sketch 2

Tom was reading War of the Worlds.

It told of conquerors from another planet, complete helplessness, and survival amidst total horror. It was something Tom could easily relate to, especially the part where the only solution Wells could think of was to live like roaches beneath the feet of crushing defeat. The only difference between its world and now was its optimism. The earth won, but humanity had nothing to do with it.

He was about a third through his dog-eared copy, probably the only book he'll ever have. This was the sixth time he had read it and the story never changed. He never tired of it. It was the first to teach him hope and that was the only reason he needed to keep it close.

The earth would live on, the book said, like a dog after the fleas have gone. Hope said he wasn't a flea.

"You read too much, Tom. Game of cars, now. Get your but over here," Big Sis Sally ordered him.

"He always reads to much. I'd have gone crazy by now if I read the same damn book over and over again like he does," Huxley added. It wasn't that he didn't like the book, he'd read it too. He just wasn't the reading type.

There were five of them in the group, Old Man Paper, Old Man George, Sally, Huxley, and him. The Old Men were out, their turn to explore some more tunnels. Tom and Huxley already hit their jackpot yesterday, a whole cache of canned goods hidden underneath a trap door. They earned their idle time. Sally was there cos she knew how to cook. It was the only reason why she was rarely asked to do any scavenging, that and cards.

They made do with what they had. Sally just kept changing the rules, making new games entirely out of thin air.

It was about time Tom got to stretch his legs anyway. The gaslight showed the hourglass and it was near turning. His muscles were aching for it too, so he rolled off the crate packed with soft earth for cushioning and stretched.

This vault was way older than the ones they have been in before. It did have metal doors and stuff, just like the other blast bunkers and shelters, but this one didn't have an of the sophisticated tech. Old Man George said it was from way before humanity ever achieved singularity, probably a hundred years or more before. the tunnels were of earth, the hinges of thin tin, a few blast doors here and there, but mostly it was wood, plastic, and gas.

Huxley found a gas leak once, nearly killed. He didn't know anything about gas leaks, nearly poisoned him. Old Man Paper didn't either. What would they do without George.

The Old Man was the only one to really know anything about anything before it went extremely high tech. A bit of a history geek, Sally said.

Tom took a seat on a plastic lawn chair and was about to play dueling nobles when the hot water whistled. Coffee, Sally called the black stuff, the coffee was ready and the Old Men were just in time.