The Beginning Of The End

The Beginning Of The End

I can't imagine a world without robots. Humans nowadays rely on technology for everything, but there's always a downside. People used to say that robots could malfunction, which could cause a war. I never believed that though. But... I should've.

I was curled up underneath a table, holding my hands to my ear, desperately trying to block out the sound of gunshots and screams. My professors, Mr. Smith, and Miss Alard were non-stop shooting at the students. 'Get yourself together Jude.'  I tell myself.

Suddenly, I hear a familiar voice scream. I jerk my head up and look around, desperately trying to find her. "ANDREA?" I scream desperately. "Jude... Jude, I'm here" she says. I crawl out of my hiding spot, stand up and see Andrea. Her beautiful brown hair is a mess around her face, blood runs down from her forehead to her chin and she has a distressed look on her face. Her bright blue eyes are wide in surprise. She's trying desperately to not get hit while attempting to help other students as well. I start running, but that catches the eyes of Mr. Smith. He points a small device at me and presses a button. Without thinking I let out a scream and fall to the ground, holding my hands to my head.

I count to five. Why hasn't anything happened? I look up and my heart drops to the floor. A meter in front of me lays a student on his back, dead. Jamie, I think his name was. A student I didn't even know... took a bullet for me. I get up, suddenly fueled with anger. I run over to the scissors stand, take one, turn around, and almost stab my best friend. "Jude, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry," Andrea says. She didn't even acknowledge the fact that I almost stabbed her. "What? What do you mean?" I ask, confused. "It's because of me" she sobs, "It's all because of me. This is happening because of me," she says desperately. "Andrea, what?" I ask, growing frustrated. She only shakes her head in response and whispers, "I'm sorry". I open my mouth to say something, but I hear a loud crash as screams fill the air.

Mine and Andrea's heads both turn toward the noise. The teachers are going crazy, they're non-stop shooting, throwing stuff, shoving things aside. My eyes widen at the chaos before me. I turn to Andrea. "We have to find a way to stop this". She nods. " I- I think I know how". She quickly explains a plan to me. It's a weak one, but it's the best we've got. I get a classmate, Zack, and explain to him. Then get into action. Zack and I gathered all of the alive students into a corner. Our professors start marching towards us. I look at Zack and he whispers, "It's working."

Suddenly, Andrea called back from behind them. "HEY!". My eyes widened. "Andrea, what are you doing? This wasn't part of the plan!" I whisper-shout. "Trust me" she mouths. The professors turn, with their backs facing us. Then, everything clicked. "Zack, we have to creep up on them, then cut their wires," I say. He nods. Together, we slowly start making our way towards them. The professors are so engrossed in Andrea, that they don't even notice us. I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared to death. I was especially scared for Andrea. She was trash-talking the professors, stalling and sounding confident, but I could see it in her eyes. She was terrified. But, I couldn't stop thinking about what she said. 'It's all my fault.' What did she mean?

Zack and I were getting closer. Suddenly Andrea says something that makes Mr. Smith snap. He roars and throws a rock at her, she sidesteps just in time. I have to cover my mouth with my hand to stop myself from screaming. Andrea yelps and throws me a look that says, 'Hurry.' I nudge Zack, and he nods. We quicken the pace, and before we know it, we're behind the professors. At this point, my heart is beating so fast I can hear it. My breath comes short and unsteady, chills overtake my body. I glance over at Zack, as he does the same. We both nod, then attack.

Within seconds, both professors drop to the floor. Unfortunately, we don't get the chance to celebrate, because... well... the universe hates us.

Mr. Johnson, who was previously lying still on the ground, comes back to life and roars angrily.

Then, it all happened so fast.

Andrea pickups scissors, and throws them at our teacher. It makes a dent in his metal, so his head immediately turns towards her. She picks another one and throws it again. Then, Zack and I try to hold Mr. Johnson down, but he just shoves us aside. I retrieve the scissors off the ground and stab him in the back. At the same time, he holds up his gun-like thing and shoots.

One...

Two...

Three.

Each bullet matches the thud of my heart. They move in slow motion, and before I can process them, My best friend's body hits the ground with a thud.

In disbelief and shock, I stumble towards her, fall to my knees, and hold up her head. "Andrea no," I murmur, my voice breaking. I check her pulse, but I already know what I'm going to find. She's gone. No. I refuse to believe it... She can't be... "Andrea!? Andrea wake up... please" I sob. Cold shivers overtake my body. I try to breathe, but I can't. My lungs have been robbed of all oxygen. She was here, just a minute ago. She was alive and breathing, and now...

I go numb as it finally hit me. She's gone, and she's never coming back. I realize that death is uncertain, you never know, one minute they're alive and breathing, and the next... they're dead. You don't realize that until it happens to you. The shock comes in waves, I don't feel or hear anything. everything comes out muffled and blurry. I barely notice when Zack sits down beside me, with tears in his eyes, and pulls me beside him. Then I finally break down and silently cry on his shoulder as I take Andrea's cold hand in mine, for one last time.

She did it. Andrea saved many students. But at what cost? She lost her life. At that moment, I promised myself, I would carry on her legacy.

This was war.