, telling herself that they were just lines. She looked down at her hand, then brushed the brown off on her pants before catching up with Lex.

“You know, people used to just sit around and do stuff like this all the time. They had entire buildings, grand structures made just for painting, drawing, writing. It’s just… it’s crazy the kinds of things they took for granted,” Trixia half said to herself.

“Yeah, now all anyone does is shoot at each other and argue over who gets what. I mean, people did that back then too but… I don’t know, I wish we could work together to rebuild society and really enjoy life again. Instead of whatever this is,” Lex added as he got lost in the clusters of color. Cirilla watched him talk, trying to suppress a giggle. As they drew near the end of the hall, Trixie stopped at her office door and looked Lex in his eyes.

“I think if I ever got the chance, I’d build a city. Something like Metra, if that’s even possible. Something different from the sad communities we have now. I’m sure you’ve heard all kinds of stories about me but I… I care about people. And I think if I had the power I’d do anything to bring humanity back to where it was. Back to a peaceful way of living,” Trixie explained. Lex looked her in the eyes, his heart unable to control itself.

“I’m sorry, I know it’s random but… but anyways,” she sighed as she opened the door, and stepped inside.

As soon as they walked in, Cirilla stepped on a pile of loose papers. There were stacks of clothes scattered around the room and rusty lockers lining the room. There was a large metal desk and an old office chair facing the door they came through, which they figured was Trixie’s weak attempt at being official.

“Doors are just in there, I’ll be right back,” she went to the back of the room and walked into a dark closet.

Cirilla looked at Lex and raised her eyebrows.

“What?” he whispered.

“What the hell was that?” she asked.

“It’s called two people having a conversation. Sorry if it was too positive for you,”

“It’s called you having an awkward crush on every woman we meet. I swear to God you act like a little boy sometimes,” Cirilla whisper shouted. Lex stared at her, taking in her angry expression.

“You know you really do make everything out to be so negative. So what if I like her?” Cirilla sighed and put her hand on her forehead. She couldn’t even count on her hand how many times they’ve had conversations like this.

“I don’t care what shiny thing catches your eye, just don’t forget we’re here to do business,” Trixie came out the room with her guard, dragging two large car doors with them.

“Something wrong with you two?” she asked. Lex and Cirilla looked at each other, then back at her.

“We’ll carry one of them, you and your guy carry the other,” she said, walking toward Trixie.

Coming down the hallway, Lex kept hanging on her words, and calling back to times when she had been just as condescending. She’s done worse, plenty of times, but it didn’t make him feel less fed up. While they kept moving, Cirilla kept watching him, doing her best to keep her judgment to herself.

“What are you thinking about?” Trixie asked Lex.

“N-nothing why?” he fixed his grip on the door to keep it from slipping.

“You look like you’re straining yourself,” Cirilla chimed in. Lex shot her a dirty look.

“Well I was trying to think of a synonym for controlling, but I think I got it now,” Trixie and her guard looked at the two, trying to figure out what the hell their problem was.

“Look, if you guys have something going on, can it-”

“Shut the hell up. Let’s just get this over with. Lex gave Trixie a quick, apologetic look, then went back to his thoughts. As they came to the end of the hall, she started to feel something. She didn’t know if it was pity or maybe guilt, but whatever it was it was hard to ignore. Trixie didn’t know Lex very well, or for very long, but there was a softness to him she appreciated. Nevertheless, she stuffed down her feelings. The was no point in feeling guilty, she had already made her choice.

As they came back into the storeroom, Cirilla and Lex stopped and faced Trixie.

“Alright. Lex, give her the thing,” Cirilla said. Lex started to reach into his pocket before Trixie held out her hand.

“That won’t be necessary. Actually, I figured you two went through so much trouble getting here, we’d give you a few bullets before you left as thanks,” Trixie’s men drew their guns and aimed them at Cirilla and Lex. Trixie and her guard dropped the car door and drew their pistols as well.

“Oh I bet you’re proud of yourself for that one,” Cirilla remarked. She rolled her eyes as she aimed at Cirilla’s head.

“Bullets, guns, hand ‘em over,” the two took out their guns and loose bullets then threw them on the floor, ignoring Trixie’s stretched-out hand.

“Polar opposites but you two manage to have the same fuckin sense of humor,” she said while her guard bent down and took their revolvers.

“What the hell do you want, we were gonna pay you. Or do you just feel like being a bitch today?” Cirilla changed her grip on the door, making it easier to set down. Reluctantly, Lex followed her lead.

“I really didn’t plan for things to go this way, but unfortunately for you two, I’ve been tasked with testing some things for some tinkerer. And if everything goes well, the payout is gonna be more than the…” Trixie waved toward the bullets on the ground, “scraps you two offered.”

“You can’t use your own men? No offense but there’s a few more of them than there are us!” Lex looked into Trixie’s eyes. He thought he could see some sort of softness, an aching regret she was pushing down.

