MidReal Story
Radiant Ruins
Scenario: A postapolyptic world where a nuclear war happen were only survivor living in the wasteland 300 years has past in USA
Create my version of this story
The sun was setting as we approached the bunker.
It was a massive, concrete structure that had been built into the side of a hill.
The entrance was a pair of heavy steel doors that were closed and locked.
There were no windows, and the only other visible feature was a small guard tower on top of the hill.
The bunker had been abandoned for over three hundred years, but it was still in remarkably good condition.
It had been built to withstand a direct nuclear strike, and it had done just that.
The warheads had detonated in the air above it, which had spared it from being vaporized in the initial blast.
It was one of the few structures in this part of the country that hadn’t been reduced to rubble.
We’d heard rumors that it contained valuable supplies and technology, but we’d never been able to get inside to find out for ourselves.
The doors were too thick to cut through with our plasma torches, and there was no way to know what lay on the other side.
I’d almost given up on ever getting inside, but then I’d heard that a group of scavengers had found a way in.
They’d been able to access the surface entrance, which was supposed to lead to the lower levels of the bunker.
I didn’t know how they’d done it, and I didn’t really care.
All I knew was that I had to get my hands on whatever they’d found.
If it was true, then it could be the key to our future.
There were only three of us: me, my best friend John, and my little sister Lisa.
We were part of a small survivor group that was struggling to rebuild after the war.
We had a small plot of land, some livestock, and a few crops, but it wasn’t enough.
We needed more if we were going to survive, and this bunker could be the answer.
I was determined to find out what was inside, no matter what it took.
We had spent the last two days hiking through the mountains to get here.
The roads had been blocked by landslides, and we’d had to carry all our gear on our backs.
It hadn’t been easy, but we’d made it in one piece.
Now we were finally here, and I was starting to get nervous.
The bunker was even more imposing up close.
The steel doors loomed over us like a pair of silent sentinels.
They were completely smooth and featureless, except for a small keyhole on the left side.
There was no way to open them without a key or some other way to bypass the lock.
I looked up at the guard tower, but I didn’t see anyone there.
That didn’t mean they weren’t watching us, though.
We were too exposed out here in the open, and we needed to get inside before someone saw us and decided to take action.
“Are you sure this is the right place?”
Lisa asked, looking around nervously.
“Maybe we should go back.”
She was only seventeen, and she’d never been out on a mission like this before.
I put my hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile.
“It’s okay,” I said.
“We’re almost there.
We just need to stay focused and keep moving.”
She nodded and fell into step beside me, shouldering her pack as she did.
She was carrying almost as much as John or I was, and I could see how heavy it was for her.
I felt a stab of guilt at having dragged her along, but I knew that she had insisted on coming.
She wanted to help, and she was old enough to start learning what it took to survive in this world.
I’d made sure that she’d had all the right training and equipment, but nothing could prepare you for how harsh it could be out here.
I just hoped that she could handle it.
We started walking toward the doors, and I felt my heart pounding in my chest.
The sun had almost dipped below the horizon, and it was getting dark fast.
John nodded, his eyes hidden by the brim of his hat, but I could see his jaw tense.
He was our best fighter, and he was always ready for action.
He’d been out on missions like this before, and he knew what could happen if things went wrong.
I nodded back, feeling the weight of our mission pressing down on me.
We’d come all this way, and it would all be for nothing if we couldn’t get inside.
But there was nothing to do but try.
We couldn’t afford to fail.
The future of our people depended on it.
“Let’s do this,” I said, taking one last look around before stepping up to the steel doors.
The metal was cold against my skin, and I felt a shiver run down my spine as I looked at them up close.
There wasn’t much to see: just the smooth surface of the doors, with no visible seams or gaps.
They looked completely impenetrable, except for that small keyhole, which seemed impossibly small and fragile now that I was seeing it up close.
It made me wonder if there was something else going on here, or if we’d been led astray somehow.
But there wasn’t time to think about it.
I looked back at John and Lisa, who were watching me with expressions of grim determination.
John had one hand resting on the hilt of his plasma rifle, his face a mask of stoic calm.
