2050: The Beginning of the End

Chapter 14: Lilian

I must have fallen asleep at some point, and I wake up with an uncomfortable stiffness spreading through my neck. Forgetting where I am I attempt to stretch, nearly hitting Shemik, who is sitting next to me, in the face.

"Sorry." I apologize, voice sounding incredibly loud as the silence is broken.

"Don't worry about it." Shemik replies, seeming undeterred.

No one speaks after that.

I can still faintly hear the sound of that fear-inducing siren, muffled greatly by the earth above us. I know, logically, that this has to end at some point, but it feels as though we'll be down here forever.

Who knows, maybe we will.

No.

I can't afford to think that way, and I don't think I can handle those possibilities. I close my eyes against the darkness, trying to pretend that there's nothing to be afraid of and that I'm back home in my room. If I concentrate hard enough, I can imagine the holographic projections from my ceiling and the way they used to look when it was dark outside. Those projections were a source of comfort, almost like having a real solar system of my own.

Another explosion causes our shelter to tremble slightly, and Katerina speaks.

"What kind do you think they are using? They destroyed New York City, why not London?"

She sounds small and helpless.

"I think if we were being nuked, the explosion would be bigger than that. I read somewhere that you can feel those sorts of explosions deep underground, and I think we would feel more than this." Theo says, sounding a lot more confident in his judgement than I would be.

I decide to believe him. What else is there to believe in?

I close my eyes again, wishing not for the first time that I could confess all my worries to an adult and have them tell me they know it'll be okay.

Those days are gone, though. I have to be strong, have to be confident that everything will work out.

No adult is coming to save me from the apocalypse.

They're all probably busy in their own corners of the world, protecting the remnants of their own lives.

No one cares about the terrified children hiding underneath London.

~*~

The next thing I remember is Shemik shaking me. A moment later, I realize that I can no longer hear the siren in the distance.

Suddenly, I find myself wide awake. Emilio's voice registers from my other side a moment later.

"Theo, stay down here and watch Katerina, Jason, and Rose. Do not leave here unless one of us comes back to get you. Lili, you are coming along with Shemik and me to investigate."

"I'm what?" My voice is more of a squeak than anything else. No, I can't leave Jason alone. Well, he won't be alone, but there's no way I can put that much trust in Theo.

He's only a year younger than me, I reason. He can handle his job. If something happens to me, he'll protect Jason.

I have to grow up, have to be brave.

I hear Emilio moving carefully toward the bunker's entrance, and follow him through the darkness when I'm sure I won't collide with his back. Shemik is a few steps behind me as we climb the first set of stairs. We reach the thick steel doors at the top, and Emilio struggles with the wheel in their center, unable to turn it enough to force them to open.