9 Chapter 8: A New Life

Chris slowly opened his eyes. Everyone else was still asleep. He sat up. His head was throbbing. One full day had passed since the events of Project Eden. The world was wiped of all life forms.

"Geez, that was something else. I wonder what Heather tried telling me." out of curiosity, he reached into his back pocket and grabbed his phone. As he suspected, no cell service. He walked over to the wall of weapons and found a sword hanging. "It's like they knew I was coming. I should take one for protection. Who knows what those people could do." He picked up the sword and sheath and put the sheath in his usual spot, on his back. He swung the sword to get a feel for it, then sheathed it.

"ATTENTION, ATTENTION. IMPORTANT MESSAGE IN CONFERENCE ROOM."

There was a voice over a PA system. It had a loud robotic voice with it.

Chris ran over to the two sleeping teens who were covered in dust. 

"Hey, wake up you two!" Chris shouted.

"What's wrong, Chris?" asked Heather.

"There was an announcement that we need to go to the conference room," replied Chris.

"Well, then we best be going," stated Francis.

Chris helped the two to their feet, and they walked to the conference room.

"So is that it? Is the old world really over? Our families gone. Our old lives are now just memories," sobbed Heather. She had become clingy towards Chris. She saw him as a support, to carry her emotions with her. Usually Chris would have done something about her hanging on him, but today, he seemed emotionless. He was probably dealing with his own griefs. He just walked beside her with his sword on his back. 

"I guess so," responded Francis. 

The three rounded the corner and saw the open elevator shaft. On the ground lay two females, dead, on the ground.

"I guess their selfishness killed them," said Chris, unaffected by this scene. 

They walked to the end of the hall, opened the door, and entered the conference room. In the room were the husband of one of the ladies dead in the elevator and the older couple, who were excited to see the three of them still alive. 

The old man walked to the center of the room.

"There are two messages for us on the hologram," said the old man pushing one of the buttons.

After he pushed the button, an image of the businessman appeared in the center of the room.

"Hello survivors, my name is Daniel Shirker, President and founder of Project Eden. For those unaware, the world as you know it is over. We are entering a new world, a new age, a world of peace and freedom. These bunkers are meant to serve as your new home. You will live here for three months. There will be enough food and water, as long as you ration properly and a garden space to grow food immediately. Each of you will have a room resembling yours of your past life. Here you will live comfortably. My final words to you come from the book of Genesis, be fruitful and multiply to fill this world with your goodness." The hologram shut off. Everyone had a shocked look on their face, except one. Francis was furious at the acts of his father,

"Before anyone does anything, there's one more message titled, To bunker 151 said the old man trying to comfort the group. He reached out to start the video.

"Message failed, please try again later."

"Well, that is unfortunate. Now I know you are all in shock as I am. I believe we should all go around and say something about themselves. Here, I'll go first. My name is Maxwell Delson, but you can call me Max. I worked as a museum historian for forty years before retiring."

Max turned to the old woman. "Hello my name is Carmella Delson and I've been married to this wonderful man here for fifty years."

Carmella turned to the man in his 30s.

"What's up, my name is Jackson Bucksbin."

"Why don't you tell us something about yourself?" asked Carmella.

"I'd rather not."

Chris was next. 

"Hi, my name is Christopher Woodsen, but I want you to call me Chris. I am a professional swordsman with over three years of training."

"Greetings my name is Francis Shirker, and as you probably just figured out, my father is the one behind this project."

Jackson stood up from his chair and dashed towards Francis. Chris drew his sword and swung it in between Jackson and Francis.

"Now, now, we don't need any of that, do we," said Chris smugly.

"Shall we continue with you, miss," asked Carmella.

"Hi there. My name is Heather Chapsmon, and I'm in love with the swordsman over there."

"WHAT!" yelled Chris and Francis in unison.

"I'll explain later," Heather whispered to Chris.

Max cleared his through to get everyone's attention. "Now the next problem we need to address is leadership. We need someone who can guide us."

"Well, how about you, Mr. Max? You possess great leadership values," said a young female voice that belonged to Heather.

"Well, how do the rest of you feel about this," Maxwell asked the crowd.

The group reacted in an almost unanimous vote, with Jackson being the only one who disagreed.

Max's first job was to assign jobs. He assigned Chris to act as a guard because of his skills with a sword. Next he assigned Heather and Carmella to maintain a garden to grow food for when they run out after three months. He assigned Jackson to go outside once a week and run tests to determine how suitable the land was. Francis was last. They tasked him with keeping inventory of food and water and distributing it daily. 

Max dismissed them and told them to recover from the disaster that took place yesterday.

"We should get a basic understanding of our new home," suggested Chris.

"That's not a half bad idea," replied Francis in agreement.

The three walked through the various halls that made up the bunker. They made sure they found the places that they would work in, such as the gardening room and the food storage room. Francis had something he wanted to do. he left Chris and Heather to finish exploring for themselves.

Chris and Heather were walking back to their rooms when Chris remembered something.

"Heather, you said you could explain what you said earlier. Now's your chance."

"Am I not allowed to love you," she asked in a playful voice.

"You are, but that's not like you to say something like that."

"When Daniel said the words "Be fruitful and multiply" Jackson began looking at me pervertedly. To be honest, it scared me. But when I saw that your sword intimidated him, I took advantage of it. He wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of you, right?"

"Not if he wants to stay in one piece."

"Well the thing is, if you want to protect me. Not even Francis can know we're faking it. So from now on we will share one room and one bed. We have to be convincing to everyone, including Max."

"So you're saying we have to act like we're married?"

"Yep!" said Heather excitedly. "And maybe we'll become an actual couple like you said last night. Hey, someone's coming."

"Yeah so."

"Kiss me"