Alex Mercer

The vet was a tight squeeze, but we managed just fine. Julie was able to find the exit closest to where the execution was taking place. All she had to do was listen for voices, and we heard Willie's very distinctly.

"Please, let her go. It was my idea for her to come down here." He had pleaded.

My heart rate had gone up quickly just listening to that. I couldn't figure out if it was because of Willie alone or because of the fate both Willie and Flynn were about to endure.

Julie kicked hard and the vet door came off the wall. I climbed out after Angelica, only to see that we're in a hallway. The hallway near the main hall in the bunker.

They wouldn't have the audacity to do it there.. right?

Julie turned to the three of us and placed her finger over her lips, indicating for us to be quiet. Our group quietly walked slowly down the hallway, carefully not to make any noise. We all silently agreed that we didn't want to be caught.

The problem is, we never discussed how we were going to save Flynn and Willie. We can't just barge in there with a bunch of guards who have weapons.

"Guys?" I whisper and Angelica shushes me.

"No, seriously. How exactly are we going to stop Flynn and Willie's execution?" I whisper again. Julie, Angelica, and Reggie all looked at me, realization forming on their faces as they remember none of us had planned that.

"Maybe.. We can talk some sense into the guards," Reggie suggests quietly and Angelica shakes her head.

"They're too far up Malachi's ass to disobey him," She states.

Julie looks over at me, her lips puckered. That's something she does when she thinks of something. "What if we distract them?" She says to the group, but more to me. "If they see that we escaped.. which they probably have, most of them will come after us. And then Reggie and Angelica can save Flynn and Willie."

I was about to agree to the plan when a thought washed over me. That thought caused all the other feelings I had been feeling about it to be pushed aside, taking over completely. "Yeah.. Yeah. Let's just strut in there while they have loaded guns!"

"We're not going to get shot," Julie says simply.

"And you know this how?"

"Don't argue about it. It's a good idea," Angelica says from beside me. "They won't shoot at you unless it's a direct order from Malachi."

Reggie nods in agreement and I sigh, my anxiety still causing me to assume that was going to happen, but I also know Angelica is right. "Okay.. yeah. Let's distract them. Let's just hope I can run fast."

Angelica and Reggie stay in the spots we were just in as Julie and I move forward. That's when we came across the horrible sight.

Flynn and Willie are sitting on their knees in the corner of the room, facing us. They both looked up at us with wide eyes when we appeared in their view. Behind them, is a guard (Who I recognized as being the same guard who had locked me and Julie up), who is looking directly at us as well, but he didn't do anything. He didn't reach for handcuffs, he didn't signal the other guards. None of that. This caused me and Julie to look at each other suspiciously, just waiting forsomething to happen.

But nothing did.

There are other guards in one corner of the room, and Malachi and Luke in the other. Luke looks over at us and mouths 'NO.' I ignore him and look over at Malachi, who's watching the guard, anticipatingly. Clearly waiting for something to happen, as we had done.

But, once again, nothing did happen.

I could tell that even Willie and Flynn are confused as to why they aren't dead yet. I glance back over at a very impatient looking Malachi.

"Get on with it," He demands. "I have two prisoners to find."

That's when the unexpected happened. The guard that was standing behind Flynn and Willie whipped out his gun, shooting the other guards in the legs. Julie gasped and my jaw dropped. I look over at Luke, who had started fighting Malachi.

I wanted to clap, but I hadn't decided if that had been incredibly brave of Lulu, or incredibly stupid.

Angelica and Reggie zoomed beside us when they heard the gunshots. "What's happening?" Angelica yells over the loud commotion in the room.

"Get him, Luke!" Reggie cheers, but I focus on Willie, making sure nothing bad happens to him.

I planned to run over and untie him, but Julie and the guard beat me to it. Julie was untying Flynn's restraints and the guard untied Willie's. I run over to him when he stands up and I put my hands on his shoulders. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, just shaken," Willie answers and gives me a weak smile.

"You all need to get out of here," The guard says to us. "I can only hold everyone off for so long."

"Thank you," Julie says to him and grabs Flynn's hand, starting to drag her to the hatch entrance. I guess this is the time where I'll have to say goodbye to Willie. I know he can't stay, whether I want him to or not.

