Chapter One: The Widow's Web

Song: Apocalypse by Cigarettes After Sex

My mother's smile was as beautiful and radiant as ever. The fountain behind her splashed in different directions and the sinking sun emitted an orange glow; she looked like a Goddess.

I moved back as I snapped a photo of her with a Polaroid camera. As my finger left the trigger, a giggling child accidentally bumped into me and caused me to drop the camera. The little device shattered loudly as it hit the ground, snatching strangers' attention. The mall was packed today, so many eyes were on me.

As my mother's smile faded, I bent down to pick up the pieces. The Polaroid was a special gift given to my father by a family member who had passed away. My mother, with worried eyes, quickly waved at me to hide the broken pieces in her purse.

"We can fix it," she said as I stuffed the broken Polaroid in her large purse.

I couldn't help but smile at her reaction. She acted like we had just committed a crime and everyone in the mall was a witness, but the curious eyes disappeared as a normal day at the mall slowly came to an end. The child had apologized profusely and begged us not to tell his parents of the accident. We pinky promised and off he went.

"Where's dad?" I asked as I seated myself next to the fountain and stared at my reflection in the water. I dragged the long hairs out of my eyes and moved them behind my ears. My hair was getting long, but I kind of liked it.

"Picking up a few things, he'll be back soon," she said, copying what I had just done with my hair and moving her hair behind her ears to stop it from flowing in the wind.

Our only real resemblance was our brown hair. Her face was square with cheek bones that proved she really was a Goddess and a jawline models would die for. Her eyes were strikingly grey and often left people speechless, with skin so smooth you'd think she was born yesterday.

According to my friends, I was good looking but nowhere near as good as my parents. My friends were also jokers, so anything they said was questionable and completely unreliable too. They kissed my parent's asses too much, just so they could impress them and hopefully get invited to the biggest party, which my parents hosted every year at their private island.

My father and I shared more similarities; our eyes brown, our noses narrow and pointed at the tip, our lips full, but mine weren't as healthy from all the nervous biting I did. Thinking about it made me start doing it again.

I was definitely nervous right now. I had no idea where my father was and we were a long way from home. They hadn't told me anything since we got on the private plane and flown all the way to . . . Bellumstone? It would have been easy to guess they were surprising me with something if it were my birthday, but that wasn't for months. They refused to tell me no matter how much I bugged them about it. Why would a surprise be all the way out here in the middle of nowhere? I'd never even heard of this small town in the first place.

My eyes roamed for an hour, searching for the familiar figure, but it never came. We were somewhere in the middle of a mall, a patio of some sort that people seemed to really enjoy. It was pretty and heavy on the nature, with plants of different kinds surrounding every corner and even some of the benches were adorned with fake thorns. It smelled like a florist's heaven.

I thought long and hard for an answer, but each possibility led me to this town. It was nothing special. There wasn't anything for miles outside of it. Unless the empty land was why we were here. My father loved creating new houses. His designs and talents were incredible. It was the only reasonable explanation. But it still left out why they wouldn't tell me.

"Do we have to wait for him outside or can we go inside?" I asked.

As she opened her mouth to respond, haunting sirens blasted loudly. We covered our ears as one of them was located nearby and pierced our ears. Confused, I looked at my mother who had a terrified look on her face and was shaking from head to toe. Something was very wrong.

I got up and offered her my hand. She took it and I gently pulled her up, as she was pregnant and could barely move without assistance.

"Inside! Inside!" she screamed, shaking my shoulder. Without another second wasted, I swung her left arm over my shoulder and moved us inside the mall where people were frantically running towards the exit.

"What's happening?" I asked as chills ran down my spine from the sirens.

"ALASTAIR!" my mother shouted at the top of her lungs. "ALASTAIR, WE'RE HERE!"

I guided us away from the exit and the wild crowd of people as my mother's voice cried out my father's name. He appeared a minute later, on the second floor carrying a black duffel bag and running as fast as he could towards my mother and I. We couldn't hear each other from the distance and the sirens so we had to communicate via pointing and waving. He wanted us to meet him on the second floor.

