Journey ( s )
West Island School , Tsang , Jessica - 14
I t ’ s almost blinding . The blue light . But I force myself to go back into the file . It ’ s too dark to see properly , but the tablet ’ s screen brightness is too high for my liking .
The ground is cold underneath me , wind blowing through , ruffling my short hair . Elliott ’ s sleeping in front of me , his strawberry strands flipped up so that they reveal his original black roots underneath his immaculate cut . Orange is curled up at his feet , but he isn ’ t asleep . His own , bright blue eyes stare at the fire burning in our little hideaway spot .
I swipe on the screen , trying to pull my coat tighter around my body as the temperature drops . My fingers shaking as I press the button on my tablet , showing up the government file .
I pause . It feels like its taunting me , telling me “ You finally got what you deserved .” in its beige coloured icon and untitled name . It is the reason why I am here , on the run , with my best friend and a dog that is now mine .
I open it , finding the documents I ’ ve looked at a thousand times over and over again . The string of letters and numbers I can ’ t dig in my mind to find any meaning , the numbers at the front of every single document , showing what order they ’ re meant to be read in .
I ’ ve looked through all of them already , each about fifty pages long , but then again , I ’ ve got a lot of time on my hands .
I scroll through them again , mindlessly , my eyes almost drifting off with strain and tiredness . It ’ s pretty much all the same , how the government ’ s robots and technological advancements had finally turned on us as humanity , and everything the government is doing to cover it up , trying to save it . How much money they ’ re pouring into I . T . guys to save it , coders , hackers , anyone they can pull in using their large sums and rolls of money all being shoved into their faces .
I chuckle at the thought of it . Elliott and I had always found problems with the government ’ s robots when we hacked them for fun before school started or during summer break . Store bought were the best . They had almost solid codes , of course , they had a few knots , but then again , which code didn ’ t ? The government ones had strains of things wrong with them though , first it was programming , then it was settings , then it was the codes , then it was the firewalls and then it was the virus the government installed into them to keep them safe and to stop anyone from hacking into them . Elliott and I destroyed the viruses in about a minute and reprogrammed the robots and fixed the codes . So much for not hacking into them .
Truth is , the government probably can ’ t save their robots . They can only destroy them . They ’ ve shelled out too many , too fast for too long , and it ’ s practically impossible to knock all of them down . People would be dead before they managed to do so .
A warning sign flashes on my screen , telling me to leave or to be arrested because I hacked in . Too late . I was already camping out in the middle of the forest outside of my city , already being shot out of my home . Orange sits up , his blue eyes scanning the trees . “ Orange ?” I whisper . He turns his head to me , his big blue eyes bright and concerned . “ Orange , what ’ s wrong ?” He whimpers suddenly , getting up from the tangle that is Elliott ’ s legs and walks over to me . His eyes dart back and forth , as if something was going to pop up from behind the leaves .
Suddenly , I get his message . Slowly , I crawl over Elliott ’ s sleeping body , and throw a rock onto the fire , knocking out the flames . Orange whimpers softly in the darkness , calling me back to him .
His eyes follow me as I cuddle back up to his little body . Even though our hideaway has turned dark and grey , his red fur is still visible in the moonlight , the ends sparking like embers have clung onto it . His blue eyes bore into mine . From what I can tell , he ’ s a mutated dog which is how he got the blue eyes and his mother probably turned him out of his litter because they were different .
“ Shush .” I mumble , making Orange ’ s jaw snap shut . Elliott ’ s still sleeping . I nudge his leg with my foot , but he merely turns over to our side , his face slack with sleep . “ Elliott . Elliott .”
I push him a little harder with my foot , but Orange perks up on my body , his legs standing on the bone of my thigh , with his ears up . I look at him strangely , wondering if he ’ s okay , when I hear what he ’ s hearing .
It ’ s almost nothing , like the quiet thrum of a hummingbird ’ s heart . But it soon grows loud enough to not be ignored . It ’ s still soft , but it ’ s there .