Chapter Text
Ulysses woke up to the shrill ringing of his alarm clock at 7 AM, the sun blaring though his window, and immediately regretted it. The second he opened his eyes, the sun's harsh rays quickly flooded his vision, causing him to flinch and clench his eyes shut in pain as the sun attempted to cook his eyeballs. Like an idiot, he had forgotten to shut his blinds again the previous night, like his aunt constantly reminded him to, and now he had to lay there with the consequences. On mornings like this he regretted choosing the bedroom that faced east.
As if the house sensed his awakening, a knock sounded on his bedroom door, reverberating through his pounding headache alongside the alarm clock's screams. His aunt's voice followed it, her tone deep and sarcastic.
"Hey, time to get up! I'm not driving you to catch-up classes if you miss the bus again!"
Ah, yes. Catch-up classes. His teachers, concerned about his constantly low grades, had roped him to extra classes on weekends with a group of students who had similar grades. The majority of those students never showed up, typically leading to an awkward and uncomfortable one-on-one teaching session. Ulysses knew his teachers thought he was a lost cause, with him never seeming to wrap his head around what they told him, leaving him feeling stupid, and his teachers feeling that their time was being wasted. He hoped they at least appreciated his efforts to try, anyway.
He groaned as if he was in agony, screwing his face up and rolling over, smacking blindly around on his nightstand to shut off the alarm, knocking off a few chewed to death pencils in the process. Once his hand made contact with the alarm, he shut it off, the alarm seemingly protesting before joining the pencils on the floor. Too tired to face the day, which had already been ruined by his raging headache, he decided to just give up and try again tomorrow. He pressed his face roughly into his soft, cotton pillowcase, adorned with a pattern of cartoon cowboys on horses that his aunt constantly noted was for a much younger age demographic. Trying to dull his headache from the sun's failed attempt to blind him, he slid his arms underneath his pillow, pressing it into his face in an attempt to block any possible entry point for the sunlight.
Just as he was beginning to drift back to dreamland, something small and hard hit him square on the back of the head, causing him to let out a muffled "Hey!" and shoot up in his bed, his eyes squinting in the direction of the door. The door was now wide open, revealing his aunt, clad in a long grey dressing gown and armed with a toy car from the shelf next to the door, arm poised to throw it in one hand, while the other nursed a cup of what smelt like green tea. From what he could remember, her doctor told her she needed to switch out caffeine from her diet altogether to help her with her insomnia.
"Up. Now. Also, did the sun give you the greeting you were hoping for this morning? I assume that's why you didn't close your blinds last night like I told you."
His aunt, Jane, was a tall woman. Toned, strong, with short, tousled black hair that sat atop her head, still growing out from her time in the army. She had been a soldier, tough and dependable, quick with a gun and smart with her fists. She had spent years drafted in the military as a sniper, due to the government's implementation of forced conscription laws, as well as the law that his aunt called a "bullshit guise of equality" which, stated that women without children, or without children under the age of 18, are now to be enlisted along with men because they're both equals. Funny time for the government to decide they're all about equal treatment after constantly propagating against women's rights up until that point. The law had caused a massive baby boom to occur, with families having babies to ensure wives wouldn't be drafted. It was the reason he was born, to keep his mother from getting thrown into a war zone.
Jane hated the army and everything it stood for. She hated the government for getting into war after war, she hated that both sides were content with forcing men and women to go and kill each other for leaders who were content to view them as expendable. She never voiced those opinions publicly, though. Not unless she wanted the government to come knocking at her door and arrest her for being a "communist sympathiser". She had wanted to refuse enlistment at first, but due to the war, prisons had seen a huge cut in funding, with money going towards the war effort, causing jails to become overcrowded with people who refused to serve in the army. The combination of overcrowding and under-funding led to lack of basic, sanitary facilities, causing outbreaks of disease due to poor sanitation.