There were no escalators, but there was a staircase close to us. The only problem was that my mother had back problems and it could injure her, but by the looks on both of their faces, they didn't really care. My father almost tripped skipping down the stairs to pick up my mother in his arms instead of letting her walk up. He dropped the duffel bag on the floor and assumed I was meant to pick it up.

When I picked up the bag, the ground shook. It was quick and created a low rumbling sound deep beneath the earth. It had to be an earthquake, but I'd never seen a reaction like this from one. I wasn't even aware that sirens went off for earthquakes; weren't they unpredictable?

"Run up the stairs and go right to the end of the hall. There's an open door that leads to the roof, meet us there!" my father shouted.

I brushed past them and followed the instructions. The bag wasn't as heavy as it looked but it sure wasn't empty. Reaching the end of the hall, I found the door. A bucket filled with water was holding it open. There was nothing inside except a small staircase that led to the roof. I looked back to make sure my parents were behind before I ran inside and climbed up.

Red and black. Those were the colors of the helicopter waiting. The blades were spinning fast and ready to go. A man on the wheel looked over to me and waved me forward. I shoved the bag in first and climbed aboard. It wasn't my first time riding one, but the circumstances were not fun or adventurous.

I took the seat furthest from the stairs so that my mother would be able to hop in with ease. My parents appeared in that moment, holding on to their coats as the wind created by the helicopter threatened to rip them off their skin.

Another wave of tremors and the earth wailed. The sounds happening in the air mixed and made my skin crawl like never before. My parents held on to the helicopter and waited out the shaking. Like the first time, it was quick. As soon as it passed, they climbed aboard and we all clicked in our seat belts. My mother watched me, sending me a reassuring smile. But I knew her better than anyone, everything was not fine.

The helicopter took off as my father signaled the pilot that we were ready. As it ascended, I noticed the roof wasn't a landing area for a helicopter. More questions swarmed my mind but for now I chose to ignore them.

There were people running out of the mall and I noticed that some stayed behind to loot the stores. Even in times like these people were just as destructive as the disasters happening. I shook my head and grabbed the headset above me and waved at my father to do the same.

"Hey," I said through the microphone.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Where are we going?"

"Somewhere safe," he said with a smile.

"Do you know what's happening?"

He looked at mother, who just nodded, and looked back at me.

"We're being attacked."

The sirens made sense now, but weren't they for nuclear events? Unless . . . No . . . It couldn't be.

"Is . . . are they nuclear attacks?" I asked nervously, my lips beginning to bleed from the biting.

He didn't respond, but the glistening eyes that looked back said more than a thousand words could. I looked away, unable to keep contact without letting my fear become obvious. My parents worried so much about me that sometimes I felt sorry for my unborn sibling. They were going to have it hard because of me.

My eyes once more went to the ground as the people driving through the streets caught my attention. You could only assume they were trying to get to their loved ones as fast as they could; to either protect them or say their final goodbyes. I was still at the stage of denial because it didn't feel like real life. Bombs? Nuclear at that? And how were my parents so prepared and ready? Did they not know that we couldn't fly away to safety? No matter where we went, no matter how high or how low, it would catch us and disintegrate us in a blink of an eye.

Somewhere safe.

I trusted my father with my life, but how was he going to manage that? We were only humans after all. We couldn't save everyone, some things were impossible.

Yet, they were so calm. My mother stared up at the night sky in awe, almost as if she was counting the stars. My father was visibly the most terrified, but that was always the case with him. I never learned to ride a bike until I was sixteen because he had been scared I'd crash and crack my skull open on the sidewalk.

When we finally left the town, it was surprising how much more land there was around it. It went on for miles. There weren't farms or crops, it was just empty green and lonely roads that lead nowhere.

