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assume she’s looking for Dylan, same as I’m doing, but
neither of us sees him.  We find a place to stand near the back and settle in,
hoping the assembly won’t take too long.  The sun’s on its way down and once
it’s gone, the temperature will drop fast.  The dark gray clouds are just as
heavy during the day as at night, but the sun is bright enough to penetrate
them and warm the air.  The moon and stars are distant memories; nobody’s been
able to see them in years. 
    Around
me, everybody seems to be nervous, yet solemn somehow, too.  I understand
why--I feel the same way.  While Cornelius was by no means an ideal leader, he
tried his best to be just.
    I
remember when he took me in.  My father had been attacked by savages and an
Antius convoy had picked me up.  They were reluctant to bring me to the colony
because, at the time, they couldn’t test for infection.  Cornelius looked me
over himself and determined I was fine.  Nathan threw a fit, but Cornelius
said, “She’s just a child, and she’s perfectly healthy.”
    I
cried as they dragged me from my lifeless father, but Cornelius held me in his
arms the whole way back to Antius.  Now I stand looking at his coffin from a
long distance wondering if anyone held him as he drew his last breaths.  I
guarantee Nathan didn’t. 
    I
tilt my head back so the pooling tears won’t fall.  Nobody has seen me cry in
years.  That’s a gem I reserve for the privacy of my own room.  I only have my
own room, by the way, because I was deemed an unsuitable roommate when I was
ten.  Roommates actually share beds here and apparently I thrash.  I’m better
off alone, that’s for sure.  Alyssa’s roommate is only nine.  I can’t imagine
sharing a bed with a little girl.
    I
hear a high-pitched squeal.  At the podium, Nathan taps a microphone that’s
amplified by overhead speakers--the same ones that blare the sirens and
warnings. 
    “Today
we honor a great man,” Nathan begins.  “A man who spent his hard-earned
resources to build a bunker.  A man who brought in as many people as he could
to ride out the war safely underground.”  Nathan gestures to the compound
around us, “He built this place for us.  A safe place.”
    We’ve
all heard this story.  By the time the chemical warfare reached its peak on
American soil, half the country had already evacuated to other nations.  Of
those left behind, most were killed.  The bombs were so powerful, entire cities
were destroyed, and the land was left toxic.  The people who were lucky enough
to find room in bunkers survived.  Those who left the bunkers too soon were
infected by the chemical fallout that turned them into violent savages.  I’ve
heard rumors that the animals had mutated into altogether new things--monsters
even.
    Antius
was born out of an underground group of survivors that had the means--thanks to
Cornelius--to stay down long enough.
    “Today
we honor our gracious founder, 0001.”  At that we all bow our heads, and no one
makes a sound for what seems like hours. 
    When
I open my eyes, Nathan is scanning the crowd and he makes eye contact with me
for a split second before moving on to those around me.  Honestly, what he said
wasn’t so bad.  But I know he’s not done, especially considering his half-smirk
as he scans the crowd of people who are all mourning his father--something
beneath him.
    The
kids, at least, cared for Cornelius.  He was the only leader to ever spend time
in the Underage facility.  The adults, I’m not sure.  It doesn’t seem like they
care for much of anything.  That’s something I definitely have not figured out
in my time here. 
    Nathan
takes a deep breath.  He nods to a few soldiers who remove the casket and carry
it to a fresh grave by the fence.  They set the casket next to the grave and
shove it inside, not bothering to keep it right-side up.
    “What
a disgrace, those brutes handling him that way,” I whisper to Alyssa.  She
frowns a