HeartDrive Entry 1

April 17th, 2145

If you’re seeing this, I’m not dead. Well, actually I might be, but that’s besides the point.

My name is Miranda Greenwood. I’m the daughter of Michael and Ashley Greenwood, from Oxville, Illinois. I’m 19 years old, my favorite food is peanut butter, and I’m a Taurus. I don’t know if anyone will ever see this and it feels so bizarre to be speaking to myself, but… here it goes anyway. I’m speaking into a camera here in this empty bunker somewhere underneath a random field in Wichita and I’m going to find my parents. I’m going to find them. But first, I’m going to tell you about us.

I guess I’ll start with a timeline, in case whoever is watching this wants to know. I was born May 16th, 2126. The world ended in July 2137. My mother disappeared November 2139. And my father went after her September 2141. It’s now April 2145, and I’ve been looking for them both for a year and 7 months.

It’s kind of crazy looking at it like that, just the dates. The numbers don’t show the agonizing minutiae of the day to day. Trying to survive, wondering where your family is… Of course I’m not the only one whose lost people. You’d be hard pressed to find someone who didn’t, anywhere. But sometimes it feels like the world is empty except for you and your pain. And the ash.

I remember I was in school just starting to learn about the second world war, 200 years ago, how they had just developed the first atomic bomb… funny how history repeats itself. Although based on the trends of the last century, I’m surprised it took this long for things to fully explode. Everyone thought the 4th world war would do it. But nope, it was just another day.

Tensions were high, of course, but when weren’t they? I was sitting in the kitchen, Momma was making me a sandwich and Dad was watching TV while he was on the phone with Aunt Jill. I remember he kept making faces at me, pretending he was falling asleep. Aunt Jill talked a lot. Not that my dad really minded, but he loved to make me laugh whenever he could. Then the sirens started. The news anchor started shaking, and I remember how terrified she looked when the screen cut red. The bombs were coming. I don’t even know who started it first, what precipitated the attack, but soon every country had every weapon at their disposal in the air.

Everyone had started heading for the post-World-War-3 emergency shelters, and it was pure chaos; screaming, shooting, looting, the streets were just like that really old movie, what was it called…. the Purge! That was it. Anyway, Dad led us the other way, said Uncle Jim knew a guy with his own shelter, and we would meet him there. And we did. But I’ll never forget the look on my Uncle’s face when we got there. Aunt Jill had tried to get her friend Donna, told him she’d meet him there. She never came back.

At that point I think I started crying. I was so scared, and the adrenaline was starting to wear off. Momma leaned down and held me until the booming stopped. I know we all thought we were going to die, but we didn’t. I don’t know how long we just sat there.

There were about 100 other people in our shelter. Some rich guy my Uncle knew had it built and stocked 5 years ago. I wonder if he knew what was coming… anyway, some of the people knew each other, some were just randoms that forced their way in. Still, we all figured we would get to know each other real well. My parents tried to keep me away from the politics of who was in charge of what. I can’t say I was particularly interested anyway. I know things were a bit rocky for a while, but eventually we settled into our own little community. Everything was okay for a while, about 2 years or so. Until the food started to run out.

See the rich guy had planned for it to be just his family and friends, and there were way more people than he had anticipated. Even though there was room for everyone – barely – there certainly wasn’t enough resources. I remember my dad tried to cover my ears so I wouldn’t hear, but I knew that we were running out fast.

My mother was one of the ones who volunteered to join a search party to head out and see what was left of the world, see what could be salvaged. They had decontamination equipment, top of the line water purification systems, hazard gear… someone had to do it, and we really thought they might be fine. Obviously, Dad and Jim and I begged her not to go. But she only looked at us, and I knew she couldn’t stand to sit by and do nothing while her family either starved or worse. She was the type of person who had to do something, couldn’t stand feeling helpless. I get that from her.

Before she finished putting on her gear and everyone was saying their goodbyes, she pulled me aside. We were both crying, but she hugged me so tight I thought her suit would pop. She gave me a necklace… this necklace. I had never seen her without it. She said it was passed down from her grandmother, and that it held the story and heart and legacy of our family. I promised her I would treasure it as my most prized possession. And she looked at me, and put her hands over my heart, and said to me, “Miranda, we will see each other again. I promise.”

Shit, I didn’t expect to cry now. It’s been 6 years for gods sake. Hang on…

Okay I’m fine. Where was I? Oh yes, she left on her mission. As I’m sure you’ve guessed, she didn’t come back. I expected my father to become a husk of himself, like Jim was without Jill. But he never did. I don’t know if it was hope or mania, but every time I would ask him about it, he would tell me not to worry. “Your mother is the strongest woman I’ve ever known. She’s never lied to me,” he said. “Not once. And she told you and me that we would see each her again. So we will.”

He held onto that for 3 years, 2 and a half years after she was supposed to come back. And after 3 years, when he deemed that I was old enough to start looking after myself – with Uncle Jim still looking after me, of course – he decided he would join the next scout group and go look for her himself. “She always told me I needed to get off my ass,” he said to Jim, “I think now’s about time I listened to her.”

I was terrified. I didn’t want to lose him too. But I knew his mind was set. He didn’t want to leave me, but he couldn’t live with the uncertainty. We had only learned snippets about what had happened on the surface in the 4 years since the bomb went off; we had no idea what to expect, how far they made it, how far they could make it. But he was determined to try and find her.

I don’t know if they did, but I know they both made it out of Illinois, and they were headed to Colorado. A year and a half ago I went after them and picked up their trail. You’d be surprised how easy it is to track people through the sizzling ashes of civilization. I found the same signs they did – a looped message at the nearest sheltered area where they rested saying that there was a sustainable colony under the Denver airport.

I always wondered why they never just turned around and came back to tell us. Now I know: the new terrain makes it impossible. The fact that they even made it here at all is a miracle. That I did, even more so. Uncle Jim wasn’t so lucky… I didn’t want him to come with me, but of course he insisted. Stupid old man… he was never the same after the bombing, but I know he loved me underneath all the bitterness. The fact that he wouldn’t let me go alone told me as much.

A horrible storm had caught us, poison gas carried on the wind. He told me to run. He told me to run, so I ran…

I can’t think about that now. I can’t think about anything except how I’m going to get to Denver. I know my parents are there, I just know they are. They have to be. I have to get to them, otherwise Jim sacrificed himself for me for nothing. I will make it there, to them. I will not let that legacy end with me. Our stories will be remembered – our family will be remembered. This drive is going into my mother’s heart-shaped locket, but this will not be my last entry. I will find my family. You will see us together. I promise.

End Video