When a sudden bombing causes The Museum of Natural History to reveal it's hidden bunker, things don't go as planned with people fighting to get in. Lucas, a hopeful artist, learns he will do whatever it takes to keep Claire, a bright student, safe...
Lucas stood in his room, he looked around at the metal walls, empty and shiny. There was a bed pushed into the back of the wall, a small stand next to it with a candle setting on it, a small rug in the center of the floor. Lucas picked this room for one reason, the small desk near the door. When he had come down before the bombs hit, when Sean showed him around, he hung his bag on the chair of the desk. Lucas walked over and sat down, pulling his sketchbook out of his bag and placing it on the table in front of him. Slowly he flipped through, pages of landscapes, strangers faces, and a few bird sketches. The page he landed on, he stared at it. It was the drawing he was working on when sitting in the lobby, before Sean approached him. It was a drawing of Claire, how he saw her sitting in the passenger seat, he couldn't get her out of his head, so he put her on paper.
Lucas looked up near his door, watching Sean walk by with Lance on their way to bed. Everything was so weird, so different. It was hard for him to wrap his head around, hard for any of them to wrap their head around. Lucas starred at the drawing, he rubbed his thumb over the image and took a deep breath. Taking to his feet Lucas got up and walked out into the hall, looking up and down to check if anyone was watching. As he walked toward the stairs he was stopped by Keptner, Lucas sighed.
"Where are you going?" Keptner crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Lucas stuffed his hands in his pockets, "For a walk."
"No," Kept shook his head, "You're going to find that girl. If you do that, if you get past the guards, you're only going to prove to Director Hansen that you broke contract."
"What if..." Lucas began, but he saw the look on Keptner's face.
"What?" Kept shrugged.
"What if she isn't ok." Lucas looked up the stairwell toward the door to the next level.
Keptner smirked, "What do you think is happening here? This wasn't the plan, no. But those are innocent people Lucas. Hansen..."
"How well do you know that guy?" Lucas spoke out.
Keptner clenched his jaw, "As well as I know you...you thought I did."
Lucas let out a small breath, "I'm sorry."
"Look I put you in here...don't make me regret it." Keptner pointed at Lucas's room.
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"Right..." Lucas nodded, "Got it." He turned and walked back into his room. Lucas pushed the door closed behind him, pressing his back against it and taking a deep breath as he slide down it and to the ground. Closing his eyes he rested his head in his hands, letting himself imagine the world above ground. A little girl, long blond hair and sparkling blue eyes bubbled into his thoughts. Laughing, he ran up the stairs as Lucas watched, pointing at her. Lucas hadn't seen his sister in years, and now it was really hitting him.
The bunk room was dark, someone was snoring, Claire had her hands nestled behind her pillowed as she stared out at the stairwell. Less people were coming in than she thought, she imagined there would be more 'useful' people, but the little that were escorted into the room made her nervous. One woman, a tall brunette, told her she was a tech for a large company. How she worked on large planes and jets, created navigational equipment. Claire let her take the bottom bunk, she took the top. Beside her, there was only ten other people brought in, the rest were left in the Mess Hall. Someone was talking about how they handed out blankets to those who were brought back in from their interview.
There was two guards standing near the stairwell, one was the young man from earlier. Claire took a deep breath and sat up, she looked around the room, slowly pushing the blanket off of her. No matter how slowly she moved the bed creaked, the young guard looked over and spotted her. Claire sighed in frustration and watched as he approached her, "Can't sleep?"
"Uh," She licked her lips and shook her head, "No...I have to use the bathroom."
The guard nodded, "Right. I'll take you."
"That would be awesome, thank you." Claire climbed out of the bunk, not letting the guard see the small smirk on her face.
The guard smiled at her, "I'm Jake."
Claire returned the grin, "Claire."
"One bathroom coming right up." He nodded, leading her toward the stairwell.
