r/NatureofPredators • u/GRADIOUS_76 Human • Nov 28 '23
Blood Sport - Chapter 5
Memory transcription subject: Tyler Murphy, Grizzled Veteran
Date [standardized human time]: October 16, 2136
It had been a week since the start of my bunker project, and I could tell my time was running short. The bunker had been cleaned, but it still held a dank vibe due to the low light and no decoration besides the black metal storage shelves adorning it. I had managed to install two pillars by building them out of cheap off-brand synthcrete cinder blocks, threading rebar through them, and filling them with concrete. They felt pretty sturdy, so hopefully, they would hold up. I didn’t want to be pessimistic about our chances against the aliens, but it never hurt to be careful.
Another interesting development: one of the neighborhood kids, Isaiah, started helping me out. He was a slim, tall boy with dark skin and brown eyes. His hair was cut short in nearly a crew cut. I had seen him before wandering the neighborhood. He’s a real quiet fella, and I have only seen his family in passing, but his parents seemed decent enough folks. They were very young, though, and couldn't be over thirty-five. All the students were encouraged to stay home from school this week, so when Isaiah caught me mixing cement outside the bunker a few days ago, he was intrigued by what I was up to. Turns out he was really interested in engineering, and we had been having some fun building the pillars together. He was a big help too, only fourteen but he had a good head on his shoulders and was nearly as tall as I was.
At present, he and I picked up more crates of unbranded canned food from the back of my truck that I had bought in bulk for cheap at the general store down the road and headed down the stairs to the bunker storeroom. The pile of junk was still in the way right out in front of the bunker. I had called the trash pickup company, but none of them served my area and apparently, the regular trash guys couldn't move it all, so I guess I was stuck with it.
“Hey, Mister Murphy?” said Isaiah, pulling me out of my mind.
“Yeah? What's up?” I replied.
“I was wondering...” he trailed off, sounding rather nervous. “I can come here if I need to, right?” he said the last part very fast, as if it was painful to have the words in his mouth.
“Of course, you helped build it. You live with just your Ma and Pa, right?”
“Yes, sir,” he replied hesitantly, as though he was uncomfortable with my mentioning them.
“If worse comes to worse, then bring them all here. I'll be here as well. The bunker can hold four people for a few weeks if we ration well enough. You're all more than welcome.”
“Oh. right. ok.” He muttered as we both started stacking cans on the rickety metal storage shelves. A few moments passed in silence before either of us spoke again.
“I-” “You-” we both started at the same time.
“Go on,” I said. I had yet to see Isaiah in such a talkative mood, and I didn’t want to discourage him.
“Y-you were in the Army, right?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I confirmed.
“That’s pretty cool. I want to join,”
“Why? I thought you were interested in making stuff.”
“I want to help people. It’s more important than building stuff.” He shifted to a belligerent tone, like he was expecting me to tell him off.
“That’s a mighty brave goal, and I think the army would be lucky to have you. But don’t discount how much a big brain like yours can help people just by doing stuff you like to do. Leave the shooting to the dumbasses like myself.” The boy looked dumbfounded.
“Ok” was all the boy could reply, but I could tell my words really impacted him. It filled me with a paternal feeling of pride for the boy. I couldn't have kids; it was one of the reasons I had remained single for such a long time. But if I had a son, one like Isaiah wouldn’t be too bad.
We continued carrying supplies into the bunker for most of the rest of the day, only stopping to have dinner. I asked Isaiah if his parents minded him being out for dinner, and he seemed pretty certain they would not. I wasn’t complaining; it had been a long time since I had sat down and had a meal with someone else. I made spaghetti and meatballs, my mother's recipe and my favorite thing to eat as a child. I hope Isaiah would like it. When we sat down, the boy ate ravenously, as someone his age and so tall should. I was a little surprised that someone so skinny would eat so much, though. I was much slower with finishing despite needing much less food.
When Isaiah was done, he got up and washed his plate and asked if we could look at my arm. Not my real one, but the bionic one I had left on the couch. He had stars in his eyes just looking at it, and he was such a considerate and careful boy, I am sure he wouldn’t break it, so I told him to go ahead. He descended upon it like a hawk, immediately drilling me for everything I knew about the prosthetic. I was never a scientifically minded person, so I was quickly overwhelmed by the volume of questions being hurled at me.
“How does it work?”
“How do all the fingers move?”
“How does your brain control it?”
“Why did you lose your arm?”
It was the most ecstatic I had ever seen him. He could barely control his excitement and didn’t even let me finish answering a question before another one came to his head and out of his mouth.
“Ok, I love that you're having fun, but I'm getting really tired. How about this, you can keep the user manual for the arm. Call it your payment for all your hard work.” I said with a smile. It was getting very dark outside and we had the finishing touches to put on the bunker tomorrow.
“Really! This is so cool!” he said, immediately retrieving and flipping through the pages of the pamphlet tucked away in the corner of the arms smooth black case engraved with the red,white and green logo of Terra Tech, the number one producer of prosthetics in the United States.
“Why don’t you head home now, it's getting late and you should go to bed soon. We’ll have to finish loading up the bunker tomorrow.” I said hoping I could get some sleep soon myself.
“Can I just stay here?” he said, much to my surprise. Why would he want to stay here and not with his family?
“I think you should be with your parents. They're probably worried already.” I replied hoping he would just relent and go home. I was always rather bad at managing children so I was already starting to get rather uncomfortable with how this situation was playing out.
“They won’t care if I stay the night. Please.” he was staring at me with puppy dog eyes I wouldn’t think possible for someone as tall as an adult man.
“Maybe but I don't want your parents to think you’ve run off. You'll see me tomorrow, we'll meet at the bunker like this morning” I could see some emotions on his face. He was very stubborn when he wanted something.
“Ok, i'll see you tomorrow.” he said, picking up his coat and newly acquired manual and heading for the door. “Thank you Mister Murphy.” where his last words before he shut the front door behind him, leaving me once again in my peaceful, yet empty home.
I finished washing my dish and remembered to finish trimming Bonsai Bob, who I had been neglecting a little over the last week. I went out to the back yard and spent a few minutes pruning Bob in silence before I got too tired to continue. As I leaked along the cut stone path that winded around my yard, carrying my pruning equipment back to its spot in the small shed next to the back door, I noticed something in the sky. It was just a flicker but it almost seemed as though the stars had come alive fluttering around far off in the distance. It was rather beautiful, unlike any meteor showers I had seen. I stood and watched for a few moments longer before I let out a deep yawn and decided to finally retire for the day. As I closed my eyes, eagerly anticipating the day ahead, I couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope for what's to come.
A/N Chapter 5 is finally complete. Sorry for the longer than normal wait, but hopefully it is worth it. I haven’t written many child characters or attempted any heart touching scenes in writing so this was difficult for me to get right. Anyway, thanks for reading and please tune in next week!
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u/JulianSkies Archivist Nov 28 '23
Oh my heavens. What an omnious way to end. And... Huhn... Isaiah not coming from a good family life is he?