It is my 17th birthday today. As most teenagers do I think its silly to wish for stuff but if I didn't think it was weird, I would probably wish to be able to leave the bunker, it has been a life long dream of mine. I am so sick of waking up to these gray walls every day, the smells of which I can only describe as muddy and humid. I know it isn't going to happen though. We have been down here for hundreds of years. After a nuclear bomb went off in Hong Kong the world hasn't been habitable, or so I've been told. I don't think that is true. I know it sounds crazy but I think I'm in a cult. I have read so many books about stuff like this. I love reading, I find it is the only way to pass time in my boring life which mostly consists of being forced to worship our gods, doing chores and school work. I do not even have any friends here, everyone is gossipy and I know they all judge me.
I would like to try and escape, even though I know it is impossible, so I never will be able to. If there was an escape I don't know if I would be courageous enough to take it. You see there's a rule in the bunker. If you sin or do something bad, you are not sent to jail like the characters in my books. You are forced to kill yourself, if you don't you can be sure someone else will do it for you. That's how my parents died. It doesn't bother me too much. Other than the judgement I get from the few old people remaining. I bet they have all done something bad that no one knows about, still, that does not stop them from being so damn narcissistic. They judge me for reading the books that I love, and for my parents. I know they are waiting for me to sin just like them. I'm not sure what my parents did that was so bad, no one will talk to me about them, I doubt anyone even remembers. People come and go so quickly here. Maybe they just had enough of this place. The women here are taught to have a kid as soon as possible, so you can keep the human race going. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday I and the other teenagers in the bunker have to go to our religious classes. If you skip class without having proof of being sick, you are dead. You cant be killed until you're 15. Lucky me. Everyone here looks down on me for not having the same thought process as them. I know they want me dead. They say it is the reading, they think it is a waste of time, that it puts thoughts in your head that shouldn't be there, nonsense. Maybe they are right, I mean look at what I'm thinking about. Maybe I'm just crazy and we aren't in a cult, maybe this is a bunch of nonsense. Maybe I should just kill myself.
No, I don't want to die. It is unnerving that someone could kill me at any moment and everyone would think its justified, you learn to live with it though. When you turn 15, they give you a sort of gun, It is quite small, I think everyone has one so the workers can frame people if stuff gets messy. I've heard you don't even realize you've been shot. I do not think that is true though, how would anyone know if nobody has survived it?
I just noticed the window above me. I wonder why we even have windows if we are not allowed to open them or see the world. Perhaps It's my time to try and escape. Maybe it's impossible. I mean why would I be the only person to ever do it, It mustn't be possible. Unless no one has tried because they thought the same things as me, maybe I can be the first, other people can follow my lead. It might be the books, or the bunker making me delirious, making me believe I can escape. I run back to my room and grab the hammer that is being used to fix my tap, I stop for a moment and watch the water drip down into the sink. Am I really going to do this? Yes. I have to, I do not want to be miserable anymore. Plus, I like to think it is what my parents would have wanted. I run back to the room with the window. Maybe I'll finally be able to see a dog or rain... The windows are blocked with a tape-like material. I hammer at the window, hope rises in my chest as it starts to crack. It is so loud, I am getting worried. Maybe this was a bad idea. It starts to break, I think it will be OK, but when it does I find the other side is hard, Like wood or stone. All the hope I have immediately vanished. Of course, I couldn't get out. I realize we aren't near the surface, someone would have found us already if we were. I sit on the floor and cry, I am so stupid. When I look up I see a camera and the panic sets in, I guess I will be an example. Not for what I wanted though, I'm going to be an example for people not to escape. People will be talking about me tomorrow as if it is the most casual thing ever. The old people will be talking about how they knew this would happen, I was corrupt from the start. This is the worst birthday ever, I knew wishes were silly, I should have listened to myself. I am scared. I know what is coming for me. When I hear someone enter the room everything goes black.
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