Date: June 29th

Time: 05:37 Eastern Time

POV: Alex Watson

I was sleeping in my bed when the loudspeaker spoke. "Corporal Watson, please report to Colonel Kingston's office," said the loudspeaker. "Repeat, Corporal Watson, please report to Colonel Kingston's office." I woke up and sighed. This was the second time in a week. The first time was when I was accused of spraying graffiti on the wall in the mess hall (which I didn't) and this time it was also about something I didn't do. I got out of bed and put on my uniform. While I was walking down the halls, I looked at the propaganda posters left over from WWIII. One poster was a soldier with a gun yelling, "Are you man enough to fight the Reds? Then join the Army!"

After a few minutes, I reached Colonel Kingston's door. I was nervous. The 74 year old colonel has lead the bunker for over 40 years and while he was mostly calm, he can strike fear in those who broke the bunker's rules. I knocked on the door. "Come in," said Kingston. I opened the door and walked in the room. "Good. You're here. Have a seat, Watson." I obeyed, taking one of the two chairs facing the Colonel's desk. I meekly asked, "Am I in trouble, sir?"

The colonel immediately responded, "No, not at all. I called you in here because I have a mission for you."

"A... mission sir?" I have always gotten orders to serve food, clean the latrines, and mop the halls, but I never received a real mission.

"Yes. About an hour ago, one of the chips in our water creator bit the ghost and we don't have another computer chip in the bunker. To put it simply, we are running out of water, and it is estimated that we have 150 days to replace it."

I was shocked. If Bunker N-9 ran out of water, we would have no choice but to leave and settle the dangerous outside world. "What are we going to do, sir?"

"Fortunately, we have reports that another Bunker, N-13, has a spare computer chip for the water creator. We need someone to leave the bunker and make contact with Bunker N-13."

"But that must be a hundred miles away!" I cried softly. "How will I make it there in 150 days?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure you'll manage. Before you leave, stop by the armory. Gunnery Sargent Barnes will give you a backpack, a gas mask, and a weapon for the road. Listen, the fate of this bunker is in your hands. Don't screw it up."

I left the office after he dismissed me and I made my way to the Armory. The person in charge of the armory, Jack Barnes, was a friend of my father and he's like a uncle to me. "Hey there, Jack," I said.

"Hi," said Jack as he was putting away a book he was reading. He turned to me and said, "So, the colonel gave you your first mission?"

I nodded.

"Can't believe you're actually leaving the vault. Okay, let's see..." Barnes got out a backpack, a submachine gun, a gas mask, spare ammo, and some air filters. "Here's your equipment."

I put on the backpack, placed the gas mask on my belt, put the magazines and air filters in my backpack, and picked up the weapon. "Thanks, man," I said.

"Good luck out there!"

I made my way to the Bunker's entrance, where a soldier was operating a terminal. "So, this your first time out of the bunker?" asked the soldier.

I said yes. The soldier grabbed a lever which opened and closed the large doors of the bunker to keep out any dangers. After he pulled it, the doors opened. Having heard that the air on the surface was unclean, I immediately put on my gas mask and with my weapon in my hands, I, for the first time, left Bunker N-9...