The sirens could still be heard in the far distance, but they were low and almost gave me a false sense of security, like everything bad was only happening in the town. But like always, fear snuck up to me and made the hairs on my arms stand. The fact that I could still hear the sirens meant it wasn't over and the impending doom was yet to come. Could be minutes, could be seconds.

A strange sound was heard above our heads, only it couldn't be described. I had never heard anything like it before, but if I had one chance to describe it, it would be the sound of the end of the world.

Something suddenly hit the helicopter and caused half of the spinning blades to break off and send us into a spiraling fall. We screamed and held on to our seat belts as our ears flooded with the emergency beeping. We were hit a second time and thrown back into the air like a rag doll. The helicopter lost complete control and we spun until we couldn't figure out which way was up and which way was down. Smoke began to release from the engine and clouded our vision.

As we came crashing down, my mother's screams turned into something out of a horror film. There was nothing I could do for her, for any of them. I couldn't even see my parents one last time because of the smoke, which strangely did not smell like anything, but felt cold like death.

The helicopter hit the ground and the impact did not cause an immediate explosion, but it flipped a few times before it went still on its side. I choked back tears as I opened my eyes and saw my mother was dead. Her face was twisted and full of blood, her angelic eyes still open and now empty. My father was coughing hysterically as he moaned in pain and the pilot was also dead.

"M-mom," I stuttered.

"Lucian," my father called.

No matter how horrifying the sight was, I couldn't look away. She didn't deserve this. It happened so fast. Why did it happen at all? I looked at my father after he called my name a dozen times. He was holding his stomach as blood poured out; a part of the blades had struck him.

"Why?" I said.

"You need to run," he said, his breathing becoming abnormal. "There's no time to explain. Grab the bag and run south as fast as you can until you see a building that looks out of place. I'm sorry that we didn't tell you sooner. W-we love you, son. Now run. RUN!"

I was going to argue, possibly scream and cry and demand I be woken up from this nightmare. But he leaned to the side and was gone just like that. I unbuckled the belt around my waist and my body dropped on the ground. The duffel bag was sitting next to a pool of blood and I had to avoid looking at my parents if I wanted to keep any strength I had left in me. I threw the bag over my shoulders and began to claw at anything I could get my hands on to leave the aircraft. It was a large aircraft, but wasn't difficult to get out of either. When I was out on the green grass, I began to cry.

Nothing was making sense. I couldn't even figure out where south was. I had to look around and draw a map in my head, remember where the helicopter was flying towards and where the town was. I listened to the sounds of the sirens and made a guess I was confident in. I wiped my tears on the ends of my sleeves and ran.

The nearest road was too far for me to run to so I ran straight into the forest. I looked over my shoulder at the helicopter one last time. Pain was not a word that could describe what I felt. An hour ago I thought I was being surprised with a gift and now my parents were gone.

The adrenaline rushing through my veins allowed me to bolt faster through the dark forest until I caught a glimpse of a light. There wasn't anything else for miles, this had to be my sign. The state of the forest threatened to slow me down with every step I took; there were branches and trees and bushes everywhere I looked and some I couldn't go through, but I never stopped running, I never stopped jumping over every obstacle that I faced and I never gave up even as my legs burned and my lungs screamed.

I came out on the other side of the forest and found myself on another plain field of green. The light came from a building shaped like a pyramid but made of total glass. The tip was glowing in different vibrant colors. It was acting as a beacon.

Was this the haven my father spoke of? We had been so close before the helicopter abruptly went down. We could have all made it.

There was a woman waiting by the front doors dressed in a peculiar baby blue peplum dress. She had a bright smile even before spotting me, mustard colored hair tied in a bun and a blue beret on her head. The strange woman did not scare me or intimidate me. I continued running until I reached her.

"Welcome! Are you ready to depart?" she said as I stopped in front of her, hands on my knees as I caught my breath.

"I-I think so?" I was unsure of what to say considering I had no clue where I even was.

