Rise Against The Machines
The relentless shootings have stopped for days now, but the terror never left. This old church provided shelter for the past month when the fighting between humans and machines reached its height. I had run out of food and water that I scavenged before I arrived here. The moonlight shined through the hole on the roof of the church as snow fell through. I haven’t eaten anything in days. If I was to make it out through this war, I needed to get out find more food and water. I checked the time on my wristwatch, it was four minutes to midnight. It was now or never. I gently opened the front door and peered out. Everything seemed peaceful. I picked up my backpack, took a deep breath and stepped out.
My heart was pounding as I slowly walked away from the place that protected me for so long. The whole area was reduced to rubble. At least the endless shootings and killings ended I thought. It took hours to walk few kilometres, I wanted to make sure there weren’t anyone around the corners with nasty surprises. I was hungry as hell but the adrenaline kept me going.
The stars were bright in the sky.
I was walking for hours through the snow. I needed to find shelter soon as the sun will be rising. I was desperate. Suddenly, as though it was sign from above, there was a house across the road, undamaged. I could stay there for the night and with any luck, there would be food and water inside. Excited, started walking towards the house. I had minutes before it’d be first light so I had to be quick.
Suddenly, without a warning, someone yelled, “Hey over there! Shoot that robot scum!”
I was confused.
Without remorse, people came out of nowhere shooting laser rounds and regular bullets in my direction. I barely made it into the house. The people advanced on the house shooting making a mess of the house. I ducked and weaved and crawled upstairs. I was pretty sure that they were humans. Maybe they didn’t see that I was also a person, I thought. I was sure that if they saw that I was human just like them, that they would stop the shooting and even help me.
At the tope of the stairway to the left was a doorway. I swiftly ran up and hid inside. It was someone’s bedroom with an unmade bed, a dresser and a charming armchair in the corner. The horror hit me like a freight train when I saw my reflection in the mirror.
At first, I thought I was hallucinating but wasn’t the case. I was a battle-bot, a robot that the humans have waged a war against along with all forms of machines and technology. I looked at my hands, it was metal, carbon fibre and plastic merely mimicking a human hand. Maybe I was dreaming. I could hear and detect the people walk up the stairs. The door finally opened. I didn’t look at them.
A single laser shot pierced my head followed by a reign of fire.
I looked at the four human soldiers as I laid there on the floor of a stranger’s room.
“I’m one of you” I said in a mechanical tone as my vision faded.
The human didn’t say a thing as he looked straight down at me to take one last shot.
Silence and darkness came over me.