Border Jumpers 2090: A Science Fiction Story

“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.