"Taaa" The cups sounded as they bounced slightly right off the floor. 

The countdown was down to 3 minutes and 13 seconds and as Peter turned his back to look at his daughter, Evgenii and son, Vova who just entered the room with faces of worry and fear of the unknown they weren't ready to accept, he looked upon their comely faces and smiled.

His wife would have been proud of the amazing children he's raised but she had been dead ever since their birth. His children meant the whole world to him besides his work obsession. 

They ran towards their trembling dad who was about to crash hard on the ground with his face sweating profusely and his breath becoming unstable.

He fell right into the arms of his twin children, gazed at their lovely velvet eyes yet again. Evgenii could not hold back her tears as she knew the hour of his death was upon them. Vova held on to his father's arm tightly as he held back the tears from falling from his eyes.

All this time, Nicholay had already fallen to the ground but the children were too focused on their dying dad to notice.

"Vzzzznhemmmm" All the lights and systems in the bunkers went off and silent at the same time.

The twins were grieving and this moment was just worse for them as they wondered what this was. Despite the efforts of these Russian scientists who had dedicated all their lives and efforts to being prepared for this, they realized that it was ultimately still short of comprehending all that this was.

Nearby, Vova heard a foot step about 5 metres away and this freaked him out. It couldn't be possible. According to all he'd heard from this dad, only Evgenii and he could survive whatever this was.

"Who's there?" Vova asked with his fear masked in audacity amidst the darkness that surrounded them.

"It's me" Aleks replied as she opened a lighter that was in her hand and found her way to the cabinet where they had packs and piles of candles of all sizes. She lit one and found her way to the kids who were grieving a dead body that wasn't there.

Was this form of grief any easier?

Aleks dropped the candle on the table as she looked towards the ground where she saw all three cups on the ground just as they dropped. She wasn't thankful for surviving, but a part of her felt like their mission and numerous efforts were not in vain.

"Evgenii?' Aleks whispered with a teenage -pitched voice soaked in sympathy.

Evgenii looked up to the advancing Aleks and let out a scream of fear and hellish surprise. She was bewildered by what she saw. Aleks, originally 39 years old looked 18 years old in this very moment. 

Vova, terrified by Evgenii's screams and petrifying countenance looked towards Aleks and he couldn't find the courage to scream as he gulped heavily the spit that was packed up in his mouth.

"It's okay. It's me. The experiment worked. Your dad did it" Aleks said as she tried to calm the ridiculously scared kids while she walked towards them.

Who could have possibly believed this? Their age-reversal process worked. Aleks was not the better scientist in the room. If anyone was, that was Peter. In fact, the very cup's liquid that Aleks drank was Peter's chemical preparation. Nicholay drank the one Aleks made, while Peter drank the one that Nicholay created.

The 18 year old kids were much calmer now as Aleks knelt down beside them and held them both by their hands while trying to pacify them in the best way she could, silently.

"Is this real?" Vova asked as he couldn't hold back the tears that gushed out of his eyes and the snot that rolled out of his nose as he found warmth in Aleks' embrace.

Aleks was not good at this. She had not kids of her own and no family, too. She caressed Vova's back while she gently rubbed Evgenii's shoulders.

Evgenii began to have trouble breathing as she wheezed repeatedly. This scared Vova and the newly young-form Aleks. Aleks immediately identified what this was. The bunker's ventilation system was based on solar-powered air systems that recycled and purified the oxygen within it.

The absence of this system following the blackout only meant that the ventilation system was off and for this reason, there was little oxygen in circulation. 

Aleks rushed towards the central window of the bunker and opened it as wide and as fast as she could and upon this, a great wind rushed inside the bunker putting out the candle.

There was now more than enough air to breathe, but there was darkness as the only light that existed had been put out by the breeze.

"I'm afraid the candles won't do now. We have to find the lanterns now" Aleks said as she held on to the wall of the bunkers in order to find her way to the cabinets.

"We'll be okay, right?" Vova asked nobody in particular as he appeared to have been staring at Evgenii.