The sword and The crown

Chapter 2

Running down the tight hall, her sister on her heels, Lorelei stopped and yanked at the old door. Struggling, Atlas caught up and helped her open the old door. Panting, they ran into the room, shutting the large metal door behind them. Atlas glanced around the unlit room, her eyes slowly adjusting to the dim lighting and dust.

" I don't remember the building guide saying anything about what to do in this room. Ya think they have any candy from before the vault?" Loreli asked, wanting to get her mind off of the alarms still blaring through the walls.

Atlas shrugged, seeming to already have started looking for something to do while they wait out whatever is going on. The girls shuffled around, the adrenaline from earlier causing them to be too nervous to sit down on one of the dusty chairs.

Loreli looked around the room, studying every corner and item.

The walls were a thick metal, and the ground was concrete. 4 old, black, chairs sat in a circle around a table, dust collecting on the surface. A lamp sat on the table along with a book or two that was huge. A rusty metal fridge sat against a corner, hiding behind a blanket with intricate designs.

Walking over to the table, Lorelei turned on the lamp. A cloud of dust flew into her face, causing her to cough and swat at the particles around her. A dim light flickered, causing a slight brightness in the room. The lightbulb that swung above her continued to flicker, seeming to go at the same tempo as the lamp.

'why hasn't anyone else joined us yet?' the sudden thought caused a pang of worry to stab through Loreli, wondering what happened to her fellow vault mates.

¨ Hey! There's some soup here! Think we can start a fire and heat it up? It doesn't seem old!¨ Atlas's happy voice dragged Lorelei out of her worry, instead focusing on getting food for the two.

A few minutes passed as the two looked around for matches, atlas being sure she saw them on the list of things in the room.

¨ what do you think happened to everyone else? Someone else should've made it to.¨ Atlas suddenly asked her sister, causing the older girl to stop looking.

¨ I-..... I don't know, sis. I don't know....¨ Loreli answered, looking back at her youngest sister.

The alarms seemed like background noise now, the girls working at a small match under the soup can. Their conversation from earlier left an empty feeling in the sister's stomachs.

The soft flame of the match lifted their spirits, though, and they each took turns holding the can over the small flame. It didn't heat it up much, but it definitely did make the soup taste better.

The girl's joy ended quickly as the alarms came to a sudden stop. Surprised, they wandered over to the door. A small thumping sound echoed through, sounding like someone was dropping metal on the ground.

The girls looked at each other, contemplating if it was safe to go out yet. They had not heard anything from the group in a day, and the abrupt stop caused them to worry.

A loud slam against the door made the two jump back in fear, almost certain now that whatever was outside the door wasn't there to help them. Shaking slightly, Loreli slowly grabbed Atlas's arm and started to walk back to a secret escape hatch, grasping the box of matches and emergency backpack in her hand.

The slamming repeated, over and over again. The girls had their backs to the hatch, and Atlas turned slightly to insert the code to open it.

Just as suddenly as they started, the slamming stopped, instead being replaced by a low creak.

The girls exchanged looks, eyes wide as they came to the same conclusion.

The door was getting cut open, and whatever was outside was not a friend.