SandScript 2023 [Digital Exclusive]

Solar Bunker 3D- 2:33 p.m.
Old Man Gerredy sprinted to the door, banging, and screaming at the people. His wide eyes
scanned the faces of those around him, as he shouted, “Let me out, goddammit! I need out, I need
out…” Gray hairs swung from his gaunt face and stuck to his pale forehead. “Please! Please!”
Elijah stood up when the man stepped on his mother’s left hand. He grabbed Gerredy’s
flailing arm, throwing him to the ground. “Sit down, you dumb bastard. We’ve had enough
of your whining.”
Before he could make a break for the door again, Elijah kicked him down, stepping on his back
until he lay in his tears. The others watched in silence like dumb puppets, gaping at the feeble
man as he curled into a ball. “We need to get out of here…”
There was a sneer on Elijah’s face as he forced Gerredy onto the filthy ground one last time.
“Stop it, Elijah. He’s done fighting.”
Elijah’s eyes shot to the short woman sitting in front of him. “If he opens the door, we are all
dead. He has to learn–” He pointed to the haggard woman lying face up, “-and apologize for
stepping on my mother.”
“He knows the cost. We all learned that during the Second Wave when it took that resettling.
Many lost their families that way.” Sheila looked at Gerredy crying on the floor. “We were
meant to see the sun, but this world no longer accepts us. We’ve killed it, and now it wishes to
erase our existence. It has succeeded in breaking us apart slowly, as you have seen. We have
little time left, and soon the end will occur, whether we are ready or not.”
Elijah scowled and looked at his mother’s vacant face as she stared at the shaking ceiling. Her
mouth opened and closed as she muttered wordlessly.
“You have more than others. Enjoy your last moments, while you can.”
He muttered, “Again with this nonsense.” Elijah stepped back and sat down, stroking his
mother’s thinning hair. “We must do anything to survive. You said that once when you were a
part of the Science Corp that built these things.”
She smiled bitterly. “I was young then, like you, and hopeful. We all thought these bunkers would
be a safe house while we found better methods. We searched, but there never was enough time.
We thought we could survive together and reform, reconnect as a species, maybe beyond the
stars.” Sheila looked at his face. “You remember what happened, don’t you?”
Scraping metal sounds pierced the darkness. “I will never forget the wars for supplies.”
“Too much time has passed, and I’ve seen the people change, the world grew alien. Soon this
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