The last man in the infested ruins

Chapter 6: Bunker 15

The trio continued on, guided by Dawson who had studied the map earlier. They arrived at the fork in the road: the left road leads to the bunker, the right road leads to the neighborhood. Then they heard a roar that echoed from the right road, so they ran to the left road to avoid going to the neighborhood.

"We're close to the bunker, it should be around one more block!" Said Dawson.

"I don't want to be another meal to some mutant in the neighborhood!" Panicked Lt. Kevin.

"Get it together! We are very close to the bunker!" Said Cooper.

The trio stopped at the fence to catch their breaths, both Cooper and Dawson checked their feet to see if there's any cuts or blisters. Luckily, both men don't see any cuts or blisters. However, the trio saw a medium sized dome shaped building beyond the fence. The building itself has a simple design: it is made of concrete with a metal double door as the entrance, next to the entrance has a painted name that has long since faded.

"Bunker 15"

"We've made it, we should be safe there" said Cooper.

"I hope there isn't any mutants lurking in the bunker" said Lt. Kevin.

"Why would the mutants be inside the bunker if it's sealed?" Questioned Dawson.

"Good point, brother" said Lt. Kevin.

The trio climbed over the gate and walked towards Bunker 15, and they noticed that the double door has a chain wrapped around the handles and a padlock. To the right side of the entrance is the skeletal remains of a security officer with a gunshot wound at the forehead, no doubt that he was killed by an enemy soldier during the war. Cooper bent down and rummaged through the pockets of what's left of the security guards tattered uniform, and pulled out a slightly rusted key. He used the rusted key to unlock the padlock, and the chains unraveled, causing the metal doors to creak open.

"Shall we go in?" He asked.

Both brothers looked at each other, and silently nodded.

With that said, Cooper pushed open the metal door. Inside of Bunker 15, it has a small lobby where there's traces of human activity, wooden benches and a front desk, and numerous items that littered the floor. Items include: children's toys, advertising magazines, papers that are scattered all over the floor, and snacks that have long since expired. From the look of things, it seems that numerous civilians were in a hurry in order to survive the war.

"I can imagine that every civilian of the city were waiting for their turn to be put into hypersleep, with children playing their toys as they wait while their parents were signing the forms" Lt. Kevin speculated.

"That might happened in the past, but we weren't there back then. We were put into hypersleep in the separate locations" explained Cooper.

The trio took their time to carefully walk over the toys to avoid stepping on them, and since there's Lego bricks, Cooper had to brushed the Lego bricks aside to clear the way. They reached the back of the bunker, and they climbed down the ladder. When they make it to the bottom, they can see that the corridor is tube shaped and there are three doors at the back. The doors include: water storage, food storage, and cryopod vault.

"Looks like everyone should be fine with food and water" said Dawson.

Cooper walks over and picks up a piece of paper from a small table, it is basically an apology letter to everyone who are put into hypersleep. It reads:

"We are sorry for the inconvenience. All of you have given your clothes to us before going into the cryopods to hibernate, but rather than store your clothes, we had to take them to our labs to convert them for future cure for mutation that will occur eighteen years from now along with other experiments. Again, we are sorry for the inconvenience that you all have to walk around in undergarments for the time being.

Sincerely, I. E. A.".

Cooper bursts out laughing, much to the brothers confusion.

"Man, all of the civilians will have to walk around in their undergarments when they all wake up from hypersleep! By the time they read this letter, they all be pissed!" He laughed.

"Well, they could try and make their own clothes from materials in the ruins" said Lt. Kevin.

"If the rescue team come to the ruins of this city, they would take every civilian to somewhere safe and provide them clothes" said Dawson to his brother.

After that, Dawson opened the door to the cryopod vault. Then a blast of cold air greeted the trio, and it was colder compared to the bunker that Cooper woke up in. As they walked inside the cryopod vault, they saw a huge chamber with cryopods numbered over 94. Each cryopod were in rows and split into three categories: men, women, and children including teens. Then the trio split up and explore the vault, but for Dawson and Cooper, it felt each step was like walking on ice since they're barefoot on metal floor. The air was so cold that all three of them were shivering, but it wasn't so dire that Dawson and Cooper would have frostbite on their toes.

"Find anything interesting?" Lt. Kevin called out.

"No, but looking through the windows of the cryopods. I can see that everyone are sleeping peacefully" replied Dawson.

At one section of the vault, Cooper was exploring to see if he can find the button to open all cryopods . However, he is still grieving for the loss of his family. The only thing in his mind is to cope with the loss by finding a woman to love and have a child, or at least adopt a child. His mind is torn between staying loyal to his dead wife and children and finding replacements to cope. In one cryopod, he sees a woman hibernating inside with the name "Christine" on the window. She has the same yellow hair as he did, but he wonders if waking her up was a good idea.

Authors note: next chapter is where things get action packed.