Survivor
In this world, there are events unfolding that will change many people. But the reality of this world is not all grim. For within a small shelter, the love of the world can be seen. A love, few know or learn of but one that we all should take heed of. Cause even when the world of some end, this love can still be found.
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Slowly, with a slight grogginess, I shook my head. As my senses cleared up a little I could hear a bit of what sounded like voices. I slowly focused into the conversation, straining my ear to hear the voices. "Do you know what happened?" one voice that sounded female said. "No, it was so fast, I was lucky enough to get in well before it happened, but I don't know when or why they launched." a voice with a gruff and deep male voice said. Slowly with quite a bit of effort, my eyes opened and started to adjust to the light of where ever I was.
We were in a bunker, a square shaped nuclear shelter. I shake my head, to focus my sight on the two people that were talking. One was a male, a very strong looking dragon. The other was a woman, a feline that looked particularly strong yet still had a very lithe and feminine look. With a long groan I slowly rose to my feet. As I reached my full height I looked around the shelter, finally able to see the room I was within with no obstructions.
As I looked about the shelter I noticed yet another person in the shelter. Sitting in a far corner was a female fox child, that couldn't have been older than eight years old. I turned my head back to the only other two in the shelter a moment longer, and then I shook my head. They were so engrossed in their conversation that they never noticed the child. With a heavy sigh and a grunt I hugged the wall and used it to support me as I walked over to the child slowly.
I finally reached the child and slid down slowly next to her, she didn't even notice me as she held her head and cried. I just sat there, next to her for some time before I finally spoke up, "What's wrong?"
She sat there sniffling for a minute longer, before finally raising her head and looking at me. Slowly with tears flowing steadily she shook her head, she placed her hands open palmed into her face and cried even harder into them. It wasn't hard to understand what happened, I put my arm over her gently and held her tightly. "It's okay child. It's okay." I said, slowly and gently. She stayed there not brushing me off, just crying into her hands as her whole body started to shake.
I kept ahold of her tightly as she cried, trying my best to comfort her. After what felt like an hour of comforting, she finally looked up again as she cried and asked, "Why? Mommy and daddy never hurt no one..." With a sigh and shook my head slowly, then said, "It wasn't their fault, this was nobody's fault."
She grabbed ahold of my waist and hugged me tightly, as she cried even more. I just shook my head and began to rub the back of her head gently. With her crying even louder the other two finally noticed and saw the child. They slowly came over and looked at the child for a moment. Finally, the woman asked, "Are you her father?" The child cried even harder and I looked up shaking my head. "Don't speak about that right now, this is hard enough for her.", I said quickly and harshly. The woman cringed at my words but nodded understanding now what happened.
The dragon stood there, watching me and the child with saddened eyes. The feline walked slowly to the child and slid down next to her against the wall. After a short while, she reached a shaky hand and started to rub her back, as she sung a quiet lullaby into the child's ear. We all just stayed around the child soothing her till she finally fell asleep. The woman gently lifted the child out of hugging me and held her gently still singing in her lap.
The man started to shake with anger as he walked over to a wall, he raised an arm as he reached the wall and slammed his fist into it as hard as possible causing a knuckle to bust open and bleed out, "Why the fuck did this have to happen? What the fuck did we do to deserve this?" I sat where I was quietly staring at the floor, as the dragon started to swing his fists into the wall over and over again releasing his anger. I slowly closed my eyes and remembered the announcement that day, the one none of us believed would come true.
It wasn't long ago, maybe thirteen or fifteen hours before now. I had just gotten back from a meeting at work and I was anxious to watch the newest sitcom on TV. The moment I turned on the TV though, it wasn't my show it was a reporter who was sweating as he read a report. "At two thirty five A.M standard mountain time...a declaration of war was issued between north Korea against the United States of America. Shortly afterward China also declared war on America. Both nations are threatening to fire all their nuclear armaments at America if their demands are not met." He sighed and shook his head as he read the next section, "The president of the United States issued this statement in response to the threat."
The screen changed to an older white man. "We, the people of America, as a whole, will never back down from an absurd and weak challenge, by these Asian countries. We will not back down, from any challenge presented to us. We, the people of America, will never submit to those who point weapons and expect us to cower. We, the people of America, are strong."
The screen changed back to the reporter and he finished his report. "In case the Asian offensive does launch their missiles. I ask that you head to your nearest nuclear shelter, and wait for a future update. That is all, may all of us in America be proud that we will not back down from cowards who use force and aggression to get what they want."
I shook my head again and sighed. I had made it just barely when I heard on the radio before it went static that the joint offensive against America had launched their armaments against us and we had launched our own against them. After that it was all a blur because the moment I entered, the door closed and locked itself. The missiles hit, from the shaking of the shelter it's safe to guess one of theirs hit near us.
I guess I got knocked out from the blast, and now I'm here. I finally looked up and asked, "Are we all that's left?" Nobody said a thing, as the child slept we looked around the room for more people. There wasn't anyone else...we were the only ones that made it. Until we saw two pairs arms on the floor near the door. One pair was female and had a wedding ring on, the other male also with a wedding ring on.
We all looked at each other, and then I remembered the last moment before the bombs fell, I wasn't the last one. As the doors shut a child was pushed into the shelter, the arms that pushed the child in got caught on the door yet kept closing snapping off the arms in the process. The child was the one in the woman's arms right now; her parents pushed their child into here to save her. We all started to cry then, I don't know why they cried but I know why I cried...I cried for the act of sacrifice those parents did to let their child survive.