Rowdy Dead Productions

By David C. Daoust

Hugo’s roar was deafening, unlike anything he’d ever forced through his vocal cords. It had a steely piercing sound, like some massive movie monster climbing from the ocean to destroy some ancient city on some long lost world. The sky splitting roar got the attention of the group of men that surrounded the crumpled form of Sadie Blue. He counted five, maybe six.

The startling sound sent them running in every direction.

Growing up, these boys had heard the tales of the scaly monster that lived in the desert with the First Wave. Mostly it was the older kids scaring the younger, for kicks. Hugo imagined they’d outgrown those old fears, especially when the Jinn came to Grady to stay. It was not hard to guess that their sudden dispersion had more to do with them knowing they were doing something wrong, add in the sudden noise, it felt to them as though the entire world would come to witness it.

Worked out great for Hugo, he wasn’t nearly as tough or scary as his visage could portray. Not to mention, nowadays, his old body was working against him more often than not. The fear he felt for such a sweet girl to be victimized in such a way, moved him far faster than he’d moved in years.The old Jinn hurried forward the best he could, suddenly wished for some sort of cane to support him. His legs were always so small and stubby, but now that he was old, people were always offering to help him. He denied the requests again and again, and scoffed at the possible need for a cane. Now he was regretting it.

He’d finally reached the girl, squatted down, the blood from the gash in her side, where the jagged rocks had torn into her body, was more blood than he’d ever seen. Her pulse was faint, and her breathing was weak. He did what he could to staunch the bleeding. He glanced up, a droid stood over him.

“Medical is en route,” the droid announced mechanically in its strange quiet voice.

Hugo absorbed the information tensely, then ignored the stupid droid as he held Sadie’s wound tight.

Looking back at the crawler, he’d hoped someone might have followed him from the hold. So that, at the very least, someone else may know what was going on. More and more Grady citizens appeared from the rubble. Many were aghast, hands over their mouth as they took in the sight of the savagely beaten girl. As the newcomers approached the droid would begin anew, ‘Medical is en route’. It repeated the announcement in a loop.

Glancing in the opposite direction, Hugo spotted the Medical droids hovering through the rubble. He felt relieved as the droids dropped down beside him. The medical droid was more of a vehicle than the more common humanoid droid. It had two separate torsos, they were attached to each side of the long stretcher-like bed that made up the base of the vehicle.

It moved in close, the opposite side of where Hugo sat hunched over the girl. The droid’s light healed the wound enough, that Hugo could let go, then the two torsos worked together to load the girl into the central bed. It closed around her like a cocoon, Hugo knew the light within would begin to heal the rest. There were small seats to either side of the bed, Hugo climbed onto the vehicle before it launched back into the air. They were rushed to the Starport, where the more advanced medical facilities were located.