Ascension

Alivia

We are back in the stupid meetings again. Why do we even need the meetings anyway? America drags them out as long as she can and it is getting annoying. As America drones on and on I almost fall asleep from sleep deprivation.

For the last few days I feel like something has gone wrong and Indiana is in trouble. When I try and sleep I just can't. I dream of a world where Indiana has died and it is my worst nightmare currently.

Then the bunker shakes. It throws everyone off and we exclaim. America falls to the floor and I fall onto Alaina. When we all get up America tries to right her hairdo.

"Listen everyone, we are safe right here." America tells us.

Another rumble hits the bunker and it shakes the floor.

"We are safe." America says quieter as if almost to herself.

Then another bomb drops. There is silence in the meeting room as we look to America for the call. America seems to be shaking and she tries to still her hands by putting them in her pocket but it doesn't work and you can see her legs visibly shaking.

"America?" Alaina asks.

America looks Alaina dead in the eye and nods.

"Everyone follow me!" Alaina yells.

We all file out of the meeting room in a quick manner.

"Do you think Eden will be okay?" America asks me.

Eden the now four year old is still under America's care. America the most work centered out of all of us is taking care of Eden. I would have assumed that Eden would have gone back to Lorelei when she came back but she showed no interest in being a foster mom when she came back.

In fact Lorelei didn't really show much interest in being anything at all when she came back but I guess we kind of forced her to be this way.

"Wait America, who is going to sound the alarm?" I ask.

America grabs out her decked out com and presses a button. Immediately the halls were filled with the horrible gut wrenching alarms that filled the hallway to the brink with noise.

We run faster to the bomb shelters. As we were running Luna Rose came to my mind. I pushed her away from my thoughts. She would be fine, she's with Eden's babysitter right now. However their babysitter is only 13.

"America, distract me." I tell her.

"Okay, um, I got a call from some of the squadron's captains last night. Seven out of our nine squadrons managed to take down a Bright camp. One of the squadrons who didn't was stuck at camp with food poisoning and the other got ambushed but all together we kept less than thirty casualties. That is really good for how many Brights they managed to take down." America tells me.

"So are they coming home soon?" I ask.

"No sweetie, they took down seven camps out of thirty." America explains to me.

My heart sinks. That's at least one more battle for Indiana to die in. Oh, I wish he would come home soon.

When we reach the stairwell silent tears are running down my face. I wish I had Luna Rose in my arms. I wish I was in Indiana's arms. All of this is just so unfair sometimes.

We go down what seems like endless amounts of stairs. The Brights hit us with several more bombs and I can't imagine what it looks like up there above the surface. It probably looks like swiss cheese.

When we hit the bottom floor people are pulling out lights.

"Luna Rose!" I call out.

My voice echoes around the room, filling the solemn air. The room shakes but I hardly notice. Then we see a young girl with two children in her arms running towards us.

"There you are." I sigh as she stops in front of us.

"Thank you for taking care of our kids." America tells her as she hands her extra food tickets.

"No problem." She smiles.

We go and find a bunk bed to claim our own. Over the last few months we have spent so much time here we kind of turned it into a second sleeping area because we know it can be awhile before we can come up.

So we have rows and rows of bunk beds and trunks where we keep extra clothes and water. The room shakes again. Luna Rose starts to cry and Eden reaches out for America. I hold Luna Rose tight to my fraim and Luna Rose's sobs subside.

"I know it's scary." I whisper to my daughter as she dries her tears with my hair.

I go sit with America and Eden climbs onto my lap next to Luna Rose.

Eden's hair is now platinum blond and it is so pretty that I can't help but admire it in the low lit light. When they both fall asleep we rock them in our arms. It is weird being alone again. Without Indiana. I guess I figured that once he was back he would never leave me again.

But that is clearly not the case since the military shipped him away from the Colony again. Well technically the first time it wasn't the government's fault he got shipped away but it was their fault that he had to stay longer than usual.

As Luna Rose dreamed I could not. Into the late hours of the night the bombings kept happening. It scared the living daylights out of me so I stayed up listening to the rhythmic breathing of the sleeping colonists. The bombings went from irregular to once every hour.

Everytime one fell upon the probably now toxic building it sent shivers down my spine.

When will they stop this madness?

America is restlessly sleeping next to me. I can tell she is having a nightmare and I want to pull her out of it but sometimes it's better to just have the dreams play out instead of just stopping them.

America tossed and turned and whimpered a few times. She was saying some intelligible words.

"Hey America?" I ask shaking her slightly.

Her breathing hitched and then came out in short fits of breath.

"America?" I ask her again.

I began shaking her because I was scared for her. Eden was now awake in her arms and was staring at America with eyes wide with worry.

"Eden can you help me wake your mom?" I ask him.

He nods his head and begins to shake her a bit as well. America began crying and Eden got frantic. He couldn't bear to see his strong mother crying.

America opened her eyes and Eden sighed and slumped back onto the bed. She looked at me with wide eyes filled to the brink with tears. Eden climbed into her arms and fell asleep again but America couldn't go back to sleep after what her subconscious forced her to witness.