12 Hours
Hour 7

" Six hours huh?" I sighed.

He nodded his head and exhaled.

" It feels like time is running out faster and faster each time," said Bryson.

" Because we are wasting it," I said.

" Or maybe because we are having fun," he said.

" Fun?! You think this is fun?" I asked.

" Listen, I said I was sorry about your hand. I didn't mean to break it," he said.

" You didn't break my hand, your arrogance did," I said.

Bryson was speechless. I was actually quite angry, furious even. Bryson and I had gotten into many arguments before, but none had gotten physical. When friends, enemies or two teens that are forced to save a world that doesn't deserve to be saved don't just break hands when they don't get their way. It was actually ridiculous how petty and bratty Bryson was. Every time I thought about our arguments and how in the long run and how I was the one left hurt, it got me angrier and angrier and soon I was going to burst. The only good thing about what he did is, well nothing really. I was the one who sacrificed my hand for our lives, and I am the reason the robot is working.

" So when this thing realizes it's alive, it's gonna kill us," Bryson said.

" We will just reprogram it," I said.

" Holy nuts! You can do that?" he said.

" Obviously," I said.

" I didn't know you were like that smart," he said.

" Stop talking," I said.

" Why? That was a compliment," he said.

" You literally cause destruction when you speak," I said.

" Pfft, destruction?" he said.

" That's what I just said, "

" What's your problem? You got all moody all of the sudden.....are you on your period?" he said.

I looked at him with disbelief. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ꜰindNʘvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

" I cannot believe you seriously just asked that," I said.

" Me either, sorry," he said.

" No, you're not," I said.

" What?" said Bryson.

" I bet if I didn't get offended, you wouldn't have said sorry," I said.

" No, I would have said sorry, but for a different reason," he said.

" I can't wait for this dumb mission to be over," I said.

" Why?" he asked.

" So I don't have to see your disgusting face again," I said.

Bryson started touching his face.

" Disgusting?" he asked.

" You disgust me, Bryson," I said.

" Dang, my ex- hookups have called me ugly but none have said that before," he said.

" I wasn't talking about looks Bryson, I was talking about your personality," I said.

" My personality is not disgusting," he said.

" I'm going to tell you how the rest of this mission is gonna go," I said.

" Ok.....I'm listening," he said.

" We are going to cut off any tension, bad or good and we are going to put our personal issues aside and get this over with," I said sternly.

" Tension and personal issues? You think I have personal issues?" he asked.

" See that's what I'm talking about, your so defensive and sensitive when people tell you about yourself," I said.

" No, I just don't take crap. I don't let people walk over me." Bryson said.

" No your just a coward," I said.

" I thought you said we needed to put our personal issues aside?" he said.

" I don't have any personal issues, Bryson, you just irritate me," I said.

" I think you do, you just don't wanna admit to it," he said.

" No, we should be trying to reprogram this robot, and getting out of here," I said.

" We have time Alex, 15 minutes wouldn't hurt," he said.

" First of all, time is something we don't have. Second of all, don't try and act as your care." I said.

" Whatever, that's the last time I'm gonna try to be nice," he said.

" I never asked for your help, you offered unwanted help," I said.

" Can we just reprogram this robot?" he asked.

" Lose the attitude, Bryson," I said.

" I just asked a simple question," he said crossing

I sighed and put my hands on my head.

" I just need to figure out how its operating system works then I can begin to work on it," I said.

" Ok, well we don't have time to waste," he said pointing at the robot.

I gave him a " don't with me right now" facial expression and he put his hands up then backed up. I guess he decided he wanted to finally grow balls and use his finger to boss people down. I had to shut that down real quick, that wasn't about to happen with me. I went over to the robot and looked at the backside of it because it was already open from when we jump-started it. I realized that they separated its wires from its technical system. Basically where the power is, the wires, and how it works, how it uses its arms legs, were two different systems. That means or could mean that the operating system was on its front side. So we have to screw the back-back onto it, flip it over and unscrew the front side to get to the operating system to reprogram it.

" I need your help," I said.

" Oh, now you need my help. Earlier it felt like you wanted to put me down three levels lower," said Bryson.

I gave him a stern look.

" Fine what is it," he said.

" Since you did break my hand, I can't do this," I said.

" Are you seriously going to remind me that I broke your hand each time you have to do something that requires hands?" he asked.

" No, I was just making sure you know why I can't do this," I said.

" Your hand is clearly swollen, red and kind of purple. I know why you can't do certain things," he said.

" Just letting you know," I said.

" Ok well what is it?" he asked.

" Oh yeah, I need you to screw the back onto the robot and flip it over to the front side.....please," I said.

" I can see why you can't flip it over, but I can't see why you can't screw it back in," Bryson said.

I gave him an angry look.

