The Bunker

Prologue 

There was screaming,people rushing around the place to find safety. It looked like the start of an apocalypse,green gas filled the air and I slowly started to feel weird? I didn’t know what I felt,but people screamed at me to move,to get out of there and not breathe in the toxic fumes. I was only thirteen,but I knew what had happened. The nuclear power plant north of our town had gone off,it failed. Now the noxious gas was spreading, and I had already inhaled it.

Chapter 1

I was only two years old when the reactor exploded. My family had a bomb shelter under the house and pre-ready supplies,like it had all happened here before. So we were able to get to safety before the gas had made it to us. I don’t remember much from that day,if anything at all. All I know is that there's still an apocalypse out there. Even 10 years after the reactor malfunction,I haven’t seen the outside world. The gas killed most of the people in the towns within a 100 yard radius. It was lethal to any who inhaled it even for a second,it was clear where it went since it was so collected and pigmented. Didn’t behave like any gas the books in my family's bunker described. Some people on the radios say it was a new experimental weapon,and we were the test subjects. Makes me wonder whether or not my parents knew this was gonna happen due to how prepared they were,they even had a gas mask in my size then,and now. Even had seeds to produce crops,and barn animals to produce dairy,and meat. Yet they never tell me why they had it all here,why they were so prepared. They always say they wanted to protect it from the neighbors and be self sustainable. Yet my older brother who was nine at the time,always said our neighbors were extremely nice and always wanted to help us,not steal from us. So what did they want to protect? Or more accurately,what were they trying to cover up? Yet I shouldn’t be focusing on these sorts of things,I should be grateful for this since without it,we wouldn’t have survived the first 5 years of the post apocalypse. “Sasha, can you come down to the barn for a second? I need some help milking the cows,so can you make sure that the bottles get filled while I milk the cows?” My mom always asked me to help,it was one of the few fun things to do around here so I wasn’t hesitant to help. “Of course mom,I’m always willing to help milk the cows! Oh also,when will I be able to help with the pigs? I want to help with more than just chickens and cows. Maybe I can help in the garden like Seth,I’m sure he would like his little sister to help too!” Seth, who was my older brother, always worked in the garden,being older he had most of the responsibilities and kept busy longer so I was left to play by myself or sit alone with my thoughts when mom and dad didn’t need help with the cows or chickens. “Maybe when you're older,but for now Sasha we should go milk the cows. I don’t think they know how to milk themselves, you know!” Disappointed that after 5 years of only milking cows and taking care of chickens that I still hadn’t been able to do anything more,I went to help mom.

Chapter 2

We entered the barn to go milk the cows and there Seth was with dad,helping feed the pigs. “Hey Seth! How have you been today? Oh also when me and mom are done milking the cows will you be open to hang out today?” Seth looked up from the pigs eating their food and turned to me. “Yeah,I’m open, me and dad were just finishing up our last daily chore,what do you wanna do when you're done?” I hadn’t expected him to be open since normally he was busy in the gardens. “Uhm why not play some board games? Or if you could think of something we could do that!” He nodded in understanding and walked out of the barn,bucket in hand. The entire time me and mom were milking the cows I couldn’t stop thinking of what me and Seth could do together. We hardly played anything together at all,and we didn’t even have many games to play since it was more about survival then fun in the bunker. “Hey mom,when do you think we could leave the bunker? Like when can we have more games or a normal life?” Mom stopped milking Becky,our oldest cow that wasn’t butchered yet. “What do you mean by normal life? This is the normal life,and there is no guarantee our generations will even get out of the post apocalypse let alone survive.” I looked down from my mother’s gaze to the empty and half full bottles of milk. Sad that I may never live the same way my brother had the first nine years of his life,and even a similar way to how my parents grew up. When we finished milking the cows I went to the main part of the bunker where we hang out when we aren’t busy which is hardly ever. There Seth was reading a book waiting for me. “Hey Seth,me and mom are done milking the cows,what do you wanna do? Play board-games or do you have something better we could do?” Seth looked up from his book to me,and set it down. “We could play one of the board games we have or play a card game,maybe tell each other stories or just talk.” I hadn’t done much with Seth since he never really was open so since today may be the only day we hang out together I suggested we do all of them starting with board games. He agreed and pulled out the jenga box and opened it while I settled down on the rug resting neatly on the floor. It was a burgundy red square that had a terracotta orange square in it,the two colors switching as the squares got smaller and smaller. After playing every board game on the shelf we played about 10 rounds of poker followed by 10 games of go fish. Then we started to talk and have a general conversation,bonding as a family would if it hadn’t been for the apocalypse.