“No, I can’t. Because unlike you, I’m not quick to use the people who care about me,” Trixie stepped toward Lex and started running her fingers through his hair.

“She doesn’t deserve you, you know that? C'mon, I only really need one of you,” Trixie said ever so softly. Cirilla looked at him with nothing but fury, enraged by the thought of being betrayed over something as trivial as love.

“Trixie I… I can’t… I can’t,” Lex made himself say. She sighed as she drew back.

“Well… alright then. Ok, release the machines!”

“Machines?” From the sides of the warehouse, the guards took glowing blue bracelets from their pockets and put them around their wrists. They went over to the walls and took down the panels they were standing in front of, and from their hidden compartments came lanky sharp-clawed metal bodies. For a moment, they scanned the area, unaware of the guards standing next to them. But in an instant, they turned toward them, confused by the bracelets.

“Trixie, I don’t think these are working,” one of her men yelled. They slowly backed up as the limp machines followed. 

“Ma’am I think we ne-” The stalkers perked up and leaped forward, digging their metal claws into the guard’s chests. As it ripped them open, the others looked in horror at the rush of red spilling onto the floor. The machines screeched into the air as if mocking their wretched victims.

“No, no this wasn’t supposed to happen! He promised they would work!” Trixie screamed.

“Goddammit, Lex!” Cirilla shouted. She motioned toward Trixie with her head. They threw the door at Trixie, knocking her and her guard on the ground. Before they got up the two ran away and tried to get a grip on the situation. Lex took a switchblade out of his pocket, and Cirilla drew the combat knife from her boot. They got low and started sneaking around the warehouse, moving slowly while the guards fired off rounds in a desperate attempt to save themselves.

“How many machines were there?” Cirilla asked.

“Three on each side I think, maybe more,” Lex pushed the words out of his throat.

“Are you ok?”

“I just… what the hell just happened back there,”

“We got screwed over, nothing new,” Cirilla told him.

“Ok… ok you go right I’ll take left,” The two split up, just in time to avoid one of Trixie’s men.

On the left side of the warehouse, Cirilla found two guards engaged with a stalker. As one drew near, she found that she had used the last of her ammo. The woman felt around on her for another gun, but before she could think of a better defense, the stalker sunk its claws into her and tore through her skin with a flurry of scratches. As the other guard reached for his pistol, Cirilla snatched it from his holster and shot the stalker in the head twice. It crumbled to the ground, the light fading from its eyes as it let out an ear-splitting screech.

“Oh… oh my God, tha-” Cirilla shot the man three times in the chest before he could finish his sentence. As he held his stomach, she took the shotgun he had on his side and checked the chamber. 

“This’ll be enough,” she muttered as he fell over. The woman lay under the stalker, screaming in agony while she bled from the claw marks. While Cirilla put her knife away, two more machines came bursting through the shelves, shrieking through the air before rushing at her.

“Dammit!” Cirilla started firing off rounds, hoping she had enough bullets left to take them out.

Across the storeroom, Lex had three bodies piled up on the floor, each with stab wounds in their neck. He wiped the blood from his knife onto his pants and started scanning the shelves again.

“Goddammit Trixie, why didn’t you just take it,” he said as he moved along the shelves. He figured if he got to her first he could convince Cirilla to leave without splitting her head.

“If there were ever a time for her to have a soul it would be-” Lex rolled out of the way as the shelves fell toward him. Across the warehouse, Cirilla was pinned against the shelves, trying to ward off both stalkers with her knife. Even though they were thin, their metal bodies were enough to hold her back.

“Cirilla!” He took a pistol from the floor and ran toward the machines. As he pulled the hammer back, Trixie tackled him, sending the gun flying out of his hand

“What the hell are you… get off of me!” Trixie pinned Lex on his chest, making sure he kept his hands down.

“Lex you have to understand. The person who put me up to this could do big things for me! For us!” he tried to fight back, but she managed to overpower him.

“They’re gonna kill her dammit, let me go!” While Lex struggled to free himself, Cirilla broke away from the ravenous machines. She rolled away and picked up the first revolver she saw. She shot the first five times and watched it fall onto a shelf. Before she could reload the other lunged forward, pinning her to the ground. As they hit the floor, Cirilla drew her knife and drove the blade into its head, suffering only small scratches from its rusty talons. She threw the body to the side as dark oil spilled all over her hands and ran down her grey shirt.

“Trixie!” Cirilla screamed as she got up. Trixie let Lex go and got up as fast as possible.

“Cirilla wait!” Lex exclaimed. Trixie drew her pistol and fired off three shots in panic. The first two missed completely, and the last barely missed her shoulder. She pulled her shotgun and knocked the gun out of Trixie’s hand. Before she could react, Cirilla shot her square in the chest, throwing her onto the floor and leaving her chest open.

“You moron,” 

She watched as Trixie crawled to the side of the room, trying to hold her stomach while she bled onto the floor.

