all god's orphans

As the checkpoint came into view, a tiny dot on the horizon, Wallace felt the tip of Raymond’s pistol press into the side of his head.

“Just stay calm.” Raymond said quietly. “Do your part and get us to the other side and this will all be over soon.”

“This really isn’t necessary.” Wallace informed him.

“We’ll see about that.” Raymond growled.

“Yeah.” Wallace agreed. “We will, but in the meantime could you stop pointing that fucking gun at my head? We’re in Kansas. They don’t have money to fix their roads and it’s bumpy as Hell.” Raymond looked out of the windshield and there were, in fact, several places where the asphalt cracked and splintered. Without admitting that the pilot was right, he put his gun away and focused on the road.

“So what exactly is your plan?” Brian asked Wes.

“He’s going to get us across.” Wes nodded at the pilot.

“How?”

“He’s an officer.” Wes said as though everything that followed was obvious. “He can order them to let us cross.” Brian sighed.

“It doesn’t work like that.” He said flatly. “Besides, you don’t what we’re dealing with here. You can’t even get close enough to talk to them. And if you try, they will light you up.”

“We’ll see.” Wes sounded pretty confident and as they reached the barricade, Brian was eager to see if he was right.

Raymond hopped out and opened the passenger door for Wallace who limped down onto the asphalt. He guided him to the barricade and placed him squarely in the sights of the guard post.

“Now what?” Wallace asked sharply. In response, Raymond put a gun to his head.

“I want to talk to somebody right now or I will kill this man!” His voice carried no farther than any other noises out here. The sound was as small as an ant coughing. Nothing in the guard post moved to indicate that they had heard him. He fired a shot into the air. “I mean it!” He shouted. Wallace was not impressed.

“This is your big plan?” He asked. “Threaten to kill me until they let you in?”

“No.” Raymond corrected him. “My plan is to kill you unless they let me in.” Still no response from the guard post. “I’m going to count to three, and then I’m going to blow his brains out!” At that, the RV emptied and Sarah confronted her dad.

“What are you doing?” She yelped. “You’re not going to kill him, are you?” Raymond ignored his daughter, focusing instead on what he perceived as his only option.

“Two!” He shouted. Brian yanked his sidearm from his belt and cocked it.

“Put the gun down, Raymond.” He ordered.

“This doesn’t concern you.” Raymond replied robotically.

“The Hell it doesn’t.” Brian’s voice was stern. “I will not let you kill someone in cold blood.” Raymond pulled the hammer back.

“If you know a secret password or something,” He said to Wallace. “Now’s the time.”

“If you kill him,” Said Brian. “You’re following him into the ground.” Sarah raised her weapon and trained it on Brian.

“So will you.” She said, her small voice filled with steel.

“Please, everyone. Stop this.” Kite begged.

“Is this what you want for your daughter?” Asked Wallace. “To watch you kill an unarmed man?” Raymond didn’t flinch.

“I would kill every single one of you if it meant getting her to safety.”

“That’s a pretty dangerous mindset.” Wallace observed.

“Yes.” Raymond agreed. “It is.” He straightened his arm and narrowed his eyes.

“Don’t do this, Raymond.” Brian warned.

“I don’t like you.” Wallace told Raymond. “But your daughter seems nice.” He seemed to consider something for a moment. “Okay.” He finally said. “I’ll get you past them on two conditions. One; you’re coming with me. Two; you leave that gun here.” Raymond thought it over.

“Deal.” He said and handed the pistol to Sarah. Everyone lowered their guns and breathed a collective sigh.

They had to help Wallace scale the low wall of barrels and wood, and when their feet hit the pavement on the other side, the guns of the vehicles awoke and turned to face them.

“THIS AREA IS OFF LIMITS. USE OF LETHAL FORCE HAS BEEN AUTHORIZED.” Boomed the omnipresent voice.

“They’re not kidding.” Grey called after them. “They shot at me last time.”

“I bet.” Wallace replied as he ambled slowly down the highway towards them. Raymond waited for a moment and then jogged after him.

“I REPEAT.” The giant voice said coolly. “USE OF LETHAL FORCE HAS BEEN AUTHORIZED.” They took another step. “THAT MEANS THAT WE’RE ALLOWED TO SHOOT YOU. UNDERSTAND?” Wallace continued, but Raymond wasn’t so sure.

“They can see you, right?” He double-checked with Wallace. “They know you’re one of them?”

“Me?” He smiled. “Sure. You, maybe not so much.” Raymond didn’t like the look on his face and he turned his eyes back to the barricade. They had only gone about a hundred yards, but it suddenly looked much farther.

