Good Morning, World

Chapter Three

 Dylan and Day activated their radios that were built into their helmets. The principal had returned back into the main part of the bunker, leaving them alone in the airlock chamber.

"OUTSIDE DOOR IS OPENING IN T-MINUS TEN SECONDS. DO NOT OPEN INNER DOORS WHILE THIS PROCESS IS OCCURING. GOOD LUCK," the robotic voice announced.

"All or nothing," Dylan said, looking at Day.

"Yup..." Day replied.

The alarm sounded as the door of the bunker slid open, the ruined hallway of the basement dark except for the lights coming from the bunker. Some radiated water pooled into the room, forming a small puddle at the door.

Dylan and Day turned on the headlights and began walking into the hallway, walking to the metal staircase that lead to the main floor. They walked up the staircase to find the door was blocked by debris.

"The door is blocked by something, what do we do?" Day asked through the radio.

"The suits should be able to push whatever is on the other side away, just try pushing the door open like you would normally," the principal replied.

Dylan grabbed the door handle and pressed against the door, hearing a grinding sound coming from the other side. Day followed suit, the two pushing the doors open slowly.

When they opened them, they found that the debris that had blocked the door were a pile of lockers, some half burned, others smashed. School supplies and backpacks were strewn across the dark gray floor, the once beautiful trophies in the cases were lying on the floor with dents and scrapes. The school flag hung limp from the tall ceiling, the bottom half in tatters from the debris hitting it in the shockwave.

"Wow..." Day said, looking at the wreckage.

"Yeah, it's something alright..." Dylan responded. "We should probably get headed to the science building to check on the bunker."

"Yeah, right..." Day said.

The two walked down the hallway and saw a large tower. It had broken through the ceiling when the shockwave caused it to collapse the previous day. The sky outside was cloudy, a radioactive rain coming down on the college. The suits notified them that there were medium levels of radiation.

The two walked out of the school and into the courtyard, where vehicles were shoved against the school walls, large chunks of twisted metal merged with other chunks of twisted metal. There were pieces of the castle walls all over the parking lot.

Dylan looked out at the remains of the city, dark plumes of smoke rose as nuclear fires burned what was left of the city. The wind turned in a different direction, the smoke drifting to the east. Day walked towards the science building, Dylan followed suit after snapping out from his daze.

The stone building looked as if it was on the verge of collapsing, its windows all blown out. The stone had many cracks in it, pieces of it glowed. As the two walked slowly towards it, a rumbling came from inside. A piece of the roof collapsed and blocked the front door.

"Crap... How do we get inside now?" Day asked.

"Maybe one of the windows?" Dylan suggested.

The pair walked around the building to find a big enough window in a stable enough place to enter. They found one that lead to the old biology lab, the floor and roof hadn't made a sound the entire time they looked. They climbed over the windowsill and walked across the room, a pile of desks in one corner near the board. They had been learning about cells when the bomb hit.

They walked into the hallway and towards the stairwell doors, opening them. The hallway was mostly intact, except the doors to the bunker were open a jar. Day looked at Dylan, who met eyes with her. They walked up to the door and pushed it open, seeing nobody. The inner doors were shut and locked, fortunately for the inhabitants.

Dylan knocked on the inner door of the bunker. Muffled talking was heard inside. Day shut the outer door so radiation didn't enter the bunker. The locked doors unlocked with a loud click, a mechanical whirring heard as they opened. Dylan and Day stepped inside and the doors closed.

"Is everyone okay?" Dylan asked one of the science teachers.

"Yes, other than a few scrapes and bruises. The radio system was breached in the explosion. We would've been able to fix it ourselves, but engineering class didn't meet today. Do either of you know how to fix the wiring?" the teacher responded.

"I do," Day answered. "Just let me get out of this suit so I can get close."

The three walked into the suit room of the bunker, where Dylan and Day got out of the suits and walked back to the hallway. The teacher lead them to the communications center, which was filled with radio equipment and televisions of the world outside. Some students were getting the cameras activated, most of them said "UNAVAILABLE" or were only static.

"Where's the radio?" Day asked, to the response of a point from the science teacher.

The two walked over to the radio, Day following the wire along the wall to a panel. She unlocked the clasp and opened the panel door, then looked at the wires that were attached. Some weren't attached at all. Day rolled her eyes and she pulled a couple wires out, unwrapping the twist-tied wires. She plugged in the correct color wires to the ports, the lights on the radio machine lit up. When she was done, the radio started connecting.

"There, done," she said as she closed the panel door.

...

One week later, the radiation had ceased enough for the national guard the come to the city. There were very few survivors still alive, only people who had been in bunkers throughout the city. The wreckage was sifted through by soldiers.

"The national guard is coming in twenty minutes, make sure to get your suits on and make sure they're secured," the principal announced over the intercom.

The fifty students and ten teachers walked to the suit room, a busy room at that point. They were assigned a number and took the suit with that number. The large group suited up and filed towards the front door of the bunker. The other nineteen bunkers did the same.

"Where will we go?" Day asked Dylan as they walked to the door.

"Do you have any family somewhere?" Dylan responded.

"No, they all lived in the city," Day answered, looking down.

"Well, you can come live with me and my grandparents in Discol," Dylan smiled.

Day smiled back. "Thanks."