Jimmy didn’t have a chance. He was smoking around the truck, waiting for the guys in the back to finish loading it. The Purple Line was expecting this shipment of hams meant for the widows and orphans of Westside to be delivered to Danny “Boom Boom” Black over at the warehouse. He happened to look up, and then felt a punch in the stomach, a punch so hard that it slammed him backwards into the truck, the step plate hitting his back hard, and his head hitting the door. He crumpled to the ground, stunned.
Someone in a red boot stepped on his cigarette. He heard the whirr and hum of machinery and forced himself to look up. A tall, red man in a full metal plate mask stood before him. The man raised his hand and all Jimmy saw was a flash of light.
The doors in the back slammed shut and someone yelled, “Okay, Jimmy, take ‘er away.”
The red humanoid whirred and turned, heading toward the back of the truck. “Jimmy? Hey, what’re you doin’, sleepin’ over there?”
Its steps were long strides and awkward, as it got to the platform. No one was there. The robot jumped in place, but could not jump onto the platform. “Jimmy? Where’d you go?”
The red human-looking robot turned around slowly to see a balding man in a shirt and suspenders, bending down to the body that was on the drivers’ side of the truck. “Jimmy?”
The robot took aim, raising a hand, and sent a force beam into the balding man. He caught it in the shoulder, and was shoved to his feet, onto his butt and back a couple of yards. The robot started walking a little closer.
The man took out a gun in his off-hand and started firing at the robot. It kept coming, though he could see that it hit a force field because the robot would glow for a moment as the bullet hit him. The gun ran out of bullets before the robot raised its hand. “Ohmygod, don’t kill me!”
The robot fired, and the man was shoved into the ground for a moment, the force breaking ribs and piercing lungs. The man started to choke as he breathed, his lungs filling with blood.
Now the robot turned to the truck. He went to the driver’s side and opened the door, looking inside. He stood there for a while, his head tilting and rotating, his leg moving up and down as if trying to figure out how to move. He closed the door of the truck. He stood next to it, staring out into space, frozen in time. A little while later, a police car came around the corner and into the warehouse parking lot.
As soon as the car came into the lot, the robot took a few halting steps, then ran, faster than sight and sound, leaving behind a low sonic boom as he dashed past the car and out into the night.