The Mighty Fall

                “Traitors must die.” He said simply, pausing randomly in-between syllables, giving an uneven rhythm to his speech. “Our orders.”

                “Anne run!” Her mom shouted, and after a pleading glance, she turned on her heel and out the door, crying when she heard the ringing sound of a gun going off. She only made it off the porch when a black car pulled up to her house, and 3 more of the androids got out, guns glinting in their hands. Anne looked around, and made a mad dash for the woods, hearing the heavy clunk of them in pursuit. She wove in and out of the trees, forcing herself not to look back as she heard them getting closer and closer. Her lungs burned and she started to stumble more as the muscles in her legs started to give out. In the thick of the woods, she finally stopped, hunched over and gasping for air, when a cold hand shot out and grabbed her arm. Before a scream could get out, another hand shot over her mouth, and she struggled against the machine that was holding her down.

                “Is she a traitor?” One of the androids asked, leaning close enough towards her that she could see the cameras where their eyes were focusing in on her face.

                “She is human, that is enough.” The one holding her said, and the others murmured in agreement. Anne tried to break free of the iron grip, but the android just twisted her arm sharply, sending a white-hot pain up her shoulder and bringing her to her knees.

                “Let’s bring her in.” One said, turning around, and she was yanked off her feet and dragged out of the woods, the androids forcing her into the car as she saw them drag out the bodies of her parents before they drove away.

Anne gasped as the pain in her shoulder increased as the android yanked her down the hallway towards one of the holding cells in the capitol building. The steel doors did nothing to block out the outraged shouts of the prisoners that they held. There were too many shouts, far too many, and Anne felt the sinking feeling in her gut drop even lower as she thought about what was going to happen to all of these people- and what was going to happen to her.

                “Hey! You!” A man shouted, and both Anne and the android holding her turned around to find a middle-aged man in a suit chasing after them. “What do you think you are doing? This one is a child for god’s sake!” The man then gestured around the long hallway around them. “And what are all these people doing here? You’re supposed to collect criminals, not everyone in the whole city!”

                “Criminals and traitors must be collected, and then they must die. Our orders.” The android replied calmly, yanking on her shoulder a little harder.

                “What! Who told you to do that? I am the head of state security and I order you to let this girl go and everyone else who you’ve got locked up in here.” The man pulled out his phone, typing away furiously while muttering under his breath. “God, must be a fault in the programming or something.” Anne saw the android reach towards his side, and she barely had time to look away before hearing the gun go off, flinching when she saw a bright red spatter appear on the walls.

                “Traitors must die. Our orders.” The android repeated, and Anne was being dragged down the hall once again. After a minute, she was tossed into one of the rooms, the door slammed shut behind her with a resolute ‘click’ as the door was locked.

                “Let me out!” She shouted, banging against the door with her fist. “You have to let me go! Let me out!” She banged against the door, shouting at the top of her lungs until her voice was gone and her hands bloody, which is when she slumped against the cold metal and curled up in a ball on the concrete floor.