" Fine, since you wanna be a pain, I'll just break my hand more than it's already broken," I said.

I grabbed the back to the robot and placed it on the robot and grabbed the four screws to screw it in.

" Mind handing me the piece of metal you used to unscrew the screws?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's over there on the table," he said.

" Well, could you get it?" I asked.

" Yeah sure," he said.

He walked over to the table and started to move some metal pieces out the way.

" What's taking you so long?" I asked.

"N-nothing, I just got off track," he said.

He lost the piece of metal he used to unscrew it, great.

" Just find another piece of metal like the last one," I said.

" What are you talking about," he said.

" You lost the other piece of metal didn't you?" I asked.

"Ummm...." Bryson said while scratching his head.

" Just find another piece," I said.

" So you're like not mad?" he asked.

"Even if I was, we don't have time to argue about how irresponsible you are," I said.

" Irresponsible? I am not--."

" Just find another piece geez," I said.

" Right," he said.

He looked through the piece of metal and finally found a piece that was small enough to fit in the screw head.

" Will this work?" he asked handing me the piece of metal.

" Yeah, this will work fine," I said.

I grabbed the piece of metal from his hand then put the screws in the holes they were supposed to go in. I looked up at Bryson and he was looking at me awkwardly.

" Is there something you want to say?" I asked.

" You don't have to do that," he said.

" I mean someone has to," I said.

" And that someone is me," he said.

I got up off the ground and handed him the piece of metal to screw the screws back in.

" Wow," he said.

" What?" I said.

" I just didn't think you would hand over the job so easily," he said.

" Who has a broken hand here?"I asked.

" You." he sighed.

" And you thought I wanted to do that?" I asked.

" No, but to be fair you did do it willingly," he said.

" Because your lazy butt didn't feel like it," I said.

" I never said I wasn't," he said.

" Just do it," I said.

" That's what she said," he whispered.

" Real mature Bryson, real mature," I said.

" You're right, I am mature. Only mature people know about that," he said.

" Know about what?" I asked.

" You know...," he said.

" No Bryson, I don't know," I said.

" Yes you do," he said.

" No, I don't I need you to explain to me what that "mature" joke means." I said."

" It doesn't mean anything, it's just a dumb joke people say sometimes," he said.

" Mmm," I said.

Bryson rolled his eyes and walked over to the robot to screw the screw backs into the robot. He put the metal piece into each slot on the screw head and screwed the screw in. Finally, Bryson finished screwing them all in. He put his hands under the robot and attempted to roll it over, but he barely lifted the robot.

" You mind doing me a favor?" he asked.

" It depends on what the favor is," I said.

" This robot is a lot heavier than I thought," he said.

" So," I said.

" I need you to help me roll it over," he said.

" Are you crazy? Actually no, I think you think I'm crazy." I said.

" What?" he said.

" I have a broken hand and you want me to help you flip that thing over?!" I said.

" Well yeah, but with your feet, not your hands," he said.

" With my feet? How am I supposed to do that?" I asked.

" You put your feet under the robot and push up and out while I lift the robot up," he said.

" How are you gonna lift it up? You could barely do it the first time." I said.

" Without any help, that thing is really heavy," he said.

" What if I break my feet or something?" I said.

" Seriously?" he said.

" Very," I replied.

" It's heavy Alex, but not that heavy. It won't break your feet or my hands," he said.

I moaned then walked over to the robot and sat next to Bryson.

" So how am I supposed to get my feet under here?" I asked.

" I will lift it up and you will put them under there," he said.

" If you crush my toes, Bryson, I will crush your skull," I said.

" No, you don't get to kill me because I accidentally broke your hand," he said.

" That was no accident," I said.

" It wasn't intentional," he said.

" But it wasn't an accident," I said.

" It wasn't like I knew you were going to put your hand under my foot," he said.

I rolled my eyes at Bryson. Unfortunately, he was right. He didn't mean to slam his foot down on my hand....but he did. And I had to pay for his dumb actions. Like why couldn't he have fallen on his face and broke his nose or leg? Why did I have to be the one with a broken body part?

" Earth to Alex? You there?" he asked waving his hand in front of my face.

" Stop waving your hand in front of my face," I said.

" That's like the 100th time you've zoned out," he said.

" Your point is?" I asked.

" Stop zoning out, pay attention," he said.

" What, there's a lot to think about," I said.

" We are trapped in a cold, dark, room filled with dead robots. What could you possibly be thinking about?" he said.

" I don't think about the present, I think about what I'm thinking," I said.

I looked over at Bryson and he was giving me a confused look.

" What?" I asked.

" You really do make me wonder sometimes. I've never met someone who zones out as much as you do," he said.

" Thanks," I said.

" That wasn't a compliment," he said.

I rolled my eyes and put my feet at the bottom of the robot.

" Ok, I'm ready when you are," I said.

