Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4 - 7 2018 | Page 259

I look up at him , and his urgent eyes meet mine , and I get up .
“ Okay , but —” A flashlight ’ s beam shines barely a metre away from the both of us and I freeze , my words growing cold in my mouth . My eyes swivel to Elliott ’ s , and I can barely make out the words coming out of him .
“ Go go go go go .” We both start to take off , kicking up leaves behind us as we run . I take out the tablet from under my arm , and start tapping on it hurriedly .
“ What , are they , using ?” I ask between desperate gasps for air , my finger on the screen of my tablet . My sides are already starting to hurt . Elliott looks back as he sprints forward , his eyes squinting behind his blue rimmed glasses . He ’ s barely panting , let alone having his sides start to hurt .
“ Electronic .” He doesn ’ t say much more and looks forward , but he knows that I ’ ve gotten his drift . It ’ s the only word I needed .
I swipe and unlock my tablet , dragging up a program . The hologram appears before me as I ’ m running , the blue light jumping about .
“ Elliott .” I gasp . “ Do you have a bug ?” He nods , and reaches into his back pocket , making him stumble a little . He pulls out a small , metal compartment , which at the click of the little red button on the side , turns into a tiny , little handmade robot , one of the many we made when we were six in Elliott ’ s garage with his dad .
I run a little faster to grab it off his hand , and I connect my tablet to the robot . It bursts to life in my hand , shaking , and my thumb creeps up the side , pressing the button .
I press one of the surrounding devices in the area , and highlight the tabs on my screen , getting all of the machinery in a five mile radius , and the bug , scuttling around my hand with its spiky legs , ejects its return button in my hand before it flies off to infect and disable the guns .
“ Where are we running ?” I ask . My legs are starting to burn and Elliott looks back at me , concern etched on his face , clearly seeing my running abilities to the maximum plastered on my sweaty and most likely tomato red face .
“ West .” He says , barely tired . “ It ’ s always better . They ’ re always going to go North . West is best . They ’ re not going to find us as easy .” He holds up his phone in his hand , the blue light showing off the digital compass . Sure enough , the needle points to our direction , West , not North .
“ This way . There ’ s a river we can follow .” Elliott says . Orange brushes up my leg , reminding me he ’ s there .
We reach the river , which is smaller than anticipated and more like a very wide brook , but we follow it . The footsteps behind us seem to have receded far away enough . But swipes of flashlights and the electronic guns and Tasers are much too close and visible to be comfortable .
“ Keep going .” I whisper . But it feels like the wind ’ s carried my voice , and soon enough , the calm , careful footsteps we hear turn into quickened ones .
“ Run !” Elliott ’ s voice pierces through the night , like a gunshot ringing throughout the woods . We sprint down the side of the brook , watching it as it widens into a proper river , albeit one spotted with rocks . Near where the river splits into two , one widening and one thinning , a small cave opens up .
“ Wait , wait , wait .” Elliott skids to the side of the cave , surveying it before jumping in . “ Get in .” We all hop in , and I scramble for my flashlight which is attached to the side of my bag to light it all up .
The beam of light illuminates a heap of old technology . Old dishwashers , laptops , chunks of desktop computers . Keyboards are scattered everywhere , with some of their keys lying about . A ‘ k ’ key lies near our feet . Old computer mice are fraying at the wires where they would have to be connected , old tablets and thick , old fashioned phones lie at the base . A television which looks to be about at least a century old sits next to one that looks newer , but still ancient .
“ It ’ s a tech junkyard .” Elliott ’ s voice is incredulous . “ I thought they got rid of these ages ago .” He leans forward , on his knees , scrounging throughout the old technology .
“ I think these were one of the ones they didn ’ t find . None of these are on or activated .” I murmur , tucking the flashlight under my arm as I join Elliott in rummaging through the heap . “ Look , none of these are any recent models . They ’ ve all probably only been in here for at least about twenty years .”
“ We could do some stuff with this .” Elliott says . I can almost see the cogs in his head turning , the gears shifting as they get ready to churn out some brand new idea . “ We could create something . We just , we just need tools .”