Willie and I follow behind the girls. I can hear Reggie and Angelica following us as well, but so is another group of guards. I run as quickly as I up the ramp that leads to the hatch, eventually catching up with Julie who was typing in the code to open the door. I look behind me to see that Reggie had stopped, and is watching Luke, who was still fighting with Malachi.

"Reg!" I yell, his attention turning towards me before joining the group again. The group of guards had almost gotten to him, and now they've almost gotten to us.

The door opens and I rush in with the girls and Willie. However, Reggie doesn't come in.

"Reggie, hurry!" Angelica says and a small smile forms on his lips before shutting the door, locking himself out.

"REGGIE!" I put my hands on the door, Julie already rushing to type in the code to open it again but we both heard a 'Julie, no!'

We both look at Reggie through the glass hole on the door. I could barely make out what he was saying, all I could hear was an "I'm not leaving Luke."

I nod in understanding and he gives us one last small smile before running into the group of guards.

"Okay, we need to figure out what we're doing now! Like right now!" I panic.

"You two need to leave," Julie says and points at Willie and Flynn.

Willie and Flynn both exchange a look before looking at Julie.

"Come with us," Flynn says simply and Julie starts blankly at them.

Julie Molina

"I can't survive out there," was the only way I could think of to respond to that offer. I can't just leave everyone here and leave with two people who I don't know that well. Sure, Flynn and I were getting to know each other, but I'm not going to risk dying.

"Yeah, you can. The earth has been survivable for a while," Willie shrugs. "You could always wear one of those suits over there," He points over to my radiation suits.

"Okay but, I have family down here. I'm not going to just leave them."

"But you have family out there too!" Flynn protests and my eyes widen.

Family? What family do I have outside of the bunker? I mean, my whole family didn't come down here. Who could be alive?

"Who?"

"Your mom," Willie states, and my eyes widen even more.

"Hold on, my mom is alive? And you guys know her?"

"It's a long story-" We all heard the guards preparing to storm in the room. "That I don't have much time to explain. Basically, the whole reason we're down here was to find you, to explain to you what we and your mother know. Just come with us, we can't come back and explain."

I looked at Flynn and Willie's faces, mainly their eyes, to see if I could detect any form of lying.

But from what I could see, there isn't any.

"Alright- I'll come. But if you two are lying, I'm coming right back down here."

"We're not lying," Willie says and climbs up to the hatch entrance.

I turn to Alex and Angelica, to quickly say goodbye to them, but Angelica shakes her head at me.

"I'm coming with you," She states. I open my mouth to object but Alex cuts me off. "I'm not letting you, my best friend, go alone. Plus, I would rather deal with what's out there than those guards and our parents."

Then, I could hear the sound of the door beginning to open.

"Crap! Gogogo!" I yell and climb the hatch, starting to type in the code to open it

"What about the suits?" Alex asks and climbs as well.

"Forget those!" Angelica snaps and we all climb out of the bunker as quick as we could. Willie and Alex both close the hatch quickly.

I quickly took in a breath of fresh air. I can't believe I'm finally out. I was expecting to feel the burning sensation I felt the first time I stepped out of my house when the world started to end, but it never came.

Flynn and Willie didn't lie. This means they weren't lying about my mother, right?

As Alex, Angelica, and I were taking in where we are, we heard the guards below the hatch.

"We can take in being out of the bunker later. Lead the way," Angelica turns to Willie and Flynn, who had already begun running to who knows where.

I run as fast as I can behind them, scared we aren't going to be able to outrun the guards. They lead us into the woods that surround the bunker, the trees moving past me as if they were running too.

I feel horrible for leaving my dad, Carlos, and aunt down there, but I hope that they would understand why I left. I just hope Malachi doesn't do anything to them because of me.

We reached two cars after it felt like ages of running. Do these belong to Willie and Flynn?

There is a silver SUV and a black Cadillac.

"I don't know how much gas I have," Flynn says and climbs into the driver seat of the SUV, Willie the Cadillac.

"Mines full. You can get in mine if you run out."

Angelica and I get in Flynn's car and Alex gets in Willie's. It seems like Flynn hijacked the car. She was able to start it without keys.

"Buckle up," She says, but I had already done so. I didn't forget the most important car rule, even if I hadn't been in a car for a while.

Flynn pressed on the gas and the car started moving, following behind Willie's car, which had started driving before us. I look at Angelica, who is sitting behind me, who was looking out the back window.

