Chris opened his eyes. His body was shaking and he was sweating profusely. He sat up in the bed. It was 6:29am. Heather rolled over and looked at him. “Are you okay?,” she asked, half asleep.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a really weird dream.”
“What was it about?”
“I can’t remember, but it felt like it went on forever.” Chris got out of bed and walked over to the mirror on the wall. He placed a finger on the bandages on his neck. Pain shot through his neck as he touched the bandage. His hand was throbbing, and he had a hard time moving his fingers without causing him any pain.
“That’s a shame. Hopefully, it was a pleasant dream.”
“I doubt it was,&rdq
Multiple shelves containing various balls and other equipment, such as hockey sticks, tennis rackets, frisbees, and more, sat in the far back of the storage room. Chris walked back to the shelves and scanned over the equipment.“Do you see anything that you want to do?” Heather asked.“Since you wanted me to talk to you about my emotions and I wanted to do something else, I thought just throwing a frisbee back and forth would be a good compromise. This will allow us to talk to each other while being active, and I’ve always found throwing a frisbee to be very relaxing.”“That sounds good, but let me warn you, I’m terrible at throwing.”“Don’t worry, I already know that.”
The artificial sunlight shone brightly through the single window in Chris’s room. Chris opened his eyes. The bed next to his was empty, and Heather left the lights on. He removed the bandage from his neck. A scab had formed over the cut and it no longer hurt to the touch. He still had a sharp pain in his knuckles whenever he moved his fingers.Chris walked down to the cafeteria for breakfast. He found Heather in the cafeteria and sat down next to her.“Good morning. Did you sleep well?” Heather asked.“Not as well as I would have liked to,” Chris replied. “I had a lot going through my mind.”“What kind of stuff were you thinking about,” Heather asked, pulling her hair behind her ear.
Chris excused himself and left the cafeteria. He found himself wandering back to the gym storage room. Before the world ended, Chris enjoyed building household items like furniture or shelves. He located a large box with a picture of a basketball hoop on the side. He dragged the box onto the gym floor and cut open the box. Metal pipes and bars rolled onto the floor. He tipped the box over and slid out the backboard, rim, and the base. Chris started by attaching the rim to the backboard along with the height adjusters. He fast two narrow support beams at the bottom of the large pole and another long narrow pole that attached to the middle of the big pole and the back of the height adjuster. Chris had difficulty tightening some bolts because they required him to move his hand in such a way that hurt his injured hand. He tightened the bolts that connected the ba
An announcement came over the PA system, calling everyone to the conference room. Jackson and Chris were standing in the front of the room, waiting for the rest to show up.“I’ll be honest. I didn’t expect you to build a model so similar to the sketch,” Chris said.“Yeah, I did a pretty good job on it, although I reduced it to one sheath per person. Your design was so complex I was expecting you to put grappling hooks on it. I’ll let you do the briefing on the equipment, and I’ll handle the mission. Sound good?” Jackson asked.“But that’s your device that you built. Shouldn’t you present it?”“Yeah, but it was your idea, so go for it.”By now,
Chris arrived at the arranged meeting place. Jackson was already waiting, with a box in hand, containing the suit and sheaths used in the demonstration.“Well, today’s the day. Are you nervous at all, Chris?” Jackson asked.“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t,” Chris answered.“That’s expected. It’s our first time meeting anyone from the rest of the world. For a month we’ve been confined to these walls. And for the first time, we’re breaking free.”“That was a great motivational speech, if I would have been there to hear all of it,” Evan said, walking up to Jackson.“Well, now that we’re all here, I think it’s time for us to
Chris could hear something in the distance but couldn’t tell whether it was something outside or if it was part of the suit that he didn’t hear before. He scanned the empty field repeatedly. The noise continued to get louder.“Do you guys hear that buzzing noise at all?” Chris finally asked.“I hear something. I figured it was just the suits,” Evan replied.“Check your tank levels. They can sometimes make a buzzing noise when they get low,” Jackson said.Chris looked down at the gauges on his forearm. He still had half a tank of air on his first tank and a full second tank.“My tanks are still good,” Chris said.“My
A small keypad protruded from the ground above the door. Jackson walked up to the keypad. “How much you want to bet the passcode is the same for every bunker?” Jackson joked.“I can’t say I’d put much on that, but it’s better to try than to just wait around,” Chris replied.Jackson punched a code into the grey box. Within seconds, the door slowly opened. A set of stairs appeared under the door that led to a long hallway.The hallway share an appearance with bunker #151. It had one storage room off to the side where the suits were stored, and an elevator at the end of the hall. The only actual difference was this bunker had a working elevator.Chris looked at the sign above the elevator. There was a blinking green arro
The room was empty except for a table and two chairs. Philip had Chris sit in the chair opposite of him. “Let's get this started. What is your name?”“Chris.”“Your full name?”“Christopher Woodsen.”“Thank you. Next question, what district are you from?”“I’m not sure I follow what you mean by district.”“What part of the city are you from?”“I’m not from this bunker.”“Then where are you from?”“Noah’s Ark #151, sir.”“You said 151, correct?”“I did, sir.” Chris could tell this was where the interview was going to go downhill.Philip’s tone of voice changed. He no longer sounded like an angry drill Sargent, but a normal adult. “I don’t recall ever see that number anywhere. Could you tell me where it is?”&ldq
