Free Final Dawn: Season 1 (The Thrilling Post-Apocalyptic Series) by Mike Kraus

supplies with him or not and figure out what to do from there.
     
    With his hunger and immediate concerns about food and water satisfied, Leonard walked to the back of the control room and pulled on the handle of a door. It swung open with a creak, revealing a steep staircase carved into the stone and dirt that spiraled up towards the surface. Next to the stairway sat an elevator shaft, but without power, it wasn’t going anywhere.
     
    Leonard began his slow climb up the stairs, pausing every dozen or so to catch his breath. With each set he climbed, he perceived a subtle change in the lighting. After several climbing sessions he realized that the change was growing stronger and was being caused by light trickling in from the surface. This first glimpse of sunlight gave him energy to spare and he practically bounded up the remainder of the stairs, stopping at the upper landing. In front of him was a thick steel door with a small porthole. The porthole’s glass had been shattered out and the door hung at an angle from a solitary hinge, stuck a few inches open.
     
    Leonard tugged at the door with one hand. When it didn’t budge, he set aside his shoulder pack and the water jugs and tried again, this time with both hands, bracing one leg against the wall next to the door. After a few seconds of grunting and pulling, the door began to open, the metal howling in protest as the door slid along the frame. Once the door was opened wide enough that Leonard could squeeze through, he threw his pack and the water jugs into the opening and then squirmed through.
     
    Once on the other side of the door, Leonard picked up the pack and the water and continued walking. He was inside a narrow corridor that gradually widened as he walked. The corridor had a slight upwards slope and was made of solid steel. Even so, he could see that it was heavily damaged and the farther he walked, the more light poured in through cracks and crevices that were torn in the ceiling of the corridor.
     
    Leonard reached the end of the corridor and stood in front of a set of double steel door frames, their  doors having been ripped out by some cataclysmic event. The light was blinding now, making it difficult for him to see what lay beyond. With a deep breath he stepped through the doorframes and into the outside.

11:13 AM, March 29, 2038
    Nancy Sims
     
    Glass of water in hand, Nancy walked out of the house and back towards the barn, sipping it as she went. While she was unsure of what to do next, she wanted to explore the barn more thoroughly now that she had seen the inside of the house. A quick walkthrough had revealed nothing interesting; it was just like any other average American home in the country, just with more farming-related knick-knacks and apparel than she had seen in her life. After she checked the bedrooms, bathrooms and basement for any signs of life, she decided to check the barn again, seeing as how she hadn’t had a chance to look through it very thoroughly yet.
     
    The cows had grown more restless since she was there earlier and Nancy realized that they were probably both hungry and thirsty from being locked in their stalls for who-knew-how-long.  She opened each of their gates in turn and they trotted out of the barn door and into the yard, munching on grass as they walked. Nancy hoped that the owners of the place didn’t mind her intrusions, but it was beginning to look more and more like they might not be coming back.
     
    After releasing the cows, Nancy looked over the rest of the barn. While half of it was obviously reserved for animals, there was a second half that was only accessible through an interior and exterior door, both of which were closed and latched. Nancy pulled open the latch on the interior door and walked in, squinting as she tried to adjust her eyes to the darkness inside.
     
    After a few seconds, Nancy gasped as she made out what was in front of her. Even in the darkness, the shine on the 1980’s era Ford