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It had been two days since the aliens had attacked¸ two days since his parents were killed, and two days since the world had ended. Sebastian was in school at the time; his classmates and his friends had spotted something through the window. It was a HoverShip, a model that Sebastian had never seen before, and it was carrying something. It flew over the city and past the landing ports, and all Sebastian could remember after that was white light and the smell of dust and smoke.
***
"You seem stressed." The IV&N had been blinking red for days now, always telling Sebastian something he already knew, it got on his nerves.
"IV&N, stop emotion detection." Sebastian said, making sure to speak clearly.
IV&N’s light blinked once, twice, "Please enter parental password to deactivate emotion detection." That was the standard response that IV&N gave, monotone and perfectly programed. There was no way to turn it off. Sebastian let himself sink into the rubble he was leaning on. The IV&Ns were meant to be this amazing invention that tracked emotions and told you what your body needed and how much sleep you had gotten and so on.
Due to their features, IV&Ns had to be connected to a blood vessel and tissue to run around the clock analyses, and that meant they were attached by doctors, and Sebastian thought bitterly, unlocked by doctors. Sebastian didn't remember the last time he saw an actual doctor, he likely wouldn’t see another, most of them had been killed in the Tragedy.
That’s what Sebastian had come to think of it as, that’s what it had been. As far as he knew he was the only one left in the city. Sebastian struggled to his feet, lately it had been much more difficult to get up. His head hurt, and he felt like he was going to throw up, but he kept walking anyway. Sebastian shuffled through the city, past the burned down bakeries and the long-since deserted schools. He used to walk this way once, but it felt like a lifetime since he had done so. A lifetime in two days. He looked up at the photosynthesis plants and tears threatened to spill from his eyes. The building was beautiful, and even after its collapse green vines and lush leaves ran up and down the crumbling walls.
Its beauty wasn’t what had brought tears to his eyes, no, it was for a different reason entirely. His parents had made that building not eight years ago. His father, the head architect, designed every detail, while his mother perfected the technology. It was their pride and joy, and now, not even that remained. Sebastian choked back a sob and walked past, saying his final goodbyes, and paying his respects to the definite end of his former life.
Only him and IV&N remained, and he followed the map on his wrist to Station-131. He walked down the stairs, dodging debris and detritus, and onto the main platform. The station was empty, as he thought it would be, but the maps were still working even if the screens were cracked. He clicked the screen and cool light flooded his vision. He studied the Hyper-Route, looking for the most efficient way to leave the city. He found Route-NY_PA_1, a direct route. He had heard that’s where most of the bunkers were built, perhaps there were other survivors like him, perhaps there was no one like him.
"IV&N, are there any Loops running?" Sebastian asked, the map on his wrist changed to the line that moved when the voice spoke.
"Yes, the next Hyper-Loop will arrive in," IV&N paused, Sebastian's heart skipped a beat, "six minutes."
Sebastian nodded, not that it would matter to IV&N, and turned to look at the clock. It flashed the time, 12:03, and the date, 6/23/98, it would be his birthday in three days. He had forgotten, war and survival had a way of doing that. He would have been eighteen, it hardly seemed to matter now, but remembering things, trivial things such as birthdays helped keep him sane. It would have been his best friend Levi’s birthday too he realized, and it made him angry. They had taken everything from him, his parents, his best friend, his life, taken everything in seconds, destroyed cities like they were toys. His blood boiled, he felt anger, and rage in a way he had never experienced.
The Loop glided to a stop in front of him and all emotions dissipated as fast as they had appeared. He stepped onto the hovering train and walked to a seat near the front of the Hyper-Loop. Sebastian took note that the back of the train had been ripped off, the magnetic links must have been severed when a tunnel collapsed. Sebastian fell into the seat, he was exhausted, either from travel or something else he couldn’t tell, he decided to ask IV&N about it later. The kid looked around the train spotting a map on a nearby wall ‘Two hours until next stop’ the sign read. Sebastian sighed in relief, he could sleep, at least for a short while, hopefully he would feel better when he woke up.
***
Sebastian did not feel better when he woke up, if anything he felt much worse. The train was gliding to another stop, Sebastian felt hope for the first time in days. He was going to make it. A wave of nausea crashed over him, and his head started to ache.
“IV&N run wellness diagnostic.” Sebastian said through gritted teeth. He stumbled out of the Hyper-Loop, leaning on a wall for support, listening to IV&N’s whirls and clicks as it ran tests. Then it beeped.
“You have Radiation Sickness. Please seek medical help immediately.” IV&N said, in its monotone voice, unbothered that the wearer was dying as it spoke. Sebastian leaned his head back against the wall, he needed to reach the bunker soon, there was no time to waste. They had treatment for this, he knew they would, all he had to do was make it a few more hours.
Sebastian took a deep breath and tried to keep his balance as he walked up the stairs of Station-411.
“IV&N, pull up the map to the bunkers.” Sebastian said after he crested the stairs. The screen flashed green, then the maps appeared, 8.6 miles to the bunkers. He stepped into the murky-red daylight and breathed in the suffocating smell of dust and heat. This new city was a maze of broken glass, mirrors, and blazing warmth.
Sebastian wondered briefly if he would be able to walk the rest of the way. He didn’t have time to finish that thought before a group of Hover-Bikes came floating down the street. The time limit must have expired, after all, there was no one left to use them. He watched as the Bikes drifted back to their docking stations, as if inviting nonexistent onlookers to test them out before the time was too late.
Sebastian woke from his daze and stumbled over to one of the Bikes as it curved to his left to avoid him. He caught the Bike firmly and touch IV&N to its screen. The Bike’s lights turned from light blue to a glowing green to show the bike was in use. Sebastian transferred the map onto the Bike screen and an automated voice, a more feminine version of IV&N’s, spoke.