Something wet hit Chris’ face. He looked up to see Alexis standing behind a guard with a knife in his throat. Blood was spraying from his neck. The guards lifeless body fell to the floor. Chris watch three other guards fall around him. One guard remained, the one Evan was supposed to kill.The sound of a gunshot filled Chris’ ears. Evan stood still. The two of them stood frozen, oblivious to the world around them. The guard pushed Evan’s body off of him. It was then that Chris could see the hole in Evan’s chest. The hole was just under where his rib cage would be. A few seconds passed before the fifth guard fell to the floor dead and lifeless.Chris crawled over to Evan’s body. Evan was losing a lot of blood. “Did we win?” Evan asked.“Not yet, but I believe you already won,” Chris replied.“How could I have won when I’m clearly dying.”“You’re not dead yet. We can
The morning air caused goosebumps on Chris skin. It felt almost, relaxing. Today didn’t feel like most days. It wasn’t the same boring uneventful drag that it normal is. Today was the day. The day they would set themselves free. Chris rose out of bed. His body ached from the prison beds that were stiffer than bricks. Lincoln was the only other person awake in the cell. Chris looked at the watch built into his suit. 5:56. Seven hour until the break free. “How confident are you that this is going to work?” Lincoln asked, sitting up to face Chris. “I’m not sure but based on the plan you gave us it should work. The plan’s solid and the determination is there. We shoul
This has been a story that has been five years in the making. This went from a five page 2000 word document that I wrote with the help of a few friends the a well over 40,000 word novel. At this point, I don't have anymore of the story written out. This is due to a career change that takes up most of my time. I hope to continue writing this story and I'm even thinking of a possible sequel, however the process will be much slower than planned. I want to take the time to thank everyone who has read this story and a special thanks to everyone who has or will leave feedback. I wouldn't be able to do this without your support. Thank you, Caleb
“Wrap it up!” Philip bellowed. “Return to the yard for equipment inspection and free period.”Chris leaned over to Lincoln. “Why does the equipment need to be inspected?”“Don’t know. I guess to make sure they haven’t been tampered with.”“Makes sense.”Chris, Alexis, and Lincoln met up the members of cell twenty-five. Chris and Evan walked behind the rest of the group.“Did you find any useful information in your part center city?” Evan asked.“No. Just a bunch of clothing stores. However, the money that I brought with me should be enough for food and clothes for a few days. Alexis gave me the rundown of the city’s basic economic standing. Turns out I have the equivalent of four hundred dollars on me.”“Well I would consider that useful information. All we did was clean near the capitol. It’s a few larger buildings surrou
“Edward, Peter, Lincoln, Alexis, grab your equipment and get to work,” Philip demanded. “Greenies, you’re with me.”“Yes sir!” they replied in unison. The four young inmates grabbed trash bags, gloves, and a grabber and departed into the city. Chris and Evan followed Philip into a small alleyway leading into the outskirts of the city.Compared to center city, these streets were vacant and run down. Each building was two stories tall with a flat room on top. Every building was built to be identical. The color had seemed to drain away leaving nothing but dead looking buildings.“If you don’t mind me asking sir. How come there are so many abandoned buildings here?” Chris asked.“I may have already told you this, but since my memory can be foggy sometimes, I’ll tell you again. When we first arrived here, every building had residents living in them. But due to the lack of jobs, peopl
The morning did not greet Chris with sunlight. Instead, he was greeted by an eighteen-year-old girl screaming in his face.“You need to wake up, Chris. If you don’t, you’ll be sent off to the torture chamber,” she shouted.“Ok, I’m up, and are you sure about the whole torture chamber thing?”“No, but just get up.”Chris saw Lincoln standing in the room’s corner. He looked back at Chris and mouthed the words “I tried to stop her.” As if Alexis waking him up was a bad thing.Chris met up with Evan and his cellmates in the cafeteria for breakfast. “Evan, I need to talk to you about something,” Chris said, signally Evan away from the table. Evan got up and walked over to Chris’ side of the table.“So, what do you want? You here to harass Peter again?”“No, I wanted to apologize to you about how I acted last night. I understand that
The sound of a buzzer came over the loudspeaker. Chris looked around to figure out what this meant. The metal doors of the cell opened. He could hear voices coming from both ends of the halls.“I guess it’s that time of the day already. We must get going before they yell at us for being late to dinner,” Alexis said.“I didn’t think we were here for that long. Guess time passes differently when you can’t notice your surroundings.”“Yeah, we can’t linger around here too long, or else there won't be any food left for us. Still, one benefit of being in here. We don’t have to worry about starving to death.”Alexis grabs Lincoln’s arm and ran out of the cell. Chris followed them shortly after. They encountered a long line of juvenile delinquents lined up in the main hall, waiting to get food. Chris filed in line behind a tall with a muscular physique.“So, how do things normall
The room was empty except for a table and two chairs. Philip had Chris sit in the chair opposite of him. “Let's get this started. What is your name?”“Chris.”“Your full name?”“Christopher Woodsen.”“Thank you. Next question, what district are you from?”“I’m not sure I follow what you mean by district.”“What part of the city are you from?”“I’m not from this bunker.”“Then where are you from?”“Noah’s Ark #151, sir.”“You said 151, correct?”“I did, sir.” Chris could tell this was where the interview was going to go downhill.Philip’s tone of voice changed. He no longer sounded like an angry drill Sargent, but a normal adult. “I don’t recall ever see that number anywhere. Could you tell me where it is?”&ldq
A small keypad protruded from the ground above the door. Jackson walked up to the keypad. “How much you want to bet the passcode is the same for every bunker?” Jackson joked.“I can’t say I’d put much on that, but it’s better to try than to just wait around,” Chris replied.Jackson punched a code into the grey box. Within seconds, the door slowly opened. A set of stairs appeared under the door that led to a long hallway.The hallway share an appearance with bunker #151. It had one storage room off to the side where the suits were stored, and an elevator at the end of the hall. The only actual difference was this bunker had a working elevator.Chris looked at the sign above the elevator. There was a blinking green arro