(Begin)

As soon as Howard had the chance, he hid in his room, looking over Emmet's wallet. It contained a picture of him, his expired credit cards, and a bus ticket. He should have lived. He didn't deserve this. I have to escape, for his sake.

A few hours later, Michelle arrived. Howard noticed how different she looked. Instead of shirts and jeans, she was wearing a light blue sundress. Her hair was down and she had makeup on. She was also holding an ice cream cone, as well as a bowl of ice cream with a spoon.

"You like ice cream, Howard? Michael sure did, but for some reason he always liked in on a cone. Me, I always preferred it in a bowl. Gives you more time before it melts."

"What happens now?"

"Nothing. I'll make dinner, and we'll get to enjoy it alone. If you want a snack, here it is."

She left the bowl on a shelf nearby and walked away. Howard began thinking over his options. Sooner or later, she'll kill me. I'll do something she doesn't like, and she'll kill me. If I'm gonna escape, it needs to be now.

Whipping out the protective suit from under his bed, he applied the finishing touches. He was just about to start working on the helmet when he heard footsteps. He quickly shoved the suit back under his mattress and put the helmet in the air duct.

"Dinner will be ready soon. Mind helping me set the plates?"

"Sure, I'll help."

As Michelle turned to leave, a loose screw in the duct cover fell out. "What was that?"

"Nothing, Michelle."

"Is there another rat in the vents?" Michelle removed the cover and started feeling around. Howard could only cross his fingers that she wouldn't find his helmet.

"I guess it was nothing. We need to tighten this after dinner."

Michelle began to walk away when her eye caught sight of something under Howard's mattress.

"Howard, stand up."

"Why?"

"Stand up now!"

No sooner had Michelle discovered the suit then Howard raced out of the room. He reached the master chambers and locked the door.

As he looked around for something to use as a weapon, he spotted the remains of clothes and hair floating on top of the barrel. Emmet.

Michelle blew out the lock and stormed in. "Howard, don't make me shoot you. Just let me explain."

"Explain this, bitch!" Howard knocked over the barrel and punched Michelle in the face before running back to his room, where he grabbed the suit and helmet.

Returning to the pantry, he was shocked to see Michelle. The acid had bleached her makeup, burned her face, and singed off a good portion of her hair. Without saying a word, she raised her hand to shoot Howard.

Before she could pull the trigger, Howard grabbed the nearest shelf and overturned it on her head, knocking her out. By now, the spilled acid had ignited and a massive fire was spreading throughout the bunker. Howard moved as quickly as he could through the vents.

Before he could reach the attic, a knife began puncturing the vents. A now visibly bleeding Michelle began stabbing furiously, trying to catch Howard. Tearing off one of the grates, she managed to grab his leg.

"Get off!" Howard kicked Michelle's hand until he could feel his leg moving freely. He soon realized why as soon as he stood up: Michelle's hand, melted by the acid, was still gripping his leg. He tossed it aside and donned the suit. Armed with a can of nitrogen, he then tried to freeze the lock on the skylight so that he could break it, but the lock was too sturdy.

Thick smoke poured in through the vents and made breathing difficult. Howard sprayed the lock until the can went empty. He then aimed one final shot and managed to break it clean off.

Scrambling through to safety, he soon realized that the sky outside was completely normal. There were no visible signs of any fallout, and when he took off his helmet, he was surprised to find that the air was breathable. Its over at last. Now if I could only find a car…

A low humming caught his attention. What now?

(Stop)