A New Earth

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room.

Dead and dry earth stretched like tanned leather in every direction and crumbling skyscrapers dotted the horizon like broken teeth. The endless dust and ash swirled in a frenzied dervish across the cracked earth and clawed relentlessly at the crumbled remains of the dead city. Burned out cars, remnants of the life before, were spread like shattered carcasses to the low hills in the distance. The sun, now hidden for over a hundred years behind a thick blanket of choking ash, was nothing more than a faint pinprick of pale, cold light in the gloomy distance.

Devoid of human life since the Last War, it was hard to imagine how anything could survive on the earth's surface, but the Tainted not only survived, they thrived.

It was whispered throughout the caverns that the Tainted, those who were once human but who had evolved into a wholly new and hideous species after years of exposure to the lingering effects of chemical warfare, now filled entire cities on the earth's surface. Despite the deadly conditions for humans, it was estimated that the Tainted now numbered in the hundreds of thousands, breeding, building, and repopulating the earth's surface with their vile abominations.

Despite the near total destruction of the earth during the Last War, life still found a way.

Inhumanely strong and fast, cruel and deadly, the Tainted were slowly but surely building a new earth, while humanity, earth's true heirs, were doomed to scratch out a meager and tenuous existence beneath the surface, in the earth's dark and forgotten caverns.

"Will I see one?" Everday asked perched on her toes, her warm breath fogging up the thick, dingy glass.

Her father, Zeta, looked up from his desk, a pair of cracked spectacles pushed low on his nose, "A Tainted? I doubt it. The Tainted are a nocturnal species, and it is still daylight out. They will begin their hunts in a few hours, when the sun dips below the horizon. But from here you can't really see much, just thousands of shadows scurrying across the horizon like ants bursting forth from an ant hill."

"Ants?" Everday questioned, eyebrow cocked curiously.

"An ancient insect from before, known for their communal nature. Thousands of ants could live in a dirt mound no higher than my ankle."

"Hmm." Everday murmured, turning her gaze back to the one window in the entire bunker.

Everday's brows narrowed as she scrutinized the dark skyline. Despite the inhospitable view, something deep within her yearned to break free from the dark and endless bunkers and caverns her people now dwelled in. She was sick to her bones of the damp rock and thin air that entombed her day and night, of the relentless dark and bitter cold that seeped into her very core. Her entire being screamed for open air and unknown horizons, for freedom. She feared without it, she may just go mad.

But in order to gain her freedom, she had to convince her father to create a new guild, one for exploring the wastes in order to learn more about their surroundings and what resources may lay beyond their limited reach. Despite hundreds of years within the caverns, no one within had any idea what lay beyond the borders of the dead city, or the low hills in the distance.

"Father," Everday began slowly, taking great pains to formulate her words carefully, "Have you given any thought to my idea?"

Zeta didn't look up from his writing, his quill scratching loudly across the parchment, "What idea was that?"

Everday rolled her eyes, "You know which one. My idea to form a new guild, an Explorer's Guild."

Zeta carefully set down his quill and leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed and eyes narrowed, "Not this again."

"But it's a good idea! Who knows what lies beyond the dead city? Or what valuable supplies or resources we could find? There could even be other human settlements!"

Zeta snorted loudly, "You know that's absurd. No human can survive on the surface."

"We could learn more about the Tainted!" Everday continued, her voice urgent, "We could observe them in the natural habitat! Learn how they survive!"

"You know very well that we have several captured Tainted imprisoned here in the caverns that our scientists are studying day and night," Zeta countered gruffly, "If there's anything of value to learn from the Tainted, they will discover it...from the safety of the caverns."

"But that's not the same as observing them on the surface, in their natural environment!" Everday argued.

Zeta sighed wearily as he eased himself up from behind his desk and joined his daughter at the ancient hatch door. The door, which was now peeling and rusted in several spots, had been fashioned hundreds of years earlier by men with no comprehension that their creation would one day be the only thing standing between humanity and total extinction. Zeta ran his hand across the door's rough surface thoughtfully, the old metal cold and unyielding beneath his palm, "Perhaps when you turn 18 later this year, you'll be accepted into the Foragers' Guild. Then, you could journey to the surface to help forage supplies."