"There's no need to cry," she said, her smile widening. "You will be safe. All is good in The Widow's Web."

"Widow's Web?" I said as I wiped my eyes again. I wasn't aware I was crying. My emotions were all over the place that I assumed I was just exhausted from all the running, and that could be partially true, but the black hole in my chest was growing indefinitely.

"Follow me." She beckoned, walking into the building as the doors hissed open. Her heels clacked against the shiny floor we walked over. I questioned her pace, as the end of our lives could be seconds away.

The cold air was nice against my skin, cooled it down after having to run so much in such a short time. The woman stopped at the center of the building, next to a metallic device similar to a podium. The podium had a screen with a small keyboard. There was nothing else in this enormous building. As I joined her, I looked down at the eerie symbol in the shape of a circle. It was a spider web.

"WAIT!" A voice screamed outside.

We both looked up from the podium and saw two families running towards us. My heart skipped as I realized I wasn't alone in this. Maybe my father had been right after all and this was a safe haven of some kind.

The woman checked her watch for a couple seconds, as if counting down in her head, then her smile was gone and she punched numbers into the keyboard and pulled a lever. The floor with the symbol beneath us began to sink. My stomach filled with nerves as I watched the family run faster, but I knew at this rate they would not make it in time.

"Are you not going to wait for them?" I asked her anxiously, almost grabbing her to shake some sense into her, but I decided against it.

She raised her wrist again and watched the clock numbers tick down. There was not an ounce of the previous gleeful personality. Her facial expression was all wrinkled with worry. Her eyes concentrated hard on the numbers like they were the answers to our survival.

"We're not going to make it," she fretted, going back to the podium. "Hold on tight."

"Hold on to what?!" I squealed as she pushed a glowing blue button.

The floor acted like an elevator malfunctioning and fell at a rapid speed. I crouched down next to the podium, held the bag close to me and used all my strength to make sure I did not let go of the only thing keeping me grounded. The woman's clothes were flapping furiously and her hat flew off of her head. Our eyes were pulled up as we saw the hat fly back out of the tunnel we were descending into.

A burning white flash appeared on ground level, followed by a rush of fire and heat that tore through the pyramid. The flames slithered down the tunnel, but after descending a couple of feet, a thick block appeared from the walls around us and closed the tunnel above our heads, enveloping us in darkness and protecting us from the deadly fire of the blast. Unfortunately the block was cracking.

"CAPTAIN!" the woman screamed at the podium, desperately pressing buttons. "RELEASE THE BLOCKS IN LIFT SIX! I REPEAT, RELEASE THE BLOCKS IN LIFT SIX! THE FIRST ONE ISN'T HOLDING AND I USED THE EMERGENCY BREAK! WE'RE COMING IN FAST!"

I couldn't see anything except the dim light at the very top of the tunnel and the blue electric lights from the podium, but it was enough to see the look on her face. Her eyes were full of tears and it made my stomach twist.

"What's happening?!" I shouted over the loud noise created by the lift.

The woman threw herself at the ground as blocks began to release from the walls one by one, connecting to the other side and releasing a putrid smell. We were racing against the blocks because they started from the top and were getting closer until one came too close and cracked the podium in half, sending me flat against the ground with her.

"The tunnels have blocks inside the walls. The blocks are the only thing that are stopping the fire from coming inside and killing us all. Every block is separated by a few feet and once they are released, the empty space is filled with a special substance," she said, the bubbly smile finally returning to her lips. "It dries almost instantly," she continued, "and will protect us. But if a block closes around us, we're dead. Let's hope that doesn't happen."

I could almost feel the pressure of the blocks being released as if they were right over my head. I shut my eyes and waited to either escape this alive or, well, not. The thought that I could die at any moment was almost peaceful. Would it be quick and painless? Would I feel everything and suffer? The nerves were squeezing my insides.

Everything finally went dark as the last tick of power from the broken podium went off. Now it was just the sound of the lift falling and creating high pitch sounds as it tried to slow down. If it wasn't successful, we were going to die when we hit the bottom at this speed.

