Bunker 77

6. More Questions

Cursed is the man who dies, but the evil done by him survives.
- Abu Bakr

***

Too quiet.

Not even a hint of a mosquito's buzz could be heard in the dark, empty hallway. After I agreed to go with them, the woman with Rian handed me a black cloak for me to slip on. I raised an eyebrow at the cloak but accepted it nonetheless. Only then did I realise why she gave it to me.

As we braved a passage I had never been through before, the cloak and black outfits blended well with the darkness. The only way I could see Rian and the other man walking in front of me was because of the red cloth wrapped around their brows.

I wondered if they used to sneak around like this. Even their boots were deafeningly quiet. To match their abilities, I had to take slow, deliberate steps on the ground. The stairs were steep and uneven, as if they had been built carelessly. I almost fell a few times if it hadn't been for the woman behind me who was watching me like a hawk.

Was the passage the same route Fikree and Division One people would use to go to Division Two?

But judging by the lack of care and the quietness, it was very unlikely. If there was anything the upper class loved more than their power, it was quality. I had never come across an uneven stair or a broken door unless it would be repaired before the next morning.

The silence of the night as we climbed on gave me plenty of time to ponder the current situation of the bunker. Since Rian had come back to the bunker and knocked on my door in the middle of the night, it was only fair to assume that his team was behind the bombing.

But does that make me a traitor to the bunker for following Rian out of the bunker instead of waiting for Fikree?

But Rian had shown me something that I could not turn down. A picture of him and our uncles standing behind a tall, rectangular building made of glass and silver metal flashed in my mind-the exact same picture I had seen in the book Teratai gave me. If the war had been so bad, like the reporters said, why did the building seem unchanged?

My knees began to ache from climbing, so I stopped for a second, huffing. I rested my hands on my knees as the woman behind me waited patiently. "How long do we need to climb?"

Rian didn't answer, but the other man did. "We're nearly there. Just in time for you to see the sunrise."

"Sunrise?" I said excitedly, standing straight. "I have never seen the sunrise before, but I saw the picture in a book."

"Seeing it with your own eyes is much better than the picture. You'll love it when you see it," the woman said. When I glanced at her, she had a warm smile on her face.

"People miss a lot of great things by staying in the bunker. But it won't be for long. Freedom is coming," Rian muttered under his breath, and I could imagine a smile on his face.

But his last words made me shiver. It was the same as the words I read in Teratai's letter.

"Freedom is coming?" I asked. "What does that mean? It was the same thing my friend said before she was taken out."

"I'll explain everything to you, Amna. But first, we need to get out of here," said Rian as we resumed the climb.

"Here we are," the other man said, stopping in front of a wooden door. A couple of the hinges hung loosely against the door. He glanced over his shoulder to look at me, and for a split second I saw a smile on his face before the stern look took over his face. "You ready?"

Rian stepped back and nudged me to stand in front of him. "Welcome to the world," he said as the other man opened the door.

My eyes snapped shut as a ray of light reached my sight. I breathed in the fresh air as the first morning breeze brushed my face. It smelt earthy and full of life, with a whiff of a sweet fragrance, compared to the dusty and lifeless smell of the bunker.

Opening my eyes slowly, I took in the scenery with awe. The door opened to a green, healthy field and faraway mountains, with a ball of light sticking from it. The sky was a mixture of blue and pale orange, and a hint of white could be seen. A flock of birds flew in the horizon, so free and unconcerned with what could bring them ahead.

Was this the image of a broken world? That witnessed the century-long war?

My heart crumbled as the truth sunk in. How much did the upper class lie to us? How much did Fikree lie to me?

"Alright, let's go. There's plenty of sunrises you can see after this," the man said, walking past me. Now that we were out of the passage, I could see the middle-aged man clearly. He had a neat moustache and stubble, with a faint scar running from his right eye down to his chin. He went to a big, strange-looking machine.

Rian recognised the confused look on my face. "This is a car. We use the car to transport on land."

I raised my eyebrows, impressed.

"Come on, Amna. You can sit beside me," said the woman, waving her hand. "Right, this is a seatbelt. We need to wear it every time we get in the car," she said as I sat beside her in the back. She showed me how to use the seatbelt and how to undo it.

Rian entered the car from another door, to sit behind the steering wheel, while the middle aged man sat beside him. A rumble came from the car before it sped through the rocky road. I looked out the window, cherishing the view, with a big smile on my face.

I looked behind me and saw the upper side of the bunker, where Division One people lived. It was a long, rectangular building with multiple smaller buildings around it. I could see the protected dome where people in Sector C grew the crops. Soon, the bunker faded from my view and only lived in my memory.

"So, I guess you guys were the ones that dropped the bomb on the bunker?" I asked, turning my attention to Rian.

"You both can tell her. I'm going to take a nap," the middle-aged man said, yawning slightly before a snore could be heard from him.

"She's your sister," the woman said to Rian, simply as she untied the red cloth around her head. "Oh, by the way, I'm Lulu. And that man over there is Eli. These are not our real names, but you can call us that."

"Uh, okay. Nice to meet you."

I heard Rian sigh as I watched the car speed through a set of healthy green trees. "I guess this is the time to tell you the truth. I'll start with today's event first. To answer your question, yes, it was our squad that dropped the bomb. But the other guys worked on averting the upper class' attention as we saved you from the bunker. And don't worry, they won't target the residents. The bomb isn't that dangerous. But it's enough to make the upper class squirm in their seats."

I snapped my head to Rian, and my jaw dropped in shock. "What? Me?"

All those bombings just to save me? What significance do I have?

Scratching the side of my head, I looked at each of them, in case they were trying to make a joke. But they looked so serious.

"Yes." Rian nodded. "You remember Teratai? She's one of our spies in the bunker. She told us that Fikree planned to take you out of the bunker. That's why we came here to save you before he could do so."

"Teratai is one of you?" I gasped. Some things began to make more sense now. "Where is she now? Is she safe?"

"Don't worry about her. Teratai and Dahlia are in the headquarters now, safe and sound," answered Lulu, not looking up from her book.

"So, the bombings..." I trailed off, remembering the day when the bombing started, a day after the celebration night, and also the day Fikree introduced me to General Kasem. "To save me? But why?"

"We'll have to reach the headquarters to answer that question. It's a complicated matter... but everything will make sense."

I leaned my back against the seat, crossing my arms. "So, the war? Is it really happening?"

"Yes." Then, he paused. "But it ended eighty years ago."