The Restart

The Restart

All I knew was darkness. With just a peak of sunlight coming through our bunker underground the only light in my life was the candles we lit every other day. Only one candle every other day because we never knew when we would get out of this place. We weren’t allowed to leave this bunker because there was something blocking the entrance so none of us could ever leave. It's unfortunate that the last time I saw the real world was when I was two weeks old. However, for the first time in my 15 years of life I was excited to say, “WHEN CAN WE LEAVE?” I said with more passion than my parents talking about their old stories of life before the bunker. I’ve said this plenty of times before, but today was the day where it will actually happen.

“How many days has it been since they came?” My mom asked. She was referring to the mysterious people who came by and removed all the junk keeping us trapped in the bunker.

“It's been a week, you said if we don’t hear from them for a week we can leave!” I said with so much passion fueling me for the first time in my life. As you could speculate, life in the bunker wasn’t very glamorous and me and my family saw ourselves melancholy at times. My parents tell me it all started in 2025 just after a very deadly outbreak of covid-19 was over and people began to start their normal lives again a war had begun which turned to be much more deadly than covid-19. My parents never got into details of how the war began and who started it but with modern technology nuclear wars were in discussion, which I never understood because dropping nukes back and forth would just destroy the world. In my fathers eyes that was the point though. ‘The world was so messed up we needed to hit a restart button anyway.’ He always says. Luckily my Grandpa was a multi-millionaire so my father could be alive after that restart button was pushed March 25th, 2025. My grandpa couldn’t live long enough to see what the restart was like, but I am forever grateful for what he did for us just so we could see light in the new world. 

“Go get your father and we will get going.” Mom said. My father spent most of his time locked away in a spare room that he made into an office. For hours he would write on paper by himself he wanted to be alone with just his own thoughts. I always wondered if that's all he was doing there. I figured you got to get bored of it at some point. I was a little nervous going to get him because he would always get mad when he got disturbed in his office, especially after Grandpa passed away his temper goes off a lot quicker since. I knocked twice and instantly heard noises of something sliding around very fast paced. I very slowly turned the knob but the door was locked. Next thing I knew the click of the door unlocking and my father rapidly opened the door. I looked at him shocked wondering why he looked so jumpy. “It’s time to go isn’t it?” He said. 

I figured he was just anxious to finally go outside the bunker so I smiled, “Yes it is, lets go!” 

I ran so fast back to the main area I almost tripped over my own excitement. Father was just behind me with the biggest smile I've ever seen on his face. 

“MOM I GOT HIM.” I said as I was putting my boots on eagerly. My parents were talking to each other right in front of me, but nothing was registering to me. I couldn’t think of anything but what the world will be like. It could be super beautiful with trees and flowers jumping out of the ground with colors I've only ever heard of just never been able to see with my own eyes. It’s likely to be very rundown and colorless, but even if I can just see the sun at its fullest potential can make my life 10 times brighter than it has been. Thinking about me and my family at the surface being able to start a normal life is nothing but perfect. Impending back to reality realizing my mother is trying to talk to me, “Jesse are you daydreaming again?” She said.

“Oh jeez sorry i’m just ready to go.” I said. My body was a little shaky and my heart was racing.

“Well I can see you're eager. Are you ready hun?” She turned back asking my father who was putting a few papers into an envelope. I would normally ask him what they were for, but I was too focused on getting outside the thought didn’t even come to mind. 

“I am more than ready.” He smiled, putting the envelope into his favorite drawstring bag. We begin the walk up the stairs. 10 feet worth of stairs which felt like we were stepping towards glory, a new world, a new start. Every step I took it felt as my anxiety was depleting I felt more and more comfortable until my father started slowly opening the door. I could already see sunlight peeling in. He looked around to make sure it was safe and gave me and my mom the single to come out. The last step out of the darkness into the world I dreamt of living in. There weren't many trees or color, but I still had the beautiful sun coming down upon us. Around us were gigantic buildings that are barely holding up to this day and some smaller trees and plants throughout the area which had to have been replanted recently giving hope for the new world. I turned back to look at the bunker. My only thought was how I won’t miss that place at all. My father stepped quickly towards the door and locked it from the outside. He looks towards me “Come here son.” He said. “I want you to hold on the key. I just trust you more to keep it that's all.” I grabbed the key without hesitation, my father always told me he was poor at keeping track of his items  so I didn't question it. I looked around at everything in the area, even though it was mainly rundown I found beauty in everything I looked at. My mother spinning, dancing, and laughing with my father. She shouts,  “The Ackermans are finally back!” I wish Grandpa was here with us, but she is right we are finally free of this darkness. I wondered if there were other families trapped like we were. Did they have enough supplies to make 15 years like us? Me and my family could rescue people now that we're stuck or become a part of the new society that already made it out.