The lift gave out one last screech as it slowed down to a full halt. We made it to the bottom of whatever this place was in one piece.

Doors behind us opened, casting down burning white light. Four men wearing masks barged in, grabbed us by our clothes and dragged us out. My only reaction was to kick and scream; this did not feel like friendly assistance.

We were pulled down a narrow hall and thrown into a small room with four glass walls and a strange device on the ceiling. The device opened and released a gas-like substance. I panicked, almost tripping over the duffel bag that I hadn't seen.

"No, it's okay," the woman reassured me, her shaky hands reaching out to me. "It's protocol. We might have been exposed . . . to something. They have to make sure we're clean before we enter. Everyone has to go through it, even people who weren't exposed to anything."

The gas landed on my skin and instantly turned icy blue and froze, becoming solid. It crumbled easily as my chest rose from breathing too hard. It didn't hurt. It felt like thin pieces of ice that you could break off with a finger.

"I'm sorry," she said, but it wasn't at me, she was looking at one of the glass walls. "I saw the helicopter from my position and gave them time. I should have gone back down and I take full responsibility for the damage I've caused."

She was apologizing to someone because she waited for me a little too long. But still, she saved my life because of it. And from the looks of it, everything was fine. We survived and I had no idea how.

"Lift two, four, five and seven have been destroyed. Six has been blocked. Leaving us with five working lifts," a female voice said through a speaker.

The woman, whose name was still a mystery to me, looked down in shame.

"I apologize again, captain."

"Get back to work, Calista. And take this young gentlemen with you. There are booths waiting."

Her name was Calista. Knowing it almost made me smile, not because I was happy, but I was glad to know the name of the person that chose to stay behind to give me and my family extra time. Although I was the only survivor, it still meant a lot to me.

She turned to me, collecting herself with a breath of air, and smoothed her hands over the ice on her body and brushed it off. She helped me get rid of mine and then forced that creepy smile again that I could finally see through. I had seen the real her in the lift. This was an act to keep people calm and it kind of worked.

"Follow me." She pressed a hand on the glass and a red scanner appeared, flashing over her fingers. The glass wall opened in half and revealed another hall.

"What is this place?" I asked, picking up my bag and marching down the poorly lit hall.

It didn't look like an ordinary hall either. In the past few minutes I had seen things I thought only existed in fiction. I was leaving behind everything I knew about the world. I just survived a blast, a nuclear blast. How?

"It's called The Widow's Web," she said. "It's an underground bunker."

"A bunker?"

She looked over her shoulder. "Do you not know what a bunker is?"

"I-I do. I just . . . it's not what I imagined a bunker would look like."

She looked back ahead. "The Widow's Web was created by a brilliant architect who just happened to have a few millionaire friends. They created this place knowing we were very close to a nuclear war."

"How big is it?" I asked.

"You'll see." I could hear the smile in her voice.

There was a black door at the end of the hall. Calista pressed both hands on the wide door and waited. Everything seemed to be operated by futuristic buttons or hand prints and I wanted to ask how reliable that was, but I was just an eighteen year old with zero clue on how technology worked, so I'd rather not embarrass myself.

Calista pushed the doors open and walked though. I stood behind for a couple seconds while I took the view in. It was one of the biggest rooms I had ever seen in my life. There were booths inside the walls, eight of them, with people lined up in front of each.

"Go to booth eight, they want to speak to you," Calista said as she walked down the steps in front of the door. She went over to help a woman who was lost and I assumed I was on my own now.

The room was large, but it still felt crowded. How were all those people here? Did they all come through the lift? I wasn't going to lie to myself, but it was becoming increasingly hard not to explode from the emotions inside me. Seeing all the families together felt like a stab in the heart.

