“How are you still alive!” I questioned while my heart rate advanced. 

“And how am I alive!” John then peered into my eyes and said without any change in tone 

“The answers you seek are not the questions you asked” 

“What do you mean!” I said sharply. My face went dark red with fury. 

“Timothy!” screamed Amanda. “Help!” John glanced at me blankly and stated as if a fact, 

 “You better save her.” I then dashed out the door.

“Are you ok?” I asked Amanda while looking around dramatically.

“One o-of the d-dogs weren’t de-dead!” She muttered out anxiously. I looked at the pile of dead dogs. Then, I saw movement. One of the dogs stood up and examined both of us up and down. The dog then went towards me and I retreated away slowly. It took another step and again I moved back. It then whimpered and sat down. This time I went towards it. “What are you doing!” whispered Amanda.  

“Don’t worry,” I said. “The dog isn’t a zombie, it’s alive.”

“Hey there buddy,” I said softly to the dog. Its fur was shaggy and white, but you couldn’t really see the color because of the brown coat of dirt and muck. Its eyes were a beautiful shade of blue and it looked like it was over three hundred years old. “Can I pet you buddy?” I said softly to it. Before I could pet it, it barked and brushed against me. 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Amanda said seriously. “It might have fleas or a zombie infection or maybe a…” I cut her off.

“Stop worrying Amanda. It’s just a dog. How about we give it a nickname?” I said smiling. 

“No. Just get rid of it.” Amanda said sternly. I was so confused why she was so upset. I wish I used my brain back then instead of just ignoring it.

Amanda, Zappy, and myself walked back to the houses to get anything that we could recover. Zappy is what I called the dog even though Amanda doesn’t want it. She won’t even get near Zappy unless there was no other choice. I haven’t told her about the gas station, she hasn’t asked yet. We’re going to my house first. However, I’m worried that Geral is going to be there. 

“Do you think any zombies will be there?” asked Amanda curiously. 

“Let’s hope not.” I stated.

“Wow.” I said. My living room was a mess. The previously bright-colored couch is now a dull grey. The television was still on but was glitching the same words repeatedly.

 “Run! Get out!... Run! Get out!...” The ceiling was gone. All that was left in its place were some boards and cobwebs, big cobwebs. The Kitchen looked good but smelled like mildew. When we went down the hallway we surveyed the bedroom and bathroom. The bathroom looked as fabulous as ever. There was just some mud. It was the same for the bedroom too. 

“Timothy?” Amanda asked. 

“Is everything ok?” I responded. 

“Is this decoration or…” Amanda stood still. “Uh-oh.”

“Giant spider!” I gasped. It was black with furry legs. What really creeped me out was that instead of the customary eight legs, it had ten. Its eyes were as dark as coal and it made the most sickening noise. 

“Sssssiissss” Before I was able to process everything the giant spider jumped towards me. I had no opportunity to do anything. The spider bit my hand and then went back to the wall. My hand then began swelling up like a balloon. Then, pop. something started growing out of my hand. Another finger! Then the spider tried to pounce me again. Luckily, Zappy was waiting. Zappy jumped in front of me and bit the spider clean in the eye. The spider started wiggling around with green goo streaming out of its eye. Then it stopped, Zappy killed the spider. 

“Thank you zappy,” I said excitingly. Then I saw zappy. “Zappy?”

“Zappy,” I yelled. “Zappy! Are you ok!” I ran towards him to see what made him fall. There was one of the spiders’ fangs inside of his side. “Zappy!” Zappys’ body began swelling up like my hand did when I got bit. First his chest, then his legs, and finally his head. 

“It’s better this way,” said Amanda. “Zappy was probably bad news anyways.”   I couldn’t understand why Amanda was saying this.

“He saved my life, and your glad he’s dead,” I shrieked. “What kind of person are you!” while I was yelling Zappys body trembled. Slowly, his legs oozed out pure red blood. Then his skin dissolved off leaving just his grey bones and still working organs. Before he completely died he howled one last time. A sad and lingering howl.

“How could you be happy about this! He stopped me from dying!” I screamed as loud as I possibly could. “How could you!”

“He was old anyway,” Amanda said with disinterest. “But did you see how effective that venom was? He just popped Like a bubble. This really is astounding.” Amanda went closer to Zappy. 

“What are you doing!” I didn’t want her anywhere near him.

“Just examining the bones, did you see how they slowly cracked? Fascinating.”

Amanda got even closer to him.

“No!” I hollered. I then ran up to her and tried to grab her hand to pull her away. However, when I grabbed the sleeve of the coat I felt no arm. My fingers went clean through.

“You really think I would let you stop me! I control this world now, I control you!” Amanda took off her hood. What I saw is to hard to describe. There was nothing there, but you could still see an outline of the face. You could see through but not see in. 

