Searing World

Prologue

 "Rhode? Where are you hiding now?"

Soft, frantic footsteps could be heard scuffing along the worn concrete floor.

"Come on Rhode, I don't have the time for this right now."

Soon the footsteps disappeared down the corridor, Rhode's ears were focused on a slight humming projected from the bunkers ventilation system making her feel anxious.

Rhode was mature for her age because she had to be. The world she had been raised in was not like that of her mother's or father's, full of successful dreams and achievable happiness. The world she knew was one encased within a hundred-meter deep, twelve inch thick, and half lit concrete sarcophagus. Rhode hid under a bunk bed to hide from everything and everyone. Solitude gave her the strength she needed to survive, relying on nobody but herself. Appearing from underneath the bed, tucked away in the corner of a room was the young woman. Tatty black hair, dirty denim jeans and a purple zip up hoodie is all that separated her from the crowd. Just as Rhode reached the door way to leave, the alarm rang out. It was a bellowing sound, much deeper than she remembered it as a child. The excessive use of the alarm over the years had made it weaker, but the feeling it gave Rhode never changed. Turning to hug the wall with her back she knew she had to make it to the assembly point. She started to run.

*

Rhode's mother, Lillian, had been nobody of significance before the war. She was a teacher of biology at the local secondary school, helping children learn the wonders of photosynthesis by growing cress in dark rooms. Now she walked among the three hundred strong dwellers within the bunker like an award-winning scientist. In charge of the botany program, Lillian's work was crucial for the survival of the people. Ensuring clean oxygen was circulated by the remnants of plants cultivated before the bombs left a wash of radioactivity across the landscape, she had little time to notice the dark peril her daughter's state of mind was in and where it was trying to take her.

When the alarm rang, Lillian had just entered the main control room. Immediately the blast doors sealed behind her, keeping danger out while keeping people in. The alarm was almost routine, happening once a fortnight. The men on watch were never too careful when it came to the safety of the bunker.

"Have we any idea what it is this time? Feral dogs maybe? Or is it that ice cream truck I've been waiting for"

The group under Lillian had heard this joke many times before, she did not expect laughter. But the concern on their faces told her that this was not routine.

"Well, what is it? Don't tell me those things are actually in here"

Lillian said this with a half-baked smile that soon dropped from her face when everyone in the room glared back at her.

No matter how hard she pounded on the blast door it would never budge. No matter how many times her antagonised voiced screamed her daughter's name, she would not hear. A blast door designed to protect people kept her from protecting her daughter.

*

Rhode winced her eyes at the strange noises coming from around the corner. Living a life of solitude within a bunker, surrounded by people, Rhode's senses were tuned into her surroundings. The sounds got louder.

"GET IT OFF ME! HEL-"

Rhode froze. The screaming was something she had never heard before. She could only imagine what was forcing the sounds out from the man around the corner. The screams quickly stopped. An eerie silence hung in the air for only a few moments, and then footsteps. These footsteps were abnormal, a thud followed by a wet dragging noise, thud, then drag. It was closing in on the long corridor where she stood. Rhode took gentle steps backwards now, breath held tight in her lungs, skin on fire with shock. As the thing appeared from around the corner it looked straight through Rhode's eyes. It had spotted her but she could tell it did not see a person, it did not see a young girl. The thing would not catch her unless she stopped. Headed for the elevator shaft, Rhode did not look back.

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