Hours passed since Deacon first started the marathon. The television was still on with the volume still blaring an infomercial about a drone that can pick up the mail and your kids while you watched them on your phone’s screen.

Deacon hadn’t slept a wink since he came back inside the house. He looked over at the clock on his phone, which showed him eight thirty in the morning. His eyes were covered with a shade of black from his lack of sleep and his constant eye rubbing.

“That drone looks so awesome.” Deacon said to himself with a monotone voice from his exhaustion. “Only eighteen payments of sixty bucks, what a steal.”

He sat still on his sofa trying to avoid any sudden movements, so he could regain the blood flow to his legs after sitting down for the entire marathon. He walked to the kitchen area of his house and pulled out some cereal to eat before he started his internal debate about helping Ragnar.

The cereal poured onto the bowl along with some milk then he ate it by the sink, looking out of the window toward his garage to see if Ragnar would pop out. The car inside was still humming as it ran on whatever reserve of fuel it had left before it croaked.

“Elvander is like days away.” Deacon chomped on the cereal. “I’m also pretty sure that the national guard will be keeping an eye for these Golems, all thanks to the news yesterday.”

Deacon’s fingers tapped on his counter while he pondered his decision. He ran through different scenes that he wanted to be prepared for or at least try to avoid altogether. This wasn’t something he had in mind, but the possibility that the entire world rested on that choice didn’t make it any easier.

With a loud groan, he threw his empty bowl into the sink, grabbed his phone, and ventured off toward his garage to face the mechanical Golem that was now in his temporary care.

He walked to the side entrance of the garage to meet with Ragnar and get some more answers before he made his decision. He opened the door slowly to make sure he wasn’t walking into any surprises like his car being on fire or something to that effect.

Ragnar was still, not a single movement from the towering Golem. The tarp still covered its head and the car was still running; although weaker than before.

“I see we’re still in one piece.” Deacon fully opened the garage door.

Ragnar whirred.

“Answer me this.” He pulled the tarp away from Ragnar’s body to show its head.

Ragnar whirred in an agreeing tone along with a nod.

“What’s important about that fuel cell? Besides its near-infinite capabilities.”

Ragnar sent him a message: Defense power.

“To power Elvander’s defense?” Deacon tried to piece the message. “So this is the last piece of fuel they have and without it they can’t protect themselves without it?”

Ragnar nodded.

“So this is already a losing battle. Shadow Cannon already has a surplus of this stuff, what is one fuel cell going to do for them?” Deacon argued.

Ragnar shrugged.

“I guess whoever hacked you left out that piece of information as well.” Deacon scoffed.

He already had his mind made up and prepared to call it quits. He reached for his phone to look at any app notifications and realized he left his news app open.

An update from the article was posted saying that the amount of casualties from the invasion was over five hundred including children.

“These people are monsters.” Deacon gasped.

Ragnar whirred in anticipation while it unplugged the battery cables from its neck.

The phone chimed again with an option to view the video of the article. Deacon tapped on it to play it, expanding the screen to view it in its “Full Screen” setting.

A figure wearing a gas mask over his face to hide his identity was staring at the camera, ready to give his speech.

“As you know, the people of Hazlan was just a test run for our newest toy, the Shadow Cannon Golem.” The figure’s voice was distorted to a deep growl. “No one was spared. Churches, the hospital, the orphanage, we laid waste to that poor excuse of a town and that wasn’t the full potential of our power.”

“This guy can’t be serious.” Deacon watched in horror.

“Think of it as a message, not just to Elvander, but to the rest of the world. We want the whole pie. If you feel the need to stand up to us, please do so. We insist, but understand this you fools. We are the ones with the muscle.” The video ended abruptly.

The whole clip left a bad taste in Deacon’s mouth and realized that a lot more was at stake than an Elvander grudge match against Shadow Cannon. The people who he knew, the people he won’t ever know, even his own life, they were all at stake in that figure’s game. That monster held all the chips and no one was prepared to call his bluff.

“How long will it take us to get to Elvander?” Deacon turned to Ragnar.

Ragnar held up its fingers to count, but gave up followed by its now trademarked shrug and whir technique.

“Sounds about right.” Deacon said sarcastically. “Let’s wait when the sun goes down and we’ll make our move. That’ll give me time to pack a few things before we go for our ‘little road trip’.”

Ragnar prepared to stand up in the small, confined garage space.

“No, please don’t!” Deacon pleaded. “I’ll come back outside for you when its time to go.”

Ragnar gave him a thumbs up along with a happy whirring sound.

“Don’t thank me yet, we still need to find out how we’re going to avoid the eyes and ears in this town.” Deacon put his hands to his waist. “You’re not exactly popular around here… or anywhere for that matter.”

#

The sun soon dropped below the horizon allowing Deacon and Ragnar a chance to get out of the border without letting out any alarms and having the national guard know that Deacon was harboring a deadly weapon. That was an instant deal breaker.