" Ready for what?" he asked.

" To lift the robot up so I can put my feet under it," I said.

"Right," he said.

" Idiot," I said.

" Don't put too much pressure on your hands or back, use your upper body strength," he said.

" Wow you're actually concerned about me, I'm touched," I said.

" Don't think too much of it," he said.

" And now I'm untouched," I said.

Bryson put his hands under the robot and squatted.

" You ready?" he asked.

" Yeah, I guess so.¨ I said.

" God Alex, we gotta hurry up and do this," he said.

" I said I was ready geez!" I said.

" You said I guess so," he said.

" Just lift the dang robot up," I said.

Bryson gave me an angry look and put his hands under the robot then started to lift it up.

" Ok, on three you're going to push the robot up with your feet," said Bryson.

" Ok, ready when you are," I said.

" Remember up and out, and don't put too much pressure on your hand and back," he said.

" Ok, Bryson I get it," I said.

" What, I don't have time for you to die," he said.

" I'm not going to die," I said.

" One......two......THREE!" Bryson said.

I pushed up as hard as I could while pushing out as well. I looked over and Bryson's face was as red as a tomato, and I could see his veins and muscles bulging. When it comes to muscles, I totally geek out. Bryson looked over and caught me drooling over his muscles and I quickly turned my head pretending as if I wasn't staring at his muscles.

" Stay focused on rolling this robot over, instead of my arms," he said.

" I wasn't looking at your arms, I was looking at the robots beside you," I said.

" Just push up and out, I can't do this on my own," he said.

I nodded my head and continued to push the robot up and out with my feet. I accidentally started to put pressure on my hand and I felt some of my bones shifting inside of my hand.

" Agh!" I yelled.

Luckily the robot flipped over as soon as I started putting pressure on my hand. Bryson looked over and quickly scooted over next to me.

" What happened?" he asked.

" Nothing, just all that drained me," I said.

" Don't lie to me Alex," he said.

" Does it really matter?" I asked.

" It matters if you're lying to me," he said.

" I'm fine I promise." I lied.

" Can I feel your hand?" he asked.

Shoot, he knew something was up.

" Why do you need to feel my hand?" I asked.

" Just making sure it wasn't your hand that you hurt," he said.

I moved my hand away from him and looked at him nervously.

" Why did you move your hand?" Bryson asked.

" Because I wanted to. The place it was at it was cold." I said.

" But wouldn't it be colder if you moved it somewhere else? The warmth of your hand would warm up the spot it was at," he said.

" No one asked for you to give facts Bryson," I said.

" You hurt your hand," he said.

" Did not," I said.

" Yes you did Alex, why are you hiding it?" he asked.

" Fine...I accidentally put some pressure on my hand last minute." I said.

Bryson sighed, grabbed my hand and look at it.

" Your bone," he said.

"What about it?" I asked.

" It's out of place," he said.

" Yeah, I felt that...." I said.

" We are going to have to pop it back into place," he said.

" Who? It's not gonna be you." I said.

" Who else is it gonna be?" he asked.

" We need a professional Bryson, you're just a teenager," I said.

" Where are we going to find a professional Alex?" he asked.

I looked around and realized we were in a robot storage room. I actually did forget for a second.

" I don't know, but I am pretty sure you can't just push it back into place," I said.

" Well from the looks of it, that's what we are going to have to do," he said.

" Oh no, no we're not gonna do that," I said.

" If we don't fix it now, it's only going to get worse," he said.

" So what if it gets worse, it's already broken," I said.

" Say if we are fighting a robot and you fall, and you happen to fall on your hand and the bone bust out of your hand," Bryson said crossing his arms.

" You didn't have to be so graphic geez," I said.

" That's what I'm talking about when I say it could get worse," he said.

" But it's going to hurt so freaking bad," I whined.

" I'm pretty sure your bone busting out of your skin is going to hurt a lot worse," he said.

" Seriously?! When you're about to talk about gory stuff warn me first. That stuff makes me cringe." I said.

" That's seriously what makes you cringe?" he asked.

" Yeah, what makes you cringe?" I asked.

" Watching f-boy videos, like them biting their lips," he said.

" Do you cringe at yourself?" I asked.

" I am not an f-boy," he argued.

" That's exactly what you are," I said.

Bryson sighed and gave me an angry look.

" You're going to make this job a heck of a lot easier for me, and a lot more painful for you," Bryson said.

" Bryson stop!" I said grabbing Bryson's hand.

Bryson and I both looked down at my hand. I don't know why I grabbed his hand, but it definitely got super awkward after that. I quickly took my hand off of Bryson's and gave him a crooked smile.

" Uh sorry about that," I said.

" No biggie, it was nothing," he said

" Yeah, I don't know why I did that," I said.

" Let's just get it over with," he said.

