Hideout

Chapter 1

The smell on her hands fascinated her, foreign and new, like the world around her, and sticky too. She got the sticky substance from an odd, organic object that fell from one the towering pine trees surrounding her. She inhaled again as she put her hands to her face, her memory of what she learned came back to her, Tree sap; a fluid that distributes nutrients throughout the tree. Living organisms all around her, flooding her memory banks as her large brown eyes took in the forest around her. It was nothing like the world she knew, so far away, but it wasn’t far enough.

A light mist dotted her face as she looked up at the grey sky through the canopy of trees. She was sure there was a sun when she arrived, but it was gone. She picked up her pace, crunching the dead leaves that littered the forest floor. A beeping sound came from underneath her white body suit, sending electrical currents to her heart. A warning. She ran behind a tree, breathing heavily as she scanned the sky again. She quickly rolled up her sleeve and a red light blipped underneath the surface of her fair skin. No. She unzipped her neckline and poked at her chest, feeling around until her fingers found a small hard surface. The beeping in her arm grew faster, her finger hesitated to push the hard surface just above her breast, if she did, no turning back. Her finger pushed and the beeping stopped. She gave a sigh, scanning the sky as she continued through the forest. Not far enough.

Chapter 2

A town, just like the images she’d seen. More images bombarded her memory bank as she stared down from the forest at the foothills. Structures called buildings rose from the ground all over the place divided by something. Roads and sidewalks? Yes that's what they’re called. Machines moved on the roads. Cars? Piloted by…them. She hid behind a tree at the sight of them. More of them walked together down the road. She was their age, teenagers, all going to a large building carrying bags. Her heart, one of two organs she had in common with them, pumped fast to her half human brain. Another peek as she twirled a strand of her shoulder length black hair, wishing to be them. She was made in their image, to be like them, act like them, but she knew she was nothing like them, just a number; Thirty-three.

She glanced back into the forest and up at the sky again, back to the cold memories. It was a chance none of the others would ever have. To walk among them, live as they do. And a perfect hideout until it was over.

Thirty-three’s memory banks scanned the images of the teenagers, their outfits from head to toe. Her shiny white body suit materialized into blue jeans, a sweater and jacket. Her boots replaced with white sneakers. She looked herself over to make sure nothing was forgotten. With a deep sigh, thirty-three bounced down a trail toward the town, with a smirk. But her smirk melted away as the thought of the hovering danger. She only had twenty hours.

##

Thirty-three was doing it. Walking with hundreds of humans, hearing human conversations, laughter. She’d never felt her circuits sending electrical currents like that, forcing a smile. She double checked their outfits compared to hers as she walked with them toward a building with the name Madison High School hanging above the front doors. A learning facility. It was made of bricks, steel and stone, minerals from the earth. The humans pulled up in colorful cars getting out and shutting the doors. A sound echoed from some of the cars. Music. Some clustered together in groups at the entrance. Two of them in particular caught her eyes and she couldn’t help but stop and stare. A male and female, their lips touching, like they were trying to eat each other. Kissing?

“They should get a room, right?” a voice said from behind her.

Thirty-three turned around to a girl with glasses and curly, long brown hair. She had to open her inventory of teenager dialogue. “Uh, yeah.”

“They’re always doing that shit,” the girl said as she looked Thirty-three over. “You're new here, huh?”

Thirty-three gave a nod.

“I’m Kendra,” the girl said.

“Hello, Kendra.”

Kendra looked at Thirty-three with a smile. “Well?”

“Well…what?”

“What’s your name?”

“Oh.” Thirty-three gave a quick glance at the high school sign. “Madison,” she said extending her hand.

“Ok,” Kendra said with a laugh. “Where are you from?”

“New…Philadelphia.”

“What?”

Madison shook her head. “I mean, New York.”

Kendra’s lips curled to a smile. “Are you high?”

Luckily, Madison knew what that meant. “No. I’m sorry. I’m just nervous. It’s my first day.”

“It’s cool.”

Madison jumped from a loud ring from the school. “What’s that?!”

Kendra again gave her another funny look. “The homeroom bell. What’s your first class?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you get your schedule?”

Too many questions. “I left it at home. Where can I get another one?”

“The Administrations office, first door on the left when you walk in. Hey, I gotta go. Good luck on your first day. Maybe I’ll see you around.”

##

The structure was primitive compared to what Madison was used to back home. But the high electrical current still flowed through her, as she smiled through the busy hallway.

The administrations office door was open. Madison would have to start working on their primitive computers as soon as possible, communicating information she had stored in her data base. She went to the desk and was greeted by an older lady with materials in her hand.

“Can I help you?” the lady asked.

“Yes, I left my schedule at home and I’ve forgotten what classes I have.”

“What’s your name, dear.”

“Madison Parker.”

“Are you a new student?”

“Yes.”

The lady typed at the keyboard looking at the computer screen. “Let’s see if we can find you. There you are, Madison Parker, from New York, right?”