“You thought I was mortal, did you not?” I could not comprehend what was going on. It felt like my head was imploding. Was it all fake? No, it wasn’t. I did not understand this, however. At this moment I could not tell you what had happened, but I can explain to you what I know.

When I was younger, five or six, my parents died. Thanks to technology I was able to live on my own. I got two “new parents” that could watch me until I was eighteen. Their names were Geral and Jem. At first, I respected them but after a while, I took advantage of them. After three or so years humans got smarter which meant the robots got smarter too. They started getting a mind of their own. When I slept they worked. They wanted to end me. They created Ama. Artificially maintained altar. After creation, she made up the name Amanda. She was created to follow guidelines. The first one was to always obey other robots. The second one was to kill humans. The third one was to never leave in daylight.

“Do you understand,” beeped Jem.

“Affirmative,”  stated Ama.

“Mortals say yes or ok,” beeped Geral.

This was Ama’s training. She would do this every night, but she got fed up. She wanted to kill everyone because it was in her programming. She hacked into the Atomic bomb that would be launched in less than ten hours. She then put herself into sleep mode for one thousand years. When she awoke there was a man in front of her. She was mad that not all humans died. But then the human said something. “Hello, my name is John Boynton. How are you doing today?”

“John Boynton, you say?” Ama said with confusion.

“Indeed that me,” John said calmly. Because Ama was highly intelligent she was able to get into the database. She saw what John was all about and they hatched a plan. John explained what happened to me and she had a great idea. I was locked in the shelter with Ama and she set everything up. Jem was put next to some metal and she was laying in the corner. She wanted to play a joke on me before killing me. She did not understand how humans were even alive but she was happy. So she put herself into sleep mode until she detected movement.

“Hello?” is the first thing I heard. I had no idea what year it was but I was ready.

“Who are you? Where am I!” I screamed hoping I sound mortal.

“My name is Timothy. Who are you?” Timothy questioned me.

“My name is Amanda. Do you know where we are?” I asked making it sound like I was Intrigued by the conditions we were in.

“We are in- Affirmative -a tungsten room- Coffee? -two miles underground.” Beeped Jem. Jem turned on a light on his chest just like I told him to.

“You look absolutely fried Jem,” said Timothy. He was not wrong, Jem was completely burnt. I felt kind of bad then. 

“Open the latch,” I beeped in a frequency that timothy could not hear

 “Affirmative. Opening Latch.” A part of the Bunker opened and a ladder flew down. “It is safe to- No -go up momentarily. It has been- Certainly sir -two thousand thirty-eight years. Be warned, there exists,” I stopped him right there. I made the Frequency again.

“sleep mode activated.” Jem beeped. Timothy took the lead so I just followed him.

The first thing I saw when I got up were Brown shapes and a grey sky. It was the first time I ever saw the sky when the sun was out. Then I noticed the bones and dead birds. perfect.

“How did this happen?” I asked with fake concern.

“I really do not know,” Timothy stated. I could sense Timothy looking at me so I made him look at something else. 

“What’s that!” I yelled suddenly. I looked over and saw Timothy looking that way instead.

“ZOMBIE!” Timothy screeched.

“Have we lost it?” Timothy asked me while running away from the zombie.

“I think so. Luckily it’s slow.” I  said while slowing down. “I think we're good.”

When we stopped Timothy was looking around the area.

“Let’s split up” Timothy suggested.

  “Ok, I will go to the left and you go to the right.” I proposed. I hoped he didn’t think I did anything wrong, just giving an option.

“I agree, that sounds like a good idea,” Timothy said. He then went towards the gas station. That left me to go left. I knew that John was at the gas station but not what was at the pile of dogs. I went towards them to see what made them die. But I found something worse than a terrible stench. One of the dogs where alive. I knew that would be bad for me because it might be more intelligent than the human. So I yelled. “Timothy! Help!”

“Are you ok?” Timothy asked me 

“One o-of the d-dogs weren’t de-dead!” I muttered realistically. Timothy looked at the pile of dead dogs. Then, he too saw movement. The dog stood up and looked at both of us. The dog then went towards Timothy and at the same time, he moved back. The dog then whimpered and sat down. Now Timothy went towards it. “What are you doing!” I whispered. My cover would not have been blown if not for that stupid dog.

“Don’t worry,” Timothy said. “The dog is not a zombie, it is alive.”

“Hey there buddy,” Timothy said softly. I was so nervous during this. I could barely move, let alone talk. “Can I pet you buddy?” Timothy said. I had to say something, so I said the first things that came to my artificial hard drive. 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said seriously. “It might have fleas or a zombie infection or maybe a…” Timothy cut me off.

“Stop worrying Amanda. It’s just a dog. How about we give it a nickname?” he said smiling. 

“No. Just get rid of it,” I said sternly. If I could go back I would have not given him a reason to suspect me of being dishonest.