“Located confirmed, projected time, 45 minutes.” The bike responded. Sebastian was so close to the goal he could cry. He mounted the bike and buckled into the seat as the Bike started to rise.
The ascent stopped about 3 feet in the air and the Bike moved with ease along its automated path, dodging rubble, and other Bikes as necessary. The ride felt almost normal, and Sebastian was reminded of how much things had changed. The Bike stopped at every light and slowed at the street corners. After some time had passed, the Bike had taken him out of the city and into a blackened meadow. The machine stopped, lowered, and urged Sebastian to leave for he had arrived at his destination.
He looked around at the ashen fields, all that he could see was a seemingly endless dusty path. Sebastian took a breath and started to walk, his legs were unsteady, and he barely remembered to tell the Bike to return to its docking station. As his mind cleared from the reverie of the ride, he realized that the zoning boundaries must have restricted how far the Bike was able to go. He turned to IV&N, 1.2 miles to go. He could make it.
***
The walk seemed to take hours and as the sun was starting to cast its final rays, the sky turned into a hazy reddish orange color. Sebastian silently chastised himself for hoping it would be the beautiful pinks, yellows, and oranges of his childhood. Scientists had mostly removed pollutants from the air and with it drained the sunset, like an apple of juice. He moved on until his shoes hit something hard. Something metal.
Sebastian looked down to find a hatch. No, not quite a hatch, closer to metal plating, and no, it couldn’t be. Closer to a path. Sebastain picked up his pace, he started to run, then to sprint, ignoring the fire in his legs and the screaming of his lungs. He crested the hills and there it was. A perfect stone archway buried in the mountain. Sebastian slowed his pace and walked up to the door, touching it to make sure it was real. Now that he was here, he had no clue what to do. Student guidebooks never went over proper doomsday bunker etiquette he thought with a dry laugh.
He decided that knocking was as good as anything. After a few moments a slit in the door opened, Sebastian had heard of doors with places for someone to look outside, but this technology was so primitive. Most doors had cameras for this purpose. Even so, Sebastian took a step closer, ready to introduce himself.
“Stay back, how do I know you aren’t one of them?” A voice from inside the shelter said. The voice was scratchy, defensive, and accusing but Sebastian welcomed it. Two days of nothing but robots and the voice in his head had deprived him of this. Sebastian let the tears fall and not long after sobs ripped through him. He had come so far, so far, and now that he was here the shock and the overwhelming enormity of his situation settled onto him. The door opened, just a crack at first, then wider, allowing him to walk in.
The shelter was illuminated with the same glow from outside, fake windows lined the wall letting in a false sunset. Farther down the hall people bustled, looking for something to do, for a way to be useful. Sebastian’s tears had subsided, but he felt numb. He distantly felt a hand lead him down winding corridors and into a bright room. He went through the motions of undressing for a shower and dressing in sterilized clothes, something about the radiation a woman told him. The man had gone, and in his place the woman dressed his wounds and gave him something that numbed his mind further. He was taken to a room that was lit with dim moonlight from a false window. The fact that there were two beds, both empty, dully occurred to Sebastian as he climbed into one and drifted off into a dark and blissfully dreamless sleep.
***
Sebastian awoke to the door opening and a sharp pain in every part of his body. He struggled to sit up and watched as someone else was led into the room looking as bad as he felt. His vision swam but when his eyes finally focused, he realized that he recognized the person in front of him.
“Levi?” Sebastian croaked. His throat hurt and every nerve screamed for him to sit down. Instead of listening he got out of bed and tried to walk over to his friend, but he only managed a few steps before his legs gave out. Levi walked to his side and sat down next to him; he didn’t look like he had been given emotion suppressants like Sebastian had the night before.
“Is it really you?” He didn’t have to ask because Levi was already pulling Sebastian into a hug, tears streaming down his face. Sebastian put his head on Levi’s shoulder, and they sat together, frozen like statues, afraid that if they were to let go, the other would simply vanish.
After what felt like hours, they gradually separated and looked at each other. They both looked worse for wear and at that sight they laughed. They laughed until tears streamed down their faces, washing away the sorrow of the past, flowing into a hopeful future.
They spent the next few days in the medical ward and their rooms, passing time with card games and stories. They talked for hours about everything and nothing, where they had been, what they had seen, and what they had someday hoped to see.
In time they were released into the main common of the bunker and spent their days cleaning and watching others while they were on break. Sebastian was cleaning the tables in the cafeteria when he overheard a conversation about the war. Most people avoided the subject, but he thought that maybe he should bring it up to Levi.
***
"Levi?” Sebastian asked tentatively. Levi looked over and gave him a questioning look. “What do you think of the war?”
His face darkened in a way Sebastian hadn’t seen in a long time, but he didn’t seem to be angry, just sad. “I wished they hadn’t started it. I wish that none of this had happened. Those aliens, what did the government call them?” He looked over to Sebastian.
“Humans, I think” He responded. Levi nodded and continued.
“If they hadn’t started this war, just because we were a little different, then I think we could have been a good pair. Like you and me but us and Humans.” He paused and looked at Sebastian, “We could have had peace, you know?”
Sebastian squeezed his hand, their matching IV&N scars mirroring each other, “I think I like that idea.” He said, a sad smile spread over his face, “Peace.”
Sebastian rested his head on Levi’s shoulder and Levi leaned into the touch. And there they sat, watching a false sun set through the windows, taking comfort in the others company, wondering what might have been, wondering if there would ever truly be peace.