SkyFall

Where to go?

"Do you think he'll let us this time?"

"It can't hurt to ask."

Three weeks had gone by and we had moved out of the hospital facility. We were placed in rooms of five and were adjusting to this new life. The underground government base, which we simply named "The Base", was simple, but hi-tech and modern.

"Jake!" My friend, Ally, greeted, trying to charm him. He was tall and had his hair in a Mohawk-like style.

He sighed. "Please don't ask what I think you're going to ask."

"Can we? Pleeeeease!" Megan begged. She had gotten better, but once a week she went to the hospital facility for medication.

"If I let you guys -well first of all, I'll get in huge trouble- and you guys are going to end up in the hospital suffering from depression!"

"C'mon! The surface can't be that bad..." I said. Everyday since we left the hospital facility we have been trying to go to the surface to see how bad everything really was. We befriended Jake, who was in charge of guarding the entrance to the surface, and we tried to persuade him.

"Oh it's bad. I mean bad."

"Don't be such a jerk Jake!"

"Quiet before I break your other arm!" He teased. Ally cradled her arm that had broken during the asteroid impact and faked being hurt.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"So Jake," I began. " Are you going to let us go, or are we going to have to come back tomorrow?"

"And the day after that. And the day after that..." Beth added.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Fine! But just this once! And don't ask again!" Ally squealed with delight. We put on all this heavy gear that was apparently needed to go out to the surface. Last, we put on our helmets and a tank of oxygen on our backs.

"Okay there's enough oxygen for an hour, but come back at least ten minutes before. And unless you want to suffocate and die, don't take your helmets off."

"Well thanks for being subtle and gentle," Ally teased.

Jake rolled his eyes. "You guys have no idea what I'm putting at risk if we get caught! I'm serious, no fooling around and I'll see you guys soon."

****

"No effin way..." We had been silent for twenty minutes straight. Even Ally had been quiet, until now, and that was rare. It was the middle of the day, but everything was dark. It was like the sun hadn't come out, but if you looked up you could barley see it. Through a giant mass of dust in the atmosphere, you could barely make out the outline of the sun. There were so many tiny particles of dirt floating in the air that you could barley see your own hand in front of your face. The lonely rows of grape vines around us had ice on them even though it was the beginning of summer. They were wilted and dead from the lack sunlight. No wonder we need all this gear to come up here.

The Base's entrance had been made in the country, so that building rubble wouldn't crash down on it and block the entrance. There was mostly frozen grapevines around us, but up ahead, you could barley see a -or what was left- of a town, or a city even. Judging from where we were, I'd say that city was Fresno, or Clovis. There wasn't much left of it now. There were piles of material that used to be buildings, but that was basically all that was there.

"So those rumors are right... We're never coming back up here. Everything's... Gone..." Beth whispered. It was hard to hear through out helmets, but we still managed.

"But if we can't stay at The Base, then where the hell are we going to go?" I asked, beginning to worry.

"To our graves." Beth's hand slipped into mine. It was comforting; after all, she was my foster sister. We were both adopted by a couple that, well, weren't necessary bad parents, but they weren't great parents either.