"Flynn? The guards are chasing us," Angelica states, turning back and looking at me, panicked.

Flynn fiddles with the radio and turns it on. "Willie?" She says into it.

"Flynn?" I hear Willie's voice reply. I take a look at the radio, impressed with them for being able to communicate through it.

"The guards are chasing us, take the-" Flynn stops talking when Angelica screams and crutches down in the backseat. There was a loud banging noise that echoed off the car, and it didn't stop.

Oh my god, they're shooting at us.

"Flynn?! What was that?!" Willie asks through the radio, sounding worried.

"They're shooting at us," I say as I duck down as well. Flynn tries her best to duck down while still trying to steer the car.

I hear Willie's breath hitch. "Okay, Flynn, you know that two-way path up there?"

"Yeah."

"You go right, I'll go left."

"I don't know where to go after that!"

"Do you want them to keep shooting at you?"

Flynn silently agrees with him, turning the wheel to the right as we approached the two-way path. I watch as the boys go to the left and the guards stopping, debating which way they want to go.

I lean back against my seat, feeling weird being in a car for the first time in a year. I look back at Angelica next, who was getting back up in her seat when she realized it was safe.

We drive peacefully until we reach a mountain. The mountain is on the side of the road, and Flynn drives around it, then I see guards standing on top of it, pointing their guns down at our car.

"Not again!" I yell and duck down. Angelica falls back down to the floorboard.

The shooting starts again. I realize that the car might be bulletproof, because surely at least one would've come through the roof by now, but not a single one did.

"STOP SHOOTING AT CHILDREN, YOU ASSHOLES," Angelica screams. I'm too scared to scream.

We escape the shooting again, hoping it was for the last time. We might back up with Willie and Alex on the main road, having a peaceful drive the rest of the way to wherever Flynn and Willie are taking us.

I hope Alex is okay, his anxiety must've been during that. Same for Reggie and Luke.. who knows what punishment Malachi is giving them. Also for my family, that they aren't losing sleep from worry.

I watch out the window for the rest of the way. We drove through the city Angelica and I used to live in. It looked the same yet so different at the same time. The lights that would light up the town not shining, not a person in sight, it looked abandoned.

I guess the place I used to call home is a ghost town now. I hope that one day, everyone will be able to leave their bunkers and bring it back to life.

After forever of driving, the two cars parked in front of the Molina house. That's when I started believing more and more that what Willie and Flynn told me is true, that when I walk in there, I'll see my mom.

I spent a whole year grieving her, just for her to possibly be alive. I'm still not sure how to process this information.

We get out of the car and I just stare at the house. I could feel Alex- or maybe Flynn staring at me, waiting for me to say something or make some sort of move. Neither of those happened, as I just stood there, staring at it.

Willie coughs, "Do you guys uh- wanna go inside?"

I snap out of my daze and look over at him, nodding. I let everyone else lead the way inside the house, causing me to be the last person to walk in the door.

Alex looks back at me and stops so I can catch up.

"Are you okay?" He asks me, making sure I didn't get shot.

"Yeah, that car was a tough one to beat."

"No, I mean.. with your mother being inside.."

"If she's inside," I correct him.

"She better be. I don't want to have gone through that for nothing," Angelica says from in front of us, who must've been listening to our conversation.

To be honest, agreed. We all walk through the front door to my house, instantly being greeted by a dozen curious looks.

Is this really how many survivors there are?

A girl with bushy brown hair, kinda like mine, is the first one to greet us.

"I'm so glad you guys are okay," She says to Flynn and Willie and hugs the both of them.

After they have their cute reunion moment, the girl turns to me, and then back to Flynn and Willie.

"Is that them?" She asks quietly like she doesn't want me to hear, even though I clearly can.

Willie grins at her. "Mia, meet Julie, Alex, and Angelica!"

The girl- Mia, turns and looks at us, shaking all of our hands. "I've heard great things."

I notice how she held Angelica's hand a little longer than she did mine and Alex's, her gaze also lingering on Angelica.

Ooooo, Angelica... I wanted to say that aloud, but I decided against it.

"Julie!" I hear a voice, the voice of someone who had been a ghost to me for so long. I turn around towards the direction the voice came from, seeing the smile that I remember so well.

"Mom?"