Read Online I Am Automaton: A Military Science Fiction Novel by Edward P. Cardillo - Free Book Online

else was definitely in the maze with him, and the mystery guest was zeroing in on his position.
    The footsteps sounded like they were somewhere in front of him, so Peter ducked into a side room. He then attempted to circumvent the room that was in front of him, all the while taking great care to be silent. He didn’t want to give away his position.
    The strange thing was that as he would cross a room and then stop, then cross another room and stop, the footsteps seemed constant as if his pursuer never stopped.
    The effect was unnerving enough that in his attempt at circumvention , he cornered himself into a dead end. However, as he turned to exit the room, he heard the shuffling closing in on him. He cursed his sloppiness.
    Peter was able to see a dark silhouette moving towards his room, but the silhouette appeared odd. It looked as if the person was hunched over, and it shambled around like a prisoner shackled at the ankles.
    Peter readied himself for who was coming through the door. Would he be shot at? He prepared to make a dash around the figure and through the doorway once it entered.
    Peter was not prepared for what wandered into the illumination of his Multi-tasker. In fact, he wondered if the dark was playing tricks on him.
    There, by the dim light of his Mutli-tasker, was a man in a black, form-fitting suit. Was this some new kind of uniform? There was something off about his face. Perhaps it was a trick of the shadows.
    “Okay, so you got me. Did I lose?”
    The man did not answer, he only stared at him with the most vacant of expressions. Then he began to shuffle forward.
    The gait didn’t sit right with Peter. Why would a soldier shuffle, particularly in a combat situation?
    “So what’re you supposed to be?”
    The man reached out a hand. Peter took it as a greeting and shook the man’s hand, but the man’s grip was unusually tight, and he began to pull Peter closer.
    “Hi, I’m Lieutenant …” But Peter saw the glazed eyes, which now widened in some kind of frenzy. The man gripped Peter by the shoulder with his free hand and pulled him close.
    He opened his mouth, and Peter smelt the sickly sweet aroma of putrescence on his breath. Something was wrong. Peter knew this feeling, and he became alarmed.
    He struggled to pull himself away from the man, but the man possessed an unnatural strength. He remembered his Aikido and spun out of the man’s grip, causing him to trip over his own limbs and fall to the floor.
    Peter backed into a corner. “What the hell’s your problem? This exercise is over.”
    But the man was hoisting himself up. When he was kneeling on his left knee, he looked up at Peter and let out a ghastly moan that sent chills up Peter’s spine.
    Peter knew at that moment that he had to get away from this soldier. He dashed around the man, barely dodging a swipe of the man’s arm, and he ran out of the room.
    He began to navigate the dreaded Labyrinth room-by-room with shuffling and moaning only a couple of rooms behind. As he struggled to remember his training and his past experiences with the Labyrinth, his mind ran wild with terror as to what was pursuing him.
    The panic was inexplicable, but found its origin in the most primitive recesses of his mind. There was something definitely wrong with that soldier, and the knowledge that he was pursuing him triggered a potent revulsion and the most basic instinct to survive.
    However, the terror was unsettling to the point of distraction, causing Peter to flounder about clumsily in the dark maze. As Peter ran and bumped against walls and found himself going in circles, the constant shuffling gait always right behind him never ceased.
    Peter must have reached a room with an exterior wall, as there was a boarded up window. He threw himself at the window, hoping to go through, but the boards were fastened tightly and he ricocheted off and fell to the floor.
    The man appeared in the doorway and saw Peter on the floor.
    “Soldier, state your name