The Bunker

page 2

On our way to the bunker, April and I encounter 3 more children, two girls, who are sisters, Lily and Petunia, ages 4 and 5, and a boy named Andy, he's 2. We are all crammed into the cab of my truck, while I drive, the children keep a look out for other children and comfort each other. I found each of the 3 kids on different parts of the road as I drove towards the bunker. I asked them about their parents and learned that Lily and Petunia's parents have been dead for a week and they have been living with their grandma who died today, and Andy's parents were still working at one of the power plants in town. We near the  bunker and I slow down as volunteers rush out of the building to help me with the totes. I help the kids out of the car and tell the helpers to take the totes downstairs to the bunker storage and living center while I care for the kids. I took them inside and introduced them to another Den Mother, who also is my good friend, her name is Anna, she said hi to the kids and then we went to the cafeteria section of the bunker so my kids could eat. By the way, after a Den Mother finds kids they automatically become her's until the parents are found or replaced, or the Den Mother decides to officially adopt the kids. I sat the kids down at a table and had Anna watch and entertain then while I got them trays of food. Today, the chef, Tony, a 23 year old man, is serving soup with crackers. I grab 3 trays, spoons and napkins, Tony makes the bowls of soup for the kids. Now, before I continue I must state that Tony and I grew up together, so we know each other really well and are officially a couple. Anyways, he helped me carry the food over to the table, "Aww, what are the names of these cuties?" He asks sitting next to me. "The one in overalls is April, she's 4, the two girls sitting next to each other are Lily and Petunia, Lily is 4 and Petunia is 5, and the shy little boy is Andy, who is two" I reply, gesturing at each child as I introduce them. "They are so young, and cute, babe!" Tony exclaims while checking his watch. "Oh, shoot! We gotta get down there!" He says after he sees we have 3 minutes left, we each pick up a child, I carry two, since there is only three of us and four kids. We jog down the hall, and carefully go down the steps so we won't drop or hurt the kids. It's a narrow stair well, so we have to go in single file, Tony in the front with Andy, Anna second with April, and me last with the siblings. We had the kids finish their soup quickly before we left, so we didn't have to carry the bowls. When we made it to the bunker room, we push open the thick steel door and sit the kids down on a bunk bed. Everyone else had gotten here before us, so they didn't have to check us off the attendance sheet. We walked to where the Upper Chairmen are standing and told them we brought 4 young children with us, "Andy Marshal, Lily and Petunia Arrand, and April Westing, each between the ages of 1 to 6" The Chairmen told us after they looked the kids up to find out their last names. We went back to the bunk bed that the 3 kiddos were sitting on, "Hey guys, you have been assigned to us so we are your temporary parents for now," Tony told them, kneeling down to look at them. I sat down on the bed next to Andy and put one arm around him, "Yea kiddos, for now we will take care of you until the outbreak is over-" my voice got interrupted with a loud clank from the door, that meant they were securing the bunker. There are 5 sections in the bunker, storage, living, dining hall, kitchen, and the electric room where all our power came from. We hear the upper floor of the bunker building give out a loud bang, and several muted thunks, they were sealing the doors and windows, every window has bars and 3 inches of steel on the outside to protect them, and every door has 3 inches of steel and electric mesh wire over them. Of course, there is also the fact that the bunker is sound proof, that part is to keep us from hearing what was going on outside. Outbreaks can cause more than just sickness, it causes destruction, abandoned buildings, people fighting for supplies, small explosions, and the incoherent mumbling of The Infected. Of course, we also have a small weapons room if need be, but it's a very low possibility that we will need weapons. The clock on the wall says that it is now 5:00pm, it's only been an hour since the pre-alarm went off, April tugged on my sleeve "Miss, we never got your name," she says to me quietly. "Oh, well my name is Sarah, and I guess you know the other two adults with me, the men we went to talk to are The Upper Chairmen," I tell her and the other kids. Tony's stomach rumbles and we all laugh and suggest that we go get something to eat from the kitchen, we walk with the kids to the eating area and find juice for the little one's and coffee for us, we also find some cereal to eat. So we each make a bowl of the cereal and walk back to the bunk bed. Tony pulls me aside as the kids sit with Anna and begin to eat their cereal.