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Raising Grace

A.H. Mittelman

By Alex H Mittelman Published about a year ago Updated about a year ago 12 min read
9
Don't go outside unprotected

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

While John had been there for Grace her whole life, her mother had not. She had run off shortly after birth, leaving John to care for Grace alone. John had told Grace never to go outside, the radiation was still at dangerous levels and whatever it didn’t kill, it mutated.

When he was distracted by reading a book from his large library or growing food in the basement, Grace would sneak up to his room and peak out the window. She never saw any mutations, only a few wilted trees and half-dead grass.

Grace was staring out the window for a little too long one day. John had finished farming and replacing the grow lights in the basement and went to his room.

John tugged Graces arm and shouted, “What are you doing near the window. If one of those damned mutant birds see’s you, they won’t stop pecking at the window until it breaks. Then they’ll come in and eat you. And even if I shoot the bird, I don’t know if I can find another radiation proof window. That’s one of the last one’s the factory made, we need it to last until the radiation clears.”

“I’ve seen a lot of things out of the window, papa, but never a mutant bird. Or anything mutated, so how do I know you’re not lying to me,” Grace said.

“Why on Earth would I lie to you? I want to get out of this hell hole as badly as you do, but if we leave we die. Between the mutants and radiation, we don’t stand a chance. And consider yourself lucky, before I ripped my hazmat suit, I’d go outside to gather supplies and ran into many abnormal creatures. They’re horrifying. And wait, a lot of things? How many times have you looked out the window? That’s very stupid, anything that see’s you is going to try and break in. You’ll get both of us killed,” John said.

“It’s not my fault. I’ve never seen the outside world, I was just curious. And what if we run out of supplies again, you’d have to fix the suit to get more. Bring me with you,” Grace said.

“No. It’s too dangerous and we’ve plenty of supplies for now. That’s why I started growing my own food. And now you’ve seen the outside world, don’t look out the window again,” John said sternly.

“That’s not fair,” Grace pouted.

“I’m just trying to keep you alive,” John said.

“Being stuck inside with no windows is not a life. You wouldn’t know, you got to experience the world before the radiation from the bomb spread everywhere. You got to have a life,” Grace said.

“I suppose that’s a fair point. I’ll tell you what, I’ll take you out in a couple days. I just need a little time to come up with a plan. Maybe we can take the tunnels to the old military depot. They might have some old hazmat suits in working condition,” John said.

“The tunnels connected to the basement? Didn’t the earthquake fill them with rocks?” Grace asked.

“So, we move a few rocks out of the way, then go to the military depot. It’ll be worth it, we both need to get out of the house,” John said.

Grace started to walk away, then turned to John and said, “I don’t believe you. I don’t think there’s anything out there,” and ran downstairs.

“What? Where are you going?” John said and ran after Grace.

“Outside,” Grace said and opened the front door and ran out.

“No, don’t be stupid,” John caught up to Grace, grabbed her arm and dragged her back inside then slammed the door shut.

“Aaahhh, why does my hand burn?” She asked.

“That’s the radiation. That’s what I tried to tell you. Do you believe me now?” John asked.

“Fine. I’ll go with you to get suits,” Grace said. John smiled.

“Let’s treat that burn first. I have some aloe that might still be good,” John said.

After treating the burn, they walked down to the basement and opened the door to the tunnel room.

“I remember you used to play down here as a child,” John said and smiled.

“I used to imagine what was passed the rocks,” Grace said.

“Soon, you’ll know. These tunnels were built right before the war started. Everyone knew it was coming, our country and the other countries were becoming more belligerent towards each other. Everyone in the community decided in case there was a war, we’d need a way to help each other survive. We decided to all make or grow something different and trade with each other. And that’s exactly what we did until the earthquake. Then I started using the hazmat suit to gather supplies outside until one of those damned mutants tore a hole in it. I killed the mutant but it was too late, I already got a radiation scar. Right there,” John said and lifted up his pants to show Grace the scar on his leg.

“Damn mutants,” Grace said.

“Hey, no cursing,” John said.

“But you can curse,” Grace said.

“Adults can curse, you can’t,” John said.

“You and your dumb rules,” Grace said. John shook his head.

They walked to the rock blockage.

“So how are we supposed to move these rocks?” Grace asked.

“We grab handfuls and move them to the basement?” John said.

“That will take forever,” Grace said.

