Hold on Sun

Welcome to Hemingway Shelter

- Short A/N - Thank you so much for waiting yet again, I hope it isn't annoying (which it probably is). I plan on getting two povs into the story, where I switch from one to the other. The first one was: Emi. Thank you yet again, hope you like this one. Also. if  I get any states or places wrong, please do forgive me. 

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David pov 

When I was first in line, I only noticed the sign that hung above the shelter that said: ''Hemingway Shelter''. It would seem that they had a theme, most were named after influential people but several states have their own theme, like writers. It was odd but in a way you kind of began to feel at home. 

I was checked in by the guards, I was probably one of those that fitted the bill in the next generation to carry on humanity. I walked down the stairs, it began to grow darker and darker, but there were small lanterns hanging on the walls when it got too dark. The stairs were made of concrete or any other type of rock. I hope it wasn't too old or the exit might not have a stair anymore. 

I had arrived after what felt like several hours down, I guess it was so that the meteors wouldn't reach or be able to cause destruction this deep down. I hoped at least that that would be the reason, what else would justify having to walk this long. The further I came, the more metal I saw. 

Metal lined the walls and it almost seemed steampunky, the walls were quite old as they must have built these a long time ago. We knew that the possibility of an apocalypse was certain, but we didn't know how so I assume that they built these since it would protect well enough against almost anything- or at least to minor types of destruction, it was sturdy enough. 

I was greeted by an array of tubes lining the walls, metal clanking as people walked by some looked like they worked here, but some stared emptily ahead as they might imagine the outcomes of this. Hissing sounds, chatters about what they'd do when they survive this was also a common theme. I was ushered into a small room, it was a gray white with a medical sort of smell that you'd often find in hospitals. 

''Please take of all clothes and possessions you currently have on you'', a nasal disembodied voice spoke. I proceeded to do so, hoping that there weren't any cameras of any kind, I put the clothes in a corner.  A shower head appeared in an instant through the wall, seemingly by a switch. ''You have a minute to shower, as to get rid of any possible contaminants'', the nasal voice spoke again. I pushed a button below the shower head and it was freezing. I fought against shivers and a second later I heard a hissing sound come from the ground, a hatch had opened and in it there was clothes lying in a small space. ''Please place your clothes and possessions in the space provided''. 

I did it, and proceeded to clothe myself. I was provided with a white t-shirt and brown khaki pants. On the back of the shirt it said: ''Hemingway shelter'' in a blue font. ''Your clothes will be categorized and you'll get it back once everything is done, your clothing number is 8005''. I got a small receipt.

A door opened and I walked out, there was a line in front of me it seemed like people were being put into teams, a group of five walked off. When it was my turn, I stood in front of a skinny guy with light brown hair and blue eyes. ''You, you're in team C with four other people''. He had a demanding tone and despite being so skinny, I felt like he wasn't one to be disobeyed. He had a name tag with ''Connor'' on it.

The four other people were waiting nearby and once they saw me, we were being transported somewhere. A girl with gray blue eyes and black hair introduced herself as we were walking, being accompanied by two possible guards. 

''Hello there, I'm Emi and I recently came to this shelter not too long ago''. She had a smooth voice but I could notice that she was trying hard to not let herself be depressed by the meteor. Her smile wasn't fake but it was just barely hanging in there, it was like she was trying to convince herself she was fine. 

There were one other boy besides me and a girl. The boy looked to be twenty, he had brown eyes and messy brown hair that reached his neck, he had freckles and a slight limp in his walk. 

''Hi, I'm Aiden''. He didn't look interested in me at all and just said his name, his limp might have come from the stampedes in stores or somewhere else, he noticed I was staring at him and he glared right at me. 

The other girl had green hair and it looked like her eyes were black. She seemed friendly and outgoing, despite everything. She smiled brightly and shook my hand, ''I'm Myra and it's nice to meet you, I hope we get along'', she sent me a mischievous smile after. 

I didn't almost notice the quiet girl that were lagging behind us, she seemed gloomy and out of it. Maybe it was difficult to come here. I waved to her and she didn't wave back, her own form of acknowledgement was a slow nod. She had brown hair and icy blue eyes.

We were ushered into a room that had a large C in it, the room was medium sized, it held five beds and closets besides every bed. Two of the beds were bunk beds, and one was a single bed. Aiden took the single one, I took the lower bunk bed to the right, Myra took the top of mine and Emi took the lower left bunk, whilst mystery girl took the upper left bunk. The closets had small whiteboards on them.

Connor came into the room, ''hey everyone, I hope you're settling in and I'm here to explain a few things''. 

''The closets as you might have noticed have whiteboards, that's as to make sure that when you do get your clothes, you'll be able to sort them, you can write your name corresponding to which part of the closet belongs to you''. 

''As you have already picked your beds, it's easier to pick a closet close to you and write your name on that closet. Respect the bunk mates belongings and don't go snooping where you're not supposed to in their stuff'', he explained. 

''And lastly, any questions at all?''. 

''Are there any toilets nearby?''. Myra spoke and Connor nodded. ''If you go out the hall and to the left, walk left until you see the bathroom sign on a door, it's relatively close''. 

''Where's the cafeteria?''. Emi asked. ''We will wake you and take you to it each morning, but if you're not an early bird, it's to the left before the bathroom and it's much closer''. 

''Also every morning we'll make sure that you exercise''. Everyone groaned but Myra seemed sort of pleased. ''There's also a special room for that but it's not something that you'll go to on your own''. 

A meek voice spoke, it was the gloomy girl from before. ''Will... will we ever go home?''. At that Connor sighed and looked at her softly, ''I'm not sure yet, we'll have to wait until the damage from the meteorite has been measured to be able to know that''. She looked even worse than before but instead of being gloomy, she looked like she'd cry at any moment. 

''We do have your clothes from before if you wish to retrieve them''. He began, ''Where you entered this shelter, you'll take a right and it will lead you to a washroom/pickup service. There you'll hopefully be able to show your receipt and then get your belongings back''. He excused himself and walked off. 

That was certainly something, I hope that I'll get along with everyone and that this apocalypse doesn't last forever, I want to get back to my life.