She was supposed to be allowed to return home after 4 years of service, but ended up having to stay 8, after her superiors decided she was so good with a gun that she wasn't allowed to leave for another few tours. A scar now ran down one half of her face after one of the captains tried to subdue her in her rage at their orders that she couldn't return home by slamming the end of a rifle against her face, the force of the sharp edge splitting the left side of her face open. After many more years, she was finally allowed to retire from the army after Ulysses' mother's passing, having been declared the next in line to be caregiver, as they apparently couldn't make contact with his father across enemy lines. She readily took the task in order to keep out of the military. It was a relief for her that her sister had just had a baby, otherwise chances are, they would have decided that Ulysses was old enough to just stick in foster care for a few years than to pull her out of the war.
He was never close with Jane while growing up, as she had been in a war zone, miles and miles away from home. Now that they lived under the same roof, and she worked just a few blocks from his school at the Boston Public Library, they were much closer, especially when it came to looking after tiny little Shaun, his infant brother. She was always fond of Shaun, with his tiny little hands and feet that he stuffed into his tiny mouth at any opportunity. Ulysses guessed that he was something so far from the war zone that she naturally clung to him, as he carried no reminders about the war. He was small, peaceful, a little piece of good in this big bad world. Or maybe he was just a cute baby, and people like cute babies.
Another toy car hit him in the side of the head.
"Sorry, my arm slipped." She said with a wide grin. It did not. "Get up, Codsworth made pancakes. There's also cereal, but if you ate that instead, you'd probably hurt his feelings." She noted, before making her leave, not closing the door behind her as she walked off down the hallway.
Thank god for Codsworth. He was the Mr Handy brand robot, a domestic servant robot with a British accent that the military oh so kindly gave her after she requested psychiatric help for her PTSD. It felt like a spit in the face when he first arrived, but having another 'adult' around to help with looking after the house and Shaun had ended up being a lifesaver in so many situations. Ulysses had at first been so anxious about Codsworth and his many spindley arms being around his tiny, delicate baby brother, but those worries were quickly diminished when he saw that he was actually very gentle with Shaun.
Ulysses pushed his legs over the side of the bed, slowly standing up and taking a moment to stretch. God, those racks they used for torture in the middle ages must have felt amazing for the first couple of seconds. He could feel his joints crack and pop as he stretched upwards towards the ceiling, his too large hands almost brushing the light fixture. The movement felt awkward and uncomfortable, his undersized pyjamas making stretching somewhat challenging as they restricted his movements. He had finally hit his growth spurt, and his aunt didn't have the money to constantly buy him new pyjamas every month when his old ones started to become crop tops and 3/4 pants. He grabbed the two toy cars off his bed and slowly stumbled to the door, propping them both up on his shelf.
He decided he'd eat some breakfast before starting anything else, requiring a full stomach before he could even begin to contemplate completing any other tasks. It didn't help that he was always hungry. He stepped out the door of his room and into the corridor, where he could hear the soft rumbling sounds of Codsworth's engine out in the kitchen. He followed the sound, stepping into the conjoined living, dining, and kitchen space. The room was quite large, housing all three spaces, with white walls, large windows, and something that one of his aunt's friends called "open concept" made the space quite comfortable. Codsworth's round metallic body floated at the stove, carefully flipping a pancake, a tall stack of hot pancakes on the counter beside him, housing the finished pancakes. Ulysses heard his stomach rumble.
In the living room, the pilot of The Silver Shroud was playing on the television, a radio-turned TV show about a vigilante in a trench coat who solves the crimes riddling the streets of an alternate Boston. The screen displayed the Shroud adorned in his famous coat and hat, storming dramatically into the mayor's office to accuse him of corruption and of being some kind of super villain? Ulysses never followed the plotlines too closely, being a much bigger fan of the Grognak the Barbarian comic series, which Codsworth argued was much too violent for a young, impressional mind, but there was something very entertaining and funny about a hero who was as stupid as he was with huge muscles and barely any clothes that appealed to him, appearing as something he wanted to be like, in a world he wished he could escape to. That was something he'd have to think about later. As Codsworth spotted him staring at the screen, he immediately greeted him.
