The Escape To Freedom

• Lucas Taylor, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2022

Bang! As Ben and I sprint down the murky city alleyway, gun shots zoom past us like birds protecting their eggs. We dodge and weave through the boxes of junk hoping to come out alive. My nose burnt as the stench was intolerable however this had to be ignored. I quickly glance over my shoulder to see Ben running for his life alongside me as the robot guards chase us down. I kept running with Ben beside me, until I heard him say the magical words.

“We’re clear.”

We both stop and take deep breaths. Ben walks over to a gap in the buildings to take cover for now. I join him to sit down to gather my thoughts. But suddenly a memory of the 2030 war flashes into my traumatised mind…

The bunker was muddy, rotten and smelt of death and destruction. I was equipped with a gun and other weapons. People I didn’t know surrounded me speaking completely different languages. As we went into the battle people were getting shot every second of the war…

“Matt, Matt we need to go now,” Ben exclaimed.

I came back to reality but I stand still.

What about the family and friends were leaving behind to die? I thought to myself.

However if I didn’t leave now I would be the one to die. So I stand up and begin to catch up to Ben who started running away. As we get out onto one of the city’s main streets, I run along the eroded rode, but I also gaze up at the gigantic skyscrapers that towered around us. There lights shining as bright as the sun. But I know that inside it’s lifeless.

We move on trying our hardest to escape this technology infested society. Running was all we had to do now, but the further to the edge of the city we got the more robots there were guarding the outskirts of this area. Minute after minute there were more robots on out tail. Finally, we made it to the luscious grass, but we are not done yet. We have get to the the barrier that the robots can’t get past.

Out of nowhere an ear piercing sound boomed in the distance. The gun equipped robots had started there fire. We jump over the tree roots trying desperately not to fall over. But suddenly I heard a loud bang then a thump. Ben was shot dead.

“No Ben!” I screamed to the top of my lungs.

Blood dripped from his back as he lay frozen in the tall grass. Tears ran down my cheeks. But I had to keep going or I would join him in the clouds. I turned around to run the final stretch. I got to the barrier put my hands on the wall and climbed over. The fresh air of the country side relieved me. I felt as if I had infinite freedom. But was this freedom I possessed worth losing my best friend?