“LET ME EXPLAIN.” The voice began. “RIGHT NOW YOU HAVE SEVERAL .50 CALIBER WEAPONS TRAINED ON YOU. I SUGGEST MOVING ON TO SOMEWHERE ELSE.” Wallace kept going and Raymond made sure to stand directly behind him, just in case. Wallace found it amusing.

Suddenly, a loud shot rang out and the ground a few feet to their right threw up a small cloud of dust. Wallace didn’t break stride, but Raymond jumped.

“Why the Hell are they shooting at us?” He blustered.

“Because this area is off limits.” Wallace sarcastically reminded him. “Didn’t you hear?” He kept walking, forcing Raymond to follow him.

“YOU ARE ENTERING A RESTRICTED AREA AND WE WILL BE FORCED TO SHOOT YOU IF YOU DO NOT TURN BACK.” The voice sounded far more serious than it had a moment ago, but Wallace paid it no mind.

“They’re going to kill us!” Raymond’s voice betrayed his fear. Wallace stopped to face him.

“So you’re willing to kill everyone for your daughter, but you’re not willing to give up your own life for her? That’s telling.” Anger replaced Raymond’s fear.

“You have no idea what I would do for her. What I have already done.” Wallace was unimpressed.

“Yeah?” He chirped. “Prove it.” He stepped aside and gestured for Raymond to continue on ahead. Raymond didn’t move.

“You’re trying to trick me.” He said.

“Maybe.” Wallace admitted. “But if you really believe that crossing this line is the only way to keep Sarah safe, then you have no choice.” Raymond eyed the guard post, the machinery of his brain working overtime.

“Okay.” He finally said. “I’m an American citizen. They won’t shoot me.”

“Keep telling yourself that.” Wallace remarked. Raymond took a tentative step forward and held his hands above his head.

“Don’t shoot!” He yelled. “I’m an American citizen!” He took another step and another. Nothing happened and he began to hope that they had heard him. After he’d gone about twenty feet, however, the voice came back.

“THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING.” It said flatly. “TURN BACK OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE.”

“They sound serious.” Wallace said. “Maybe you better give up.” He was mocking Raymond by walking directly behind him the same way Raymond had done to him.

“You know a .50 cal round will go right through me and kill you, too.” He said. Wallace just shrugged. Raymond pressed forward, silently praying the whole way. Another shot rang out and this time blasted a chip of the road a mere five inches away from Raymond’s foot. He stopped in his tracks, took a deep breath and continued forward. “They’re just trying to scare me.” He said more to himself than to Wallace.

“That’s a possibility.” Wallace observed. They were now only about two hundred yards away and had still seen no sign of movement within the small encampment.

“YOU HAVE ENTERED THE KILL ZONE.” Said the voice. “YOU WERE WARNED.” Raymond closed his eyes and pressed on. He heard the bang of the shot, but felt nothing. Suddenly, the air around him was filled with machine gun fire, the steady staccato metronome of bullets being shot in rapid succession had never sounded so close. It was louder even than the voice had been, but he kept going.

After a few seconds, he opened his eyes to find himself and Wallace unkilled by the barrage of fire. He looked at Wallace.

“You must be really lucky.” He smirked. Raymond’s brain struggled to puzzle out the situation, but it was no use. They covered the remaining ground in silence. The voice was done yelling, it seemed, and the guns must have run out of bullets, but still, there was no movement.

When they finally reached the guard post, they found it completely unmanned. Inside one of the tents, a bank of monitors and computers showed exactly what the guns were seeing.

“What is this?” Raymond’s jaw hung open. Wallace tapped a few keys on the computers.

“Unmanned security position.” He said.

“So who was shooting at us?” Wallace gestured at the computers.

“Robots.” He simply replied. “Come on. You’ve got a lot to do if you want to roll your stupid RV past that blockade.”

It took a few hours for them to clear a hole in the concertina wire large enough for the RV, but the ground was flat and firm easily bearing the weight of the vehicle as it drove across the grass. Wallace repaired the hole and they left the scene as they had found it. Millie had so many questions as they past the command tents. She could have spent the rest of the day there poring over the equipment and grilling Wallace, but they had miles to cover. Instead, Millie sat in the back of RV asking questions as fast as Wallace could answer them.

“What kind of sensors do they have?” Her fingers tap dancing excitedly across her keyboard.

“Every kind you can imagine.” Wallace told her. “Infrared. Motion. Heat. Everything.”

“How do they know who to shoot?”

“They don’t.” Wallace told her. “They aren’t programmed to hit. They’re programmed to miss.” Millie looked confused. “Look, it’s pretty easy to make a robot that kills people. And it’s just as easy to make a robot that doesn’t kill people. The hard part is making a robot that only kills the right people.”

“Who are the right people?” Kite asked.

“Exactly.” Wallace replied. Kite would always wonder what he had meant by that.