“Do you want to see the outside world or not?” John asked.

“Fine,” Grace said and grabbed a handful of rocks.

“If these tunnels were built by the community, why do they connect to the military depot?” Grace asked.

“The army knew we might have to fend for ourselves, so they allowed us to connect the tunnels to their depot. They kept the weapons area sealed off until the bombs hit. Now everything is open,” John said.

“Oh,” Grace said softly.

They got to the basement and dropped off the rocks.

“Why can’t we bring these buckets with us? They’d help us clear the rocks faster,” Grace asked.

“Because I forgot those were there. Go ahead and bring them,” John said.

They brought the buckets in and out of the tunnels several times over the course of several hours before the rocks were cleared.

“Good, it looks like the support beams are still intact. We did a good job building this tunnel,” John said.

“Do you think the neighbors are still alive? And willing to trade?” Grace asked.

“Maybe. It’s been several years. The tunnels collapsed when you were five. Your thirteen now, so who knows. But I hope so,” John said.

“What if the neighbors are mutants?” Grace asked.

“They might be. I’ll get my shotgun just in case,” John said. John walked back to the house while Grace waited in the tunnel. Grace heard a creaking sound and loudly yelled, “Papa.”

When no one answered, she hid behind a support beam until John got back.

“Are you ok? Why are you hiding” John asked. Grace ran over to John and gave him a hug.

“I heard a sound,” Grace said.

“I see. It’s just these old tunnels. They make a lot of strange sounds. Nothing to worry about,” John said.

They continued walking down the tunnel. They had walked by a set of stairs connected to a door.

“Where does that door go to?” Grace asked.

“That’s Ted’s house. Want to see if he’s home?” John asked. Grace smiled and nodded excitedly. John walked up to the door and knocked three times.

“Who’s there?” A voice said.

“It’s me, John,” John said.

“John who?” the voice asked.

“John Wasnyck. We cleared the rocks. We stopped by for a visit. Open the door Ted,” John said.

The door swung open and Ted was pointing a shotgun at them.

“Whoa, Ted, it’s me. It's us,” John said.

Ted put the shotgun down and shouted, “John, it really is you? Sorry, I had to make sure you weren’t a mutant. It’s been so long. Grace, you’ve grown,” Ted said.

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember you,” Grace said.

“Grace, of course you remember Ted,” John said.

“It’s ok, last time she saw me she was too young to remember anything,” Ted said.

“Have you come to trade?” A woman who was now standing next to Ted asked.

“Is that Linda?” John asked.

“Hey John. How did you guys get passed the rocks?” Linda asked and smiled.”

“It took us several hours but we cleared them out of the way,” Grace answered for John.

“We’re actually going to the military depot. Grace here wants to see the outside world. We need some working hazmat suits for that,” John said.

“That sounds like fun. Mine still works, I’ll put it on and come with you guys,” Ted said. John came back fully geared up.

“Ha, you look funny,” Grace said.

“Well, get used to it. You’re going to be wearing one of these soon enough,” Ted said and smiled.

“Want to come Linda?” John asked.

“No thanks. I’ve had my fun for today. You guys enjoy. Keep Grace safe,” Linda said.

The three walked until they got to the depot door. John twisted the knob and the door slowly creaked open. A strong scent of musk and staleness wafted out the door.

“What’s that smell? I think I’m going to be sick,” Grace said.

“Nobody’s used this depot in a while. When a place has been empty for a while, the air gets stale,” John said.

They walked inside the depot.

“They still have weapons here,” Ted said.

“Let’s grab a few,” John said.

“Should I grab one?” Grace asked.

“Did you ever teach Grace how to shoot?” Ted asked.

“No. We’ve been safe inside, no need,” John said.

“Well now were going out. Maybe it’s time,” Ted said.

“Thanks for the advice,” John said with agitation. Ted shrugged and walked away.

“I’ll teach you. Just don’t tell Ted,” John said. John grabbed a small handgun and gave it to Grace.

“How come you get a big gun?” Grace asked.

“First learn to shoot this. Then you can get one like mine,” John said.

“Fine,” Grace said and but the gun in her purse. Ted came back with a small hazmat suit.

“I found one that’ll fit Grace,” Ted said.

“Great, I just need one that will fit me,” John said.

“There’s more that way,” Ted said and pointed. John found a suit and got dressed.