Deacon grabbed his black hoodie with his scarf around his neck to hide his face while he signaled Ragnar to sneak out of the garage as quietly as it could. The task proved impossible with its joints creaking and grinding even with the slowest of movements.

“You are just a walking catastrophe, aren’t you big guy?” Deacon sighed. He quickly walked to the garage and helped pull Ragnar with as much effort he can produce.

The duo managed to get out of the small space after some time struggling. Deacon was out of breath while Ragnar stared blankly at him.

“Just shut up.” Deacon tried to catch his second wind. “Let’s go.”

Ragnar’s footsteps were loud and barely cracked the ground below them.

“Quietly.”

A message chimed on Deacon’s phone: Sorry.

#

They soon found themselves hiding amongst the pine trees that surrounded the outskirts of the city. The fact they managed to avoid being seen was a miracle since Ragnar still hadn’t figured out how to step lightly for the entire walk.

“Okay, so all we need to do is find a way to avoid those guards. I’m thinking I can build a distraction lure to get their attention away from the entrance. We just need a good ten minutes to execute the plan.” Deacon explained his plan to his new partner, who just gave him a thumbs up.

“Good talk.”

The guards were heavily armed and ready to take on anything that they perceived as an instant threat. They wore armored masks that covered every angle of their heads along with their body armor that looked like it belonged to a tank. The assault rifles had their safeties off ready to fire at a moments notice; each of them meant business.

“On second thought.” Deacon swallowed his fear, “We don’t have to climb the wall right?”

Ragnar sent a message: We can fight.

“Yeah maybe you can with your armored body, but I’m just a bullet’s dream.” Deacon said. “Besides, don’t you think its bad enough that they already see you as an enemy.”

Ragnar used its eyes to scan the border to see for any other soldiers that were keeping watch around the area. Its vision switched to a thermal view to get a better grasp on who was hiding in the dark areas around the wall.

A message chimed: Fourteen.

“Fourteen what? Soldiers?” Deacon asked.

Ragnar nodded.

“Not exactly good odds for us. Let’s go around the side and see if we can find another way out. If we’re lucky, they probably left a gate open for their patrol vehicles.

The pair sneaked through the trees trying to avoid making any noise that can announce their presence. The leaves below their feet crunched with every step and with the combination of the silence around them just made the sound even louder. Deacon’s face winced every time he heard Ragnar’s foot drop to the dirt since it wasn’t really built for stealth. That was uncomfortably fortunate.

“Look over there and see if we have an opening.” Deacon pointed at an vacant part of the wall where he didn’t see any patrol cars around it.

Ragnar activated its thermal vision again to mark any obstacles that will block their path to the other side. So far the coast to Ragnar was clear giving the young hooded man a signal to go forward.

The pair scurried to the road below the pine trees and waited by a large rock to avoid any snipers or any cameras that were scanning the zone.

“Okay let’s go!” whispered Deacon.

They ran to the base of the wall section in front of them, but Deacon was surprised by what he saw what he thought was a perfect chance.

“What the freaking hell, Ragnar?!” Deacon pointed at the wall. “Where’s the gate that was supposed to be open?!”

Deacon saw a flashlight aim toward his direction causing him to duck for cover to avoid being detected and most likely killed.

“It’s no use. We’re going to have to go back and figure out a different way to get around this place since Elvander is toward this direction.”

Ragnar walked away to try to find a way to cross the wall, but its large frame made it challenge to go around undetected. At least, Deacon was at a safe distance to escape in case things got a little too crazy.

Ragnar looked at a camera that was facing away from it. It let out a small whirring sound and lightly tapped on the camera. Its eyes turned from red to blue as it gained access into the security cameras’ feed server. The technique managed to give Ragnar a way to cover the whole base in less than a minute.

“That’s so cool.” Deacon whispered to himself in amazement.

Ragnar released the camera and sent a message to Deacon’s phone: No way.

“You’re kidding me! Well, I’m out of ideas.” Deacon read the message.

Ragnar walked toward its partner and began to escalate its walk to a full-on sprint. Deacon grew frightened by the sudden change in speed and braced for impact.

Instead, Ragnar grabbed Deacon and opened its shell to allow him inside as the towering machine jumped over the wall with minimal effort.

“Oh my—” Deacon couldn’t get any words out due to his shock.

Ragnar was in the air way over the height of the colossal forty-eight feet wall. Deacon couldn’t see what was going on from the inside of Ragnar’s shell. He really hoped for a screen, but apparently Shadow Cannon had to cut back on their production budget.

The machine landed onto the ground outside the border of Cille and opened its shell to let Deacon out, who was still clinging onto dear life in the internal grip handles.

“Why didn’t you tell me you can jump like that?!”

Deacon climbed out of Ragnar’s shell to get a better view of the land in front of them. Their journey began at that moment.

“I guess it’s too late to say I have to go pee.” Deacon looked to Ragnar.