Booth eight was at the end of the room to my right and had no line. I walked to the empty line and looked up. The number eight had been painted largely above the curtains that provided privacy to who ever was inside. I stepped in and almost tripped, not expecting it to be so tight and claustrophobic. I was expecting something else, not a literal photo booth. There was no photo screen in front of me, only a woman sitting behind glass and a bench for me to sit on.

I sat down, placing the duffel bag between my legs. The woman was wearing the same odd uniform that Calista wore, only this woman's hat was white and not blue.

"Welcome to Widow's Web, please put your hand under the scanner," she said, her voice kind and sweet.

A device popped out from under the glass. I placed my hand under it and a light flashed, followed by a painful burning sensation. I winced and pulled my hand back, looking at the woman in shock.

"What was that?" I asked when she didn't give me an answer.

"We need your blood to gather information," she said. "It helps us know which medication you will need if something were to go wrong. It also allows us to detect if you have any diseases and cure them."

"Oh."

"Aha!"

"What?" I said, almost jumping at her reaction.

"You're the first person I've checked that turned out one hundred percent clean," she giggled.

"What does that mean? Does everyone have diseases or something?"

"Well, yes, but it also detects future complications like cancer. We are able to determine when, where and how, but it doesn't matter, we've cured them all. Everyone is and will be healthy in the Widow's Web."

I blinked. "H-how is that possible?"

"I see here that you were signed up as a family of four. Where are the others?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "They're . . . they didn't make it. It's just me."

"I'm sorry."

My eyes burned and I had to keep blinking to stop myself from shedding tears. I wanted to sink into the ground and disappear, but I was trying to stay strong as long as I could before I allowed that to happen—before I accepted the truth.

"I just want to know what's going on. I'm completely in the dark and they didn't tell me anything."

She nodded, seeming to understand me.

"There's a program only a selected people knew about called The Spider. It's the same program that funded the creation of this place. Your parents were provided with information and they, like thousands of others, joined the movement. They donated millions of dollars and were allowed entry. This was five years ago."

"Five years ago?"

"That was when construction began. I cannot reveal classified information, but what I can tell you is that everything your parents did was to make sure you were protected. I am very sorry that they were not able to make it."

"I have so many questions . . ."

"They will be answered, I promise," she said sincerely. "But right now, we're working very hard to let everyone in. Access six, which is the room we're in, has the least amount of people of all ten. A little over two thousand people are being entered into the system. Once that is complete, everyone will be called to a special place in the center of The Widow's Web where the captain will make a speech and answer questions you may have."

"Okay."

"Good! Now please put your hand through the screen."

"What?"

"Don't worry, the glass is not there and I won't pinch you. You are required to wear a specially designed bracelet."

Like the one Calista had, I thought.

I hesitantly moved my hand through the glass and felt a metallic accessory slapped over my wrist. I pulled back and examined the silver bracelet. It was just like Calista's. It had a screen that I assumed would be for more than just time and my full name on the back.

"Is that all?" I wondered.

"I have something to ask you, and you don't have to do it, but I have a family of nine in web five that have a small room—"

"You want to give them my room?"

She flustered and nodded. "It's just, some families weren't able to afford a bigger room, and I mentioned your family paid millions of dollars, but what I didn't mention was that it was millions per unit. Your room is one of the most expensive ones. You don't have to do it, but if you do, you will receive a smaller room, and it doesn't end there."

"Yeah, sure, do it, I don't care."

My family was rich, I'd always known that, but I was never attracted to luxuries. If it was just me now, why would I need a large and expensive room when a big family could really use it? It wasn't even a debate. It may even be better for my mental state not to be in a large room that would constantly remind me it was supposed to be occupied by my family.

"Please take a look at the map on the screen," she said as images popped up on the glass that separated us.

It was a map of the entire bunker, which closely resembled a spider web. The bunker was split into ten sections, and each section was cut up into six parts. Those six parts were called webs. Webs were the halls that contained the rooms. "Originally, you and your family had a Web 1 room in Section 6." Web 1 was the closest to the center and had few rooms because each one was extremely large in size. "There's only twenty of these special rooms, one which your parents acquired, and if you accept, you will be moved here." An orange line appeared as she dragged her finger across the glass. She tapped Web 6 and highlighted it in red. It was the furthest web in each section and had hundreds of rooms all around.