"Good morning, young Ulysses! Are you ready for your catch-up classes today? They'll start at 10 AM, so you have plenty of time to enjoy some of these delicious pancakes I made! There's also a cup of tea sitting on the table there for you, brewed to perfection!" Three eyes took in Ulysses appearance, adjusting up and down to properly focus on him
"Thank y-" a loud yawn cut him off, racking through his throat and stretching his jaw until a soft pop was heard. "Thank you, Codsworth..."
"My, what a big yawn! Did you get enough sleep last night? It is important for growing boys to get at least 10 hours of sleep every night, in order to properly retain information they learn at their catch up classes throughout the day. Don't tell me that glowing light under your door last night was you reading more of those comic books, was it, young Ulysses?"
Rob-Co had really done an excellent job of programming their Mr Handy's to be able to use that specific smug tone of voice that adults use when they know you've done something you shouldn't have been doing. That absolutely wouldn't stop Ulysses from lying, though.
"What? No, that was... That was just the night light! You know how I freak out with the dark!"
"Ah, of course, Ulysses, my mistake. I hope you had a good, long sleep, then. Now, eat up! Another key factor in keeping the brain alert is a good, filling breakfast, and these pancakes are absolutely perfect for that, may I just say!"
Ulysses sat down on one of the bar stools at the island counter where a small stack pancakes sat on the a plate, next to a mug with a faded caricature of the president saying "w co e t s t n cl a w r", the words almost completely scratched away. The mug was full of what smelt like green tea, probably the remainder of what was brewed for Jane. He picked it up by the handle and sipped at it, before immediately wrenching away from the cup, spilling the tea on his hand and quickly putting the cup down as he hurried to shake off the liquid.
"Is everything alright, Ulysses?"
"Fine! Fine, just burnt myself... Tea is still hot..." He exclaimed, trying to blow lungfuls of cool air onto his hand.
"Do you need an ice pack? I can administer first aid if needed."
"No, I'm okay Codsworth. Thank you, though..."
He decided to turn his attention to the pancakes instead, leaning over the table to grab the bottle of maple syrup, and drowning the pancakes, much to the displeasure of Codsworth. Placing the bottle back, he dug into the pancakes, slicing off a portion and stuffing the dripping pancakes into his mouth. He could hardly taste the pancakes with his burnt tongue, but the syrup would have overpowered it even if he could.
His aunt walked into the living room then, now fully dressed in black slacks and a white button up shirt, her hair neatly styled underneath a beret. She walked briskly up behind him, and wrapped her arms loosely around his shoulders, pressing her face into overgrown coils of hair.
"Your hair is getting kinda long... Should I take you to get it cut tomorrow...?"
"Noh... I lik havinf i' lon'."
"Try swallowing your food and saying that again?" He could hear the smile in her voice. He swallowed his mouthful and tried again.
"No, I like having it long. Plus, it takes so long to get any kind of length."
She nodded and pressed a kiss to the back of his head, before she straightened up and flopped down onto the couch, changing the channel to the news just as the Silver Shroud and a bombshell brunette moved to kiss each other in that dramatic, over the top way that no one has ever done in real life, clutching each other in their arms like a lifeline.
From the other side of the house, Shaun's crying echoed through the hallway. Chances are he needed to be changed. Codsworth jumped to action at the sound, announcing to Ulysses' poorly concealed amusement that it sounded like Shaun had made a "stinky". Codsworth took off down the corridor to Shaun's room, currently being shared with Jane. Jane wanted Shaun in her room when they first moved in, so she could quickly take care of Shaun in the middle of the night whenever he started crying, but also so Ulysses could get a proper, undisturbed night of sleep for school. Once Shaun was 2, though, he'd start sharing a room with Ulysses. Ulysses knew he probably should mind, not wanting to be 18 and bring girls home to a room he shared with an infant, but there was a big part of him that was excited to have his baby brother in his room with him. Besides, it wasn't like he was bringing girls home now, chances are that wouldn't magically change when he turned 18.