“Yes,” Madison said smiling as her brain connected with the computer.

A machine behind the lady made strange sounds and a thin white material came out of it. She grabbed it and handed it to Madison. “Here you go, Madison. Welcome to Madison High School in the great state of Washington.”

“Thank You.”

Chapter 3

By the end of fourth period, it was happening again. Staring, and whispering at how smart she was. She dominated the classroom to every teacher’s delight. Nerd, brainiac, kiss ass. The last term she didn’t understand. A few males resorted to confusing mating terms under their breath which didn’t have anything to do with how smart she was. Madison couldn’t help it. It’s how she was programmed, a higher intelligence, trained in human behavior, and never told why.

Her next class was P.E. She walked through the hallway while students gathered by the lockers. A smile erupted on her face as she saw Kendra. “Kendra!”

“Hey,” Kendra said, with surprise on her face. “What’s up?”

“I’m going to P.E. class."

“Yeah, that’s my class.”

“I’m curious, P.E? What does that mean?”

Kendra gave her another surprised look. “You’re joking right?”

“No.”

Kendra chuckled. “You’re funny.”

##

P.E. was in the gymnasium instead of a classroom. Madison was given shorts and a tee shirt with the school name and logo on it; the image of a bear. A man named Mr. Reamer, dressed in blue track pants and the school shirt, spoke on the importance of exercise. He had the students jog around the gym. Madison was a little taller than most of the girls, her strides longer, muscles more defined. She glided past them without effort. She climbed a rope faster, jumped higher than any of them. Kendra shook her head with a smirk.

There was a basketball game, she’d actually played with her kind before. The other girls rolled their eyes as Madison never missed a shot.

“You’re good,” Kendra said. “You should try out for the team,”

“There’s a team?”

“I don’t get you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I heard you were a wiz in all your classes so far, so much that half the school knows about it, you’re better athletically than anyone here, even the guys, yet you don’t even know what P.E. stands for, which stands for physical education by the way.”

“Is this a bad thing?” Madison asked, wide eyed. “I’m very happy here.”

“No, it’s just…you seem like your from another country or something. It’s cool though.”

“Five minutes!” Mr. Reamer said.

“One more basket,” Madison said to Kendra, before she ran on the court. A couple of girls walked by as Madison drove to the basket. One of the girls stuck their foot out and tripped her, sending Madison crashing down to the floor on her chest. She heard a crack inside. A jolt of electricity concentrated in her chest and shot out through her body. The button.

“What the hell, Kim!” Kendra said as she ran toward Madison. “I saw you trip her!”

Madison knew something was wrong. A quick diagnostic check, the chip in her chest was damaged. She looked down at her wrist, a faint red light. She immediately covered it with her hand as the teacher and other students went to check on her.

“Are you alright?” Mr. Reamer asked.

“Hey,” Kendra said. “You OK? I saw what she did.”

“Everyone back up,” Mr. Reamer said.

Madison jumped up. “I’m fine.”

She ran to the lockers and into a bathroom stall. The chip was broken. She leaned against the wall as she poked at the dim light. She knew what that meant if she couldn’t turn it off. It had been on for five minutes, that was long enough for them to find her. Madison tightened her fists, as fear yanked at her wires and carbon tubings inside her, real fear from the human side of her psyche. She had to try something. She punched herself in the chest and clenched her mouth. The light in her wrist went off, it worked. But it was probably too late.

“Madison?!” Kendra called. “Are you in here?"

“Yeah,” Madison said, wiping a dripping tear from her eyes for the first time in her life.

Chapter 4

At lunch, Madison was quiet as she sat outside with Kendra. Her eyes always finding the forest over looking the school, waiting for something, anything. Fourteen hours left. Maybe nothing will happen, maybe it will be alright. But her awareness saw something else in the meantime.

“You’re not eating?” Kendra asked

“No. I notice you keep looking at that guy?” Madison asked Kendra. “Do you want to mate with him?”

“Madison?” Kendra burst out laughing, trying to contain herself. “Did you talk like this back in New York?”

“Yes. Why? Is there something wrong with what I said?”

“Well, here, we don’t go around saying ‘mating’.”

“Ok. So, you have interest in him. No, wait. You like him.”

Madison knew of teenage sexuality, but it was a study, no emotion attached to it. She wondered what it was like.

“I’ve always liked him,” Kendra said.

“He’s in my math class,” Madison said. “His name is Griffin Dominguez, very smart guy.”

“I know that. Oh, my God. He’s coming over here.”

Griffin walked over, tall, tan skinned with wavy black hair, faded to the skin on the side. “What’s up?” he said.

“Hey,” Kendra said.

“Hello, Griffin,” Madison said with a huge smile. “I’m in your math class.”

“Yeah, I remember,” he said flashing a smile. “You made the teacher look stupid, you could’ve taught that class.”

“That was not my intention.” Madison gave Kendra a look. I hope I do this right. “Griffin, this is my friend Kendra.”she said with a wink.

“I know,” Griffin said. “We know each other.”