Lisa was gripping my hand so tightly that it hurt, but she managed a small smile when I looked at her.
We’d been through a lot together, and I knew that I could trust them with my life.
We were a team, and we would get through this together, no matter what obstacles lay in our way.
I took a deep breath and nodded at them.
They both nodded back, and I could see the fear and uncertainty in their eyes.
We were all feeling it, but we didn’t have a choice.
We had to do this.
I gave John a quick signal, then turned back to face the doors.
He nodded and stepped up beside me, raising his rifle.
I took another deep breath, then stepped back and watched as he aimed at the keyhole and fired.
The plasma beam was blindingly bright, and I had to shield my eyes as it hit the door.
It cut through the metal like it was made of paper, leaving a smoldering hole in its wake.
When John stepped back, the light from the beam faded away, and we could finally see what lay beyond.
The doors creaked open slowly, revealing a dark space beyond.
I couldn’t see much: just a narrow corridor leading into the darkness, with no light or sound coming from inside.
It seemed oddly silent, almost as if the darkness itself was swallowing our torchlight whole.
For a moment, I hesitated, feeling a chill run down my spine.
I’d been so focused on getting inside that I hadn’t really thought about what we would do once we were in there.
There could be anything waiting for us in those shadows: traps, or guards, or something far worse than any of us could imagine.
But we’d come too far to turn back now.
This was our only chance, and I knew that we had to take it.
Taking a deep breath, I turned back and cautiously stepped inside.
The air inside the bunker was stale and musty, with a thick layer of dust coating everything in sight.
It had been centuries since anyone had set foot in this place, and the signs of decay were everywhere.
The walls were cracked and crumbling, and the floor was covered in rubble.
The only sound was our footsteps echoing faintly in the darkness, the noise muffled by the thick layer of dust on the ground.
As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could just make out the faint outline of a doorway on the other side of the room.
There was nothing else here: no guards, no traps, nothing to stop us from moving forward.
With one last glance at John and Lisa, I turned and led the way deeper into the bunker.
They followed close behind me, their torches casting long shadows on the walls.
We moved quickly and quietly, making our way down a long corridor that seemed to stretch on forever.
The air was cold and damp, and the only sound was our footsteps echoing in the darkness.
I glanced back at John and Lisa, who were following close behind me, their expressions tense and alert.
They trusted me to lead them, even though none of us knew what we would find inside the bunker.
We had heard the stories, of course: rumors of bunkers like this one, hidden all over the country, filled with food and medicine and even advanced technology from before the war.
But no one knew for sure if those stories were true.
Other survivors had tried to find the bunkers, but none of them had ever returned, leaving us to wonder what secrets lay hidden beneath the earth, and whether they were worth the risk of searching for them.
As we walked, I couldn’t help but wonder what we would find inside this one.
Would it be everything we’d been hoping for, or would it be something far worse?
The only way to find out was to keep moving forward.
Eventually, we reached the end of the corridor and found ourselves at the top of a narrow flight of stairs that led down into darkness.
I paused for a moment, peering into the gloom below.
It was too dark to see anything clearly, but I could just make out the faint glow of torchlight coming from somewhere far below.
For a moment, I hesitated, feeling a sudden sense of unease in the pit of my stomach.
Something didn’t feel right, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
But we didn’t have a choice.
I took a deep breath and turned to John and Lisa, who were watching me with expectant looks on their faces.
“We need to keep moving,” I said quietly.
“The supplies should be down there somewhere, and we don’t have much time.”
John nodded, his face grim.
Lisa squeezed my hand, her eyes wide and scared, but she didn’t say anything.
We all knew that time was running out, and that we couldn’t afford to waste any more of it.
With a sense of grim determination, I led the way down the stairs, and my companions followed close behind.
It didn’t take long for us to reach the bottom, and when we did, we found ourselves in a long, narrow hallway that stretched out before us, disappearing into darkness in either direction.
There were several doors along the walls, all of them closed and locked tight.
The layout of the bunker seemed strange to me: unlike any that we had encountered before.
But there wasn’t time to dwell on that now.
