As previously mentioned, I don't own Glee or the characters, though (just as everyone else) I desperately wish I did! Thanks for reading. :) I actually originally wrote this piece for a final project, and it originally starred a heterosexual couple. It was also meant to be a political piece like 1984, but I thought it would be interesting to see if I could manipulate it into a piece about two boys.
While his parents were asleep, Kurt snuck to the ladder across the one room bunker, careful not to wake them. He began climbing up the rungs, and with each one a sensation of anticipation nearly knocked him to the ground. Higher and higher he went, all the while wondering what secrets the surface held. What would be above his head? He could not help but imagine his family's farm: the animals, the barn, the pond, the swing set, the hay, and his room. He missed the old stereo in the kitchen playing jazz music. He had eagerly awaited her reunion with everything she held dear.
When he reached the top, he hesitated. The heavy metal latch leading to the world symbolized so much for him, and if the world above did not meet his expectations, he did not know what he would do. He could not stand to think that all that he loved was gone. He tried to convince himself that it was okay, that all of his belongings would still be there. Somehow, he couldn't even manage to convince himself into believing that. All he could hear was his breathing, which began to speed up as his hands greeted the cool metal latch. The latch groaned with protest, but eventually Kurt managed to open it. No light poured in, he had been expecting light.
A large sense of dread spread through his body; he was terrified of what he could find right above his head. He pushed through it and pulled himself up out of the hole and sat stupefied. Nothing surrounded him. The only thing he could see was different hues of gray swirling around together. There were no trees, no sky, no farm, no grass, no sun. Nothing. Nothing was there. It was surreal being surrounded by nothing. There were no words he could use to describe what he saw besides nothing. There also was no sound.
"Mom, Dad!" he shouted down the hatch in earnest. There was no response. "MOM, DAD!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. Kurt then heard a scrambling noise and the sound of his name being called. His parents were terrified by what they saw. The top of the shelter was open, and Kurt was nowhere to be found. They were petrified, amazed and enraged by their son's actions.
"Mom, Dad, you have to see this!"
"Kurt, get back down here! It's dangerous up there!" they scolded.
"No, it's not. There's nothing here." He heard them climbing up the ladder. It seemed to take them forever to take the long trip up. He sat and waited for his parents to surface impatiently. Finally, he saw his father's face cautiously peer around and proceed to exit the hole. His mother followed quickly and all three were soon looking around, completely perplexed. The family had a few options: 1) go back down into the shelter, 2) stay where they were, 3) explore, or 4) do nothing. Kurt's parents were already thinking of going back into the shelter, but he would not live down there again. His brother had already influenced her once, so he used him again for his next decision.
Without knowing where he was headed, Kurt began walking. His parents said nothing and simply followed him, for they had no better plan. The thought of shelter, food and water did not enter their heads; they were too focused on the world they saw to think of anything but that world. None of them thought of what they would do if they got lost. Survival did not occur to them, so none of them were worried.
The remnants of a once remarkable city lay strewn across the gray world. Crumbled buildings, car parts and bodies littered all space. One could not take two steps within the Province without having to maneuver around something. Every building not completely decimated had gunned guards watching from the roof; each man thought to be an employee of the Powerful. Citizens had to watch out for them, for each one had the power to kill whomever they wanted whenever they wanted. Killing was a free-for-all in the Province.
The Powerful had started and won the war; it held all the nuclear power the world had ever encompassed. None knew exactly who are what it was, not even its employees. However, all were terrified of the Powerful. All people knew that they had better behave, and there needn't be a reason for their death in order to be executed.
It was said that only one person held the knowledge of the Powerful: the Colonel, said to have been hired personally. He was to carry out its will and protect its secrets. Some thought he was the Powerful, some thought it was an omnipotent being, but most were too terrified to talk about it.
People constantly felt they were being watched by more than the eager trigger finger's of guards. None knew the rules of the world they lived in, but if they broke the rules then knowing them would no longer be helpful. Random disappearances became the usual, and no one dared talk about them. Alliances between family and friends no longer existed. Everyone lived in a complete state of fear.
All joy creating creating activities were banned: singing, dancing, smiling, laughing, joking. The people were prisoners in their own lives. Not free to be themselves, not free to express individuality. This was a world Kurt surely wouldn't survive without a little help.