“Now we take the tunnels to the surface,” John said.

They made their way above ground.

“Welcome to the outside world, Grace,” John said.

“Sorry, it’s probably a lot more dismal then you expected,” Ted said.

“No, I’ve seen a little from the window. It’s about what I expected,” Grace said while staring at a decaying building.

“You let her look out windows? What about the mutant birds?” Ted asked.

“I don’t. This one’s been sneaking up to my room,” John said and smiled.

“I still don’t see any… what’s that?” Grace asked and saw something circling above.

“A bird. Only mutants can survive out here, if it spots us were going to have to shoot it,” John said. The bird quickly swooped in and almost ripped Grace’s suit. John pointed his gun, waited for the bird to come back around, and shot the bird. It landed on the ground and made a squealing sound.

Grace gasped.

“It’s so disgusting. This doesn’t look anything like the bird in the picture books we have,” Grace said. The bird had three eyes and strange growths everywhere.

“Like I said, mutated,” John said. Grace was clearly disturbed.

“I’m sorry Grace. I tried to warn you this is the reality we live in now,” John said.

“It’s ok, Papa. It just makes me sad,” Grace said. They kept walking.

“If you see anything you want, tell me. If it’s not radioactive, we can take it home,” John said.

“How do you know if it’s radioactive?” Grace said.

“It’s not made of metal and not glowing. And we have a Geiger counter at the house. We’ll test it with that,” John said.

They kept walking. They stopped when they heard something moving inside a rusty, burnt out building.

“There’s someone over there,” Ted said. They stood still and watched until a mutant woman walked out. She was heavily scarred, her skin was peeling and she had blisters and boils everywhere.

“I’ll take care of her,” Ted said and pointed his rifle at her.

“No,” John said astutely and pushed Ted’s rifle down.

“Why not… wait. Oh my god, is that…” Ted tried to say.

“That’s Cindy,” John said and started to choke up.

“Who’s Cindy?” Grace asked.

“It’s your mother. I never could explain why she wasn’t underground when the bombs hit,” John said. Cindy started to charge at them, growling and drooling and arms flailing everywhere.

“John, JOHN, you got to do something. NOW,” Ted shouted. John shot Cindy. Cindy fell to the ground.

John started to cry and Ted walked over to her to make sure she was dead. Cindy grabbed Ted’s leg and tried to bite it. Ted shot her again.

“I’m sorry Papa. Do you want to go back now?” Grace asked.

“No. Let’s keep going,” John said.

“You sure, John. Cause that was pretty messed up,” Ted said.

“Yah, I’m sure,” John said and kept walking.

They walked by an old playground and Grace spotted an old doll she liked.

“Can I bring that home?” Grace asked.

“Are you sure? It’s missing an eye. Maybe there’s something better at the old toy store?” John said.

“We can get an eye at the old toy store. I’ll sew it on to her. I like her,” Grace said and pointed to the doll.

“Alright,” John said and shrugged. Eventually they passed the old toy store and Grace found another doll and removed the eye.

“Now I can fix Sadie,” Grace said.

“Is that what you named your doll?” John asked. Grace smiled.

On their way back to the tunnel, they ran into a few more mutant animals. They went to the tunnels, walked Ted back to his house then walked back home. They left their hazmat suits in the basement.

“Thanks for taking me to see the outside, Papa,” Grace said.

“I’m glad you had fun. I forgot what a rush the outside could be. We’ll go again sometime,” John said. Grace hugged John.

“That was a great first adventure,” Grace said and smiled.

Copyright © 12/15/2022 by A.H. Mittelman. All rights reserved.

AdventureFablefamilyFantasyHorrorHumorLoveMysterySci FiShort StoryYoung Adult
9

About the Creator

Alex H Mittelman

I love writing and just finished my first novel. Writing since I was nine. I’m on the autism spectrum but that doesn’t stop me! If you like my stories, click the heart, leave a comment. Link to book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQZVM6WJ

Reader insights

Nice work

Very well written. Keep up the good work!

Top insight

  1. Excellent storytelling

    Original narrative & well developed characters

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Comments (3)

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  • Judey Kalchik about a year ago

    I can see this going much longer!

  • Colleen Millsteed about a year ago

    You stories always go in a different direction than expected and this one’s no different. Well done Alex.

  • D-Donohoeabout a year ago

    Great work! You’re on a winner there!

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