Longing for peace...

August 4th, 2032. Cleveland, Ohio.

As the sun rose over the cascading hills of what was once downtown Cleveland, a slight breeze blew across the barren and desolate streets. War had broken out some nearly 10 years ago leaving nothing but the wildlife alive, all say but for one man. Thomas Malborne, an engineer for the city of Cleveland for over 30 years. He was a shy man of 58 who found peace in total silence as he worked on various projects throughout the city. Waterways, electrical grids, even the city railway that was to be unveiled in 2022, he had a hand in creating and making the many of the wonders that would have made the city as vibrant as a newly lit Las Vegas. How did he survive when the radiation was looming on the horizon? A simple faraday cage, more importantly his whole house was rebuilt to withstand any natural disaster, including radiation.

September 10th, 2022. When word spread of the first nuke being launched, he rushed to his only sanctuary. Water filters, dried food by the boxes and acids to eat away at any 'waste' products filled his second basement. As he pulled into his driveway, he slammed his key into the door and rushed as fast as he could to make sure the house was locked and bolted. Metal shutter's rolled down over the windows and slammed with a loud bang. Just as he went over his final check of his house, the storm sirens blared from outside giving him a jolt of fear.

"This is it...there's no going back" he said as he walked through his living room once more.

"Dina, I'm just glad you’re in a better place now" he shakily said under his breath, touching the picture of a young lady in a wedding dress and younger Thomas by her side.

He grabbed the picture and hurried down the steps, nearly tripping on the last run of stairs to the sub-basement. As he pulled the 19-ton steel door shut the sirens fell quiet. Silence befell the outside world, then a great rumble. Small at first, like a truck coming down the street, then slowly building into what felt like what could only be described as the world awakening below his feet. As the tumbler on the door slowly cranked and locked in place, his thoughts soon raced as he forgot the one and only thing that kept him calm was sitting on the bed in his second floor, a silver heart shaped locket that he brought his wife the day they first met. As the bunker shook violently his thoughts were only consumed by the only keepsake, he had of her. Adorned with a layer of red suede intertwined with silver branches, inside a saying they told each other every night 'Let our love bring us peace' was etched into the locket along with a picture of their wedding day. He felt in his heart that if this is truly his last moments on this earth then he would need it before it was too late. Yet it was, the rumbling stopped and his Geiger counter that could read the outside radiation screeched at an unbelievable volume. He fell to his knees and cried as all the prepping and all the planning finally paid off, but at what cost.

Present time.

For a man of 68 years old, he had the body of a gymnast. Muscles that were defined and hands of a young 20-year-old. His beard and hair had long turned grey in the years in the bunker. In his usual daily ritual, he woke up, made a small portion of powder eggs and instant-loaf bread. He did his usual workout, fifty pushups, fifty sit ups and jogging in place for 30 minutes. He started his normal ritual of checks on the bunker and pouring acid into the waste. Every morning he would kick on the Geiger counter only to have it screech at him and he would power it off just as fast he would turn it on. Today, he turned on the Geiger counter, ready for it to screech at him just as it has done all 3,625 days so far, only to be met with silence. He paused as his hand readied to flip the switch but unlike the day the before, it fell silent.

'Great, another project to fix' he thought to his self as he readied to toggle the breaker switch for it. He steadied his hand on the side latch only to see it slowly shift.

"Wait...it's still working? But...but this thing has to be broken or there's..." he said aloud as his pulse quickened. There is no way radiation of that magnitude could ever go away overnight, let alone disappear without a single trace. He slowly unlocked the metal vault door and cracked it open, sticking another smaller Geiger counter in the gap. To his surprise, it read zero. With a grin on his face, he grabbed a hazmat suit and oxygen tank and readied himself for what he would see. The endless nights of noise, winds roaring overhead, storms that sounded like Zeus hurling thunderbolts of great magnitude towards the Earth.... all stopped in just one single day. A moment of pure silence for once in the 10 years underground. As he pulled the vault open, he could see the mid-day sky. Cloud’s overhead, patches of blue, the warm sun light almost blinding from the time in the bunker. He slowly walked up the stairs to the first landing of where his first basement once was. It was littered with dirt and radiated water. The paintings and chairs were nowhere to be found, all replaced by old, weathered wood and animal carcasses. With another scan of the now open top basement, he noticed only one bottle of whiskey was left untouched by the years of storms. He knew better though, one sip of radiation laced whiskey will more than likely spell his demise. He made it to the ground level and saw the green clouds in the distance, rumbling with bolt's of green and red lightning flash as it slowly moved on. He removed the hazmat helmet and took in a deep breath of fresh air. It was silent, peaceful and serene. Birds overhead flying and fluttering, no cars, just the rumble of the storm in the distance and wind blowing slowly through the now tall grass.

"It’s finally quiet... guess that means...I'm finally alone..." he whispered as he slowly lowered his self to the ground and sat on what was once his living room couch, now half dug into what was once his front yard. "Dina...I'm sorry my love but I lost your gift...I'm....I don't want to be alone" he sobbed as tears slowly fell from his face to his long grey beard. As he wiped away the tears he slowly stood up and began looking around. Staying close to downtown was a benefit for him as he knew if anything would have happened, that many people would attempt to get to the city for the protection of the tall building and vast tunnels. As he walked a little way, he started discarding the suit, piece by piece the suit made loud thuds that almost seemed out of place. After dropping his oxygen tank, he heard metal rustling. Moving the tank, he saw it. In all its beauty, was the heart shaped locket. The felt had worn away and with it being under the rubble, the radiation only seems to have melted the metal vines on the outside to look more of a one solid piece. Tears of joy slowly ran down his face as he looked to the sky and said "Dina....baby...we made it" all before opening the locket. Inside the words had nearly melted away and only the word 'peace' was visible. The picture had melded into the metal almost creating a ghostly image of a picture that once was. As he stared at the locket, it almost seemed as if it was made for the world around it. Could he adapt to the new outside just as he adapted to life in the bunker, could he adapt the new silence. He began gearing up to go explore the new world. With the locket around his neck and a backpack with food and water, he was ready.

As he began walking, a falcon overhead made a loud and long squawk. Memories flooded his mind. The day he held his wife hand one last time in the hospital as she suffered a heart attack. The loud noises of the ER with people talking loudly and screaming over one another. His wife uttered a word he could not hear over all the noise. He asked her to repeat what she said and the only word she said was "peace" before a new sound joined in the cacophony of noises, her flatlining. He snapped himself out of the memory and opened the locket once more staring at the word peace.

"Time to see what this world has become..." he said as he began walking into downtown Cleveland. The buildings half destroyed or melted into shimmering piles of glass and metal. As he walked more and more dust and cars with skeletons were strewed about the roads. Grass grew high to knee height in the pavement. He knew not why he could walk outside only after ten years underground but he made a solemn vow that he would enjoy this world of peace as he saw fit.

To this day he has gone from town to town, state to state and has found no one. Towns either turned to ash or decrepit with time. Posters and things of the world's past bring only fleeting memories. When he leaves a state, he always makes it a point to write 'Let this new world bring you peace' followed by a crude drawing of a heart. He leaves this message behind for anyone who may find it: live your life in the newfound peace and prosper...