He arrived four seconds too late, just in time to glimpse a desperate hand pulling the blast doors shut.
"Please!" he cried, pounding furiously on the metal. "Let me in! There's still time!"
The barrier remained unyielding, and the boy sank to the ground. "There was still time," he whispered fiercely. He closed his eyes.
A windswept girl stood watching him, leaning calmly against the bunker. She rummaged around in her coat, pulling out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes.
"Smoke?" she asked, offering one to the boy. He looked at her strangely for a second, then shook his head, mumbling something about lung cancer.
"Very smart," the girl replied. "Healthy choices and all that." She lit a cigarette for herself and took a long, contented breath. "Still, it doesn't matter much now."
The boy turned his head away, and his shoulders began to tremble. The girl's face softened. "Hey, I'm sorry," she said, placing a hand on his back. "Cheer up. It's better to die with a smile, right?"
There was a long pause, distant air-raid sirens filling the stillness. "I didn't want it to be like this," the boy said at last. "Stuck out in the open, you know. Just...waiting."
"To tell you the truth, I'd rather be here." The girl fiddled with her lighter a moment before slipping it back into her pocket. "Think about it. Inside, it's dark and cramped. No sunshine, no wind, no food except what comes vacuum-sealed or in a can. But outside..." she trailed off, making a sweeping gesture towards the sky.
Evening was beginning to fall, and the clouds were amber-tinted in the light of the dying afternoon. To the east, a scattering of faint stars had appeared.
The boy's breath caught in his throat. He turned to look at the girl next to him, her hair still sunny beneath streaks of ash. He didn't even know her name.
The girl took one final puff on her cigarette before tossing it to the ground. "The planes are almost here," she remarked, listening to the approaching hum of engines.
"You're not afraid?" the boy asked suddenly.
"Of death? I used to be." She sat down beside him. "I wondered if I would die slowly of some creeping sickness, or perhaps alone, regretful at the end of a long life. But this is better. It's comforting, somehow."
The boy gave her a grateful smile, and she took hold of his hand.
"Tonight, we'll go out in fireworks."
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