"Are you sure it's safe?" the boy asked.

"Of course," the man replied, "it's been…" he pulled a small, rectangular device out of his pocket and pressed a button on the side to light it up. The date read March 23, 2047. "two weeks since one last showed up here. We won't have a problem as long as we're quiet."

"Hey, isn't that one of those old cell phones from the 2010s? I didn't know anyone still used one of those anymore."

"Yeah," the man answered him, "after the war, nobody was left to maintain the GlobalNet satellites and they all went offline. 'Cause of that, all the NerveLinkers are now useless. This thing is slow, but at least it's still somewhat useful," he put the phone back into his pocket. "Now let's go."

The pair stepped out from under the dilapidated building under which they had been taking shelter from the rain and began to move. As they ran, the boy slipped and fell, hitting the asphalt hard and cutting his leg on a jagged piece of metal.

The boy screamed, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

"DAMNIT BOY," the man yelled, "I TOLD YOU TO BE QUIET!"

Clunk, clunk, whir. Clunk, clunk, whir. The sound of machines could be heard off in the distance.

"Shit," the man muttered to himself. "Can you run?"

"I- I think so," the boy answered, his breath shaking as he stood up.

"Good. The bunker is just a couple of miles west from here, go. I'll hold them off."

The boy nodded and started running, while the man took out his plasma pistol and ran the opposite direction.

Clunk, clunk, whir. It was getting louder with every step, he knew he had to be close. The man cautiously peered around the corner. Three weaponized military androids left over from the A.I. wars in the 2030s. After humanity had been driven to the brink of extinction, they continued to roam the cities, killing off the last of the stragglers who had managed to survive but hadn't yet found their way to the bunker.

The man carefully pointed his pistol at one of the androids. The scientists at the bunker had researched these things for years, he knew their weak points. He aimed, began to put pressure on the trigger, and...

BANG

The sound of an explosion rang out from the west, startling the man and causing him to angle his gun up just slightly. When he pulled the trigger, the beam of energy missed its target, instead blasting a hole in a nearby building. The androids dashed around the corner and immediately sensed his presence. The man began to run away, but then heard a small whining noise from behind. He froze. He knew then that there was absolutely nothing he could do.

BANG

The androids all simultaneously fired their railguns.

When the smoke cleared, there were three androids, three holes in the wall opposite them, and one splatter of blood in the street, soon to be washed away by the rain. The androids, indifferent to what they had just done, marched onward, moving west along with the rest of the androids in the city.