Chapter 1
Opening the wooden door I entered the room to be greeted by the rusty squeak of hinges and the groaning creek of old floorboards, my old boots padded lightly on the floor as I passed a small sparse kitchen with its old coal furnace dimly lighting a lone table at its center. Opening the adjacent door it lead to a small bedroom containing a double bed and nightstand bathed in the light of a small kerosene lamp that flickered from the table beside the wardrobe. I entered the room and sat on the bed sighing in relief at finishing another hard day’s work, eventually taking off my boots to then lay back and relax.
My name is Miles James Leo, I prefer just Miles honestly. I'm a 23 year old man who works in the mines almost all day. It ain't the best paying job, but it keeps you goin' for a few. Today it wasn't much, we were let off early for tomorrow's the big day. What is this 'big day' you ask. We'll it's simple, we humans according to our history books, have been dwelling what we call "the bunker" for 100 years so far. It is claimed by our ancestors that we finally open the gates that leads to what the elders call "the surface."
I was always curious to what "the surface" is, my grandfather always talked about it and wanting to return soon, so I asked him about it and he told me so many great things, such as "rivers, lakes, grass, trees, mountains, etc." It was foriegn to me, but we were told by our leader that the surface was forbidden, that we must wait until the "mamono" were gone. 'Mamono' I thought, what are they? I was told by our teachers that "mamono" were 'evil' beings that devour humans, and spread darkness to the surface. I was for the first time in life scared. Scared for something that I have not even seen with my own eyes.
However, I thought to myself, '100 years.' That's a long time, especially after the "great purge." What is the "great purge" you ask. We'll according to what our teachers told us, the Great Purge was when The Chief Goddess unleashed a devastating virus that killed 'heretics.' Heretics by the way, at least told by our teachers, were humans such as ourselves that give there body away as slaves to the mamono for reproduction. I thought it was sick, and to this day, I STILL think it is.
Anyways so, our ancestors 100 years ago that went into the bunker, were called "the chosen ones." For we were told that The Chief Goddess gave willpower to the chosen ones to build this bunker in safety of humanity. So once the bunker was complete, 2,000,000 humans were sent in as the rest of the heretics on the surface were killed. However, it was only humans though, the mamono were left on the surface to die, because 100 years with no men and mamono being only female, surely we can reclaim the surface as the rightful owners we are.
(I shall continue in chapter 2 in future updates...)
Chapter 2
I then lay myself onto the soft feathered mattress as my body sunk in slightly. I adjusted my body to whereas the pillow would comfort my head and my legs. I pulled the blanket over myself as my eyes begun to feel heavy. Then before knew it, I was asleep…
“Miles”…
I jerked myself from what I thought was my bed, I looked around my surroundings, and my expression dropped, for I was not in my room, clearly. I sat on a white floor, as well as the rest of the room, I yelled out a ‘Hello’ to find out it echo’s infinitely …
“Who’s out there?” I asked hesitantly, my voice echoing yet again.
“Miles… There’s no need to be afraid, humanity has nothing to fear…” The mysterious voice cooed softly.
“Who are you and where am I? Show yourself!” I demanded, raising my voice.
“In time…” The soft female voice echoed once again, before slowly fading away…
“HEY!!” I ran to reach out to where I thought the voice was, to only find myself instantaneously jerking myself out of my actual bed, my arm still attempting reaching out in midair…
I sat there, processing what I just went through. ‘What the hell was THAT about?’ I thought.
“Whatever, it’s just a crazy dream…” I said to myself, reassuring my mind’s sanity.
I turned my body over to the edge of the bed and let my feet relax themselves onto the soft carpet. I then got up and walked lazily over to the washroom. My hand reached into my back pocket and reached out to pull out a small tinderbox. Opening the case, there revealed a piece of soft cloth and a small hint of iron and a finger sized flint rock. I got out the three contents and stroked the iron lightly on the flint, making a spark onto the dry piece of cloth, it caused it to make a small fire in my hand.
I quickly picked up the burning hot piece of wool and approached the nearest candle and lit it up, causing the radiant candlelight to bathe the entirety of the washroom. There was a large bucket of water and a hole in the ground that acted as the drain. There on the side was a small bar of soap and a loofa.
I stripped my clothing from my body and hung them on the hook near the door. I walked over to the wash area, and picked up the bucket. I then poured the surprisingly warm water over my body. ‘Huh, I don’t remember water being THIS warm?’ I thought suspiciously. I ignored it, and proceeded to scrub my body down with the lavender scented soap bar. The smell was decent, at least it kept it from people avoiding you. Hell I learned that the hard way. Heh.
My body, now drenched in slippery scented soap, was ready for the final wash. I picked up the bucket again and poured it down on me, emptying the whole thing this time. The wash was pleasant this time, the water was warm, the soap felt and smelled fresh, and the drain didn’t clog up like last time.
I then stepped out of the washroom, grabbing my clothes and blowing out the flickering candle that lit the room. ‘What was that dream?’ I asked myself in sudden revelation. I yet again brushed it off as a crazy dream, hoping it would not return.
I walked back into my bedroom and threw my towel that surrounded my waist onto the stone floor. What’s to where? The big days today, and certainly don’t want to go out looking like a street dweller. Maybe I should where… Aha! Here we go!
I reached up onto the hanger’s hook and dragged over the piece of fine clothing. It was ‘casual’ at the least, it had a brown satchel on the side, with the tunic being a bright radiant red, and the pants being a kaki like color. Aside from the top hat, I admired and to this day, thank my father for handing this down to me. For without this, I would just be stuck in the mines all day.
After about a few minutes supposedly, I strapped on my shoes until I heard a knocking noise at my door from the living quarters.