And The Ashes Will Fall

Chapter Two

Sam descended into the dark, dusty hole, carefully clambering down the thick-runged, grimy steel ladder, inhaling the damp and dusty air. After a few moments, he finally reached the bottom and let go of the rungs, landing on the hard, echoing floor.

Out of the blue, a luminescent light switched on as several others filed in, and Sam could now see the entirety of the bunker.

The shelter had a steel-patterned floor and was about the span of a regular-sized house, its walls were seamless, galvanized and metallic, there were several built-in, iron seats lining the side, and a hallway carved the side of the almost rounded room.

"This is the designated fallout shelter of the current part of your town, we will be here to escort you out of here when we get a message that it is all clear, the nuclear fallout has stopped, and radiation levels are non-hazardous on land."
a thick-voiced military officer said loud enough so everyone in the crowd could hear.

He paused for a moment taking a breath, then continued, "We have dried food, water, and other essential objects to live, they will all be distributed equally. There are 4 rooms down here," He gestured to the rooms, there were 4 steel doors, each with a large number painted on the surface. "1, 2, and 3 are for civilians, and 4 is for the authorities. The authority's room is strictly forbidden for civilians to enter, and we will assign you all to groups shortly. At no point, except for in cases of dire emergency, shall any of you be outside your assigned room past 11 pm."

This time, another officer spoke, he had a soft, yet powerful voice. "I understand you all must be very scared right now, but in 2-10 days, the radiation levels should be safe on the ground."
The officer continued on, Sam turning to the golden-haired woman, whispering to her. "Who do you think bombed us?"
"Probably the Ruskis," she responded, her voice was a bit shaky, whispering as well. She was likely still terrified of the terrible event that just took place, and in all honesty, he was terrified too. He might not show it, but he was.

Sam nodded. "It makes sense. Those USSR commies and our country were the ones with tension." He had no idea what was going to happen. Would the shelter keep the radiation out? Are places still getting nuked? What if the fallout lasted for more than 10 days? Many questions swam around in his head like fish in a pond.
His stomach churned from the stress of the situation. He took a deep breath and sat down on the ground.
"Y-you okay?" a stuttering fellow asked. "Yeah, I just need to."
"N-need to what?"
"I..." Sam felt light-headed, not even moments later, the world faded to black.
* * *

Sam woke up, dazed and confused. He was lying down in a steel-framed bunk bed with forest-green sheets, his head was throbbing in immense pain, which made it very difficult to think.
"You've been unconscious for 2 days." someone said, which startled him. He looked around and saw the golden-haired southern woman from the other day sitting next to him. "Take these." she handed him some pills
"How do I know you're not trying to poison me?" he joked, managing to pull off an exhausted smile.

"That's the fun part. You don't know." the woman playfully winked, obviously joking, her hand on her chin, she also smiled, brightly.

Sam took the pills, he was grateful for the help. "Thank you." he By the way, I never got your name." Sam said after taking them "I'm Samuel Ederehart, and you are...?"
"Ella. Ella Mannshaav." she replied brightly.
Sam put out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Ella." Ella shook his hand. "Nice to meet you too." she stood up, walking out of the room. As nice and as pretty as she was, something seemed off about her that Sam couldn't quite put his finger on.

He eventually fell back asleep, as the medicine had made him tired.
***

Sam had been in the shelter for 2 weeks, the military hadn't received the word that it was free to go outside yet. "As soon as it's all clear and the rain has stopped, you may emerge outside, but stay clear of any water you find, as the water may still be heavily contaminated with radioactive fallout, we have other shelters stocked with food and water, if we ever are forced to evacuate." the military had said, but would they ever get to leave?
He signed and stared at the wall. Was this some sick joke? Maybe he was just going stir-crazy. Maybe this was all a dream, he'd wake up and this would all be over. Who the hell knows?
***

5 days later, Sam was sitting in the cafeteria, eating some dried food before he was briskly pulled aside by Ella. "S-Sam, I just overheard the military fellas." She stammered in a low voice. "They already had the safe word! We can go outside...but they're not gonna let us out!"

"What?!" Sam blurted. "Why the hell is that?"

"Keep your voice down" Ella hissed under her breath, looking around to make sure nobody turned their heads, after a moment, she finally responded, picking at her skin in stress. "I don't know why, but what I do know is that we need to get outta' here!"

Sam nodded to acknowledge but was confused. "And just how do you plan to do that?"

"Tonight. We'll slip past the guards." Ella replied. "We can use the exit of the fallout shelter. If we go separate ways, it will make it less obvious to be caught. I'll meet you at the entrance."

"Good idea. See you then. Good luck" Sam replied as he threw his food away and went to his assigned room, plopping down on his bed and sleeping now so he had the energy for the escape later.