Prompt: https://siobhanmuir.com/thursthreads-tying-tales-together-week-507
She pushed the button and we waited for the soft boom that told us that the passageway was clear. No one had opened this door for more years that we could recall, but given what had happened that led humanity into these holes, clearing debris was the first task.
The door opened slowly, and she went first. She’d gone first in everything, from coming out of the womb to making her first kill. He’d caught her alone in the showers and thought that his size and strength meant he could take what he wanted.
As if.
Mine had come not long after, when one of his friends thought he’d exact some sort of revenge. But mom had taught us well. There were things about our family that no one could know, at least not while we were in here, and we did what we had to do.
I followed her out, both of us blinking at the sunlight. It was different outside – just the word ‘outside’ felt strange in my brain. The charge we’d set off had created a path to the surface, but nothing had prepared us for what lay in front of us.
Her shoulders fell, and I heard her soft voice almost crack. “Oh boy.”
“Do we have a lot of work to do?” I stepped up next to her, put my arm around her. “Yes. But this is what they made us for.”
It was my turn to take the lead, here, outside in hell.
249 words
Project Gemini 