Zappy, Timothy, and myself ended up walking back to the houses to get anything that we could recover. Zappy is what Timothy called the dog even though I don’t want it. Timothy hasn’t told me about the gas station, but I am not going to ask. We’re going to Timothy’s house first. I am glad he offered since I do not have a house. 

“Do you think any zombies will be there?” I asked. 

“Let’s hope not.” Timothy stated.

“Wow.” Timothy said. The living room was a mess. The previously bright-colored couch is now a dull grey. The television was still on after I made it say something on repeat for effect.

 “Run! Get out!... Run! Get out!...” The ceiling was gone. All that was left in its place were some boards and big cobwebs. The Kitchen looked good but smelled like mildew. When we went down the hallway we looked at the bedroom and bathroom. The bathroom looked as good as new. there was only some mud. It was the same for the bedroom too. 

“Timothy?” I asked. 

“Is everything ok?” Timothy responded. 

“Is this decoration or…” I stood still. That’s not decoration. “Uh-oh.”

“Giant spider!” Timothy gasped. It was black with furry legs. What was really cool was that instead of the customary eight legs, it had ten. Its eyes were as dark as coal and it made the most amazing noise. 

“Sssssiissss” Before Timothy was able to move the giant spider jumped towards him. The spider bit his hand and then went back to the wall. his hand then began swelling up like a balloon. This was fascinating, but what happened next was far more entertaining. Pop. something started growing out of his hand. It was another finger! Then the spider tried to pounce him again. sadly, Zappy was ready. Zappy jumped in front of him and bit the spider straight in the eye. The spider started wiggling around with green goo coming out of its eye. Then it stopped, Zappy killed the spider. 

“Thank you zappy,” Timothy said excitingly. Then I saw zappy. I could not stop myself from smiling.

“Zappy,” Timothy yelled. “Zappy! Are you ok!” he ran towards him while I grinned. Zappys’ body began swelling up like Timothy’s hand did when he got bit. First his chest, then his legs, and finally his head. 

“It’s better this way,” I said. “Zappy was probably bad news anyways.”   I couldn’t understand why Timothy liked that animal anyways.

“He saved my life, and your glad he’s dead,” Timothy shrieked. “What kind of person are you!” while he was yelling Zappys body trembled. Slowly, his legs oozed out bright red blood. Then his skin leaked off leaving just his grey bones and still working organs. Before he completely died he howled one last time. An annoying howl.

“How could you be happy about this! He stopped me from dying!” Timothy screamed as loud as he could. “How could you!”

“He was old anyway,” I said trying to make the best of the situation. “But did you see how effective that venom was? He just popped Like a bubble. This really is astounding.” I started getting closer to the Zappy. 

“What are you doing!” Timothy yelled. I don’t think he wanted me to get near Zappy’s body.

“Just examining the bones, did you see how they slowly cracked? Fascinating.”

I then got even closer to Zappy.

“No!” Timothy hollered. Then, without any warning, he ran up to me and tried to grab my hand to pull me away. However, his fingers went through my coat. That’s when I thought it would be time to show him who, or what, I really was.

“You really think I would let you stop me! I control this world now, I control you!” I then proceeded to take off my hood. “You thought I was mortal, did you not?” 

“So what are you!” Timothy asked me. Then I told him my story. why I was created, why I did what I did, how I did it, and how long I have been planning this. He was so surprised. I was also surprised after he did something unexpected… 

“Die!” Timothy screamed. He then took out the spider tooth from zappy’s corpse and stabbed me with it. It was effective and would have killed me except for the fact that I am a robot.

“You think that would harm me? You have something coming then.” I then started laughing, I couldn’t stop. “John!” I yelled. 

“Yes, Ama?” John said. He really is a great human, it’s a shame… 

“Kill him” I stated. John then stabbed Timothy several times. Glorious victory is all I can think of now. I have one. I am at peace. “Self-destruct in five minutes.” The end.

Amanda then took off her hood. “You thought I was mortal, did you not?”  I was so confused. I needed an explanation.

“So what are you!” I asked Amanda. Then she told me her story. why she was created, the reason for her name, and why she was trying to kill me. I was so surprised. So surprised that I lost my state of mind and did something crazy.

“Die!” I screamed. I then took out the tooth in Zappy and stabbed Ama with it. I would have killed her if she wasn’t a robot.

“You think that would harm me? You have something coming then.” Ama then started laughing. “John!” Ama yelled. 

“Yes, Ama?” John said. He was way scarier than before. 

“Kill him” Ama stated. John then stabbed me several times. Stabbed me with a fake knife. The next thing I heard was 

“Self-destruct in five minutes.” 

“Why did you not kill me, John?” I asked with complete confusion.

“Ama had a secret plan, so did I,” John said smiling. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.” he then helped me up and we left. For the next five hundred years, we lived, calmly. We found other humans too. 

“He doesn’t suspect anything John. keep it up.”

“Affirmative, Ama.”   

To be continued…