NINETEEN FIFTY-NOW

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The car sailed along the empty highway. 

With the windows down, they each took deep breaths.  Trying to take in as much as they could.

Safana confidently held the wheel with Adam by her side in the front seat.  Scott, Alissa and Jessica sat in the spacious backseat.   Dressed in their newly found clothing, they looked like they'd driven straight from the 1950's.  The illusion was only broken when Adam would take a picture with his phone.

The drive had been uneventful.  No other cars were on the highway, apart from some occasional twisted metal which looked like it might have been a car in its former life before the Boom.

The ruins of the city grew bigger ahead of them.

"We'll go to Adam's house first, then Alissa's and so on, like we agreed," Safana stated.

The thought of visiting his home, or what was left of it, made Adam slump down in the seat.

"What's the point?" Adam said quietly.

"What?" Safana asked over the sound of the car and the wind.

"What's the point? They're all dead," he spoke loudly.

The reality of Adam's statement hit the others hard.  They each secretly hoped that if they could just get back to the city there might be something left from their old lives. 

Something or someone.

Safana cleared her throat, "You can't think like that.  Maybe someone's..."

"Safana, look out!" Alissa screamed from the backseat.

Safana turned just in time to see the road block and the soldiers up ahead.  She slammed on the brakes.  Adam gripped the dash tightly.  Scott, Alissa and Jessica slumped against the back of the front seat as the car spun.

~

Evelyn and Bobby were frozen in fear.

The voice repeated, "Hello?"

Bobby cleared his throat and tried not sound scared, "Who's there?"

Backlit by the hallway, a man emerged.  He was dressed in modern day combat gear. 

"Oh my god... you're alive!" the man quietly exclaimed.

Bobby and Evelyn were terrified.  Evelyn spoke, "Who are you?"

"It's okay.  I'm from the government.  I was sent to get you," the man said calmly.

Something about the way the man spoke made Bobby uneasy.  He shifted towards a nearby work bench.

The man was now standing before them.

Evelyn repeated, "Who ARE you?"

The man paused for a moment as his smile faded.  His eyes became emotionless.

He spoke, "I told you. I was sent to get you."

The man suddenly revealed a pistol and raised it towards Evelyn.  

Evelyn watched his fingers tighten on the trigger when all of a sudden he fell to the ground motionless.  The back of his head bloodied.  

Bobby stood shaking.  He dropped the tire iron from his hand.

"You okay?" he asked Evelyn.

Evelyn looked down at the man, started to cry and then hugged Bobby.  

"Thank you"

Her tears made her hair stick to her face.  Bobby gently brushed it away.  

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