Regime Reconcile Recollection.

"Promise land"

    "How did you manage to get your hands on that anyways?" Stevie flipped the card over in her hands. it was nothing special at all, it was almost a similar material to cardboard. The barcode shimmering on the bottom left of the card proved it's authenticity.

     "I just talked it over with the man at the entrance. He did a few quick tests and done." Keven playfulled nudged her shoulder, his crooked, infectious smile making her grin as well. It didn't even matter about the painful cobble stones, or the annoyingly long walk back to the gate that was just long enough to feel like an eternity, because now they were finally getting back to civilization.

     "Hey, Kev." Stevie started, keeping her eyes fixated on the ground to watch her step. "Why do you think we were left here in the first place? I mean, don't you think they would have saved everyone before barricading everything up? Or at least tried."

He didn't answer at first, and truth be told she wasn't even looking for a real response. Neither of them knew for sure why they were abandoned, it only matter now that they were being rescued. When they finally reached the entrance, Keven handed the card through the slot where the man stood, and soon enough the wall pulled back revealing the entrance. The man nodded his head in approval and motioned for them to walk forward. The path was dark and dingy. Unknown substance was growing on the ceilling of the rounded walls and leaking through cracks in the cement. It smelled of must and planting soil. Stevie covered her nose with the sleeve of her tattered sweatshirt and followed Keven to where a small tunnel of light was closing in on them.

It took a moment for Stevie's eyes to adjust to the change in lighting, but when they did, as far as the eye could see was lush, green grass. Green. She couldn't even remember the last time her and Keven had seen the color green in nature. The thought of looking back didn't even cross their minds. In the far distance, there were buildings and lights and the sound of music. Stevie couldn't help letting out a soft squeel of excitement and bouncing on her tip-toes; glancing at Keven for his reaction. He was smiling with wide eyes, just taking it all in.

    "I'll be happy to escort you to the Regime. Madam and Gentleman."

The voice came from a middle aged man, looked to be about fifty-something. He was wearing a nice black suit, paired with a teal tie and bright teal shoes. His grey hair was combed over, covering part of a large scar encasing half of his face and down his neck. Stevie couldn't help but stare at it and wonder about it. This man stood in front of a large cart looking device, something like a chariot combined with a car and a carriage. Two enormous, Clydesdale horses were tied to it, waiting to pull. It looked like something straight out of the early 1900's, how Stevie remembered it from her childhood years in history class.

   "I have to say, I was expecting something a little more high-tech," Keven whispered to her as the hopped into the carriage, and they both chuckled. The horses started up rather quickly, and were moving pretty fast.

   "Hold on!" The butler shouted over the sounds of the breeze over their ears and the clomping of the hooves. Before Stevie or Keven even had a chance to process what he'd said, the horse's speed picked up again to the point where their legs had disappeared, they were moving so fast. No normal horse could ever move that way, rising above their expectations of animals in the past.

   "This is amazing!" Keven let out a bellow of laughter, a bigger smile on his face than Stevie had ever seen. The experience was absolutely breathtaking. The scenery was like nothing they'd ever remembered before, multi-colored trees, green, yellow, red, and even hints of a salmon pink in some places. Everything was fresh, new, and beautiful to their senses, all the smells of nature that four years of living in a death-forsaken town littered with dead bodies, blood, and rotting flesh just couldn't live up to.