It's been 100 years since humanity has left its caves.

Humanity hides away in a maze of interconnected caves deep in the mountains. It has been 100 years since the last time anyone has ventured out into the outside world. 100 years since that fateful day humanity was nearly wiped out. Our ancestors were few and far between. <br><br>But when they discovered this network of tunnels, a second chance was given. And that’s why we all hide here, afraid of the outside world. Afraid of whatever might still be out there.<br><br>You see stories of people going out into the outside world in history books, stories of people of old going out into the vast expanse of the unknown. But that’s not the world we know. <br><br>The world we know is a damp and cold world, lit by flickering torches and magical orbs of light. A world where everyone must pull their weight in order to keep our small society alive. <br><br>The world we know is a simple world: farmers, miners, hunters and healers. <br><br>*Farmers*: Those who plant and harvest. Their job is to plant seeds in special off ground holes/boxes that let sunlight in from small holes that lead out of the mountain. The boxes have a filter on them that filters out radiation. <br><br>*Miners*: Those who mine the depths of the tunnels for metals and other valuable materials and who expand our small network of tunnels. <br><br>*Hunters*: Those who hunt the creatures that slink in the shadows. The creatures who are deformed beyond recognition. They are freakish abominations that have been grotesquely disfigured. Because of radiation poisoning. The creatures are too far gone to ever be saved, and if left to roam they will destroy human civilization. <br><br>*Healers*: Those with magical powers, the people who are in charge of healing us when we are injured. <br><br>There are a few of us who do not fit into any of those categories. There are a few of us who don’t have jobs like the rest of humanity. And we are known as students. There are only 20 of us. We are in charge of research and record keeping. Both of which are very important. And we rotate jobs every 5 years. <br><br>There are five spaces for each job and 4 sets of spaces. So there’s a total of 20. 20 students to take care of research and record keeping. That’s all we have. And yet these are the two most important jobs in our little mountain society. <br><br>I am a student. And for the last 5 years I have been a record keeper. I’m in charge of writing down and documenting everything that happens in this little cave that we call home. <br><br>There are rumors going round that after this rotation of jobs is over, one student will be sent out into the outside world, to see how it is now. 100 years on. Some people are excited. Others are just scared. <br><br>But I can’t help but feel jealous. <br><br>I have spent my entire life wondering what it would be like to be out in the outside world, to feel wind in my hair and warm sun on my skin. <br><br>I can’t imagine it ever happening though. They would never send a record keeper. <br><br>I just hope that it’s true, because we could really do with a change. <br><br>*——*<br><br>It’s been a few more months since my last entry. I was called to the council chambers a few days ago, along with the other students. It was to tell us which jobs we would be having next. I got assigned to history. It felt almost laughable, going from record keeping to history. After all, that’s basically what this is. <br><br>I think that might be part of why it feels like the council made the wrong decision. <br><br>And the student who gets sent out. <br><br>It’s me.