Vitality In A Wasteland

1

The smack of Miss Charlene furiously striking at the whiteboard and her constant yelling. The children sat with enough depressed faces to make someone believe it was a funeral. Whenever Miss Charlene was in a mood, she would always give them the same tedious lecture as always.

"How do you think this home of yours was built!" She would snap. "By hard work! By the families sticking together! Where would you all be without them? Certainly not even born! Now open your books! I won't ask again!"

Those were the days. Ace would wake up careless like a machine. He would stroll by greeting all the residents as he spent eight hours every five days in boring class with the only teacher in the bunker unfortunately willing to teach the children. The other adults were busy, always. Not a moment of free time for Tom who runs the generator. Never any time to relax for Ace's mother who spent all her time in the garden room. Ace often went to visit but would never be acknowledged. His mother was always smiling to him and giving him the occasional thumbs up when he bought his report to her, but she never truly spent any moment bonding with him.

"Your mother is the one who gets us all food every day," Ace's father would say, "Without her we would all starve! She loves you a lot son, more than you understand but believe me besides her best interest, she needs to do her job. Don't worry, one day I will sign her off."

Ace sighed. His father had ultimate control in the bunker, but Ace did not understand why out of all fifty residents why he would make her in charge of food.

Ace would wander in his free time. He would visit the entertainment centre where other kids were also mostly found. He and them always shared a connection. After all there were only about ten of them ages ten to eighteen.

When he and they were not binge-watching things, the elders called 'movies' or playing strange things called 'videogames', Ace was with his Great Grandfather. He would always be willing to share a story with Ace. The others thought him to be crazy except for Lisa and Marry, the other two elders that were around just after the fall. The kids thought the things Great Grandfather spoke of like 'houses' and 'trees' were all fake like in the 'movies.' Only Ace was ever intrigued by his Great Grandfather. Ace felt it as a sort of an escape hearing the stories. Whenever Grand Father spoke of things called 'mechs and war birds,' or 'the counties that once were,' Ace always listened.

Ace hated the rest of the time in his life in the classroom. Not, because Miss Charlene was the most wicked and heartless person around, but because the things they learnt were so boring.

It was always, "Today we will be learning how to code a quadra loop,' or 'how to use mathematics to fuel the bunker'. Years and years of learning the same old bunker management nonsense. Ace was often caught of daydreaming or doodling in his notebook the strange things Great grandfather talked about like 'birds' and 'rocket ships.' He longed for the day his father or he would finally allow everyone to leave the bunker. Grandfather never spoke of what happened all that much. Whenever Ace would bring up the day the war ended or why they were down under, he would automate: "Well would you look at the time. It's almost time for the theatre to open, shall we go see if James found anything good to watch?"

Ace could never find any record of the war ever even happening. Every adult in the bunker kept their mouths closed about it and said he would learn one day about it. But he never expected that during his last year would Miss Charlene snap the sliding door closed and dim the lights. A projector had popped from the ceiling and on the board a symbol appeared, a flag with a bird and two swords crossing behind it.

"Now everyone," She said, "This is your final year. In two weeks, you would all be assigned jobs. I know us adults never told you the real thing that happened. I know you all seen the movies and books and must want answers."