DESPAIR AND NEWFOUND HOPE. ( I )

The bunker door was softly closed and forcefully opened, a method they believed might yield different results but it was all for not.

Anne rushed to the side of the two boys as she tried to add her almost nonexistent strength to their struggle.

Every hand counts, but this particular hand was frail because it had only been nourished with one meal a day, which it was not used to. The two boys were not any better, as their once-toned, muscled bodies now resembled those of individuals suffering from drug addiction.

With their backs against the door, they pushed with all of their strength rewarding them with a slight nudge and adding a few millimeters to the opened space.

Anne fell to he knees causing the water underneath her to splash on the two.

With eyes of hopelessness, they moved towards the couch as they absentmindedly wiped themself with a tower.

Fear, sorrow, and frustration bubbled in Anne's mind as she felt she might never see her father again.

Tears started trickling down her cheeks as the torrent of emotion forced the dam open.

She had tried to stay strong during the twenty-five days they were holed up here.

Setting aside her pride, status, and even her gender just to escape the cold nights, she embraced people she barely knew, eating at most two energy bars a day and sharing the same toilet as the two boys.

She, who had once been the beauty of the school and the princess in her family was now trapped unable to even see the world beyond their bunker door.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt a crawling sensation on her skin. Feeling frustrated she slapped her shoulder where she felt the sensation creating a bright red hand print.

The two boys were snapped out of their daze as they looked at her surprised by her actions.

They, too, were lost in unconscious thoughts as their minds raced, thinking of their friends and family. Unlike Anne, they still held onto hope. If even a millimeter had been added, they believed that eventually, a space large enough for them to pass through would open up, as long as they didn't give up.

Anne noticed the two were staring at her and wiped her tears with the cuff of her sleeves.

[ Ding, a life has been taken, extracting soul energy ]

Anne was alarmed as she heard the notification in her head.

"Did you hear anything?" Anne inquired, believing they could hear it as well. The voice she heard was the same monotone voice that had ushered their world into chaos.

They both shook their head, looking at her worriedly.

She ignored their worried gaze as she was sure she heard something, she then noticed a change in the blue screen that lay at the corner of her eye.

They had noticed that unless they focused on it, the blue screen always lay at the corner of their eyes only coming into clear view when one wished it.0

The screen enlarged as it showcased her stats.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

24yrs 11mnths 0wks 4days 5hrs 10mins

NAME: Anne Walton

RACE: Human

Evolution: ???

AGE: 17/90

Soul energy: 5/10 ~ 5.1/10

Vitality: 50/100

Strength: 4

Agility: 8

Endurance: 5

Intelligence: 10

Mana: 0

Skills: None

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She looked at her hands, finding a multicolored ladybug in her palm. She noticed another one crawling on the wall as the glow sticks and light from the opened door illuminated the room.

With her finger pressed on the moving bug, she crushed it.

[ Ding, a life has been taken, extracting soul energy ]

She checked her status, noticing the increase in her soul energy.

Her eyes glimmered as this new discovery momentarily erased her sense of hopelessness.

"Leo," Anne called out, "It seems killing these bugs increases soul energy" She added, pointing to the multi-colored bugs crawling through the slightly opened bunker door.

Mark and Leo turned towards the door finally noticing the bugs in the room.

Without any hesitation, Leo crashed a bug crawling on the wall.

He heard the notification as he noticed a change in his status screen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

24yrs 11mnths 0wks 4days 5hrs 8mins

NAME: Leo Allen

RACE: Human

Evolution: ???

AGE: 17/85

Soul energy: 15/10 ~ 15.1/10

Vitality: 30/100

Strength: 7

Agility: 7

Endurance: 8

Intelligence: 20

Mana: 0

Skills: None

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yeah, you are right, just like a game. We earn experience points in the form of soul energy when we a life," Leo pointed out.

Mark hearing this also crushed a bug.

He heard a similar notification in his head after which his status changed as his soul energy increased.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

24yrs 11mnths 0wks 4days 5hrs 6mins

NAME: Mark Evans

RACE: Human

Evolution: ???

AGE: 17/80

Soul energy: 20/10 ~ 20.1/10

Vitality: 60/100

Strength: 9

Agility: 6

Endurance: 9

Intelligence: 8

Mana: 0

Skills: None

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Leo, my soul energy also increased... then I guess the attributes panel enumerates our basic attributes. But how accurate is it? Mine seems a bit low," Mark stated, unsure of the numbers. A single digit used to represent his strength was far-fetched.

He was considered a strong fellow who had won a few arm-wrestling matches with pros. How could his strength be just nine?

Leo wanted to verify the authenticity as well as the parameters of measurements and thus stated all his stats, hinting to the others to do the same.

" I think it should be accurate," Leo said

" Accurate my foot, man, I can't be that dumb, how come my intelligence is that low" Mark spoke feeling rather enraged by this blatant insult.

He knew Leo was smarter than him by not by that much. Leo might get the highest scores in school but he was always part of the top one hundred.

"Man, don't be bitter. You should know intelligence is marked by more than knowledge, and from what I know, you should be relatively above average, but not Einstein-smart. Just based on intelligence, we could assume the average is 5, while 10 should be relatively good, and anything above that should be considered extraordinary," Leo stated his analysis on point.