42nd Country Road

Meet Aaron

I woke up in a daze. My head ached and the ringing in my ears wouldn't cease. Where was I? There was the floor beneath me and the ceiling above me, but, was I still in the bunker?

I slowly sat up, looking around. Some of the candles were gone and the wax covered small portions of the floor. So, this meant I was still in the bunker.

"You're awake," Said a voice behind me. I whipped around to see Mark, tied to a chair, Jack next to him with his head hung limp over his lap. Mark had cuts all over his face and arms.

"Mark, what happened?" I said rushing over to him. Looking all over him for any major damage.

"I-I don't know," He said through pants. I put my forehead to his.

"You're going to be okay," I said.

"Look who's awake," A voice came into the room, "If it's not the lady herself,"

"What the hell?" I breathed

"Let me introduce myself," The voice called. I went dark, "I am Aaron, I lead everyone around here, I sent Adam to pick you up, but as you can tell he failed,"

"You know why he failed?" I asked

"Of course," Aaron replied.

"Then explain it to me," I said looking up in the corners for cameras and speakers, "Word for word, every detail, every little bruise, bump and cut. Explain. It. To. Me" The speakers went silent for a bit. I heard some crackling then Aaron came through again.

"Uh, you, uh," He stuttered.

"Wrong," I said loudly, my dark voice hanging in the air.

"W-what?" Aaron said.

"You are wrong," I said. I looked up Mark's torso. I eventually met his eyes. His black eyes. I smiled a bit and he smiled back. The dagger was still so close to his hips.

I walked over to him grabbing the knife and cut his hands free. Mark's eyes stayed with mine. His hands went to my waist and we moved in perfect sync. Not breaking our eye contact, I said, "You weren't there, you can't see anything besides us,"

"Uh..."Aaron stuttered.

"You're not even here," I continued, pulling myself closer to Mark.

"What are you saying?" Aaron just choked out.

"You think I didn't notice the way that Charlie slipped a camera into this room? You think that I didn't notice that man leave?" I said, brushing my lips off Mark's. His mouth slightly opened.

"I don't understand," Aaron continued to stutter.

"Leave us alone," I said. I threw the knife, hitting the small camera in the top corner of the door, not breaking contact with Mark.

"Why are you so good at this?" Mark said, his voice hanging to low in the stale air surrounding us.

"Good at what?" I asked

"At telling people off" he answered

"I was going to say practice, but you know that's not true," I said smiling slightly and connecting our lips. He pulled away.

"We are still in the bunker you know," He said

"I know, handsome," I replied, "And we are staying," He smiled.

"I'm glad you agree," He said. He let go and walked over to free Jack, who was still fast asleep. He untied the ropes and went back to normal. My sanity followed closely behind his.

"So, we never left the bunker," I said leaning on the wall to my right.

"Guess not, that guy just beat us up real bad, turned the camera on, and booked it," Mark replied, pulling Jack out of his chair and dragging him toward the door. I followed him out the door.

Mark dragged Jack to his room and tossed him on the bed. He then grabbed me and walked out of the room. I stopped as he went into the kitchen. I stared at him from the dining room.

"We should have left," I said. Pulling a chair out and sitting down. Mark turned around.

"We still can," He said coming over to me with a small cup of wine. He set it down on the table in front of me and sat across from me.

"We can't," I said. I took the glass and took a sip of the red wine.

"Why not," Mark said.

"Apart of me wants to stay, but the other half is disgusted with this," I said

"Well then go with the other half," He said grabbing my limp hand off the table. I smiled a bit.

"It's not that easy, I'm just sick of the driving and the running. I don't miss the violence or the fear. I-I don't know," I said. Mark looked at me with his big brown eyes, love in his eyes. I looked back at him with the same emotion. He squeezed my hand.

"You're tired, Ev," Mark said. I looked at him, then looked away, "When was the last time you slept?"

"I just woke up," I said. He put his elbows on the table not letting go of my hand.

"Not what I meant," He said, "When was the last time you really slept,"

"When we first got here," I said in a daze.

"That was a week ago," Mark said.

"I know," I said. Mark stood up pulling me up from the chair I was sitting in.

"It's your turn to sleep," He said. I felt tears start to choke me.

"What about you?" I said with the crack from the tears holding my throat.

"I'm going to stay with you," He said. I fell into his arms tears running down my face. He picked me up and walked to our room. He laid me on the bed, then crawled in the other side pulling towards him.

"What's wrong, baby?" He asked in the still air.

"I'm tired... I'm stressed...I'm paranoid," I said through sniffles. He started to stroke my hair.

"You'll be okay, I promise," He said. With that I fell asleep.