HOME | DD

Description
July 13th, 2133. Chicago, Illinois. Midnight

She crouched behind a chunk of concrete, taking the safety off her gun as she watched a swarm fly by. They hadn’t noticed her but that didn’t mean she was free and clear yet. The metal critters had infrared and could recognize faces if caught on camera. Worse, the creatures were no longer under the control of their minders. They had been designed in an attempt to control crime but had quickly come to their own conclusions. The swarms shared information with each other and hunted criminals of their own choice.

The police had tried to fight back, only to be labeled criminals in their own right for shooting back at the swarms. Not even their families had been safe in the end. Now… that left her and her small gang scavenging to survive in Chicago’s ruins.

A bigger bird drifted past and she swore softly, gaze following it. On one hand it wasn’t a tunneling sort, of the kind that slipped through the sewers in the search of people. On the other, it was a controller for the swarm that had just passed by.

A faint buzzing sounded above her head and she looked up, seeing the little hummingbird vibrating in the air. She abandoned her gun, diving for the worn baseball bat instead and swinging it hard at the hummingbird. It crumpled, falling to the ground with a few sparking wires and metal.

She cursed again, putting the safety back on her gun and stuffing it in the waistband of her jeans before she broke into a run, jumping chunks of concrete and ducking around corners before she reached the mostly intact warehouse where she made her home with the rest of her gang.

It wasn’t much to look at from the outside but that was the point. The last gang to occupy it had been slaughtered. And with that, it held little interest to the swarms. So long as they did nothing to attract the swarms in this area of the city, they were safe. That meant ground rules. No dealing, no fighting with each other either and no guns, unless they were of the microwave sort.

She slowed, wrinkling her nose at the briefest flicker of scent. Something acrid and smoky. A scent of burning that shouldn’t have been there. Someone was shooting up in the one home she’d had since she was seven.

The scent grew stronger as she followed it, to the point where she had to cover her mouth and nose or gag. That was the problem with being created to be a better soldier than an ordinary man. Her senses were too acute, scent and hearing at least twice of a normal person. Sight, well… her night vision meant she had no need for a flashlight either.

Carpet- she was sure his name had been Matt at one point- but everyone just called him Carpet for some reason, didn’t see her in the doorway. His eyes were glazed over and there was one of those old style needles in the crook of one arm. She swore again, darting over to him and pulling the thing from his arm and crushing it underfoot. “Who gave you that shit? Do you know what the swarms will do if they find your damned dealer! They’ll track you down and find us as well. You know what’ll happen when they find us and it won’t be damned pretty. You know the rules here. No drugs unless you want the creatures to find us.”

Carpet only gave a mumble and sagged against her legs, a bit of drool trailing down his chin. She growled low in her throat and hauled him to his feet, depositing him on the salvaged army cot. Maybe if they were lucky the swarm wouldn’t come here.

Just in case, she would be setting a watch for the next week.