When Thursday Comes

Maureen

       Monday 6:23 p.m B2

They're called Skels. Short for skelemorphic, which means they can change what they look like by moving their bones, therefore changing their shape. It sounds nasty, I know. It doesn't even sound remotely believable, which is what I thought when I was told what they were. "What? The world is being taken over by things that can move their bones without breaking the skin? Where are we, some weird fantasy novel?". It took me awhile to grasp the concept.

        But that wasn't the only thing. There was this other branch. Other Skels that went wrong, I guess. The bad eggs. The ones who didn't turn out too right. I don't exactly know what their proper name is, but I just call them the Halflings, because that's kind of what they are. Half Skel, half something else. They not only reproduce all the time, but they also have a liking for human skin. I'm not saying that Halflings are worst than the Skels or anything, but when Thursday comes along and we have to choose weather to fight a storm of Skels or a storm of Halflings, I'd pick the Skels. 

        You don't know what's so important about Thursday yet, do you? Sorry, I know you're new, and if you didn't know what Skels and Halflings were, (which I was really surprised about by the way) then how would you possibly know about Thursday? God, I hope you're not a spy. You don't look like it,  but it's hard to tell nowadays. Not as simple as it was before.

        Anyway, Thursday. Thursday is when we plan on leaving this dump. Bunkers sure did come in handy when this war first started, or so I was told. I was only a child back then, an infant. You probably were too. Actually, by the size of ya, you probably weren't born 'til after the war. God, that must of sucked. Your poor mum, is she still around? You know what, never mind. I'm getting off track again.

        These bunkers that we're in now were real nice when we first came down here a little short twenty years ago. Nice and clean and warm and safe. With lots of extra beds and blankets and food.  We were all happy and got a long too. The 52 of us that made these bunkers our home. Even when the food started to run out, we were calm about it, and started to figure out ways to grow our own food. That's how Bunker 12 became the way it is. Only a select few are allowed in there, but I can bring you around sometime and show you what we've got going on. It's pretty impressive for artificial light.

        Anyway, you must be thinking, if the food didn't turn us against each other then nothing could, right? Yeah, that's what I thought too. But then some bastard-oh, sorry, some idiot was letting their ten year old kid play around the entrance. He ended up climbing up the ladder and opening the top hatch, which I thought strange, considering how heavy the damn thing is.  I didn't know then that there was a Halfling trying to get in the same time the kid was trying to get out.

        The Halfling opened the hatch pretty easily after the kid had unlocked it for the thing. It ate most of him, but not before some people heard him screaming.

        We weren't prepared for the situation, because we were in dreamland and thought the place pretty secure. We managed to kill the thing and close the hatch before any more got in, but not before it attacked more than a dozen people. We put them all down like a sick puppy you didn't want to see suffer anymore. They say there was nothing they could do, although we had plenty of medics and some people only had a bite out of their leg or something. My dad thought they were lying when he found out, and started screeching at everybody. He vowed that if it ever were to happen again, he was not going to let our people die without at least giving them a fighting chance.  Most everyone respected him after that. He died more than two years ago of Cancer. He was a strong one, but didn't stand a chance. Everyone keeps looking at me now as if I would be the same, and in some ways I guess I am, but me and mum were always more a like. Where's my mum now? Well that's something I can remember no matter how long ago it was, but that's a sob story for another day my friend.

        So anyway, after the kid let the Halfling in people got scared. There was only 30 somethin' of us then, and half of that number were children and elderly. The ones who were fit to do things were using their energy to steal things and have sex. That's part of the reason why we're so big now, and also why some things are so hard to come by these days. You're not supposed to know this, heck, I'm not supposed to know this, but there's a Black Market set up in Bunker 8 Tuesday nights. I wouldn't recommend it, but that's tomorrow night if you just want to check it out before we go. It will be the last one for some, so who knows what crap will be there.

        I know I'm taking a while with this story, but you should know it. It's important. With people havin' babies all the time and supplies disappearing, lots of people were dying.  And all of these dead bodies went where the rest of our shit is, which is in Bunker Zero. Most people don't know about that, so be lucky that you do. Did you notice how bad the smell is down here? That's because we have twenty years of shit living with us, and god knows what else.

        This is why we are leaving. This place is just not healthy anymore. Heck, it stopped being healthy 15 years ago. People keep getting sick, and we may have just enough food for everybody, but antibiotics and that crap is hard to some by.  The ground might not be the safest place, but it's better than sitting down here waiting to die in our own shit. Is that the way you wanna go? Yeah, I didn't think so. I'd rather take my chances with the shit happening up there than the shit that has been happening down here. 

        Anyway, sorry for boring you. You are new and all. Hey, since you know about Thursday, you are coming, aren't ya? If you are, don't say anything to anyone, and if you aren't, don't say anything either. We're trying to keep it on the down low. If everyone knew about it, we would have some trouble on our hands, wouldn't we? Riots and protests and this huge crowd wanting to go and an even bigger one not wanting to. We can handle what's happening now, but I don't think we'd be able to handle that.

Oh, one more thing. I set up a bunk for you in Bunker 7, but I recommend talking to Eric first. Just go to Bunker 4 and talk to the lady at the desk. Tell her I sent you and everything will be fine. Good luck, and hopefully I'll see you Thursday.