The Truth Prospect

As the sun dipped below the decaying skyline, an orange haze hung in the air, casting an apocalyptic
glow over the remnants of the city. Dilapidated buildings with shattered windows stood as hollow
shells, haunted by the memories of lives once lived within their walls. Faded billboards and
propaganda posters clung desperately to their frames, their messages long forgotten and irrelevant.

Amidst the ruins, the Mrisbane River now flowed with a toxic sludge, its once-clear waters
contaminated by pollutants and neglect. The bridges that once connected communities now stood as
crumbling relics, their steel frames rusted and weakened, swaying in the harsh wind.

In a devastating city, a boy named Sam roamed along the coastline, searching for remnants of food.

“There’s never food here, anywhere,” muttered Sam.

Boom! Crash! Crumbling stones rained from the nearby skyscraper. Silhouettes of teenagers rushed
past him, leaving Sam in dismay. As the haze cleared up, they were long gone.

“There could have been food in there,” cried Sam. He was so desperate that he would have eaten
even the smallest of crumbs.

The Guards would always surround Sam, as if he were some sort of dangerous criminal. They were
heavily robotised with all kinds of weapons, and turned a blind eye to everything but him. One
wrong move from Sam would be catastrophic.

Long ago, the rulers of the city decided that robotised assistants would be a part of the government.
It was supposed to make the work easier, but that didn’t last long. History repeated itself, as the
corrupt individuals got greedy with power, and took control of the robots. They began arresting
innocent people and took them away to a place not known to man.

Sam had a friend a while ago. Back in those days, conditions were just starting to worsen, as the
economic crisis just hit. Everyone had lost their jobs, and they had to resort to stealing. They chose to
raid a shop that was closed. Little did he know that there was a Guard on duty. The Guard spotted his
friend first and cuffed him up, as quick as a flash. They dragged him away, till no trace was left of him.
Since then, he hasn’t heard anything back.

“What happens to all the people that get arrested by the Guards?” nagged a thought in his mind.
Sam continued with his honest ways, until rage got the better of him.

Three gangsters slinked out of the slowly disintegrating alleyway. They looked strangely familiar, and
Sam wanted to know what they were up to.

“Probably the usual, up to no good,” grumbled Sam.

A putrid stench of rotting animals filled his nose, almost making him puke. Damp, green mould grew
on the battle-scarred wall. At the end of the alley, he saw multiple dark coloured sticks protruding
out of the foundation of a torn-down buildings.

“Is that, dynamite!” screamed Sam.

He had to be quick. All of a sudden, hell broke loose. With a deafening roar, bricks and stones rained
all around him. The buildings around him toppled like dominoes, and Sam ran for his life. An object
as big as a boulder whizzed past, only inches within his head. In all ways, he didn’t want to die to a
bunch of kids blowing things up for fun. He was determined to get them.
“Come back, you fools!” bellowed Sam.

Enraged, he ran after the boys, in hot pursuit. Sam could barely start running after them, when a
high-pitched siren blared into his ears. His eyes froze, and his limbs gave way. Sam felt the dirty,
damp floor slam his face.

“You have been arrested for disturbing other inhabitant’s personal space and threatening them,”
droned the Guard in a monotone voice.

Sam hoped for the worst, as the Guard rolled him onto his back and cuffed him up. The boys stood
behind a building, sniggering into laughter.

“The Guard must have been waiting for this all along,” puffed Sam.

Relentlessly, the Guard dragged Sam, until his view completely faded into nothing.

Sam blinked his eyes open into the whitish light. He didn’t recognize this place. Pale light glowed
around the room, where human bodies lay on the floor. Sam couldn’t tell whether they were living.
Bodies, in the number of thousands, lay motionless. Sam couldn’t see the end of it. He couldn’t
comprehend where it was, nor why they were all here.

All of a sudden, with a rusty creak, the floor jolted forward. Sam could hear bodies tumbling
downwards, and strange zaps echoed throughout the room.

Off in the distance, he could see mountains of bodies. Sam focused. Red glowing eyes approached
towards him. Closer and Closer. If only he could stop them.