He pulls his army knife out again and stabs toward my dick. I can do nothing but freeze as the blade cuts into my pants, so close to my balls.
“I’ll cut your delicate parts off, then make you eat them,” he says. “I’ve heard that mutants like you have monstrous cocks. It’ll be difficult to swallow. Then, I’ll cauterize the wound with fire to make sure you don’t bleed out to death, so I can keep you alive a while longer.”
There’s a gleam in his dark eyes. He’ll enjoy every moment of it, I’m sure.
But he was wrong. Ialreadycurse the day my men brought him here.
“Firefly, start the engines,” I say quietly.
The aircraft immediately obeys my command, and the engines come alive.
“Hello, Mr. President. Who is sitting in the pilot chair?” the AI asks in a robotic voice.
I hesitate for a moment. I could admit that the ginger is threatening me, and the AI would refuse to allow him access. The man gives me a pointed look, the blade of his army knife reflecting the artificial light. He must have stolen it from one of my men.
“He’s the one who’ll fly us today…” I say to theFirefly’s intelligence.
There’s no way in hell I’m giving him full command of the aircraft. He’ll just toss me out as soon as I do.
“Very well. Identification, please,” asks the AI.
“Jude,” says the ginger. “I’m Jude.”
Such a cute name for a ruthless creature.
“Nice to meet you, Jude. I’m Fyfe. Where are we going today?”
“Away from this hellhole,” says Jude.
“Would you like to fly manually?” asks Fyfe.
“Fuck no. Just get us out of here. And keep us low. There is something out there that might be waiting for us.”
“Understood.”
TheFireflylurches forward. Water washes away the dust on the windshield as we cross the waterfall.
“Fyfe…” I breathe out. I’m about to pass out from blood loss. “What’s waiting for us is not a human aircraft or human enemies… It’s an animal of a sort. A giant creature…”
“Very well. Re-calibrating evasion protocol,” it says, diving toward the mountainside.
Jude gives me a look.
“Fyfe is a rudimentary AI used in the army back in the day,” I say. “He hasn’t been upgraded since before the Rise. He’s not aware of the world we live in now. He was programmed to defend the President against human threats…”
Jude sighs. “It must have been nice to only fear humans.”
“Not really. We’re the worst threat by far…” I whisper, my eyes drooping.
Humans were the ones who turned lush forests and green pastures into wastelands. Who rendered entire territories too radioactive for life when they dropped their nukes. And they’re the ones who inflicted the worst wounds on my body and soul. Helios, with all his smiles and broken promises, did more damage than any old god on a rampage.
I close my eyes, and I imagine how peaceful death must be.
“Hey, don’t die just yet,” says Jude, slapping me again.
I lurch on my seat, reality sharpening with painful clarity. This man really loves to slap me. A punch, I would understand. But slaps feel so much worse. They bruise one’s ego.
There is a first aid kit open on my lap. I recognize it as the one I kept in theFireflyin case I needed a fast escape. There is also food and water to last us a month. I doubt that I will survive long enough to enjoy it, but Jude certainly will. The fucker.
