Safe

• Alyssa Johnson, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2012

My legs grew tired and sore from walking. My throat burning with every short breathe. But I stayed alert, my gun right beside me.

It had been two months since the world was invaded. Forces from another world came and searched for homes in our Earth. People offered peace, but it was not to be. These creatures came for destruction, killing everyone. A battle began for everyone to stay alive.

I'm not the same girl I used to be, I have blood on my hands now. It's strange how one day I thought all this was impossible. I believed I was safe, that this sort of thing wouldn't happen. Yet here I am, fighting for my life.

I walked into a nearby tunnel away from the darkness. I leant on the side wall and slowly slid down to the ground. I wanted to fade into the walls and be invisible; I just wanted to feel safe again. A few minutes of silence passed until I heard hesitant footsteps. I instantly became alert and held my gun to the approaching noise.

A figure stepped out of the darkness and I immediately dropped my weapon. "Wynter!" I shouted, we both smiled and I ran to his arms. Wynter is my best mate; I haven't seen him since the invasion.

We stood there with our foreheads touching. We looked into each other’s eyes before at our lips. New feelings I never had before took control over me. His nose travelled the length of mine and I closed my eyes. He brushed his lips ever so softly against mine and in an instance he became a part of the storm that raged within me. We slowly pulled away and I opened my eyes back to reality.

I began to feel safe again. But I soon knew that there was no such thing as 'safe.'

I felt a small object being held against me. I pulled away from Wynter looking at the gun he held. I didn't know what was happening, my instincts told me to run but my feet were glued to the concrete. I looked at him, studying his emotionless face. I examined his blue eyes and couldn’t see my best-friend but a creature from the other world. A creature hungry to kill.

I shook my head at him knowing what would happen next. I had been betrayed, there was no such thing as safe, no such thing as trust.

I took a deep breath and waited for the sound of the trigger. I didn’t feel any pain but my hands immediately rushed to the wound as the warm blood seeped out.

My body became weak and I fell to the ground. I felt the sharp pain in my stomach. It felt like fire igniting my insides. My vision blurred as images merged together.

He became the evil enemy but I still loved him.

This wasn't about sharing our planet; it was a battle for survival and safety.

A battle I lost...