“You do?”

“Yes, Madison,” Kendra said.

“Then how come-”

A flash of light cut across the cloudy sky above the forest followed by a booming sound sound. The tall pine trees waved from whatever shook them. Everyone gathered and pointed, gasping at what they saw for a second. “Did you see that shit?!” someone said. “Oh, my God!” another cried out.

Madison’s jaw tightened as she looked at the smoldering smoke coming from the green hillside. Her strong legs almost buckled, swallowing hard at the thought of what it might be.

“What was that?” Kendra said, standing next to her. “It looked like a missile strike or something. Maybe a UFO?”

“I-I don’t…know,” Madison stammered.

“A UFO? That would be crazy,” Griffin said, laughing.

“No,” Madison said, turning to him. “It wouldn’t.”

Chapter 5

School dismissed early because of the incident in the forest. Kendra invited Madison to her house to hang out. By the evening, helicopters hovered over the site on the mountainside. Every few minutes a police car raced by Kendra’s house.

“Something must be up there,” Kendra said. “They must’ve found something.”

Madison sat on the sofa. On one hand happiness swelled inside her circuits, she was inside a real human dwelling. Comfortable, warm and soft. Photographs of Kendra’s family hung on the walls, paintings of other places around the world. She was there, experiencing it for real. None of the other one’s could say that. On the other hand, Madison was getting weaker with her chip turned off. The electrical current slowed to her heart.

“You’ve been quiet since school,” Kendra said. “In fact, you look sick. You want some water?”

“No, thank you.” Eight more hours or maybe one. She rubbed her hands through her synthetic black hair. “So, what are you going to do about Griffin?”

“I don’t know?”

“I could have talked to him for you, you know…hooked you up.”

Kendra smiled. “Madison, you’re so funny. You sure you’re ok?”

“Fine.” The images her eyes took glitched. “You need to tell him how you feel. Human life…I mean life itself is short.”

“You’re right. I’m going to do it tomorrow. I see him checking me out sometimes…”

Another glitch, Kendra’s voice went in and out. It was time to go, she had to go back up there somehow. Her only chance of survival was on that mountainside where she didn’t want to go. Madison stood and collapsed to the floor.

“Madison!” Kendra said as she went to her. She tried pulling her up on the chair.

Madison’s eyes popped backed open and Kendra came into view again. “I’m back,” she said, pulling herself into the chair.

“Jesus, I couldn’t even lift you. What happened? Should I call your parents or something.”

Madison stared at Kendra. She wasn’t going to make it back up the hillside by herself.

“Kendra, I need your help. But I have something to tell you first.”

Kendra sat on the other sofa chair. “What is it?”

“I’m not from New York.”

“I knew it. Your from another country, right? Somewhere in Europe?”

“No, much farther away. I’m from another planet.”

Kendra smiled again. “I knew you were crazy. Where are you from though?”

Madison needed to show her, it was the only way, there wasn’t enough time. “I’m going to show you something, you have to promise to keep calm.” she stood with unsteady legs. Her computer brain called upon the imagery of her original appearance. Madison's original white body suit materialized, eating away at her human clothes. Kendra’s blue eyes widened and she covered her mouth, backing against the chair.

“Do you believe me, now?”

Kendra nodded as she sat frozen, curled in the chair, still with her hand covering her mouth as tears came down her cheeks.

“My pod is up in the forest and I need to get to it.”

“Th-the c-crash…up there? Is that because of you?”

“Yes. I escaped from my planet, and I think they've located me here.”

“What will they do if-”

“Terminate me. I don’t know what’s up there. But I have to get to my pod. There is a damaged tracking device inside me, locked on off, draining my power. I can repair it in there. Will you help me?”

##

Kendra’s car wound up the back of the mountain as Madison explained her story in more detail.

“So, there’s more like you?”

“Yes.”

“And your name is a number?”

“Thirty-three. You can’t tell-”

“Don’t worry. No one will believe it. Why were you created to look like us? Why are you studying and copying us?”

“I don’t know.” Madison wondered that herself. There were a couple of chilling conclusion’s she came to. But she didn’t want to tell Kendra. No need for her to worry about something she could do nothing about.

They pulled to a short wooden fence that blocked the rest of the road. The headlights shined into the blackness of the forest. “I can make it from here,” Madison said.

“Wait, I’m coming with you.”

"You can't. It’s too dangerous.”

“But how will I know if you made it safe or not?”

Madison smiled. “All my life I have studied humans, wanting to be like them. To see one for real, similar to how you feel if you saw a…dinosaur? It’s been so exciting. If this is my last day, and my end is up there, it was worth it. And the best part of the day was meeting you. It wouldn’t have been the same without you, Kendra. Thank you.”

Kendra hugged Madison tight. “Be careful.”

“I will. Good-bye.” More of those tears again. Madison got out of the card and saw Kendra wiping her eyes behind her glasses. Thirty-three climbed over the short fence and disappeared into the trees to whatever fate awaited her. 

The End