We just made the most monumental discovery in all of human history. And I could care less. Half an hour ago my wife called me to say she’s found the person she’s been searching for her entire life.

We just made the most monumental discovery in all of human history. And I could care less. Half an hour ago my wife called me to say she’s found the person she’s been searching for her entire life. I watch as she hangs up. We haven’t had an earthquake in years, but I still check if it’s safe to stand. It’s not. I fall to the ground and grab an adjacent bookshelf to steady myself. I pull out my phone as I struggle to my feet. The screen reads 4:56 PM. The watch on my wrist reads 7:47 AM. I know which one I trust. My wife struggles to her feet as well. “Let’s go. What are you doing?” “I’m setting the clocks.” She stomps in place as she waits for me. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her so carefree. I change all of the clocks in the room. Our bedroom has about six. The clocks on the television, computer, and cell phones I leave alone. My wife walks to the window and pulls open the curtain. Light spills into the room. “What took you so long?” I check the clock on the nightstand. 8:47 AM. The clock next to it reads 4:59 PM. She raises an eyebrow. “You know which one is right.” “I know. But this feels like closure.” Her face softens. “I know.” We walk out of the bedroom. The hallway is dark. It’s a narrow corridor lined with doors on both sides. Some we use as extra storage. Others we don’t use at all. We haven’t had a reason to turn on the hallway light in years. We come to the front door. It’s an old wood door with metal hinges. It’s heavy as well. She raises an eyebrow. “You think it’ll open?” I shrug. “Only one way to find out.” I grip the door handle and twist it. I push the door outward and it swings open. She jumps into my arms. I spin her around the room as she laughs. I stop spinning and look at the door. It’s open. We don’t have to leave through the window anymore. I set her down and walk through the doorway. I take a deep breath of the air outside. It’s cool and fresh. We haven’t had clean air in years. She steps out behind me. She looks up at the sky and gasps. It’s not blue anymore. It’s more of a Translucent gray. I remember what blue looks like. It’s what the interior storm shutters are. It’s what the walls are painted. I take a deep breath and look around. The landscape is barren. Sand and rock as far as the eye can see. We walk across the sand. It’s almost like walking on the moon. We can jump high without much effort. We laugh as we bounce around. She turns to me. “What now?” I shrug. “I don’t know.” She tilts her head. “Do you still want to do it?” I pause. “I don’t know. We could always change our minds.” I pull out the black bag from under my jacket. I’ve been carrying it for a while now. It’s heavy. I walk over to the door and look at it. We could go back. We could still do it. I turn back to her. “Do you still want to?” She shakes her head. “No. I’m done living in a box.” Right. She’s done living in a box. It’s not like we have a choice. I pull the pin on the grenade. There’s a loud bang and the bunker entrance erupts into flames. She covers her ears and looks at me. “We can’t go back?” I watch as the flames engulf the metal door. “We can’t go back.” We both look out at the wasteland. We have to find a place to start over. We have to find a place to live. We have to find a place to survive.

We just made the most monumental discovery in all of human history. And I could care less. Half an hour ago my wife called me to say she’s found the person she’s been searching for her entire life.

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