She peeked through a small crack in the window of what was once her home. The streets were tattered, covered from end to end in debris and fire. Marching along the sidewalk were platoons of carbon copy figures in the shape of humans. Emotionless and on a mission they invaded each building.

Her eyes widened as she witnessed the unthinkable. All throughout her town the machines lines up innocent victims on their knees, many of them crying for mercy. She wasn't supposed to be looking, but she let curiosity control her. Her mother and father were out looking for food, and she was to stay beneath the house in a crawl space with her brother. She flinched each time a shot rang out, and a body collapsed to the ground. Gasping, she carefully closed the window and lifted the floorboards right next to the back wall. Quickly checking to see if anyone was looking she hopped down into the hole before replacing the board.

It was dark and musty down there, with only a couple old flashlights providing them sight. Her brother was curled up in the corner with a blanket, too terrified of disobeying their parents rules to follow his sister up. She crawled over to him and accepted the blanket he offered. They sat in silence for what seemed like hours.

Finally they heard three knocks, a sign their parents had come home. The boards were lifted once more, and a bag of goods dropped in, but as soon as it entered the boards were snapped shut again. From beneath the house they heard the door shatter. Monotone footsteps entered and the girl struggled to see through the tiny cracks of the floor. No words were spoken and the only thing that could be heard was the violent shoving of their parents towards the door. The boy and his sister could hear them struggling, but eventually they fell hard to the ground.

Both of them sat frozen in fear as they heard two more shots ring out.