The walls of the room were painted in a sterile white color, without any ornamentation to alter its monotony, about twenty tables occupied the entire place, in them each and every one of the two hundred chairs were unoccupied, in the background could be seen the coming and going of those in charge of the historical documents room. Hilda stood up and walked slowly to the glass door that separated the two rooms, her forty-eight years were already weighing on her back, it was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe and she could not move at the same speed as before.
-I hope no one is coming today- she thought as she pushed the door, which she found especially heavy today, -I wouldn't want to have to walk again and again through the room-.
In front of the glass door was the desk of the manager, a slim, dark-haired, greasy-haired young man, who looked at Hilda in disgust.
-Hello Mrs. Hilda, little movement in the reading room today, -said the young man, while sketching a forced smile.
-Yes, Tomas, no one has been here all day, -she paused to take a breath, she was short of breath, -haven't they brought down the document I asked for yesterday?
-Let me find out- Tomas turned around and walked to the end of the room where the archivist's counter was, he spoke to one of them who, after leafing through a notebook, turned away from the counter, Tomas turned around and made an approving gesture as a sign that the document was already there.
The archivist returned and placed a thick white box on the counter in front of Tomas, placed a piece of paper on it and then said something that Hilda did not hear. Tomas lifted the box and returned to his desk where Hilda was waiting for him, watching the whole process.
-What you asked for, Mrs. Hilda, the archivist told me that I should return it before departure time, and to let him know if you are going to need it tomorrow, so as not to return it to the main file, -Tomas placed the box on the desk and handed over the slip of paper that the archivist had placed on the box. -Please sign me the receipt-.
Hilda took the pencil that was on the desk and after looking at the receipt, signed it and returned it to Tomas. She lifted the box, which she found incredibly heavy for what it contained, exhaled a sigh and, surprised, blinked repeatedly, after catching her breath, gasped, -Tomas, will you open the door for me please-.
-Of course, Mrs. Hilda, -he hurried towards the heavy glass door-. Do you feel ok?, -he said, as he pushed it.
-Yes, don't worry, I'm just a little short of breath, - Hilda answered as she left the room, trying to hurry to her own desk and leave the box on it.
Gasping, she placed the box on her desk and lifted the lid, which bore only an identification code. It contained a thick leather-covered volume, with nothing written on it, its pages covered in plastic, they were handwritten, it had about a thousand pages, which were sewn together with what seemed to be a thick synthetic fiber string, she glanced through them for a moment without reading them, just looking at their contents, it was written on different types of paper, some pages on white paper, others in stripes, others on paper that seemed torn from other books and reused; also, the quality of the ink and the handwriting changed throughout the pages; one could tell that the volume had been written by different people, over a long period of time.
Attached to the inside of the box cover was an envelope containing a plastic slip with a brief explanation of the contents of the box.
Copy R-234-443-678
Title: Untitled
Author: Various.
Date: Estimated between 45 and 359.
Description: Compilation of diaries of various reporters, it is considered the record of events closest to the great catastrophe, narrating life in the catacombs and briefly describing what happened during the catastrophe.
Provenance: Southern region of the continent.
Condition: restored in 899, there are illegible pages, the cover is not the original, possibly missing pages.
She saw the first page of the volume, it was partially torn at the edges, the paper had turned yellow ochre with time, it was written in Spanish, the text was barely legible, fortunately, the opaque blue ink still contrasted with the color of the paper. She placed the book under the projector she had on her desk, in order to read it, since it was difficult to read with the naked eye, at the top of the page she could make out what seemed to be the author's name, a date and a small legend.
Antonio José Ríos Arocha, year 5 in the catacombs.
I think it has been about 8 years since the earth shook and the sky turned black.
She increased the contrast of the projector and read the next page. She had waited a long time for this, the volume she had on her desk had been kept for several years since it was found and brought to the library, and she had waited several more months for it to be available to her, after having been rotated by several historians of the University, and at last she had the opportunity to read it.