The river.

Chapter Eight

"Oh no," Johnny whispered to himself, "I got to tell mom!"

With his small feet, he ran back to the spot Jenny and the rest were roasting dinner.

"Peter?" Johnny called out in a very soft voice, "You should see this."

Peter seemed reluctant to go but Jenny assured him to go. They held hands all through the walking. They then reached a place a bush blocked a certain path.

"Behind here," Johnny whispered.

Peter turned the leaves, not expecting a very bad thing. Boy was he wrong.

He almost got a heart attack. Beside two brown horses were 3 dead men. Their clothes were blood red. One had a bullet hole on his eye. Johnny noticed a group of robots patrolling there. They were walking in circles to see who else was present.

"If they see us, they will kill us. Let's get out of here," Peter whispered.

As they turned to walk away, Johnny's foot dragged a branch that was supporting the whole bush. The bush collapsed. Lucky enough, the bush was on top of them. Peter held Johnny's mouth to prevent him from screaming or making any sound.

The robots immediately turned to the direction the bush fell and shot tons of bullets at a go.

Johnny let out a gasp. After minutes of shooting, they stopped. What followed was pin drop silence. Should they stand up? Are the robots gone? What if they are still there? What if Jenny and Anam come this way and get shot?

Everything was quiet for a few minutes. Just when they wanted to get up, a robot passed over them. Luckily it didn't see them.

"Peter, we'd have been shot if we stood up," Johnny said in fear.

"We must play smart hear, "Peter said.

He quietly moved the leaves to reveal a small hole on the bush where he'd peep to scan his surroundings. He saw them, three more, facing the bush.

Peter wondered if they were better off just staying there or running. But the guns they had shot bullets faster than light. How could they possibly escape that?

"Patience pays, right? Peter whispered to Johnny.

Johnny nodded, biting his upper lip. Out of the blues, Johnny began glowing, again. This time the brightness kept increasing.

"Now? Really?" Peter said as though Johnny was the one controlling it. The robots detected light glowing from the bushes. Peter closed his eyes, expecting them to be dead in moments. The bullets went off.

"No!" Peter screamed as he climbed on top of Johnny to protect him.

Weird enough, not a single bullet landed on them. Peter slowly lifted his head. A purple domed shield formed right above them. Johnny was not moving an inch. He just lay on the floor looking up, with his glowing eyes looking up.

"I will protect you," Jim's voice, this time with an echo.

Moments later, the shield exploded, similar to that of a hydrogen bomb. All the robots disintegrated. Even the dead bodies turned to ashes. Johnny then woke up, not saying a word.

Peter looked up, "Where are you buddy?", He asked.