Everday shook her head furiously in protest, "The Forager's Guild never journeys any farther than the dead city. They pick over the same rotten buildings over and over again, never finding anything new, never discovering any information or knowledge that might help us survive on the surface and defeat the Tainted! If we are to reclaim the surface for humanity, we need to explore beyond the dead city! We need to explore beyond the low hills...farther than we ever have before!"

Zeta rubbed his eyes wearily, the wrinkles in his face made to appear even deeper in the pale lamplight, "Exploring is not what we do, Everday. We have a sworn duty, as the last of the human race, to survive...not to gallivant around the earth and seek adventure!"

Everday's nostrils flared, her grey eyes glinting like drawn steel, "You used to never talk like this! You used to speak of reclaiming the surface for humanity, of taking our rightful place on the surface once again, of defeating the Tainted and reclaiming our birthright! And everyone loved you for that! Your people supported you because they believed in your vision! But now, it seems all you want to do is cower and hide in these dungeons while the Tainted take everything from us!"

Zeta recoiled from her, as if physically struck, his grey eyes pained. Everday sucked in a worried breath, afraid she had pushed him too hard. They locked gazes for a tense moment, a silent battle of wills, before Zeta let out a long sigh and slumped back down into the chair behind his desk.

"And what would you have me do, Everday?" Zeta countered defensively, his eyes narrowed, "Must I remind you that humanity cursed itself when they developed the bio-chemical warfare used during the Last War? While our ancestors hid in these bunkers and waited for the earth to heal so they could return to the earth's surface, those left above managed to adapt and evolve into an entirely new species because life will always find a way. Now, we have to contend with a new species that can breathe poisoned air and eat radiated food! Things that would kill humans in a heartbeat! Don't forget the Tainted are stronger, faster, and ruthless. How do we defeat an enemy that outmatches us in every regard?" Zeta's eyes burned with desperate intensity that made Everday squirm.

Her shoulders slumped as she eased herself down into a rickety chair across from him. The chair groaned loudly as it accepted her weight, as if protesting. She sighed with frustration, "Look, father, I don't have all the answers, but I know there must be a way to defeat the Tainted. I also know we can't find the answers we need by hiding away in our caverns, content with merely surviving! The surface belongs to us, but to reclaim it, we need answers we can only find out there!"

Zeta chuckled mirthlessly, his expression grim, "Ah, but I wish I still had your determination and faith, Everday. I truly do. But time and experience have taught me the hard way that the surface is lost to us. If we wish to survive, we must make the most of our new home, beneath the earth, which is no small task in and of itself!"

Everday's brows furrowed, "What do you mean?"

Zeta balked, "This bunker was never intended to operate for hundreds of years...or hold thousands of residents! Every day there are new problems that arise that could mean destruction for our people; an air filter gives out, the water pumps freeze, a pipe breaks...As leader of the last of men, these are the things I must set my attention to if humanity is to survive. Not some foolhardy dream of reclaiming the surface when we can't even breathe the air!"

"But..."

Zeta pounded a clenched fist on the top of his desk, "There is NOTHING for us out there, don't you understand?" Zeta growled with frustration.

Everday shrunk back in her chair, eliciting another groan from the ancient wood, startled by her father's uncharacteristic outburst. Everything in her wanted to turn tail and lick her wounds, alone in her room, but a fire had already been lit inside her, whether it was one of desperation, courage, or sheer foolish pride, she couldn't tell, but she was not about to let this go. She steeled herself to forge ahead.

"But how do you know?" Everday challenged cautiously, hating the audible tremble in her voice.

Zeta pointed an accusing finger towards the rusted hatch door, "There's nothing beyond that door but a dead city, and more dead cities beyond that, as far as you can imagine. And in between those dead cities there is poisonous air and radiated water and thousands of Tainted, all eager and willing to the peel off your skin for their cloaks and boil your meat in their supper. Beyond that door, there is nothing for us but certain death."