Ulysses turned his attention back to his pancakes, wolfing them down hungrily, getting the syrup all over his face. He was always hungry, but despite constantly eating enough to feed a family of 5, he never ate enough to fill him out, keeping him looking like a beanpole with oversized hands and feet. Something his aunt called "hollow legs".
As quickly as Codsworth left, he reappeared, Shaun's crying still audible from his aunt's room.
"Ms Jane, Shaun has been changed, but he absolutely refuses to calm down. I think he needs some of that maternal affection you seem to be so good at."
With a low grunt, Jane pushed herself upright from the couch, stretching and nodding to Codsworth as she walked towards the hallway. "I'm on it" she muttered, and ruffled Ulysses hair, who protested and swung his arms around his head to push her hands away as she walked past. "I'll be back soon, you go take a shower and get dressed."
Ulysses mumbled out a 'yes' through his last mouthful of pancakes as he listened to his aunt's footsteps retreating down the hallway. He swallowed down the pancakes and called out a thank you to Codsworth as he stood up to go take a shower. Before he could even step towards the hallway, there was a knock on the door, followed by the doorbell ringing multiple times. The person on the other side of the door was obviously impatient, refusing to let up on their assault against the poor doorbell. Ulysses groaned, his head lulling backwards dramatically as he did, and stalked towards the door, flipping the lock and turning the handle, pulling it open just enough to poke his head around, not wanting to confront a stranger in his way-too-small pyjamas. At the door stood a middle aged man with a large nose and red hair. He wore a tan trench coat and hat, which he tipped to Ulysses.
"Good morning! Vault-Tec calling!" His voice was way too cheery and bright for someone going door to door in the morning during the weekend. The everything about him indicated that he actually enjoyed being out here, being a solicitor for some large corporate entity in the middle of a Saturday morning.
"Vault-Tec...? What's that...?" Ulysses inquired. He'd heard some things about them from school, mainly in the form of his classmates turning their "S.P.E.C.I.A.L" videos into memes, but beyond crudely spiced videos that made the voiceover say "you may be exposed to penises", he knew nothing about what they did or wanted. Something to do with vaults, he assumed from the name.
The man in the trench coat completely ignored his question.
"You can't begin to know how happy I am to finally speak with you. I've been trying for days. It's a matter of utmost urgency, I assure you. Is your mother home?"
"Uh... My aunt is home. I'll... I'll go get her..." he responded meekly, too shy to repeat the question. He'd just have to ask Jane later. Leaving the door open, he turned and walked towards his aunt's room, his pace quickening as he reached the corridor. Stepping into his aunt's room, he saw her gently rocking Shaun, turning to look at him over her shoulder with a tired and annoyed expression stretched across her face, like she was holding back an exasperated sigh.
"I thought I told you to shower."
"There's a man at the door who wants to speak with you... Says he's from Vault-Tec...?"
Jane groaned and motioned with her head for Ulysses to take Shaun from her arms, placing the small baby into his arms as she walked out of the room. Ulysses supported Shaun's tiny head as he listened to Shaun coo quietly, reaching his tiny hands upwards towards his face to grab his pyjama top collar. Shaun let out a happy gurgle as Ulysses bent his head to press a kiss to Shaun's hair, which was coming out in faint blonde wefts. Looks like he'd have straight, fine hair like their mother did, instead of the small, tight coils that Ulysses shared with their father.
Shaun's skin, however, had the same medium tan as him, the same tan he saw in photos of their uncle, a model living in Italy called Lorenzo Cellini. Apparently he was very big in the late 60's, which was seen in the many catalogs he decorated the pages of from the time, sometimes shirtless, lying in front of a beach to advertise perfume, sometimes as a prop beneath a female singer, who sat atop him draped in a fur. Ulysses thought he was a bit of a square, as he was always dressed in well tailored suits and short cropped hair styled with pomade, and carefully styled facial hair. His mother and aunt both disagreed, his mother saying he looked more one of those fancy Hollywood actors, while Jane said he looked more like a security guard at an art gallery.
