Another Candonian Bombing

The pungent scent of bombs and explosives filled the atmosphere. It was the eighth time in the decade that this had happened. One happens almost every year, realized Roger, as he stood in the long, almost never-ending queue to the Bunker. It was not like it was needed, going down to the Bunker. It was more of a precautionary measure, forced by the Ashtonian Government, just in case those filthy planes arrived again.

Candonian bombings were a commodity now, rather than a shock. Their purpose was really, just to destroy Ashtonia's food growth and Development, in order to shatter the Economy for a while. This was merely so that they could have an 'advantage' for the Great Conflict II, a rumoured war that was said to take place soon. The rumour had been whizzing around since the past eight years now. It never happened.

As mentioned, with their purpose being not to really kill anyone; not many people died in the process. Except for a couple of Farmers and Unskilled Slaves, working at the Fields and Industries. As a matter of fact, they succeeded in what they aimed. Roger, who had only moved about five feet in the past hour, looked around and began to notice the mess around him. The Fields, definitely, were wiped out clean. Industries, broken down. This definitely meant a cut in the Food and Clothe Rations, realized Roger.

On the background played the Ashonian National Anthem. 'Kinsko chima heydro, bo!', meaning 'we will not collapse, our armies will return'. Roger, being an Ashtonian, translated this with ease. It was not like he had a choice. Being born in Ashtonia, freedom to shift, or to even make a travel to other foreign nations was prohibited. Even the idea of visiting another nation was treated with disgust. After the World War III and The Great Conflict, many nations closed their borders from other countries. The people, especially the young, who were exposed to such violence and conflict, suddenly began to develop hate and disgust for nations outside of their borders. Peace-keeping Organizations like the UN and WOFP collapsed, leaving no external control for war and conflict. It seemed as though anybody could just walk in and chuck a lethal explosive at another nation. The only layer of protection that the World relied on were their armies at the Borders.

Hours and hours passed, after which Roger finally found himself and his family entering the Bunker. Before they entered, they were provided with a Bottle of water that his entire family was required to share. They may be trapped in the darkness for days and days together. He shivered at the thought of it. The Bunker wasn't the most pleasant place to be, especially for such long periods. Roger tried recalling the last time he was in such a similar, depressing situation. That was two years ago, when Roger was about fourteen. He hoped that the situation that he was about to be in was not equally, or more unpleasant than his last stay at the Bunker. As Roger stepped into the darkness, he looked back, glancing at the last ray of sunlight that he hoped was not his last for a long period of time.

'Watch your step', warned his father as they began to descend a staircase leading to the bottom-most, thus the safest, fraction of the Bunker. It was obvious that the stairs were metal, like any other part of the Bunker. Did every part of the Bunker have an element of Metal? Having been in the distant, suffocating room multiple times in the past, he had never attempted to search for this answer in great detail. He felt the narrow walls beside him, not surprised by the answer he was looking for. Metal, as expected.

Roger began to feel relieved as he spotted some light down. After the stairs was finally, the Bunker. They went past the large, desperate crowd that populated the Bunker. Almost everybody was on the floor, desperate for rest and quiet from the incident that had just occurred. Many were injured and suffered, either from burns and bruises, most luckily non-severe, or from coughs and chokes due to the gases that remained, or just from pure unhappiness and exhaustion.