Everday growled with inept frustration, "You don't mean that. I know you don't mean that."

Zeta reached out suddenly across the desk and cradled Everday's face firmly between his calloused hands, forcing her to meet his steely gaze, "Listen to me. The surface is lost to us. It belongs to the Tainted now, and they outnumber us ten to one. Not to mention, they are stronger, faster, and more resilient. We humans must do our best to survive below the surface. It's all we have left."

Everyday grimaced as she swallowed the heavy knot building in the back of her throat. This was not the conversation she had wanted to have when she sought her father out in his office. With her 18th birthday just months away, she had hoped her father would see the wisdom in creating an Explorer's Guild and making her its leader.

But now, it was as if all her excitement and hope for the future had been crushed into dust in just a matter of minutes. Her own father, the leader of the last of men, had suddenly and inexplicably lost all hope of ever reclaiming the earth's surface and returning his people to their rightful place.

It was pure blasphemy in her eyes. Reclaiming the surface was all that humanity lived for. It was the single, unifying hope that made bearing the sunless days and moonless nights within the caverns tolerable. But now, her father, who had always held such a relentless faith in reclaiming the surface for humanity, had seemingly lost all faith.

Everday blinked, bewildered, unable to recognize the wilted and defeated man who sat across from her, his head cradled in his hands as if in physical pain.

Her stomach clenched like a fist as she considered a future with no surface, the relentless cold and endless shadows of the caverns encasing her like a prison, with nothing but dark, damp rock towering above her head for the rest of her life.

No. She refused to accept that future.

Perched on the edge of her chair, Everday trembled with rising fury, staring with disbelief at her father.

Zeta lifted his face slowly to meet Everday's gaze, his pale face drawn and tired, "I know this is not the future you had imagined, but as my future heir and successor, it's important that you understand the realities of what we face. I fear the challenges you will inherit when I pass on will be far more perilous than anything I had to face."

Everday stared back dumbly, her mouth open but unable to find any words. Her mind was a roiling storm of fear and fury. The only thing keeping her tongue in check was the startling fact that she had never heard her father speak in such a way before. She feared she must take his words all the more seriously because of it.

Zeta continued earnestly, the shadows of the lamplight playing across his wrinkled brow, "Everday, the bunker is slowly but surely failing us. The systems that have kept us alive these many years were never built to last this long. Soon, they will fail us completely, and when they do, we will no longer be able to survive in the caverns. We will have no breathable air or drinkable water. I have all our best and brightest minds working for a solution, but there is no guarantee there is one to be found."

Everday's eyes widened in alarm. She had always been vaguely aware of the many challenges her father faced as leader of the last of men, but she had had no idea that their very survival was in question.

Everday leaned forward in her chair, her heartbeat thundering in her ears, "How much time do we have?"

Zeta shrugged, his thin shoulders bowing under the great weight, "It could be a matter of months, or it could be weeks or even days. All we know for sure is that in less than a year's time, our systems will fail, unless a solution is found."

"But what happens if no solution is found in time? What then?" Everday asked, the fear cresting within her like a wave.

Zeta smiled sadly, tears clinging to his lashes, "I'm afraid that would mean the end of the human race."

Everday's mind reeled as she made her way back to her family's quarters located deep within the caverns. Any newcomer would surely get lost within the vast labyrinth of the caverns in a matter of minutes, but Everday knew every corner, curve, low ceiling, and dead end like the back of her hand. She could maneuver the caverns blind if she needed to.

Now, she made her way instinctively through the dark passageways as her mind raced from one thought to the other. Everything her father had told her had come as a complete shock. While she knew keeping the caverns operational was no easy task, she had no idea the situation was as dire as it was.

Despite her father's words, Everday was more convinced than ever before that it was time to explore the surface and explore farther than they had ever dared to explore before. If humanity was going to survive, they needed answers, they needed resources, and they needed help, and it was clear that none of those things were coming from the dead rock that surrounded them day and night. Any answers lay beyond the safety of the caverns, and Everday was the going to be the one to find them.

Even if going to the surface meant her certain death in the end, at least she would have hope.

For what was life if one no longer had hope?