Life had never been the same since the Huns had taken over. On the 2nd of May 2017, the Huns had suddenly reappeared, as if waking from a deep slumber. They swarmed all over the Earth, conquering country after country, until they controlled the whole world. Everyone had to submit to the Huns, or face death.
The year is now 2073 my name is Dave and the Huns employ me as a snitch. At first, I didn’t want to spy on people; morally it felt wrong. But the Huns threatened to kill my friends and family; which convinced me to do as they asked.
They sent me to stake out a convent full of nuns, suspicious and strange activates had been witnessed in and around the convent. The community had grown wary of the nuns. My job was to find out what the nuns were up to.
I sat in my car, watching the nuns through thick army surplus binoculars. I could see. I could see everything, the nuns were doing. Nothing seemed out of place as I continued to watch the nuns go about their business. No one acted suspicious, and no incidents occurred. I concluded that all the reports on the nuns were false. I was about to call it a day, and then suddenly, all of the nuns vanished from sight. I looked through my binoculars for any signs of life. Vanished, how, why, the convent was silent and empty.
Surprised, I got out of my car and headed down to the convent’s main entrance. I didn’t bother to knock. As I entered I drew my broad sword, issued to me by the Huns department of weaponry. I brandished the blade, daring the emptiness of the building to challenge me.
As I searched the convent, it became clear that something was not right. The nun’s daily chores were left unfinished, the dinner table was half laid, the roast in the oven had burnt, vacuum cleaners and duster were lying on the floor. It was as if the nuns had evaporated, suddenly disappearing off the face of the Earth.
All of a sudden I could hear the soft whir of computers; it was coming from the fridge in the kitchen. It was odd that the fridge was whirring, the invention of plasma convection fridges in the 2050’s meant that fridges no longer whirred like they used to during the 2000’s. I slowly approached the fridge, broad sword at the ready. Gingerly, I opened the fridge door. To my surprise I didn’t find the left overs from last night, instead I was greeted by a heavy duty stainless steel door. It was out of place, but by now nothing about the nuns was right.
I turned the handle on the stainless steel door; it turned with a satisfying click. I pushed the door open and stepped inside. A blast of cold air hit me and the sound of machinery muddled my thoughts. I looked around the huge room. It appeared to be some kind of factory, manned by robots and nuns. I crouched down instinctively, just like they had taught me at Hun boot camp. I knew if I was spotted, I would be in trouble, so I would have to remain stealth-like, as I observed the nuns operation.
I located the start of the conveyer belt and watched as robots and nuns started the process of assembly. I watched, entranced as the conveyer belt moved from station to station. I was at a loss for words when the final product rolled off the line. It was a robotic Hun! It marched away with precision, as it was programmed to; through a door into what appeared to be the loading bay.
I crept around the factory unnoticed until I reached the doorway. I opened it slowly and peered inside. To my utter amazement, I found a whole robotic Hun army staring back at me, equipped with swords, shields and robotic horses. I recoiled back, scared by what I had just seen. That army was big enough to take over the world! Then it dawned on me, that’s exactly what the nuns intended to do.
I found a spot to hide and think things over. The men’s bathroom, no nuns would come in here. I walked into a cubical, sat on the toilet and shut the door. I needed time to let my brain process what it had just witnessed.
The nuns had always hated the Huns. As long as I can remember there was always a rivalry between the two, but I did not know why. The Huns would have liked to wipe out the nuns, and everyone else that was devoted to religion; but the people would not allow it. Lots of protests and riots had taken place to stop the Huns from slaughtering every religious person on Earth. The Huns had given in, but kept a close eye on religious people especially the nuns. How could the Huns be so blind, allowing the nuns to amass and army right under their noses?
I needed to do something, to stop the nuns from taking over the world with their own robotic Hun army, but what? My course in Hun robotics had taught me that robots had to be controlled; they couldn’t think for themselves, there would have to be a central command computer that could control the robot army remotely. I had to find it.
I left the bathroom with determination; I was going to stop the nuns. I followed several conveniently placed signs that lead me straight to the room containing the super computer that controlled the entirety of the nun’s robotic Hun army. I scanned wearily around the room for guards. To my surprise the room was empty, the nuns hadn’t thought to post guards anywhere in the factory. I sheathed my broad sword and approached the computer, intimidated by its power. I entered a few simple commands and brought up a live video feed of the robots being booted up riding out of the secret factory on horseback. Another camera showed the army ransacking the town, burning cars and looting buildings. People were running away from the robotic Huns as fast as they could, but the robotic horses chased them down easily.
“Enough” I yelled out loud to no one in particular. The sight of my home town being raided built rage inside me. I took several steps away from the computer, taking out my Mongolian war horn at the simultaneously. I inhaled deeply and blew on the horn. The sound would be carried to a satellite orbiting the Earth and pinged back to the Huns headquarters for this district. The real Huns would be alerted and they would come and round up the nuns. But the robotic army was still at large, destroying the town. I drew my broad sword, admiring the workmanship of the blade. I raised it above my head and brought it crashing down on the command computer. The screen immediately blacked out, and the machines on the factory floor shut down. I could hear the sounds of nun’s footsteps coming towards me. I had to escape the convent before I was discovered. I raced back the way I came to the fridge entrance, climbing quickly through the door and out into the convent. I didn’t bother shutting the fridge door as it wasn’t actually a fridge and I didn’t need to worry about the food inside going off, as there was none.
I exited the convent through the main entrance and sprinted for my car. I ran for my life. I looked around the town, it was utterly decimated. I got in my car, put the keys in the ignition and started the engine. I floored the accelerator and sped away from the convent, another successful mission for our Hun overlords.
End
My name is Jack Cherry, I'm 15 and I wrote this short story as an English assignment. I noticed a distinct lack of Sci-Fi short stories based around Huns and Nuns on this website. I felt obliged to help fix this.