" Do it quick, I don't wanna feel it," I said.

" You're definitely gonna feel it," he said.

" Well make it to where I don't feel it that much," I said.

" I'm not sure if I can do that, but I can try," he said.

" Fine....just hurry up," I said.

" Ok, when I say three I am going to push it back into place as fast as I can," he said.

I took a big breath in a nodded my head.

" Ok, I'm ready when you are," I said.

" One.....two...THREE." he said.

Bryson put his palm on the end of my bone and pushed it down then into the area where it popped out from. That was probably the most painful experience I'd ever been through. Even though Bryson pushed it in fast, it still happened in slow motion for me. I could feel his palm touch my bone and slowly push it back down deeper into my skin and slowly back into the spot where it belonged.

" HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!" I screamed.

"Did I do it slowly?" he asked.

" No...no you did it at the perfect speed, it's just that my mind slowed it down so I could feel the pain," I said.

" That must have sucked," he said.

I looked up at him and gave him a " Nah dip sherlock" facial expression.

" Of course it hurt," I said.

" Well, I think it's back in place. But if we get back you might wanna get it checked out by a doctor," he said.

" Duh, I wasn't going to just leave it like this," I said.

" Just making a friendly suggestion," he said.

" Sorry, I gotta work on my....you know," I said.

" Bluntness?" he said.

" Yeah....." I said awkwardly.

" Ok well now that we flipped the robot, you can reprogram it right?" he asked.

" I would check out the technical system worked," I said.

" Then you could reprogram it?" he asked.

" Yes Bryson, I could reprogram it." I sighed.

" Thank goodness you're poor," he said excitedly.

" Excuse me?!" I said angrily.

" No, not like that. I mean if you weren't poor, you and I wouldn't have been on this mission together," he said.

" Oh....that better have been what you meant," I said.

" I mean I can't really talk, because I don't have tons of money either," he said.

I nodded my head and looked at Bryson awkwardly. Bryson started to scratch his neck nervously and look at the ceiling and the floor, and I started to twiddle my thumbs.

" So I think I'm gonna take a look at the r-robots technical system," I said.

" Right. I'll just stand or sit over there...." Bryson said.

I scooted closer to the robot and started to look for the area on the front side of the robot that could be taken off.

" So how is it going over there? Working hard or hardly working?" he asked.

" Ok, I guess," I replied.

I began to get frustrated because there wasn't an area on the robot that could be removed.

" Maybe it's not in the front." I thought to myself.

I started to look on the left side of the robot, but when I couldn't find anything I looked on the right side of the robot.

" Ha! I found it." I said excitedly.

" Found what?" Bryson asked.

" It's technical system. At least I think I did." I said.

On the right side of the robot, there was clearly at the was a square and four screws at each of its corners.

" Can you get me that piece of metal we used to unscrew the back of the robot?" I asked.

" It's to the left of you," he said.

I looked up it actually was to the left of me.

" Oh, thanks," I said.

I began to start unscrewing the side of the robot. I was beaming with joy. We are going to leave this place. I can return home to my family, and most importantly.....I can finally get away from Bryson.

" Geez, what's got you smiling so hard?" Bryson asked.

I looked up at him weird, then I started to touch my face. I did have a big smile on my face.

" Just happy that's all," I said.

" Can I ask why?" he asked.

Because I won't see you anymore.

" There is no specific reason," I said.

Bryson nodded his head and continued to make silly facial expressions.

A few minutes past and I finally finished unscrewing the side of the robot. I put my fingers in between the cracks that separated the rest of the robot from the technical area and removed it from the side of the robot. Bryson got up from where he was and walked over to me. He looked over my shoulder and put his hand on this chin.

" Is that what technical systems look like?" he asked.

" Yep, this is the masterpiece the robot race has created," I said.

" Well their masterpiece nearly killed us many times," he said.

" Well once I reprogram it, we won't have worry as much about them killing us.

Bryson smiled and nodded his head.

" Now that's what I'm talking about," he said.

" It's going to get very messy, and we are going to have to take chances these next few hours," I said.

" I have no problem with taking chances, I'll let you do your thing," he said.

Bryson walked back over to the entrance door and started to go through his bag.

The good thing was I was certain we would be out of here in no time. It is very easy to reprogram something. I used to reprogram remote controls, computers and sometimes even phones all the time. All I had to do was find the coordinates to be programmed in its control software. It's like stealing candy from a baby. I immediately began to work on the robot. The process actually went by extremely fast, I think it was because I pictured myself flying back home to my family with a million bucks, and living a beautiful life without Bryson. I suddenly started hearing a beeping sound in my dream, then I snapped back to reality and realized it was Bryson's watch. Bryson looked up at me and smiled awkwardly. I knew exactly what that buzzing sound meant.

" We have 5 hours left," Bryson said awkwardly.

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