Don’t open the door. This is your only instruction when they post you at the bunker’s Southwest Entrance.
You obey despite the screams and gunfire that resonate through the thick metal.
This is followed by a long silence, broken only by the voice of a little girl.
“Please,” she sobs. “Let me in. I’m so scared.”
You don’t and she cries. There’s so much despair, you can picture her frail body rocking with sadness and fear.
It breaks you. You lift the latch. The bunker door swings open and an eight-foot Warbot steps through.
Its mini-guns start to twirl.
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Eric Fomley’s work has appeared in Daily Science Fiction, Galaxy’s Edge, Flame Tree Press, and The Black Library. You can read more of his work on his website at https://ericfomley.com or buy him a coffee in exchange for a story at https://ko-fi.com/ericfomley.
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This week’s Pete Wood Challenge was to write a 125-word flash fiction SF/F story that plays off the idea of “Breakdown.” To quote Pete: “Nervous breakdown, garbage disposal stops running, peace talks with the Martians stall, somebody really loves Flatt and Scruggs? You tell me.”
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