Chapter Text
Day One:
My name is Ivan, and I am running. Running through my neighborhood, heart hammering in my chest, lungs burning with each desperate breath. Behind me, they are coming—the creatures, the twisted forms of people I once knew, now grotesque, radioactive monsters, victims of the blast. The bomb... it wasn’t just an explosion. It was the beginning of the end.
At first, I thought my friends were just playing a cruel prank, trying to lure me out of the safety of the basement. It was supposed to be a joke. But now? Now I see the truth. There is nothing funny about this. Nothing at all.
I needed to think. What was I supposed to do in a world where everything I once trusted was no longer safe? My mind raced, and the first thing that came to me was gas masks. We needed them. Arty, Mattie, Francis, Alfred, and I—all of us were vulnerable, but together, we might have a chance. But as I sprinted through the streets, I saw the destruction around me. The monsters were everywhere, lurking in the shadows of familiar places, their glowing eyes searching. There was no time to waste.
Where are my friends?
I had to find them. I could feel the weight of the world on my shoulders. They were depending on me, weren’t they? I needed to locate them—quickly. But where would they go in a situation like this? They had to leave me a clue. A sign, a message. Something.
Then it hit me: they had left clues. Four of them, scattered like breadcrumbs, hidden in plain sight. Arty’s clue was the first I could decipher. He always said he’d be in a place we all hated, a place where we’d least expect to find him. "The school," he had once joked, more than once. It made sense now. He'd be there, waiting for someone to find him.
I didn’t hesitate. I had to go to the school.
Time Passed:
The air was thick with smoke as I approached the school grounds. The world was silent in a way that felt unnatural—too quiet for a place that was once full of laughter and life. I couldn’t stop myself from glancing over my shoulder every few seconds, the feeling of being watched too real to ignore.
I pulled out my phone, dialing Arty’s number with shaking fingers. His voice crackled through the line, barely audible, but I could hear the fear in his tone.
“I’m here,” he said, barely above a whisper. “Room 18. Alone.”
“Stay there,” I said, trying to steady my breath. “Don’t move. I’m coming for you.”
But there was one more thing I had to ask. “Do you know where the others are?”
A pause. A hesitant sigh. “Francis gave me a note. I don’t know where Mattie or Alfred are, but…” He trailed off, and I could hear him shuffling the note in his hand.
“Francis said he was hiding in a place we’re all used to playing,” Arty continued. “But I have no idea where Mattie is.”
My mind raced. A place we used to play? I had to think—think. Then it hit me: Francis must be hiding in that hole we played in as kids. The hole that had been our secret place, our refuge. Of course, that’s where he’d go. We’d all go there, but only Francis would be crazy enough to think it was safe now.
I hung up with Arty and set off toward Francis’s house, praying he was still alive. The world had changed overnight, and I had no idea what I was walking into.
Time Passed:
Francis’s house was quieter than it should have been. The windows were dark, and the once-vibrant yard was now overrun by wild weeds, an eerie reflection of the chaos in the world around us. Arty and I circled the perimeter, searching for the entrance to the old play hole, and finally, we found it. The entrance had been covered with a wooden board, but it was unmistakable.
“Francis?” I called, my voice low, but carrying in the stillness.
“I’m here, Ivan,” came the response, followed by a sigh of relief. “Tell Arty I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to leave him behind. I thought I could make it to safety.”
My heart sank. Francis had left Arty.
He explained that Mattie had given him a note, telling him where she would be, and he’d made the decision to go after her first. He thought it would be safer.
I relayed the message to Arty. Francis had already apologized. The tension between them was palpable, but there was no time for lingering grudges. We had to keep moving.
Francis emerged from the hole, and I couldn’t help but pull him into a tight hug. “Let’s go,” I said, trying to ignore the gnawing fear in my gut. “We need to find Alfred.”
Francis was already reading Mattie’s note aloud. “Alfred’s at the place where it all began,” he said, his voice shaky.
The bomb. The blast. The epicenter of this nightmare.
It only took a moment for us all to understand. We had to go there. We had to get Alfred, no matter what.
“Let’s go, now!” I yelled, rallying my friends. Our only priority was survival, and Alfred was our key.
Time Passed:
The site where the bomb had dropped was a desolate wasteland, the air heavy with the scent of ash and destruction. The ruins of what was once a vibrant area now lay in eerie silence, save for the faintest rustle of wind. Mattie was already there, searching desperately for Alfred, her face drawn and pale from exhaustion.
We rushed to the remains of an old building and began calling out for Alfred.
“Alfred? Are you in here?” I shouted, the fear creeping into my voice. “Come on, Alfred, this isn’t funny!”
Mattie was almost frantic now. “Alfred, just come out!” Her voice cracked under the pressure.
I turned to Mattie, concern flooding my chest. “Are you okay?” I asked softly, trying to keep my calm in the midst of all this chaos.
She looked up at me, tears streaming down her face. “I just want them back. My mom, my dad, my brother… They’re gone. The soldiers—they killed them in my own house.”
The weight of her words hit me like a physical blow. The Russian soldiers… They’d done this. They’d torn her world apart.
Without saying anything more, the rest of us pulled Mattie into a group hug, holding her tightly as she sobbed, her grief raw and real. It was all we could offer her.
After a while, we pulled ourselves together. The night was closing in, and none of us had the strength to continue searching in the dark. We needed a safe place to rest, a place to recover from the horrors we’d already witnessed.
As night fell, we began our search for shelter, knowing that the world we once knew was gone—and it was unlikely we’d ever feel truly safe again.