100 feet away, all hell was breaking loose. Everything was going to change, forever - but for now, I was willfully ignorant. I chose not to look through the windows, not to know, to keep the door closed, locked.

Real life was not going to invade my sanctury.

It had been my prison, up until the moment when I had heard that damned siren, the one that we had all prayed would never go off. The one that promised that it was all too late, that everything had gone wrong, that it was too much.

That sacrifices must be made, for the greater good.

Not here. I would make no sacrifice. I would not know of it, I would ignore it, and I would hide myself down in the darkness, wishing it all away.

I had been terrified of those lead-lined walls, of the heavy gates, of the dark corners, of the silence. Now they were my comfort, my security, my lifeblood. I would never know the outside world again.

I would never want to, after that siren.

I wondered if I was alone - you never could hear anybody else in this godforsaken (everything forsaken) place. I may never speak to anyone again. I may be alone forever.

Funny. I found myself hoping for that.

An eternity of barefoot on stone.