"Yeah, I accept."

She swiped the screen and made the map disappear. "You will still have your family's credits, so you'll be able to afford anything you need right away, as opposed to either working or waiting for the weekly paycheck."

"Credits?"

"It's our currency." Another image appeared on the glass, this one of the bracelet, showing how it held all of your credits and it was basically used as a credit card and an identification card all in one. "Everyone will be required to work together one way or another and will be paid in credits. Because your family donated an incredible amount of money, you were given a bonus to start off, and it's a lot. You don't ever need to work."

"Can you give half of it to the family?" I asked.

"I can, would you like me to do that?"

"Yeah."

"You'll still have plenty, so no need to worry about anything else, unless you decide to live for a hundred years," she laughed madly and stopped suddenly. "Like I said, that's not where things end. I have another boy outside my booth who . . . is not supposed to be here." She replaced the photos on the glass with a video of the guy she spoke of. He was standing in a corner looking scared and confused. "According to him, he was staying with a friend when everything happened. The thing is, his friend's family has admission, he does not. He isn't supposed to be here, but it's not like we can throw him out. It's complicated because the system works with the device around your wrist, and he does not have one. We cannot give him one, because there wasn't one created for him."

"So . . . you want me . . . to . . . what exactly?" I asked, confused.

She sighed. "I can't ask anybody else, that's why you were called here specifically. We assumed who you were and we were right. You are the son of Alastair Mars, and you are Lucian Alastair Mars. What a name."

"Are you asking me to take care of him?" I raised my brows, again confused. The stranger looked about the same age as me and I could not take care of myself let alone another person, especially in my ridiculous situation.

"No, not exactly. We can't give him a bracelet, so he can't earn credit and won't be able to buy food and supplies and anything he needs. But you can help him, if you decide you want to, with your credits. He'll become your roommate, since your room is for two, and you can help him with food and little things here and there. We'll try our best to provide him with assistance, but with the way the system works, it makes it really hard."

"I mean, do I really have a choice?" I said, looking up at the screen and staring at him. "Like you said, I have a lot of credit and I can help people with it."

"Oh, wonderful, thank you!" she said, jumping in excitement. "You just made my job so much easier."

A pamphlet dropped from the ceiling and made me scream. My heart raced and I had to take a few deep breaths to calm down. I opened it up while the woman did her job. The pamphlet had all of the information I needed. I was going to be reading it all night as a way to distract myself so I wouldn't think about what happened, but eventually I'd have to face it.

"Oh, um, I have a bag with me, if that's something you need to know," I told her.

"No worries. Remember the lift you were on?"

I'd rather not, I thought.

"Yeah."

"It scans everything. We already know and it's safe to take with you."

"What do I do now?" I asked as she stood up.

"There's a map in the pamphlet I gave you. It has directions to your room. When you leave the booth, head over to the young boy and tell him he'll be with you. I've already spoken to him about the situation and promised him I was going to find someone to help him. Once you're in your room, just get comfortable, read the pamphlet and try to get some rest. The captain will announce an assembly tomorrow morning and everyone will be joining."

"Do I leave now?" I asked, feeling awkward as she stood there watching me with the familiar creepy smile.

"Yes."

I got up from the bench, retrieved the map from the pamphlet and put the rest of it away in the duffel bag. I waved goodbye at the woman and mouthed a thank you. There were still many people when I exited the booth and if it had the least amount, I really wondered how many people there were in the others. Thousands? I wouldn't be surprised from how big the bunker was on the map.

Tomorrow morning, if they allowed us to ask question, I was definitely going to ask about the nuclear blast and how this place was able to protect us. It shouldn't have.

