Chapter Ten
541588 thought it was going mad. There was a monotonous, rhythmic thudding that came from nowhere and got louder and louder until it sounded like it was just outside. It peeked out the window, saw nothing and lay back down on its bed, confused, before everything clicked. This was it. It flew out of the apartment. Raced along the floor. Shouted to everyone to come down, then did the same on the floor below. It waited on the bottom floor as they filtered out of their rooms. They assembled outside the apartment, where 541588 counted them and caught its first sight of the enemy. It was a black creature soaring free across the sky, the source of thunderous noise even though it was still some distance away. What was this thing? They ran to the sheds, fast, panicked. Stumbling in and struggling through heavy breath, 541588 ordered them to grab a shovel each. There were not enough shovels for everyone and not enough time to go to another shed. It picked a scythe for itself and led the half-armed group out and together they trudged toward the approaching beast. They neared it as it begun its descent onto one of the fields, the noise deafening. Now 541588 could see it clearly. It was huge, bigger than twenty of them, with blades on top that created its own wind and seemed capable of slicing all of them in an instant. 541588 had been confident, but now, as it saw the enemy, metres away, face to face, everything vanished. 541588 was tiny, out of place, out of its depth. The rulers were far greater, far more powerful than it had ever conceived. Why hadn’t it thought things through properly? The others had already begun retreating. It alone stood dumbstruck, frozen in front of the force that was going to be its doom. But then the helicopter landed. Its blades slowed down, the noise went down and its sides opened. The twelve members of the unarmed peacekeeping force staggered out. They struggled to find their footing and once they did, only lined up and stared at the troop ahead of them. The two groups paused, hesitant and fearful, as the helicopter started up again. Then, as soon as it was gone, 541588 charged, followed by some of the others. The peacekeepers ran, ran for their lives. 541588 gave chase, and swinging wildly with its scythe and soon knocked one of them to the ground. It was about to deliver a fatal blow, stopped only by the realisation that it was alone and the others had lingered at the edge of the commune. It was past the boundary already and outnumbered there, twelve to one. And so, it hesitated, giving the man enough time to roll and slip out of reach. 541588 made the snap decision to go alone. This was an important opportunity. They were a bunch of cowards. They had to be headed toward the central control.
It was heavy going. They were fast, and it lagged further and further behind, so it dropped its scythe, and pushed harder to make up the distance. Then pain started to come on. Pain in mouth, where the air feels harsh against the dry lungs and pain in the legs, pounding on the ground, one after the other, one after the other. It was getting closer in tiny increments, but it was still a hundred metres behind the last of them. They ran on. Seconds turned to minutes and the minutes approached an hour. Their pace had slowed. The commune was now gone, way behind in the distance. More minutes, another hour. Dinner time neared and the running continued. They had all slowed further, but they were still faster than 541588. It was losing ground, and its resolve also began to crack as the pain overwhelmed.
They were running for themselves, their safety, their lives. 541588 was running to complete its mission. But there was always another chance for the mission. 541588 was two hundred metres away from them when its body gave up, and it collapsed onto the ground. Hot, pained, its will broken by two hours of non-stop running. It lay there as its targets slowed to a walk and continued on, further into the unknown plains. It could never catch them. Recovering its breath, it pushed itself up and began the long walk back to the commune. It was starving and its legs were shaking and it was not sure which direction to go back. It was hills and grass everywhere, nothing else, apart from the twelve deserters getting away. It went the opposite way from where the others were headed, hoping that they had traced a straight line from the commune. Its feet hurt, its shoulders ached and it would have to walk deep into the night.