The backyard

The bunker

They both passed through the threshold into the room. Lincoln walked over to the inside control panel and pulled the lever down. The alarm blared again and the cog wheel door rolled in front of the exit and slid in. Ronnie Anne walked over to the elevator and tried summoning a ride but to no avail.

"Hey Lincoln, the elevator needs keys."

"Here," he said, tossing the key to Ronnie.

"No, as in it needs two keys," she said, catching it. He walked over to the elevator door. It was a simple two sliding doors with a rigid metal outline, illuminated with a single bulb. The call button had two keyholes above it. He placed the key in one and took it out and placed it in the other. When he had done that the other keyhole had reverted to its original state.

Lincoln took out the key and stuck it in his pocket. He turned his head to the staircase leading deeper down into the earth.

"Well, it looks like we'll be walking," Ronnie Anne said. They both began walking down the stairs.

"Football, baseball, soccer, basketball, high schools going to have it all!"

"Sounds like you plan to go far."

"Go big or go home, am I right?"

"That you are." Bobby's phone rang in his pocket. "Sorry Lynn, I've got to take this call."

"No worries, nice talking to you," she said as he walked over to the front door. She made herself comfy in her chair before going back to watching Lincoln and Ronnie. Who were no longer there. She frowned and looked around. They weren't in the living room and she couldn't see them in the dining room.

She waved over Lola. "Hey, have you seen Link or Ronnie Anne?"

"No. They're probably in his room or something."

"Ok, thanks." She stood up and walked upstairs to Lincoln's room. She knocked on the door and waited for a response, but none came. "Lincoln?" No response. She opened the door and walked inside. No one was here. The only thing that looked out of place was an opened box of Lincoln's magic tricks.

She walked back downstairs to the party. She could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. The both of them had almost certainly gone out again to the park or Gus's Games and Grub. But still the feeling of unease remained.

She wanted to go over with Lisa, just one more time, that they couldn't get into the bunker. Why they wanted to go inside she didn't know. Why she wanted to go inside she didn't know either. Had it not been enough that she was to blame for this situation in the first place?

She found Lisa in the dining room looking out the window that viewed the street in front of the house, sipping at a cup of fruit punch. "Hey Lisa?"

"Yes elder sibling?"

"I just wanted to clarify that whatever's in the bunker is safe."

Lisa took another sip of her drink. "Your concern is appreciated, but unwarranted. The farthest anyone could get would be the 'front door' so to shpeak. It is impossible to open the door without these," she continued, holding out her own key. "Only me and Lucy have these. Without them the door will not open. It can hypothetically withstand an atomic detonation, so trying to force the door open will not work."

"Well, thanks for the science lesson."

Lisa finished her drink. "If you will excushe me, I musht replenish my drink."

She left Lynn, now the one looking out the window. Her unease had been all but laid to rest now knowing it was impossible to get in. Things would go on as usual. Lincoln and Ronnie Anne were just out for right now.