The Getaway Chase

• Joshua Taylor, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2022

As I hear my shoes crunch in the gravel on the old road at the edge of town, the full moon lights my path as bright as the sun. An eerie feeling rattles my spine, someone is watching me. I feel it. I run through a park on the outskirts of the community. Using the trees as cover from the 24h drone system, it begins to creep into my sight, the first of the community’s walls.

I run towards a small river exposed by a opening in the canopy of trees protecting me. Without hesitation I jump into the water, immediately I hear a long buzz followed by a loud beep. A long, slow shiver moves through my body as I realise I have been spotted. I force my legs to move again as I begin to approach the wall. I pass through a opening in the wall, the butterflies in my stomach are fluttering and the fear of getting caught has already started to get a hold on me. Suddenly my blood runs cold.

“Stop where you are!” The security guard shouts.

Starting to run I turn back to see how close he is, shockingly, as well as the security guard I spot a M.G.R.G (Military Grade Robot Guard) tracking me. I dash to a small rocky cliff face.

In hope that the M.G.R.G won’t be able to follow me I scale the cliff. Reaching the top I look back and notice that the M.G.R.G has stopped, relieved and more confident I begin running towards the final wall that is now in sight. Suddenly the muscles in my legs turn to jelly and my heart starts beating like a drum. Stuck on the spot, the horror of what could be on the outside world defends me from going any further. The bad stories of the outside world keeps flashing across my mind, the horror of those tales that have been told to me in my past stop me from moving.

C’mon Eddie, how do you even know if those stories are true?… If you stop now you will get caught and have to spend your life as a servant for the Great Ruler, Ellington the seventh…

I feel a shiver move through my body again, this time it’s different. I stand up, take a few deep breaths; now I fell determined.

“Get back here!” the voice bellows from behind me.

I run.

The security guard is sprinting towards me. Approaching the wall I notice that there is no accessible exit. I desperately begin searching for another option when in the light of the rising sun I notice a tree next to the wall, without hesitation I climb it. The security guard has stopped chasing me. I jump off the tree onto the top of the wall. I feel free. A water fall of relief splashes over me and I can finally see the cargo train I am going to sneak onto to a new life of freedom.