The Lost Archives

Same old, same old

Xavier woke up.

Except he didn't wrestle awake like he normally did. No. Somebody shook him up. But when he jolted up, all he could hear and see was the bunker's usual eeriness.

This was the 4th time this month that Xavier had not seen anything but felt it. He felt like he should have said something by now, to Ivy even but every time there was a lull in the conversation, something was holding Xavier back. Leaning down his bedframe, he met eye contact with his clock, 4:23 AM it read.

Rolling out a bed, Xavier stalked towards the kitchen hoping to find something to do until 9 AM, the time the 5 usually started to go through the archives. Walking through the swinging door, Xavier made eye contact with Kai in his bare undies, startled to have been caught.

"What are you doing here" Xavier asked

"I could say the same thing for you," Kai countered

"Okay smartass, I asked first"

"What are you? 4? I asked you"

"Okay, firstly, wow I love the eloquent language you are using," Xavier said taking a step towards Kai after each word "But that still doesn't answer my question"

Kai looked scared now, not the 'ashamed I was just caught eating Nutella at 3 AM type' but more reluctant. This made Xavier stop dead in his tracks. Xavier could deal with a lot of things; Kai's fear, however, he could not.

"What are you doing here" Xavier asked, but now more seriously.

Kai turned away, holding his tea and faced the sink, "It's happening again"

Xavier didn't need to know more than that. He knew what "It" was. Everybody did.

"What was different this time" Xavier took a seat, knowing Kai. His brother shut down when he was scared and so the 4 of them decided to talk about this topic nonchalantly. Even though it was all they thought about. The Incident happened a year ago, and things still hadn't gone better. Ruby had thought that once Kai woke up in the tunnels that they would stopped but Kai was adamant that it was something different.

What Mara and Ben forgot to include when throwing 5 toddlers in a bunker is that the environmental impacts would be detrimental. Every day, Ivy (she volunteered) did her rounds feeding them tablets that gave them the physical strength to continue. No exposure to sunlight meant that aside from their ghastly experiences and wild freckles, was the lack of immune system. But Kai's body, for whatever reason, rejects all the pills that Ivy has in her apothecary. Making Kai ghoulish, weak and obsessed with baggy clothing, the 4 of them felt protective of Kai. They were the same age, yes, but there was a silent pact that they would all die for Kai.

"Nothing was different, really," Kai said "I just don't know why they keep on happening, I'm doing everything I can"

"I know," Xavier said pointedly

"Have you tried—"

"Yes"

"What about—"

"That, too"

"Okay, but then how about—"

"Obviously."

"Hmf," Xavier sighed, running his hand through his bed head, racking his head for new solutions.

The Incident had changed something. For years, the 5 knew that

1 ) they were in a bunker

2) it wasn't normal

and 3) it wasn't normal that they were in a bunker

But, or at least how Zeke had described it, humanity had perished, who else would there?

Now, after the Incident, they aren't too sure about that statement.

"Okay, I'm going to try to head back to sleep," Kai said, getting up, "But wait" He pivoted towards Xavier "Why were you awake"

"Oh you know same old, same old" Xavier got up

"But like, you understand, that I don't know"

"Shhhhhh" Xavier hushed as he put his hands on Kai's back and guided him out of the door. The last thing the group needed was Xavier's problems. He was the jokester. He didn't have the same problems as Kai.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

"1" Grunt "2" Grunt "3" Louder Grunt

"Hey, John Cena! Some of us are trying to relax here" Ruby told Zeke who was, rather loudly according to Ruby, doing pushups

"John Cena would be flattered being compared to me," Zeke said, his voice shaking as he finished his last push-up

"Zeke, every time I look in the mirror and see a glimmer of resemblance to you, I yelp and need to watch cats rolling in burritos to make myself feel better" Xavier exclaimed

"That's so funny you say that," Ivy said walking with some herbs to help Kai make tea "because that's my exact reaction whenever I see you"

"Hold up, I have the perfect response to this" Xavier said, keeping his index finger afloat as he rummaged through this deck of UNO cards.

He then pulled the Uno Reverso Card paired with the glory of his middle finger. Ruby fell to the ground, Kai laughed, And as Zeke chuckled, an amused Ivy threw a massive teddy bear straight at a smiling Xavier.

Their laughter filled the hallways, echoing for the kilometres of tunnels that stretched past. Once a cold cellar, the bunker was covered with orange hues and velvet coaches. Long carpets stretched the entire room with quick interests and lifelong obsessions hanging on the wall. However foreign the bunker may be, it was all they knew.

For now. 

Edit: 

This one is a tad bit short. Sorry ://///

QOTC (Question of the Chapter)

Q: Vanilla or Chocolate Ice cream? Comment :) 

My A: EVERY FLAVOUR!!!