I searched around for the stranger I was meant to take care of and found him sitting on the floor in one of the corners. He was crying, which I hadn't noticed on the video. As I inched closer to him, I realized that I was not the only one who lost people.

"Hey, my n—" I froze when I saw the color of his eyes. They were blue, but such a peculiar blue that it could be considered grey. They were beautiful and so haunting from the tears. I couldn't stand looking at them for more than a few seconds, so I looked away and pretended I was shy. "My name is Lucian, Lucian Mars. I'm supposed to take you with me. I guess I'm like your guardian now or something."

"Okay," was all he said as he stood up, and I was not expecting the deep voice from how innocent and youthful he looked. His reaction was supposed to be mine, but I handled things differently than most people. Eventually I'd crumble, but for now I was strong because I needed to be.

"What's your name?" I asked as I looked down at my map.

"Vincent," he replied, choking back tears.

I had to look back at him. His eyes were going to be a distraction, but it wasn't a bad one. It would be a reminder that people like him and my mother were special. And there was comfort in that, like maybe Vincent and I were going to be best friends and he was going to become what grounded me in a place like this. Maybe we were here in this moment for a reason.

"Ready to see our room?" I asked, trying to keep my tone hopeful.

He nodded, his sandy blonde hair bouncing just over his eyes. I could tell it wasn't his natural hair color because his eyebrows were dark brown. But I liked it, it suited him nicely. He looked . . . pretty, in a way.

We walked together down the only hall. My bracelet instantly became useful, as I needed it to go through doors. It was also answered why Vincent needed someone like me. He wouldn't be able to do anything here without the bracelet.

"Thank you, by the way," he said after a few minutes of silent walking.

"For what?"

"The woman told me what had to be done and you didn't have to do it. Thank you."

"Yeah, no problem."

Access six was separated from the rest of the web. They were only there to provide a safe and organized entry to the actual bunker. Our room was pretty close to the access. We went down another long and dark hall, which seemed to be a common thing, like maybe they didn't have time to install more lights. It made sense because most of the walls weren't painted and had a grunge incomplete look about them.

And how prepared could you really be for a nuclear bomb? They ran out of time, it was obvious.

According to the map, we were approaching the final door that would lead us into the web, specifically Web 6. That was where most of the rooms were. Web 1 was where I would have been with my family and also where the most wealthy resided.

It wasn't the prettiest scenery. Web 6 was dark, following the same incomplete look from before. The walls weren't painted and every room we passed had wooden doors with numbers in white. The map said our room number was 1242.

We passed hundreds of faces, most who had glazed eyes and hunched shoulders. The only ones not affected by the grief were the children, who were clueless.

"This is it," I said as I stopped in front of room 1242. There was nothing that distinguished the room from all the others. All of the doors were the same except for the numbers.

I waved my bracelet in front of the door scanner. After a few seconds, the door clicked and unlocked. I looked at Vincent, who had long stopped crying, and pushed the door. I entered first and curiously inspected the four walls. It was . . . okay. There were two beds of decent size, two closet doors and a bathroom at the back of the room. I threw my bag on the left side bed and sat on the edge.

Vincent walked in nervously and sat on the other bed, watching me, his eyes still red and dark and mysterious.

Now that everything was quiet, my thoughts roamed freely. I made a ball with my fists and covered my mouth, breathing deeply and irregularly. Every time I blinked, clear images formed in my head, turning my eyes watery. It was going to be more difficult staying sane than I thought.

______

[Author's Note]: I'm screaming! I can't believe this story is finally out. I've been working on this story since last year. Originally I was going to release it last Halloween, but that didn't happen because I didn't have enough time. I am so proud of finally releasing something new after so long and I hope you guys enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please don't be afraid to let me know if you've spotted errors, or if you don't have positive feedback, I accept all types of reviews and criticism (but try not to be rude, you can do it without being rude, I'd just be rude back at you). If you don't have any feedback, at least post a comment letting me know if you like the story so far!