My life began with a deep breath and panicked surprise. There are no memories before the cramped tube and the hissing of decompression. Glass sliding away, I was surrounded by the people who would become my friends.

A tall man and a short woman awaited me when I awoke, both light skinned with blue eyes with soft features. The friendly man with a charming smile and a warm embrace helped me to a medical bench. My legs couldn’t quite hold me up yet. The lights were dim, but the large apartment-sized medical room was clean and simple.

“That deep freeze really gets ya’ doesn’t it?” Joe patted me on the shoulder and rubbed my back. That was when I realized I was in my underwear.

“What’s going on?” I said as my breathing normalized.

“Hi, my name is Sally, this is Joe. Don’t worry, everything is alright. We’re going to orient you while the doctor checks you out.”

“Excuse me.” A small hand pushed Joe to one side. He made way for a small asian woman with a slender face. She flashed a light in my eyes then began asking me questions.

“How do you feel? Do you have any trouble breathing? Does anything hurt?”

“This is Susan, she’s our physician,” said the blonde woman calling herself Sally.

“Can I get some space?”

The three people backed away and I gripped the side of the table to keep myself steady. Eyes closed, I took a few deep breaths, then examined the three people before me and tried to remember how I got there, but couldn’t. My head wasn’t throbbing too hard to be a distraction, the memories just weren’t there.

“Why don’t I remember anything?”

“That’s normal,” said Sally. “None of us remember anything from before. Our memories have been wiped to ensure we can create the best possible future for humanity without any resentments from the past carrying over. The orientation videos will explain everything, but I’m here to get you by until then.”

“Best possible future for humanity? What the hell are you talking about?”

“Well, Pete…” Joe stuck his hands in his pockets and shifted his weight. “Looks like our species went and screwed up pretty bad. Whole planet’s been uninhabitable to us for a little while. We’re here to start things over.”

That was the first time I heard my name, but it felt right. Vague memories flashed in my mind of being called Pete.

“You gotta be kidding me,” I said.

“See for yourself.” Joe moved aside and pointed to a window. I rushed to the floor-to-ceiling windows covered by metal sheets with a narrow slit through which to see outside. The rain and wind from a raging storm made it difficult to see, then several bolts of lightning cracked in the distance and the ruins of a city flashed before my eyes.

“Oh, my God.”

“What Sally said about not remembering anything, that’s not entirely true. You’ll remember some stuff. You’ll see.”

“I feel sick.” My stomach churned, then the swirling made its way through my body and I wobbled in place. Thankfully, Joe caught me when I tipped over.

“Woah! I gotcha, buddy. Come on now, let the doctor take a look at you.” Joe helped me back to the table.

I let Susan examine me and ask her questions. Whenever I asked a non-medical question, Sally was there with an answer, allowing Susan to focus on her work. When she finished, they gave me some scrubs to wear and guided me down the well lit halls to the dining room. It was a large room full of tables, but populated by only a few people. Sitting at a table in the middle of the room was a Latin man and a woman in a black gown which seemed religious. They sat with a tall black woman in scrubs. We caught each other’s eye when we entered the room.

I grabbed a tray and put a plate on it, then slid it along the metal bars, stopping to serve whatever food I wanted on the plate. The activity was familiar, but no explicit memories of it came to mind. Still, I knew the process before it had begun and served myself a hefty plate of food.

“Hey, Sally.”

“Yes?”

“Who is that woman in the scrubs?” I asked.

“That’s Willow. We wake people up two at a time, a man and a woman. We woke her up before you and left her with George and Laura while we tended to you. It’s important to get some food in your system as soon as possible after waking up.”

“A man and a woman? Like, are we supposed to…”

“Oh, that’s up to you,” Sally was quick to respond. “We aren’t all paired up. Honestly, if we need to repopulate the species, I don’t think it makes sense to pair up, but we’re not going to be at the repopulation stage for a while.”

“What stage are we at, then?”

“The computer has read indications that life outside will be sustainable soon, so we’re here to analyze our environment, make preparations and establish a plan of action.”

“Soon? Why didn’t it wake us up once it was habitable?”

“The bunker can’t keep everyone frozen in stasis forever. They calculated when they thought it would mostly be over and built for that. I guess their calculations came up short and we have to hold out for a little bit, so we’re waking up a skeleton crew.” Sally followed up.

“Did they leave us food in case they came up short?”

“Yeah. It’s rationed. Everything here is automated, it’s really convenient. So, we get a day’s portion of food each day, I cook it up, then leave it here for anyone to eat throughout the day. These bins keep the food fresh all day,” Sally said, placing a small bowl of potato salad on her tray. All the food had already been measured out and portioned to allotted serving sizes with the screen above each tray indicating how many each person could take.

“Well, thank you for the food, Sally.”

“You’re welcome!” Sall bounced happily at the compliment. “I can tell everyone is going to love you. Living such a bleak life, it’s nice to have someone around who is so positive.”

“Thank you, Sally. You seem quite delightful as well. The world may be a dark and dreary place, but we can’t let that get us down.”

When we sat down, Sally introduced me to Willow, George, and Laura. Before I could dig into the food to satiate my growling stomach, the last member of the crew arrived. The tall, thin Latin man with high cheekbones and a pointy beaked nose was named Anthony.

While I ate, they gave us the rundown of the crew and how things operate. Everyone chose their jobs before being frozen, so the computer wakes up the roles which are needed. The first two people to be awoken were Joe and Sally. Sally was the cook and Joe was in charge.

Next to be awoken were Anthony, the Geologist, and Laura, the spiritual leader. The petite brown-skinned Latina with big brown eyes was versed in a variety of faiths, but her role was to ensure things remained moral and just. I gathered she also served the roles of judge and therapist, which seemed like a conflict of interest, but the personnel options were limited.

Third to wake were George, the mechanic, and Susan, the physician I met earlier. George was in good shape but had a round face anyway, giving him a youthful, cherubic appearance.

“So, what are our jobs?” I asked.

“Aw shucks Pete, ya’ beat me to it.” Joe pulled from his coat pocket two identification cards with barcodes and our pictures. He handed them to each of us and continued. “Willow, you’re in charge of safety and security. That means making sure safety protocols are followed and nobody is up to any funny business. We’re tight on supplies and abusing what we had is what led to what we see outside, so you’ve got an important job.”

With a smile, Willow nodded and took a deep breath of relief. When she spoke, her voice was as smooth as silk. “Now it makes sense. I have these… vague memories of combat and weapons training.”

Willow was thin, muscular and serene. Of all the women, she was the tallest. Of all the men, I was the shortest. I wasn’t overweight, but we were practically opposites. Willow also didn’t seem as confused by everything as I was. She was composed and hawkish in her vigilance.

“And Pete, you’re our custodian, and boy do we need you, buddy. This place has been sitting here collecting dust for a couple hundred years.”

I stared at my ID card while he spoke. Curly black hair down to my shoulders, my face looked like I was sleepy and I had apparently gone into stasis with a goatee. Still, beneath my name, Peter Mendoza, was the job title from which I could not pull away my eyes. I was a custodian. Why was this the job I chose when I went into stasis? It didn’t feel right, and yet there it was in front of me.