My dad pointed at me, “Christine look at him already daydreaming.” He said laughing. I had a habit to zone out quite often when thinking of the outside world.  I ran past them going towards the big buildings, I waved to them to come with me. Turning back staring at these buildings so amazed at how they held up so long. My parents caught up next to me on this newly paved street, to the right of us was a big run down apartment building, but I couldn’t help but wonder how no one found our bunker sooner. The work that had been done had to have taken at least a year, but I guess no one looked past all the junk over our door. I turn back pointing at the front door of this apartment building, my parents give me a nod for permission to go into it. I turn back and suddenly I'm frozen. In the distance there are three people in all black vests and military armor. Maybe they are the new civilization I was looking for; they must be the protectors, but their big guns made me stuck in place as I’d never seen a gun before. My mother and father touch both my shoulders. “What’s wrong honey?” Mom said. 

“Should we go by them?” I said pointing in the distance. With no response I looked to my mother who could barely see that far without her glasses on she had no response. I turned to my father who was as pale as a ghost which worried me. He grabbed me and my mother and pulled us into the apartment building. I could hear in the distance the soldiers shouting, I prayed it wasn’t at us considering how terrified my father looked. He stopped us next to the stairs and quickly said, “We need to hide in case they saw us, just follow me.” I had so many questions to ask, but my mother didn’t say anything and let my father lead the way so I followed them. Who were those people? Why were they in such advanced military suits? Why did they have guns? Questions racing through my mind running up to the highest floor of the apartment. By the time we got to the top of the stairs my family was already sweating and breathing heavily. I knew we wouldn’t be able to outrun them so we either have to hide or confront them, but with how my father looked I doubt we will be able to. Focused on finding a spot to hide my dad stops us telling us to be quiet. We look at him confused, but then the silence is broken with the sound of heavy movements coming from the bottom floor. “We know you're in here!” One soldier shouted. The sound of stomping up the stairs put me and my family back on the move. We needed to find a spot as soon as possible. Slowly walking to the last room on the top hallway we go in hoping for something at least a small closet that wasn’t destroyed from the nuke or decayed. We enter looking through the whole room, my mother finds a tiny storage room we would have to crawl into. The heavy steps seem louder. They courageously let me go in first. I begin crawling as fast as I can. The steps getting louder and louder I can almost hear the sounds of their guns bouncing up and down. They’re on this floor maybe even in the hallway. I squeezed in and turned around without hesitation. My parents needed to hurry, but they stopped. My mother stares at my father while he talks off his drawstring bag and tosses it in the room. They looked back at me with pale faces as they knew what was about to come. Mother mouths I love you to me and father mouths Be safe. This couldn’t be the end of them the soldiers can’t be so heartless not if this is our first day out in the new world. Father closes the door and in little time I hear a door slam open. 

“Who do y'all belong to!” “Who are you!” I tried to listen but my brain shut off all I could do was pray they would make it out. “Wait guys, look who it is.” One soldier said, “It’s Mr. Ackerman. I could hear them laughing. With an excited tone another soldier said, “Ackerman, you’ve been wanted for a longtime. Got any last words?” My father stayed silent as usual, now all I could hear was my mother crying. 

“We’re going to get promoted when the boss finds out we got Ackerman, let's do this boys.” a soldier said. I could hear the clicks of their guns going from safety to fire. Tears dripping down my  pale face, I just want to scream, but I know they’ll kill me if I do. Bang. The sounds of a few gunshots go off in brutal fashion. My feelings stayed the same as I knew from the moment my father didn’t answer their questions they were dead. “Take his body for proof.” One soldier said. I heard my fathers dead corpse being dragged out. How did they know my father? Why was he wanted and killed instantly? What is in this bag?! I don’t even know what to think. I close my eyes and wish death upon me while falling asleep.

When I woke I figured it was all a dream. I crawl out the storage room with my thoughts completely lost. Opening the door seeing the one I loved most with bullets in her brain dead. Remembering everything, I ask myself why couldn’t it have been me who took the bullets. Tears were still going down my face, but at this point I felt nothing. I don’t want to be here anymore. My last thought was how my father knew this was going to happen, he gave me the key and his bag of potential information it had to be because he knew. I walked back through the hallway down the stairs, blood of a dragged man all throughout my path. I couldn’t be fazed. I never had anything, but I just lost everything. Walking past the buildings with no regard if soldiers were still out hunting innocent people, I wouldn’t even look up to see the world around me as it was all ugly to me now. Back at the bunker I open it up throwing the bag down the stairs. I never want to leave the bunker ever again. I will die here without seeing anymore of this twisted new world.