“Wait just… just hear me-” Trixie pleaded as she managed to crawl up and sit against the wall. She looked into Cirillas eyes, thinking she would see some sort of compassion or hesitation. But as she stared into the windows of her soul, Trixie found nothing but her own scarred reflection looking back at her. Before she could say another word, Cirilla shot her again and watched her body slump against the wall.

“Ciri!” Lex ran over to her and knelt over Trixie.

“Oh Christ, don’t tell me you wanted to keep her alive,” Cirilla threw the gun on the ground and started searching the warehouse for spare ammo and weapons.

“She didn’t have to die. She could have told us who put her up to this! We still needed her, you damn maniac!” Lex yelled.

“I’m sorry, have you gone braindead? She tried to kill us!” Cirilla said as she kept putting guns and spare boxes of ammo in her jacket.

“We need to get out of here, come help me with the doors,” Lex looked up at her in disgust. While she went toward the car doors, He gently closed Trixie’s eyes and set her on the floor, leaving her in a pool of her own blood. The entire warehouse was a bloody mess; red ran down the walls, mixing with the floor’s dirt, and staining old parts that had long lost their use. 

Outside, Cirilla and Lex threw the doors in the bed of the truck. As she got in the car and unloaded everything she stole, Lex slowly sat in the passenger’s seat, his face still frozen. All he could think about was Trixie’s open chest and her fading blue eyes.

“Why do you have to be like this?” he asked before Cirilla could pull off. She took her hand away from the wheel and looked at him.

“You have to be fucking kidding me. Since when do you have a problem with us killing people?” Lex’s head started to throb as his rage turned into tears.

“It’s about more than that! Everywhere we go you have to steal, or cheat, or lie, or hurt someone! In any event, there were kids. Kids that we are leaving!”

“She knew that when she crossed us. You’re more than welcome to go back for them,” Cirilla replied, starting to feel a tinge of guilt.

You’re a ruthless bitch who only cares about herself!” Cirilla grabbed him by his hair and pulled him in close.

“She tried to kill us you damn idiot, she wronged us!”

“Get the hell away from me!” he jerked back from her and quickly brushed his hair back in place.

“Let’s get one thing straight because obviously, you’ve forgotten. We live in a goddamn wasteland, we cannot afford kindness. Some girl turns a machine loose on me, then your feelings become irrelevant,” Cirilla watched the tears fall from his strained eyes, thinking about how pathetic he looked.

“My feelings are always irrelevant to you, that’s the problem!”

“Ok? I’m a survivor, not your damn friend and I wasn’t Trixie’s. She struck first, and I defended myself,”

“Oh don’t bullshit me. I’ve seen the way you fight, how you speak with people. She tried to talk to you and you didn’t even listen. You like living like this, roaming the desert like a savage, killing who you please,” Lex set his head down on the dashboard.

“What would you have me do then Lex? Walk around shooting up bars like a self-righteous jackass? Or maybe start some half-assed attempt to rebuild society?” Lex gave her a cold stare.

“Watch it,” he whispered. 

“If you wanna surround yourself with walls again go ahead, but we both know it all falls apart in the end,” Cirilla started the car and backed away from the warehouse.

“So what’s the point? According to you we’re all doomed, so why bother?” Lex turned back to her, trying to look for any amount of emotion on her face. To no surprise, she made her indifference painfully clear.

“Oh please,” she said as they got back on the path home.

“No, I'm serious. What do you wake up for every day? Why do you do what you do? Please tell me you at least have a sense of direction, an end goal, something to fight for?” Cirilla opened her mouth to speak, but quickly realized she had nothing to say. She racked her brain trying to think of anything, but all her options were either insincere or just wrong. After waiting for her to give him an answer, Lex put his head back down and tried to push down thoughts of what could’ve been.  

By the time they got home, the sky above their stronghold was a bright, violent orange. Once they were parked, Cirilla started picking up the guns while he rushed to get out of the truck.

“Lex wait,” she shouted as he reached for the garage door.

“What?” he asked.

“Don’t worry about the doors, we can put those on tomorrow. But I just…” Cirilla let out a long sigh. 

“I’m not sorry about killing her. I’m not sorry about anything I did today. I need you to understand that we live in an evil world, and even when it looks bad, our only way to survive is-”

“To shoot each other senselessly. Yeah, I got it Cirilla,” Lex opened the door and went inside.

Cirilla stayed in the garage counting bullets for the next few hours. She didn’t come inside until after Lex had fallen asleep, and she couldn’t help but feel tired as she unpacked everything. She spent the night cursing him out in her head, but deep down she knew he had a point. Cirilla knew who she was, and she was well aware of what she did. What bothered her though, was where she was going from there. She thought about all the bodies she’d stacked, and all the blood she’s spilled. After a night of contemplation, to her dismay, she had no answer for herself or Lex.