The sword and The crown

Chapter 1

The tall girl sat up quickly, throwing her hands at whatever dared wake her.

She felt her hands collide with someone, causing her to open her eyes when she realized who it was.

A quiet oof came from a girl now on the ground, slightly holding her stomach.

¨Oh god, lori! I told you not to wake me!¨ the maple-haired girl got out of her bunk, helping the other up.

Chuckling, the now standing blonde spoke. ¨ it's fine, Atlas. I would think you want to be awake to get french toast butttt i guess i get to eat it all-¨

She was cut off by her sister running past her, giggling like a maniac.

Loreli sighed, laughing softly at her younger sister's ridiculousness. The Vault rarely got any kind of sweets, and french toast was held for special occasions only. The rest of the time they ate soggy cereal with the occasional egg.

Walking calmly down the tight hallway, lorelei heard the laughter of the mapled haired sister.

' Mrs.Kat must be up. Those two are always up to something.'

Popping her only earbuds in, lorelei listened to her favorite song while walking the long halls of the bunker.

Trailing away, her mind drifted to her life.

The Riley sisters looked the complete opposite.

Loreli having long dark blonde hair and a chubbier appearance than her sister. She had an affinity for sweets and had a hidden stash of sweets she made over the years. She stuck with doodling and taking care of the other children, occasionally cooking. She sometimes had shooting practice with Jake, but it was rare nowadays with her busy schedule. She had green eyes as bright as emeralds, which matched her birthstone. Loreli normally wore the same things. Her mom's old turtlenecks and shorts. She would wear a shirt and jeans for special occasions like The Anniversary of Survival, or Christmas.

Atlas, on the other hand, had maple brown hair with an undercut. She had hair that was chopped short enough to count as a boy's style. She is thinner than Loreli, usually skipping meals to build things. She had bright blue and gold eyes, getting the eyes of her dad and mom because of a genetic issue. Atlas usually practiced archery in the one room that was not inhabited by people, making her favorable to bring on the very short hunts above ground yearly. She used to always go, but recently the vault's old hunting team never came back. This stopped the rest of them from going up again, instead of relying on the huge garden and small amount of animals they had. She wore an old detective coat that belonged to her dad, rarely taking it off. She was always seen with an old compass, staring at the old photo of her family. Mechanics goggles rested on her head, belonging to the girl's mom who was a mechanic. The outfit gave her a steampunk vibe, causing jokes to be thrown around the vault.

Sighing at the thought of her parents, Loreli shook her head and smiled at her sister who was happily chatting with Mrs.Kat.

Mrs. Kat's real name was Sarah, but her cat-like looks caused the nickname to stick. She didn't really care, always joining in on the jokes her husband made. Her once hazel eyes seemed bleached, caused by the radiation she used to be around so much. Her face was tight and made her look 20 years older than she was, making her look 60. Her body was frail and damaged from constantly being in radiation when she was younger. She had been the last person to the vault and had been the most affected by the conditions outside.

Loreli peeked around the corner, getting ready to jump out at the two like she usually did. The sound of whispers made her curious, though, as to what they were talking about. Slowly nudging to the corner, the conversation became more clear. " Are you sure it's safe? None of us have ever been past the hunting zones." Atlas whispered to Kat, the sound of breakfast cooking hiding their conversation. ¨ We aren't sure yet. That's why we need to go.¨ she hesitantly said, seeming to focus on not burning the toast. The conversation seemed to end there, and Loreli decided now was the time to walk into the room, acting as if she never heard a thing.

The two girls shared a look as she walked in, seeming to wonder if she heard anything. Kat just shook her head and added finishing touches to the french toast.

"Good morning, Mrs.Kat." loreli yawned, trying to seem indifferent to what she heard.

"Morning, Lori. can you be a dear and set the table for me?" The woman asked, nodding over to the small, metal table that folded out. It was just large enough for the 20 inhabitants in the vault, and there were extra areas if someone didn't want to sit with the group. Loreli smilled, grabbeding the dinky silverware and filling cups up with very little milk.

The entire bunker sat at a table, the two older men chatting over an older sports game from before the vault. The youngest kids listened attentively to the story, curious as to what 'baseball' was. Loreli and Atlas laughed, listening to the old men exaggerate the skills of their favorite teams. Chuckling at the kids awed expressions, Loreli focused on the constant hum from the water system above her. Her thoughts strayed, and her eyes found themselves looking at her younger sister's seat. Atlas had gotten up earlier after rushing through her meal, saying something about an important project.

Standing up, the girl decided to look for her sister, curious as to what she was doing. Walking down the long, metal hall, Loreli heard a soft bang from the water purifier room and rushed in. Looking around, she spotted her sister laying on the ground with tools on top of her. Giggling at the mess, Loreli picked up the tools and put them in place, spinning around to ask her sister what she was doing.

Finding her still on the ground, rubbing her head, Loreli grabbed her arm and yanked her up.

¨you should be more careful, sis. Never know when your big,strong, older sister will be here to help you!¨ Chuckling, Loreli puffed out her chest and made a pose much like the heros in her comic books.

Atlas laughed, grabbing a wrench and going back to work on the purifier.

¨ Well?¨ Loreli asked, staring expectantly at her younger sister's head.

¨well what?¨ She answered,confused.

¨you gonna tell me what you're doing or do I have to figure it out like always?¨ Loreli asked, stating it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

¨"Im working on improving our water. The quality is lessening because of this old piece of junk, so I'm fixing it.¨ Atlas answered nonchalantly, not once moving from her work.

Rolling her eyes, The oldest sister plucked the wrench from Atlas hand and walked away with it, laughing as she heard her sister's footsteps catching up with her.

¨hey! I need that!¨ She yelled jokingly, reaching for the wrench.

¨I want to finish the purifier this week!¨

Loreli seemed to think about it for a second, finally reaching down and giving her the wrench when she stopped, a noise filling her ears.

It was the alarms, and something had broken in.