2050: The Beginning of the End

Chapter 16: Katerina

It seems as though we have been waiting for ages. Though we have more room now that only four of us are left down here, it is still unnerving.

I feel trapped, feel as though the ground is waiting for the right moment to simply swallow us up.

"What do we do now?" I ask, looking in the direction where I believe Theo has moved to sit, "We just sit here? What? Are we just going to wait for Shemik to come get us, to tell us what to do again?"

Now that the immediate threat to my life, our lives, has passed, I've gotten over my fears. I want to do something, and that something certainly does not involve staying hidden away underground.

Theo sighs, and I can practically see his eyes rolling in the darkness.

"Katerina, please."

"You know I am right, Theo. We rely too much on her and Emilio. What did you do after your mum died?"

"Don't talk about Mum. Please. That's none of your business."

"But it is. You didn't know any of us then. What did you do?"

"Kat. That was then. I have no idea really what I did. I was nine."

"Well I am ten. You are eleven. I say we do something. Let's go up there ourselves."

"And leave Rose and Jason sleeping down here?"

"No, we will bring them along."

"No." Theo sighs again, "Kat, stop acting like a know-it-all."

"I don't act like that and you know it! I was just saying we should make ourselves useful instead of hiding."

"Well, I say we don't do anything that puts us in more danger."

"Theodore Granger, I did not take you for a coward." I declare, not bothering to hide my disgust, "I will go myself. If you want to wait around for more orders, I will be the brave one. You can't stop me."

"Fine, Katerina, fine!" Theo sounds thoroughly annoyed, "Let's wake them up. Let's go. It won't be my fault when you get us all killed or something."

I hear Theo shuffling around to wake Jason and Rose, and I reach carefully for my back pocket. A smile crosses my face when my fingers brush against the cover of the book, the diary of a scientist that I refused to leave my room without collecting.

Emilio still has no idea why I took so long. He probably just decided to believe it was because I was so afraid.

I roll my eyes. If he had known about this book he would have been looking to take it himself, probably just to keep it away from the younger children.

Poor Emilio. I suppose it is a good thing that Dimitri and I found it first.

~*~

It takes a matter of seconds for me to teleport to the surface with Rose, Jason, and Theo. We find ourselves far from the bunker, standing on the first step of the never ending stone stairway, and I stare through the doorway in disbelief.

I can see Lili pacing back and forth, large amounts of what appears to be dust being kicked up by her boots. The majority of our building has been destroyed, the top floors collapsing and creating a larger mess of what used to be the first floor. The staircase leading to the higher stories is still there, along with part of our living space, but to me this place looks like a lost cause.

Theo sneezes, and I swear Lili jumps half a meter off the ground.

"What the-" She spins around, eyes wide and looking paler than a ghost.