Out Of The Bunker

Chapter 5: Parks July 17th DORYAN POV

"Okay, Soo-Min is sleeping." Young whispers, looking in the car "Thank god, no offense, but your sister scares me," I say as Porce rolls her eyes at me. I shrug my shoulders as a response. "Well, you'll need to stay quiet to keep her that way," Porce says slyly making me pout up at her cuddling against Parks."Ok, looks like my Min got everything packed up so we're ready to move," Seo-Young says before going to the back seat. Porce and I follow suit also taking our places in the car. After a half-hour of driving in silence, Porce asks Seo-Young for the gas station location. Seo-Young spreads out the map and pulls up the projection Porce never showed me how to use the map projection feature. "Ok, so there is a gas station next to a park not far from here. Get off the highway and head right until you see a giant oak tree I think that's all the surrounding landscape really shows." Young responds tiredly, petting the hair of Soo-Min. She looked relatively peaceful as she slept in her sister's lap. There's just something about her I'm just finding unsettling. Not long after we arrive at the gas station "Let's just hope these pumps still work." Porce says, pulling into the station beside the pump. The car swerved side to side as she parked before coming to a sudden stop making us all jerk forward, but hey, she still drives better than the rest of us, considering none of us have ever learned how. We all go silent as Soo-Min stirs in her sleep 'please stay asleep'. I turn to see her still sleeping peacefully, as a sigh escapes my mouth. Porce gets out of the car. "The pumps are locked." She whispers just barely loud enough for us to hear in an attempt to keep her sleep."There could be a switch inside to unlock them," Young suggested, laying her sister's head down on the seat so she can get out of the car."Ok Doryan, you wait here with Soo-Min and we'll check inside," Porce says as she walks towards the old rundown gas station."Why do I have to stay with her?" I whine up at them. Porce gives me the stop whining like a baby and man up look."Would you rather come to the creepy abandoned gas station?" she says in a dramatic tone. My eyes shift to the building behind her. A shiver goes through my body "Umm, nope I'm good." I say, sinking into my seat while hugging Parks closer to myself. I watch as the girls head inside.For a few moments, I sit in nothing but eerie silence. The longer I'm here by myself, the creepier it gets. Parks meows, making me jump. He eyed me and jumped out of my arms and through the window, running off. "Parks!" I scream, opening the car door and running after him. I called after him a few more times, passing by the oak tree Seo-young was talking about. Around the corner, Parks runs into some high grass that was connected to what looked to be an old playground that like the neighborhood we saw was intact but it looked rundown and an ashy gray.Parks climbs up the stairs to the section beside the slide. "Parks!" I call softly, clicking my tongue to get him to come back. I climb up the stairs to see him pawing at the puzzle game on the playset. He turns the blocks to finish the puzzle and meows again. "Parks..." I say softly, the realization of where I was finally hitting me. "It's the same place," I say as my eyes grow wide, "The playground we used to go to when we were kids." A pain strikes my heart as a memory shocks through my brain.It was another sunny day in the park. We went to this park every day after school. I was picking up Parks, my baby brother. He loved playing with the small puzzle games by the slide. I always watched him from the side, to make sure he was safe as he played by himself. Occasionally, I would talk to some of the other kids as they ran around playing. Namely, one girl. I can't remember her name, but she had really vibrant red eyes. "Parks!" I called out to him " It's time to go home," I saw him turn towards me with a smile, waddling to the slide and sliding down with a loud shout. "Weeeeee!" I met him at the end of the slide and scooped him up in my arms. I started to walk home, Parks in my arms. He would always point out as many different things and people as we walked home his eyes lighting up when he found something new that he hadn't noticed before.We walked into our house, a small and modest place. But it was perfect because it was our home. "Mom we're home!" I called out through the empty living room, setting Parks onto his feet. He waddled to the kitchen. I followed behind chuckling as he held his arms out for balance, our mother was cooking dinner and our father was typing away on his computer. "How was your day?" our mother asks us as she looks at us with a warm smile. We responded with the usual answer. I helped set the table as Father put Parks into his chair.After dinner, I looked up and saw Parks' eyes growing heavy. A small yawn escaped his mouth. "Someone's tired! go on you two, off to bed." Mother says, picking up the plates. Parks slid off his chair and rubbed his eyes holding his arms out and up slightly asking me to carry him. I laughed a little and picked him up, taking him to his room. I tucked him into his bed and he snuggled into his covers with another yawn. I pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Good night little bro," I said softly, tiptoeing out of the room and into my own. That night, I thanked the world for all I had and slept soundly, knowing that my family was safe. But