The Day The World Ended | ONC 2024 LONGLISTER

2| last survivors

The stench of blood faded as they walked further into the tunnel, away from the train. Mellie's phone's flashlight was the only light source as they silently made their way towards the station came from. They had no idea if there were people there or not. Or whether the station was destroyed. The more they stayed in the tunnel, the more the risk: Who knows if it will collapse again? But they could not go above ground either, not with the sunlight that could fry people inside out.

The man, who introduced himself as Simon, led the way keeping an out for any debris. His plan was to get these two kids to safety and go looking for his family. Well, what was left of his family anyway. It felt like it was yesterday his wife and three children died in a car crash. He had never gotten into a car since then. There was only his ageing mother now.

"Where are we going from the station?" The small brown girl—Novah—asked.

"I don't know," Simon admitted. "Let's see when we get there."

"My brother..." Mellie muttered. "He's probably alive, right? And mom and dad too. They have to be alive..."

Simon didn't say anything. There was a big chance everyone aboveground was dead, but he didn't want to say that to the girl. He didn't want to say that to himself. This was not the time for a mental breakdown. They had to stay alive. They had to find somewhere safe. 

"Wait," Novah said abruptly. "Listen."

Mellie looked at her. "What—"

"Listen."

Then Simon heard it. Faint footsteps and murmuring voices. They were ahead of them and they were reaching them slowly. A light shone against the dark tunnel wall, shadows dancing across it. People.

"Hello," Simon called.

The voices stopped, the light and the shadows stilling.

"Anybody there?" A voice called back.

"Yes," Simon replied. "There's only three of us."

Footsteps started and a group of people came into view. There were about six or seven people including a security guard. They were carrying flashlights with them. They must have come looking for survivors. Or maybe they were trying to find out what was happening.

"What happened to the rest of you?" The guard asked, shining the light on each of them separately.

Simon squinted at him. "They are all dead. Don't you know what happened?"

There was a beat of silence. "Power was cut off. We came to see what happened to the train."

"The tunnel collapsed. A part of it did, anyway." Novah replied. "And—And the sun; it burned people."

"What...?" The group exchanged looks, muttering among themselves. One shone a flashlight into the tunnel.

"Go ahead," Simon pointed his thumb in the direction they came from. "You can see for yourselves. They should be still there."

"No, no, I believe you," The other man stuttered. "Let's just—let's go back to the station, shall we?"

"Yeah," Mellie muttered, turning off her light. Her blue eyes were wide in her pale face. "I want to go home..."

Simon didn't think they could go home again. Ever.

***

The station was buzzing with people, much to their surprise. All of them must have been waiting for the trains when the power went out. It was surprising that no one had still tried to go outside. Maybe they were scared more than they were curious.

A man who was in the group that found Simon, Novah and Mellie had run off to find the stationmaster. People were starting to notice them, pointing at them and murmuring among themselves. 

"Everyone listen," the security guard whose name turned out to be Carlos spoke through a megaphone. "There's an emergency situation. I need everyone to stay here and not go aboveground—"

"Why can't we leave?" A voice from the crowd interrupted. 

"A part of the tunnel had collapsed. People had burnt in the sun. There's only three people alive from the whole train."

Startled cries and panicked questions filled the air as Carlos tried to calm the crowd down. Simon edged closer to Mellie and Novah, leaning closer so only they would hear what he was saying.

"This will be cleared sooner or later. We will be able to go above." He whispered. "Once we get out I need you two to stay close to me and we are going to find the nearest convenience store or grocery store or whatever, alright? People are going to be fighting over food if the situation there is as bad as I think it is, we are going to have to get our hands on everything we can, got it?"

"Yes. Okay," Novah replied. Mellie nodded silently.

Novah stuffed her hands in the pockets of the hoodie she was wearing over a faded T-shirt. Simon noticed that there were flecks of blood on the T-shirt.

"Are you injured?" He asked.

Novah blinked. "Huh?"

Simon nodded at her T-shirt. Her face became guarded as she noticed what he was pointing at.

"No, it's nothing." She said, her hands fisting inside the pockets.

Simon could tell she was sinking her nails into her palms. She didn't look like she wanted to continue the conversation so he let it go. 

There was a commotion as some guy started to push his way towards the exit, ignoring the cries of people telling him to stay back. Carlos was yelling into his megaphone, running towards the man.

"Let me go, alright?!" The man yelled. "If I die, I die. We are all going to die either way!"

Simon grabbed the two girls' hands and let the crowd push them towards the exit. If the man didn't burn, if the heat had reduced to the normal—or at least bearable—level, they could get out of here as fast as possible. They could see the deserted streets, scorched cars and things that must have been human once now reduced to charcoal. Everyone held their breath as the man stepped outside, holding a hand up to shield his face from the harsh sunlight.

He didn't burn. 

He gave a triumphant cry and turned to the people with a wide grin, showing them that he was fine. That was enough to get the crowd into action again.

Holding tight onto Novah's and Mellie's hands, Simon ran outside into the burnt world.

Total word count 2146