Sole Survivor

*To listen and read along, play the narration video*

The foul stench of death and destruction suffocated the atmosphere as radiation from nuclear war clenched what remained in a mutated state. The hatred that spread between humans swiftly destroyed them as they raged sheer malice on one another. Out of fear of different ideologies, skin colors, cultures, and more, the weak-minded unleashed an evil that hadn’t been seen in generations.

A small young girl struggled to breathe under her gas mask as she rested under the bunker alone. The cold stone protected her from the war and aftermath, but it didn’t shield her from her churning emotions and inevitable struggles. Unable to understand why it had to become this way, she felt empty and lost as she wandered the long dark tunnels by herself. Around her neck hung a small heart-shaped locket. Every time she felt agony or fear, she would open the pendant.

Inside the beautifully engraved necklace was a photograph of her dead family. Her father had dark skin with handsome brown eyes; her mother was nearly as pale as a ghost with blue eyes and black hair. Despite what…