That Day

• Chloe Harris, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2018

Rubbish was scattered all over the floor, furniture piled around us, as if we had been hit by a tornado. Our school had been invaded by faulty, army robots that had escaped and Ben and I were cramped behind an old wooden splintered bookshelf. We gripped each other’s hand so tight they began to turn purple. Everything was dead silent, besides the occasional screams of other students and the sound of the robots stomping past. The hallways were dark, with the dim red emergency lights blinking every second.
After being crammed behind a bookshelf for almost an hour, the classroom door slammed open, and my heart jumped out of my skin. There was a robot in the classroom. Before I knew it, scream after scream, half my classmates were gone, and we were the only two left. Strangely, Ben looked at me, dead in the eye and whispered, “Do you trust me? Follow me.” I trusted him, I trusted him with my life. If anything were to happen, I would be comfortable knowing I was with him.
He began to crawl behind Ms Lee’s desk, where she was lying unconscious. Desperately, I looked at her. Praying she was breathing, moving; or she was alive. Ben opened one of the vents attempting to be as silent as possible. He stuttered to me as if he was about to throw up. He cried, “Crawl in, I promise I will be right behind you the whole time.” As I quietly crept into the vent as light as a feather, cautiously trying not to make a sound, I climbed up the ladder into the roof. Ben and I had been crawling around for an hour. Up and down, around in circles, precariously trying to find a reasonably safe spot or even an escape. Huffing and puffing, we decided to take a break.
There we were, squished in the middle of our school vents, above the junior science room. We could see the younger grades hiding, crying to their friends and trying to call their parents. Unfortunately, I could see a robot heading towards the classroom.
As the door slammed open the juniors tensed their bodies into a ball, while the robot raided the classroom. Too late, little Lily was found by the monstrous robot. Lily was in my homeroom, she was so sweet and didn’t deserve to go like this. As I heard the beep of their weapon, I jumped in fright of what I had just witnessed. The vent began to creak and all I could hope was that we weren’t just busted.
The robot’s head tilted up as the vents collapsed and Ben and I piled on the floor. The tears began to rush down my face as I knew this was the end, as the robot aimed his weapon at me. Out of nowhere Ben sprung in front of me and Ben was hit. I laid on the floor and played dead as his lethargic body bled on top of me and turned cold. I felt a tear roll down my cheek, it hit me, he was gone, my best friend dead all because he wanted to save my life. Luckily all the robots were deactivated, and I got home safely but traumatised I was by what I had been through.
The horrific day I lost my best friend Ben occurred three years ago… I never went back to school after that day. I see a psychologist twice a week just to gain the confidence and trust in the community to leave my house. 21st of July 2028 was the day I lost my best friend and I cannot be grateful enough for what Ben did for me that day.