– Washington D.C. Fall of 2038

Kai Mercer stands at about 4’6’’, with a wiry frame shaped by the necessity of the harsh existence. His skin is pale, almost porcelain-like, from years without sunlight, and his cheeks are slightly hollow, though not unhealthy, just unused to fresh air and natural light from a life spent underground. His hair is a tousled mop of dark brown, cut unevenly by hand over the years, with some strands strewn across his wide curious eyes.

Those eyes are striking gray blue. They betray an alert and intelligent young man and are constantly scanning this new and completely unfamiliar world. A world that is alien to him.

Kai wears a patched-up jumpsuit made from durable synthetic fabric, faded from years of use, and yet still too big to lay properly on his body. The knees are reinforced, the sleeves slightly too long and the collar frayed. A small utility belt hangs loosely around his waist, holding a flashlight, a badge that he didn’t fully understand the use of, and a folded piece of paper; his map of the shelter, which is of no use in the outer world.

As he steps into the outside world, Kai squints against the light, his expression is one of awe, and yet he feels a certainty about himself that he knows he should not. This is where he really belongs. This is what he was built for.

The wind tugs at his hair for the first time, and he instinctively reaches out to touch a leaf, a stone, anything real. Finally, something he can hold in his hands, rather than simply an idea in his mind. He feels a certain triumphant glory in his current situation.

Mira Solene, on the other hand, is small for her age, standing just under 4’4’’, with a delicate build that belies her quiet strength. Her skin has a soft, pale tone, but her cheeks carry a faint flush, either from excitement or the sudden exposure to fresh air, it is hard to tell which. Her hair is a cascade of silvery-blonde waves, usually tied back in a loose braid, though strands have begun to escape and dance in the wind for the first time in her life.

Mira wears a soft gray tunic layered over thermal leggings, both stitched and re-stitched over the years. Her boots are hand-me-downs as her parents would say, though it is unclear who they have been handed down from. They are slightly too big, with extra padding stuffed into the toes. A faded scarf wraps around her neck, not for warmth but as a comfort item; embroidered with stars and moons by her mother during the long shelter nights.

She carries a small satchel filled with notebooks, colored pencils, and a few pressed leaves from the hydroponics bay. Her fingers are ink-stained and nimble, always sketching or writing. Mira is observant, empathetic and imaginative, but also more cautious than her dear friend, something both sets of parents are counting on. Mira, they know, will serve as an anchor to Kai’s rudderless vessel.  

As she steps into the outside world, she pauses beside Kai, her hand brushing his as they take in the vastness together. Her breath catches at the sight of a bird overhead, and she whispers, “It’s real,” as if saying it aloud might make it vanish.

“Not too far, and definitely not into other shelters, you understand?” Elira Solene shouted after the two friends. Elira is in her early forties, with a slender build shaped by year of rationing and careful movement within the shelter’s confined spaces. Her skin is pale but smooth, with faint lines around her eyes and mouth, which help to elicit her kind and gentle soul.

“Ah let them explore, you must put your trust in them at some point. We can’t lock them away forever.” Thomas said to his wife. Thomas is a man shaped by quiet endurance. In his mid-forties, he has a sturdy compact build; broad shoulders and strong hands that speak of years spent maintaining the shelters mechanical systems and improvising repairs with limited resources. His days as a mechanical engineer seem like a lifetime ago, but the skills that he developed were incredibly useful in the time best described as “The Winter”.  

“I know, but I worry about them.” Elira replied.

“Worry not my dear, they are strong and resilient, I bet they can survive anything the outside world can throw at them. And it will be good for all of us to get out of this wretched place.” Thomas responded, fully aware that the “wretched place” had kept them alive all this time.

Kai and Mira set off, their joint curiosity seemingly pulling them along. They had heard their parents speak of streets but had never seen them; now they walked along them. The streets are eerily quiet. Asphalt is broken and buckled, overtaken by creeping vines and moss. Trees have begun to grow through cracks in the pavement, and wild grasses sway in the breeze. Nature seems to be reclaiming the city, slowly but persistently.

The children find themselves needing to adjust their strides to an unfamiliar circumstance, they have never walked on uneven ground. The air is cool and carries a faint metallic scent. As they pass by the Potomac River, they see it flowing sluggishly, its banks overgrown and wild, but its waters are clear.

They stop continuously to admire the surroundings. Everything is seemingly new. The flowing water, the buildings, the birds, the clouds. It takes them an hour to travel a mile. So much wonder surrounding them, it is surprising that Kai was able to notice a small wooden hatch a few yards away. He felt himself rushing to it, almost unwillingly, tugged by an unknown force.

A few large branches lay on top of the hatch, but Kai was able to muster the strength to remove them. As he pulled the hatch it opened with a terribly screeching sound due to the rust. This caught Mira’s attention, as she had been off a few yards away, scanning the abandoned streets and buildings.

“You can’t go in there!” Mira shouted, just realizing what Kai was up to.

“There could be others.” Kai replied with a shrug.

“That is exactly the point, there could be others, and they could be hostile.” Mira responded. She had recently learned the word hostile while reading one of the books that had been heretofore too advanced for her to read. She was impressed that she had found an appropriate circumstance to use it.

“If you are afraid you can stay, but I need to see inside.” Kai said sternly.

Mira had spent her whole life with Kai, she knew there was no changing his mind in this circumstance. She decided it was best to go along with him, cautiously of course. She nodded her head to indicate she would follow.

Kai began to lower himself into the shelter using the ladder at the entrance. A musty smell arose from it, perhaps indicating it had been unoccupied for quite some time. As he lowered himself in, Kai realized for the first time that his body felt a sensation, almost like it was burning. But only the parts of his skin uncovered felt this way. This was something he had never experienced before, and he decided to make a mental note of it to discuss with his parents.

Once Kai reached the bottom, he pulled out his flashlight to look around. The shelter was smaller than the one Kai and Mira had been raised in but seemed to have similar accommodations. It also appeared to be empty. Kai waved for Mira to join him; she was waiting at the top of the ladder for a signal.

Once she was fully inside, both children began rustling through the contents of the shelter. Carefully examining each item. Mira immediately noticed some books that were not in their library. They were dusty, but in this world, they were quite valuable. Reading the same stories repeatedly became a joyless activity after a while. Mira sat on a wooden bench to piece through her new treasure.

While Kai felt similarly about books, his curious nature did not allow him to sit by. He needed to see everything here, and he wanted to piece together the mystery of why this shelter was abandoned. He looked around, but he couldn’t see anything that made the shelter unlivable. In fact, there were water tanks for washing with water still in them! Next to the tanks sat a stack of unused HEPA filters for the air filtration system. Why would someone just pick up and leave? Kai continued looking around quietly as Mira read.

Kai began picking up books off the shelf, in this case not to read, but rather to see what was under them, or behind them. Behind one set of books, he found a curious set of papers. He reached back and grabbed a fistful of them. Now he was ready to sit down next to Mira and read.

As Kai began to read, his eyes got wider. Though he couldn’t understand everything that was written, he had enough of a command on the English language to piece together the meaning. He was fully enthralled, carefully examining each sentence. This person, whoever it was, was writing about before “The Winter”, though they had chosen a different name, they called it “The Event”. Both Kai’s and Mira’s parents had been quite tight with information from before “The Winter”. Due to his curious nature, Kai couldn’t stand this. Why wouldn’t they tell him about those times, he had asked what it felt like a million times. The answer had always been the same, there was no use in reminiscing about the past, we must always face forward.