He was long dead, however. Had died 4 years ago in his apartment in Florence due to something his mother refused to tell him about. He had heard his mother softly talking on the phone to Lorenzo's girlfriend later that night, though, unable to determine anything about his death other than hearing a few words thrown around that he didn't fully understand, like "overdose" and "bankrupt". Whether these words were even related to his death were still an unknown for Ulysses.
"How are my two favourite boys doing?"
Jumping out of his thoughts, he spun to face the doorway, seeing his aunt leaning against the doorframe with a soft smile on her face, almost motherly. Her head was gently pressed against the top left corner doorframe, her hair almost obscuring the large scar on her face. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest in a way that seemed almost guarded despite her relaxed stance.
"Hey... He's good, we're both good... What did the tech guy want...?"
"Vault-Tec, sweetie... Uh... They just wanted to go over some paperwork... Probably nothing we'll ever have to worry about, but y'know... Peace of mind..." his aunt muttered out, straightening up from the doorway and slowly making her way over towards them, her arms reaching out in front of her to take Shaun. She was being cryptic, which most likely meant it had something to do with the war, something she never liked talking about.
"Vault-Tec...? Why would we need a vault...? I thought the war was far away from Boston?" he tried to press, in the hopes she'd give up any information on what was going on.
"Shouldn't you be taking a shower and getting ready for catch-up classes?" she deflected. Nope, didn't work. He groaned and decided to leave it, instead handing her Shaun, him protesting by letting out an upset gurgle and clutching Ulysses' collar in a death grip, needing to have his tiny hands pried off in order to seperate him from his brother. Finally free, Ulysses stretched up on tip-toes to give Jane a kiss on the cheek before walking towards the door.
"Oh, by the way, I was thinking that after your classes, we could pick up some pumpkins from the grocers and carve some jack'o'lanterns? Halloween is getting close, and we should probably get some practice in. Besides, I could use the scraps to make some pumpkin pie."
He paused at the door, turning around to acknowledge her.
"Yeah, that sounds like a lot of fun! Mum never used to let me carve pumpkins, said I couldn't be trusted with sharp objects for some reason."
Jane's expression immediately became sly and knowing, like he'd just reminded her of something she knew would embarrass him. "Is that 'some reason' because you tried to play that knife game that was popular a few years ago and ended up needing stitches?"
Ulysses cringed, screwing his face up and pressing his hands on top of his head, his undersized pyjama top straining at his armpits at the movement.
"Mum told you about that?"
She laughed, a broad grin stretching across her face as she nodded. Great.
The sound of Codsworth's voice called from the living room, stressed, on edge. Something was very wrong to make the typically optimistic, glass-half-full robot sound so anxious.
"Sir? Madam? I think you should come see this!"
"Codsworth? What's wrong?" Ulysses turned and called down the hallway, his aunt stepping out the door of her room in front of him, Shaun bundled safely in her arms. Ulysses padded after her, feeling safer hidden behind her broad form.
"He probably accidentally broke a vase again." he heard Jane mutter under her breath as she adjusted Shaun in her arms, properly supporting his head the way Ulysses had taught her. The way his mother had taught him.
Codsworth floated by the TV, the screen showing an anchorman holding a piece of paper in front of him, his body slumped in a way that looked absolutely defeated. His voice was shaky as he read from the paper. Ulysses couldn't focus on what he was saying, though, as muffled shouts erupted from outside, the sound of a helicopter flying overhead. Turning to look at his aunt to gauge her reaction, she looked haunted, her eyes wide with shock, glossy with unshed tears, her hands tightening slightly on Shaun. It was the same look she got sometimes when gunshots would play on TV. She met his gaze, urgent and panicked.