Chapter 3

It must have been hours now,we were starting to get sleepy so we went to the bedroom,or as mom and dad call it “The resting quarters.” Seth crawled up to the top bunk and I slid onto the bottom bunk and we went to sleep,not knowing if it was day or night. When we woke up we went to listen to the radio as we normally did each time we woke up. “Hello again,we would like to inform you that the post apocalypse may be coming to an end! We heard that military enforcements have discovered our lands and the condition we live in and are coming to clean all the noxious gas,waste from the air and soil so we can return to our normal lives years after the apocalypse!” The local radio man announced something that Seth and I weren’t expecting,we immediately called mom and dad to hear the news themselves. “The military has also stated that we were an experiment,we were meant to test a deadly toxin and that a secret organization had intentionally caused the reactor malfunction to cover up there true intentions of testing the toxin,they also made it to where no one would ever come to our towns so that we wouldn’t ever get help. The people who caused this devastating toxin to spread wouldn’t have time to get out of the radius,and would have died. The authorities had noticed that some of the people apart from this were local townspeople making a name for themselves as good people preparing a secret underground bunker with everything they would need to survive so they could outlast all the other locals and not seem like the culprit. Documents were discovered that were preserved at the sight that claimed that the apocalypse would go one for 20 years if it went as planned and the ones who worked there would claim a town as their own and take control slowly the organization would control the entire world and any who oppose them would be killed in a number of possible ways.” As the radio man kept speaking of the organization I felt,suspect,what if my parents were a part of this? It fit almost perfectly,I even turned around and my mother seemed nervous. Of course it could have been the news that they were meant to die but,they said we would survive now,why would they be nervous unless they were the ones doing it. If they were the ones doing it of course they would be noticed since they were caught red handed! All the military had to do was walk into the bunker and they would know! Who wouldn’t be nervous with stakes like that? Seth looked at me and then to my parents,it gave me the impression that he knew too,he knew what had really happened that day,like a memory long forgotten had all of a sudden clicked. “The military will begin bringing people out of the apocalyptic land tomorrow,arresting anyone who is suspected to be part of the organization and bringing the whole family to question. It was estimated that there were over 100 members most of them had families due to left over writings left still intact after the explosion and so they have decided to question entire families for safety as to not miss someone in the organization or that would grow up in their principles to avoid this incident from happening again. We still don’t have the name of the organization but when the questioning is over and the culprits are caught we will share the news with everyone involved in this horrible act of destruction. This is Mr. Stenwarn your reporter in this apocalypse signing off for hopefully,the last time.” Seth and I both turned to our parents,to see looks of horror on their faces,and eventually regret.

Chapter 4

They sat us down on our couches and told us everything. They told us about the organization called “The BloodKeepers” and how the leader offered anything to certain people making promises they never kept and threatening to kill them if they thought of leaving. They were forced to do terrible things that they never wanted to do,being put under alliace ,if they were discovered so their names wouldn’t be found. The most recent act they had to fulfill was deemed “the nuclear explosion of 2057” but they always referred to it as “Death Day” due to how many were meant to be killed. Even some of the followers weren’t given the supplies needed to survive Death Day,and were more than likely killed due to their own explosion they helped cause. They told us of all the people working there being poor,and going through difficult times being tricked into thinking someone would help. Only certain people got to see the leader,they were deemed his loyal servants. In order to survive they had acted like they were loyal followers and got booted up the ranks to the second highest, that was when people got priority. Which is why mom and dad were given so many resources to survive,the rest handed out to others like scraps. Maybe only enough to make it ten years,they had to do the rest. So many good people,forced to do such sinful things. Mom and dad never met the leader,but they were close. They wanted to get his information,to expose him and his evil,sick way of living. Yet here we are,in the apocalyptic world,and in danger of being found.

Chapter 5

The next day when we woke up,but to be honest we didn’t really know if it was morning in the first place. We heard a knock on the hatch leading to our bunker,we knew who was there. “Come out with your hands up before this gets any worse! We know you're in there and are the one who caused all this! You're under arrest Mr and Mrs Oath!” Oath? Our last name wasn’t Oath? We looked at each other,and started to piece together what had actually happened. They found the names of the leader,and they must have said it was us! That we were the Oath family! “Don’t make me break this door down!” We had to act fast,or we wouldn’t get out. “Wait! The secret hatch behind the barn! Remember they said to have an escape route in case we were found during the apocalypse?” My dad had remembered all the safety precautions that they must have forgotten about. We headed to the exit,our masks in hand ready to leave,to be able to explain we weren’t the people they were looking for! Yet,they were there as well,and now we looked even more like the culprits. Now we were being led to questioning,to decide if me and Seth were innocent or not. We all were questioned,and we all said the same story. We all said we were being framed,that they were forced and we spoke the honest truth. Yet they didn’t believe us,they locked us all up,leaving the organization's leader to seize power. Treated us like puppets,and no one could stop them. This is the end of my line,it's my time to be the next one they use for years to only throw aside after a few years. 2076 the year I become a puppet for someone who destroyed the world,and my family's reputation. “Date-August 10th,2089. The sight of a horrible leader taking control of everything,the main place of his devastation. A woman by the name of Sasha Ivy was found dead on the spot. A victim of Hanson Oath’s evil doings as a leader and a reminder of the evil people that exist in our world. Let us hope that we never see a devastating sight like this,ever again. Signing off,Seth Ivy.” End of message.