The apocalypse had happened. I wasn’t sure how or why. I was with a group of looters, who were breaking into peoples’ abandoned homes. I should have been looking for a safe place to hide and trying my best to survive. Instead, I was being the lookout.
I heard them breaking down the door of a tall town house, but kept my eyes fixed down the road. I was aware of hurried movements and could only guess that they were now ransacking the house. I wondered what had happened to the people who lived on this street. A hand touched my shoulder. I glanced over and looked into the grubby face of a girl I didn’t know.
‘Nobody’s coming,’ she said.
I shrugged and continued with my task. She skipped off, her torn dress flapping around her. I slipped my hands into my warm jean pockets. I was a girl too, I realised as if I had never given it any thought before.
I looked around and saw a dark smoky sky with lines of burnt orange and red streaked into it. A number of cars were still parked up and the streetlights were flicking. Sirens and shouting could be heard in the distance. I could smell burning and taste acid in my mouth.
‘Let’s move on!’ the voice of the leader shouted.
We ran down the street as one. Our footsteps too loud in the quietness. We reached the end of the street and came to a rapid halt. There was a massive dinosaur standing in front of us. As it swung a large green-brown head towards us, I thought it looked like a diplodocus. It opened its mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth and roared.
I was deafened and pressed my hands to my ears. I saw the dinosaur’s tail whipping around and noticed that there were others behind it. The diplodocus charged and we scattered. Its long neck swing out like a baseball bat from side to side. A girl screamed and I saw her flying through the air.
‘We have to kill them!’ the leader’s voice called out.
Someone pressed a long spear into my hand, but instead of rushing forward, I just stood there. The looters gathered in smaller groups and began jabbing spears into the dinosaurs. The diplodocuses were swinging their tails and heads around. Their teeth snapping at everything and mighty roars filled the air.
The first one fixed me in its sights and came forward. I readied my spear and tried to aim for the eye as it came closer. Instead, someone else caught its attention with a rock and its head twisted away. The girl from earlier collided into me and we both tumbled to the floor. I scrambled of my spear and to my feet again as the diplodocus came back.
I jabbed my spear out, not bothering to aim for anything. Teeth closed around the weapon, snapping it in half and at the same time pulling me in. I stumbled forward. Screaming echoed in my ears as I fell in-between those same sharp teeth. Everything went black.
I woke and found myself in bed. Shaking, I pulled off the duvet and looked at the window. It looked like a normal spring day.
The Story Files 