"We have to get to the vault. Now."
Ulysses' heart plummeted into his stomach, rapid beats pounding throughout his entire body as he felt his aunt snatch his wrist in her free hand, yanking him quickly towards the door. He managed to get a glance at Codsworth as he was pulled out the door to make sure he was keeping up. However, Codsworth wasn't following them. Ulysses immediately began to pull back against his aunt towards the house. If they were all going to the vault, Codsworth had to come to. He was a member of the family. A vault meant the world they were in wasn't safe, and they couldn't just leave Codsworth to fend for himself against whatever danger was coming for them.
"Codsworth is still in there!" he alerted his aunt, trying to tug his arm out of her grip. Despite him telling her they were leaving someone behind, she didn't stop trying to pull him down the road.
"Ulysses, stop!" she snapped, trying to keep hold of him.
"We can't leave him!" He couldn't see, his vision was blurry. His vision wasn't usually blurry, was he crying?
"He can't come with us, Lee! Please! Come on!" she screamed at him, voice cracking as she kept yanking his arm, trying to get him to start moving. Shaun had woken up due to the screaming, and decided to join in, wailing loudly as his aunt tried desperately to pull Ulysses away from the house. Codsworth wasn't allowed to come with them, and Ulysses wanted to cry. He wouldn't be safe out here. Whatever was coming, whether it be Chinese soldiers or drone strikes, Codsworth would be put in danger, and although there was nothing he could do, he couldn't help the overwhelming feeling of guilt that pulled at his insides as he finally started to run away from the house, alongside his aunt down the road. He never even got to say goodbye.
Sirens wailed loudly as a voice crackling through a megaphone held by a man in a jumpsuit and a bulletproof vest ordered residents part of the Vault-Tec program to head to the local vault immediately. The road around them was crowded with military officers clad in power armour, a form of armour that was essentially a tank combined with a suit of armour, holding large, bulky guns. They directed the terrified families towards a pathway down to the small river. At the bridge that crosses the river, he found a couple standing to the side of the bridge, standing by an upended suitcase. The man, who he immediately recognised as his middle school English teacher, Mr. Orgus, was desperately trying to shove clothing back into the suitcase, while the woman with him, presumably his wife, stood next to him, frantically running her hands through her frizzy brown hair.
"Leave the bags! Who cares!"
"Just help me pack it up!"
As they sprinted up the slope towards the gate, they found it swarmed by their neighbours, some desperate to get into the vault, others having accepted that the vault was not going to allow them entrance. He saw a few familiar faces belonging to a few classmates. No one he was particularly close with, but people he was friendly with none the less. One of them was Roxanne Brown, a cool-headed athletic girl who graduated two years ago who he'd found himself fancying a for a few months. She had always been calm and relaxed, acting as an anchor for other people to tether themselves to when they needed to chill out. At the moment, she was hyperventilating and clutching her mother's hand, huge tears rolling down her face. At the front of them, yelling at the guard that stood at the gate, the man from Vault-Tec that visited their home that morning.
"What do you mean I'm not on the list!? I AM Vault-Tec!" he snarled at the guard, seething with anger and gesturing wildly at himself. Wasn't on the list? There was a list for the vault? Was that why all their neighbours were standing around the gate? They're not allowed to enter? Were Ulysses and his aunt even allowed to enter? Why were they ordering everyone here if only a few people were allowed in?
The Vault-Tec salesman must have threatened the guard, because a soldier in power armour holding a gun started to power it, the barrel of the minigun spinning before slowing down, like the rev of a motorcycle, causing the man to quickly surrender and retreat away from the gate, yelling behind him that he'd be reporting it. To who, Ulysses didn't know. His aunt pulled him up to the gate.
"We're on the list!" she panted, eyes wild and crazed, full of fear. It was a look he'd never seen on someone's face before. It scared him, how much she looked like a skittish wild animal, waiting for something to attack.
