Stasis

Episode 1 - A New-Life Welcome!

It was practically a normal day, Will awoke to the blaring of sound from his alarm, he went to work, then came home as usual. Nothing special, that was until the sounds of a siren began to sound, what seemed like just another day had turned completely upside down just with a noise. He knew what kind of sirens these were, and he knew very well as to what he would have to do. He sprinted towards the door to his home and dashed down the street, leaving almost every one of his belongings behind just as he was instructed to when given the crash course on how to deal with an imminent nuclear threat. it took him almost five minutes to get to the underground New-Life bunker nearest to his home, there was a crowd in front of the large, reinforced doors of the bunker, people were practically throwing each other around attempting to get past the armored personnel responsible for only allowing a chosen few inside. Lucky for Will, he was one of them, being one of the many people paranoid enough to purchase a authorization card for immediate entrance into the bunker, he raised his card high above his head and shouted to the personnel at the front "I have a card! Please, let me in!" One of the guards, hearing his cry, was alerted to his presence, his eyes darting to meet him. He shouted to the people in front of him "let this man through! He's authorized!" with this order the other personnel started pushing people out of the way to give room for him to walk through, causing anger and frustration in the crowd. Will began to walk through the opened space in the crowd and up to the bunker doors, standing before them with other people who also seem to have been card holders. The humongous doors to the bunker began to shutter and quake as they slid open, allowing them to pour in. Will and the other card holders began to rush into the bunker, piling down the steps and deeper underground, the armored personnel from before following behind them as the doors began to close, the cries of the people outside growing louder before being quieted by the sealing of the doors. As they continued down the stairs, lights above them began to turn on one by one, creating a subtle yellow glow. Not a step before Will had stepped off of the stairs, the earth above them began the shake and rumble... the bombs had dropped. Everyone outside was most likely dead... everyone stopped simultaneously in some kind of grief and guilt for those above. "keep it moving people! No time to lose!" The voice of one of the armored personnel from the back of the crowd rang out, echoing gently off of the concrete walls. At the bottom of the stairs, there was another set of large doors, around half the size of the humungous ones at the top. The doors slid open slowly due to their weight and everyone was mushed inside, the doors closing automatically once everyone was inside. More yellow lights turned on, illuminating their surroundings, the lobby and main quarters of the bunker revealing itself under the glow. The main tables, a podium, a stage of which the podium stood atop proudly, and the main stairs behind the stage being outlined in its illumination. "Everyone to a seat at the tables, the bunkers current representative will begin his speech shortly before we begin the welcome feast. for the time being, he'll yourselves to the appetizers on the tables." Said one of the armed guards. People began flocking towards the tables, filling the benches and beginning to eat the food left out for them, still warm. Will did the same, sitting at the inner end of the left-most tables. A gentle tone rang from speakers on the walls like the ones you'd hear at an airport or supermarket signaling an announcement before a voice sprung out. "Representative Campbell Chavez will begin his speech now, please stop all conversation and refrain from eating whilst he speaks." The voice said, an excited and happy tone in her voice. A man walked out onto the stage, his hair swept to the right and a mustache on his face, wearing a classy suit and tie. He stepped out to the podium and began to speak. "Good afternoon, residents, and welcome to the New-Life underground bunker and your new home. You will be provided for while working to maintain the bunker whilst you are here, so please cooperate and do your assigned jobs as directed. From today on, we must all act as a unit, a team. Take tonight to meet your dwelling mates and get used to your surroundings, and remember... stamus simul, and enjoy your evening." He straightened his tie before stepping away from the podium, walking up the stairs and towards his quarters. The feasting resumed, foods being brought from the kitchen and people chatting with each other, Will sat quietly, enjoying what was left of his food until he felt a tap on his shoulder, looking to see a fluffy dark haired man with a soft face looking up at him with a warm smile before speaking. "Hi! My names Ester, what's yours?" His tone seemed excited, like he'd been waiting to talk to him. Will broke his silence once more, saying "hi... I'm Will, it's nice to meet you..." he didn't want to seem awkward, but it seems he might've failed at that. though, Ester didn't care, he slid closer to Will and began speaking again. "It's nice to meet you too! Say, what's your favorite color? What about your favorite food? Do you have a favorite animal? Oh! What are your hobbies?!" He asked his questions in quick succession, though, Will understood him due to his past experience with fast talkers. "Blue, steak or ribs, I like bears, and I like wood and metal working." He answered, his tone far more serious compared to Esters, but his chipper attitude never faltered. "You like working with your hands, huh? I've never been too good at using my hands, I'm a lot better at making little crafts than anything else, I used to sell them as a side hustle. What about you? Did you ever use your hobby to make a little money?" He asked, Will replying "not really... I usually just used it to make things of my own interest and for those close to me, I never expanded it much." Ester nodded, understanding him. "I get it, I didn't really do much with my stuff til recently... maybe you could start selling your work while we're down here! I could help!" Will slightly smiled down at him, finding the way he talked to him amusing. "I don't think I'd really mind..." he responded to him, Ester replying "Great! I'll talk to you after we get settled in, alright?" Will nodded, showing he understood and didn't mind, soon after, the tone of an announcement rang from the speakers once more. "All residents please proceed to the rooms labeled CC-1 and 2, further instruction will be given there. If you have a last name beginning with the letters A to N, please make your way to CC-1, those with last names starting with letters after that may proceed to CC-2." The audio then cut, and Will and Ester began walking towards their respective rooms. Will entered CC-1, his last name being Cooper, while Ester went to CC-2, his last name being Scott. Once Will had entered the room, he noticed the walls were covered in what looked like some kind of pod, each person being guided to one. "Remain calm, get into the mandated casual outfit, and step into the pods." Stated one of the armored guards, though, one of the people didn't seem to be quite settled... "what are these pods for?! I'm not going to let you stuff me in a pod without my knowledge of what's gonna happen, so you better tell me what they're for!" He exploded, the armored guard replying "sir, I'm sorry, but we cannot tell you that. Please cooperate." Will began to get into the casual uniform, which consisted mostly of grays with black stripes and accents and some browns which were mainly on the forearms, the elbows, and the knees. These browns seemed made of leather, mostly for protection, he'd assumed. The man became more frantic and drew attention to himself. "Hell no! I'm not doing anything without knowing what that'll do to me!" He screamed, the armored guard calmly replied to him "all the pods will do is freeze you until we're completely ready to house everyone, that's all I can tell you. Now please cooperate, if you choose not to, we will have to use force." The man relaxed slightly more, eased by the thought of it not doing anything estranged to him. "Fine..." he began to do as he was instructed. Will, already done getting the casual outfit on, stepped into the pod and pushed the red button used to close the hydronic door, it sealing and arming itself, freezing him and putting him at stasis, the cold creeping around him and sending a shiver down his spine. He shut his eyes one last time before the pods effects took him into a coma-like state...