I Must Survive

• Krista Peck, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2017

I Must Survive

I stand, still as a statue, as the sharp knives come flying, barely skimming my ear. The men laugh hysterically at my frightened expression. I am strapped down to a wooden board, whilst my captors, throw knives at my head, to see who can get the closest without killing one of us. I look over to my friend, Lilly, slumped against the board, lifeless.

I am tossed back into my cell where a meal awaits me, stale bread and cold baked beans. Emma walks to me across the hard-concrete floor. ‘Where’s Lilly?’ she questions. I stare down at my feet, not wanting to replay the scene yet again in my mind. Instead, I reply, ‘she didn’t make it.’ Emma’s face drops. She turns away and throws herself on the ground, cupping her face and sobbing quietly. I seize my food, and settle down next to Emma, one hand on her quivering back and one shovelling bread and beans into my mouth. We haven’t had a proper meal since we got here, but all we can hope for is that someone, anyone is out there, searching for us.

Emma shakes me awake. ‘Come on, Hannah, let’s go!’ She hisses. Springing into action, I stumble in the dark. Briefly, every night, the power shuts down. Emma clutches a knife she secretly pocketed and holds it steadily by her side. “Stick to the plan.” She reminds me. We creep towards the cell bars. “Where do you think, you’re going?’ A deep stern voice commands. The dark silhouette of a man stands at the bars. “HE’S ARMED! RUN!” I scream. Emma, however, lunges towards the man and plunges the knife into his stomach.

The door we exited leads onto a long eerie corridor. I hear shouts and heavy footsteps but keep running, with Emma close on my heels. BANG! I dive around a corner, just in time to escape a bullet. I peer around the wall cautiously, and spot Emma, on the floor, with blood pooling around her stiff body. She looks up at me, her face as white as paper, and says, “Keep going, I won’t make it.” I nod, agreeing, because she is right. The man’s footsteps are becoming louder, and with Emma’s words ringing in my head, I sprint off, heading wherever my feet take me.

As I turn yet another corner, a man walking towards me stops dead in his tracks, and reaches for his gun. Before he can shoot me, I yank out my knife and send it flying towards him. It hits the target, sending him crumpling to the ground. The weapon he was holding slides along the white tiled floor and lands at my feet. The metal from the barrel glintes brightly into my eyes like a light at the end of a tunnel. I sprint off down the hallway, with a new feeling bubbling inside me, and I know that I must survive so that Emma and Lily did not die in vain.