Day 12

The hatch, well oiled all these years, swung open with a whisper of metal on metal. Real sunlight shone through a large oak tree to dapple their jumpsuits. Not their skin, not yet, but soon. The security team was out first to form a perimeter. Next Harris with his scanners and counters. After thirty minutes, then another thirty to be sure, the whole population of Tube 16, seventy-three souls in all, climbed the ladder and breathed unfiltered air for the first time in their lives. It was quiet until someone pointed out the dust cloud. Something was coming. Something big.