“We're going to get over that border or die trying,” said Pablo
to the five people who had come with him to the fenced border:
Angelo, Maria, Carlos, Eduardo, and Jose. The date was January 21,
2090.
“Damn right,” said Carlos. “I'm sick of our poor, dry, dusty
country. Across that fence lies the green land of plenty.”
The seven of them were looking at a metal fence that stretched in
both directions, as far as the eye could see. The fence stretched on
for thousands of miles. On the top of the fence was barbed wire.
“Now the first thing we have to do is get through the mine field in
front of the fence,” said Pablo. “Let's stick with the plan we
agreed on. We'll have two people walk out single file, in a straight
line, one person thirty feet in front of the other. If the first
person gets blown up my a mine, the other one keeps walking. There is
never more than one mine in a single spot.”
The six drew sticks to determine who would be the first two across the
mine field. Eduardo picked the shortest stick, meaning he would go
first across the mine field. Jose picked the second shortest stick,
meaning he would follow Eduardo.
The two men grimly crossed the mine field, walking toward the fence,
Jose following thirty feet behind Eduardo. Eduardo stepped on a mine
that exploded, killing him.
“Keep going toward the fence!” cried Pablo. “Just walk in the
same line. There won't be more than one mine.”
Jose sobbed as he walked past Eduardo's fallen body. Jose made it to
the fence that stretched endlessly in both directions. He began
climbing the fence. He was carrying wire cutters he intended to use
to cut the barbed wire at the top of the fence.
But by the time Jose had climbed halfway up the fence, his body heat
had activated infrared sensors on the fence. The sensors triggered a
mechanism on the fence designed to electrify anyone who was climbing
over it.
The electricity surged through Jose's body. He fell to the bottom of
the metal fence, dead.
“Damn, I was afraid of this,” said Pablo. “But don't worry; I
came prepared. I'm going to block the electricity going to that
gate.”
Pablo got out of his suitcase a large spray can. He went up to the
metal fence, and sprayed a gooey black line going from the bottom of
the fence to the top of the fence. He then walked down a few feet and
sprayed another gooey black line from the bottom of the fence to the
top of the fence.
“What are you doing?” asked Maria.
“I'm spraying on liquid rubber,” explained Pablo. “Rubber
blocks the flow of electricity. Now we have a safe little patch where
we can climb up the fence. The electricity will come to these two
black lines, but the rubber will stop it.”
Pablo then began climbing up the fence. His body heat triggered
infrared sensors, which again sent a jolt of electricity into the
fence. As Pablo had predicted, the two lines of liquid rubber stopped
the flow of electricity. Pablo felt nothing.
But as Pablo started to climb toward the top of the fence, another
deadly hazard appeared. It was a small drone. The drone was a special
drone designed to kill anyone climbing over the fence. It was a
shredder drone.
The shredder drone was a disk-shaped flying robot one meter in width.
The outer part of the drone was a circular blade which spun around
twenty times every second. The shredder drone had infrared sensors,
which helped it to find anyone who was climbing on the fence.
The shredder drone came into contact with Pablo, and a second later
he had a giant gash in his stomach. He fell to the bottom of the
fence, and bled to death.
“That's it,” said Maria. “I've had enough. I'm going home.”
“Do you want to go back to some city where the drug lords are
killing so many people?” asked Angelo. “We can still get through.
We just have to figure out a way to beat that damn drone.”
Angelo, Maria and Carlos argued about what to do next. Finally they
decided on a simple plan. They would each take with them a steel
pipe. They had brought along three steel pipes to fend off any guards
who tried to arrest them.
“When the drone comes near you, swing at it with your pipe,” said
Angelo. “Pretend the drone is the last pitch of the World Series,
and you're trying to knock it out of the ballpark. Then keep swinging
at it.”
The three approached the long steel fence. They waited for the flying
shredder drone to appear. When it approached them, they all began
swinging at it with their steel pipes. They aimed at the blades.
After a few seconds of their swings, the blades of the shredder drone
were bent and ruined, and the blades stopped spinning. The drone was
now impotent.
“We did it!” cried Angelo. “Now let's climb over the fence.”
The three climbed to the top of the fence, and used their wire
cutters to cut the barbed wire at the top. They climbed down the
other side of the fence.
“We're in a new country now!” said Maria. They started to run
away from the fence.
But there was one last obstacle to overcome. On the other side of the
fence were also land mines. Carlos stepped on one of the land mines,
and was killed when it exploded.
But Angelo and Maria made it through the final mine field, and ran
off to safety in a wooded area away from the fence. “I'm so sad
that all the others died,” said Maria. “But at least we two made
it.”
Now the two illegal immigrants had a chance for a new life. No longer
would they have to live in the dry, dusty, drought-plagued land where
they were born, the land that had been devastated by global warming
during the 2080's, and had fallen under the shadow of drug cartels.
They now had a hope of a new life in the green land of plenty with
the pleasant climate, the land that had not long ago become the new
bread basket of the world.
They had just crossed the northern border of the United States of
America, and had now entered Canada.
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