The Children of the Earth

December 27, 2089 – Neustadt an der Havel, Old German Republic

Dear Diary,

On a recent reconnaissance trip to the abandoned city of Berlin, I was walking through the ruins of the new Reichstag building when I heard a loud noise erupt under the street. It sounded as if a large argument or fight had broken out, which seemed impossible – no one had lived in Berlin for over 40 years. Shortly thereafter, however, I was shocked to see another human emerge from one of the buildings. As I soon learned, there were survivors from the before time who had been living in an underground bunker in what was once Berlin. Initially, they were very wary of me, but I explained that I meant no harm and was just interested in knowing where they came from as there were no other people in the desolate area. They told me they were part of a group called The Children of the Earth, a cult established in the chaotic time around 2035, when scientists had officially declared the environment as destroyed.

From my conversation with them, it seemed they had attempted to create an underground society that would be able to withstand the threat of climate disasters through ecological farming techniques and by changing people’s behaviors. The cult of around 50 people were very surprised to see me as they thought that no one could have survived out in the open. I asked them why they had chosen this moment to leave their protective bunker. Mr. Orange, the person who had brought me back to the cult’s underground lair, explained that all their technology and supplies had worked well and had not faltered, but interpersonal relationships in the bunker had become tense. The bunker was initially run in an anarchic fashion, without any ruling class or elite. Over the years however, a group of 5 individuals had declared themselves leaders, hid all the weapons in a place only known to them, and ruled with terror. This unequal internal system benefitted them but was unfair to other bunker inhabitants. A mutiny had been on the horizon for a long time, and finally, one of the most desperate members of the community somehow destroyed the generator powering the whole place, thereby unlocking the door without agreement from leaders and freeing the subjects. With their control over their subjects ended, they took the weapons and fled.

I’m with the remaining members of the Children of the Earth now. One of them got the generator running again, but we’ve had a difficult time restoring the food and life support technologies. I think we’re close to finishing the repairs to the intertemporal radio broadcaster. One I salvaged on a previous reconnaissance trip so we think we’ll be able to connect with other survivors in our universe or others sometime soon. Maybe someone will be able to advise us on repairs and building some defenses. Because it’s a matter of when, not if, the old rulers of the Children of the Earth will return. And we need to be ready.

This diary entry was featured on Season 1, Episode 5 of Future Diaries

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