"Names?" the guard's eyes flicked down to his clipboard.
"Jane Cellini, Ulysses Archer, Shaun Archer!"
Archer. His father's last name. A man he was familiar with only from photographs and long, heartfelt letters, a man with tight curly hair and dark brown skin contrasting bright teeth in every photo of him. His father had spent his years drafted overseas, just like Jane did, while his mother stayed home to raise him, due to the laws on mothers serving in the army. He had come home once, only for the day while he had to get to another airbase to fly out again. Neither Ulysses or his mother knew he was coming, which is why Ulysses was off on camp with the other kids from sunday school when his dad came home. He only found out his dad had been home at all once he got home and found a set of illustrations sitting on his bed, done in charcoal from the firepits he camped at while hidden deep in enemy territory. Where was he now? Was he even alive? Ulysses hoped he was somewhere safe.
The guard scanned his eyes over the list, muttering to himself "Adult female... Adolescent male... Infant male..." before nodding to them. "You're cleared for entrance, just head through the gate."
The pleading of his neighbours surrounding the guard didn't get any softer as his aunt pushed him from behind through the gate. Voices all screaming and begging to be let into the vault, one voice above the rest screaming "we'll die out here!" made the feeling of guilt he'd felt over Codsworth come flooding back.
"Wait, what's going to happen to everyone outside the gate?" he asked the guard, who was now running alongside them, herding them towards the platform. "We're doing everything we can! Now keep moving!" he yelled over the frightened pleas and the whirring of helicopter blades.
At the top of the hill was a platform, a handful of his neighbours standing on top of it, all of them babbling amongst each other. He ran towards the platform, standing in the centre, his aunt following closely behind, clutching a very upset Shaun, who was loudly bawling. Jane tried to shush him, gently rocking him and pulling a small pacifier from her pocket. She popped it into his mouth, which seemed to pacify Shaun instantly, his eyes fluttering closed as he suckled on it.
"Are you both okay?" Ulysses asked, his eyes flicking over his aunt's expression, trying to gauge it. Her jaw was clenched, her face streaked with tears as she ran her fingers in a soothing fashion over Shaun's head. "No! No I'm not! None of us are! Those people outside the gate aren't going to be okay! We're going to have to live underground! Forever!"
Forever? If there were Chinese soldiers invading or drone strikes, wouldn't they just have to remain underground until they were gone? Did that mean it was actually a missile strike? Ulysses was sure that they'd be able to leave at least some time after a missile strike.
He opened his mouth to question what his aunt meant, but was cut off by an earth-shattering bang in the distance, followed by the shocked shrieks of the others on the platform, as well as the audible screaming from the people still at the gate. His eyes flicked fearfully over towards where Mr. Langford was pointing in horror, his wrinkled hands shaking furiously.
A huge mushroom cloud stretched upwards towards the sky in the distance, coming from what looked like west of Quincy, sending a blast wave shooting out in all directions.
Oh.
"DOWN! DOWN! SEND IT DOWN NOW!" A voice screamed frantically from somewhere in the distance, as the elevator began to slowly screech it's way downwards, the shock wave speeding towards them. The elevator was so slow. They were going to die here. Everything felt so slow in those few seconds as he looked towards Jane and Shaun. His eyes flooded with tears at tiny Shaun's little bawled up fists. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fucking fair. Shaun hadn't even had time to become a person yet. He'd never get to see Shaun grow up, he'd never get to teach Shaun how to walk, to watch him stumble slowly towards him as Ulysses sung his praise to him with every step he stayed upright. He'd never get to listen to his aunt's hilarious commentary during scary movies that comforted him while they threw bits of popcorn at the screen again. Words began to tumble from his mouth.
"I love you. I love you both. I love you both so much." he choked out, trying to keep his words coherent through the sobs that racked his body, as the shock wave washed over the top of their heads. The roar of the winds screamed above them, deafening and furious as the platform carried them into darkness.