that was the last night I was able to sleep with that feeling again."DORYAN, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" I hear someone scream, "You left Soo-min by herself!" I feel them grab my shoulder, turning me towards them. I come face to face with my friend Porce My family. Her face changes from anger to concern when I don't respond. "Hey, what happened to you?" I just stare at her, not quite able to form words. My gaze shifts down to Parks the cat, his blue eyes staring back at me. Familiar. "It's a long story." I finally respond, not taking my eyes off the small cat in front of me."Ok. Well; we got the gas so you can explain what happened on the drive. We have a day to go at the least." Porce says. She takes my arm, guiding me back to the car. Walking at a slow pace so I can easily keep up. Parks follows closely behind us as we walk. Once we get to the car, Parks jumps into the back in between the sisters. I now see that both sisters are awake, but Soo-Min does look a bit more rested despite the fact that she was woken up by me. It also helps that Parks is cuddled against her side. Now sliding into her lap for a second I think I see a smile across her lips and her fingers brush his fur. "Ok Doryan, start talking," Porce says as we enter the car."Talking? What about, why he left my little sister by herself, ASLEEP?!" Seo-Young yells at me while hitting me over the head with every word. "I'm not your little anything." Soo-Min scoffs at her older sister. Which starts them to start bickering and after a few minutes I get angry."Ok, are you gonna let me talk now?" I snap at everyone, just wanting to forget what happened. Everyone goes silent, waiting for me to start. "Well then, I guess I should start on the day we were forced into the bunker.It was a day like any other, we were playing chess inside my room. Everything was quiet until we heard our father yelling downstairs. Of course, we thought it was nothing serious. We were kids so we just kept playing, joking, laughing. That is until the door to my room opened. The door opened quickly, our mother walked in with fear in her eyes tears running down her cheeks. 'We need to go.' she said to my younger brother Parks and me.""Brother?" Porce questions. I nod quickly, not meeting her eyes. "Our mother packed our things quickly. 'Ok Doryan,' she said as she picked Parks up and placed him in my arms. 'I need you to hold your brother. DO NOT LET HIM GO.' Parks jumped at our mother's loud voice. She looked guilty when we jumped away but she'd never yelled at us before she let out a sob and in between another she whispered 'It's ok,' she said, pulling us into her arms. She then took my hand and guided us downstairs and out of the house. Our father was waiting for us. It was the only time I had ever seen my father look scared."Out of the corner of my eye, I see Soo-Min flinch a bit. "The streets were filled with people yelling and screaming. The sky was dark with smoke from the fighter planes flying overhead. fighting the bombers that are heading this way. After running for God knows how long we arrived at the opening. The door looked like the opening to a bank vault. People were filing in by the hundreds.It was a miracle that we were actually able to make it inside before the bombs hit. It was so loud I thought I might go deaf. I remember the number of room we were given 207,543. The room was small and cramped the four of us could hardly fit inside. But I was still just so thankful that we were all still together. Everyday Parks and I would stay in the room together as our parents went out to help however they could. Everyday Parks would ask when we could see the sun again when he could play with his puzzles back home." I feel tears burn in my eyes and my voice starts quivering "I would always tell him soon because." I take in a gasp of air trying to steady my voice "I didn't have the heart to tell him our home was gone." I finally say a sob escaping my throat I shake my head. I feel Porce stop the car and reach over to hug me Seo-Young rubs my back in a comforting way. Soo-Min just stares into the distance for a moment before meeting my eyes. "What happened to them?" she asks slowly. I pull away from Porce turning so I can look at them all and Parks the cat still in Soo-Min lap but now he's facing me his ears down and his eyes wide as if he's listening."It was March 24, 2057, that was the day I lost everything. That day was Park's birthday. I had spent the last few days sneaking out at night searching the bunker for a gift for him." I sniffle" Really looking for any kind puzzle he could play with and solve I ended up finding a Rubix cube under some rubble. It took me almost an hour to dig out and clean it. That afternoon at lunch my family went to our room and sang to Parks 'Happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Parks, happy birthday day to you!' I handed him a cardboard box with the Rubix cube in it. I remember how his eyes lit up at my gift." I say letting out a shaky breath letting a tear fall from my eyes. "He was so happy that he finally had something to do after two years of staring into the darkness begging for light and for our home." I force out a shaky laugh smiling a little remembering how happy he was. "For one moment we were happy everything was good. I had hope that we might finally be ok." I shake my head looking down into the floorboard clenching my fist tightly still cursing myself for even having that thought. "I had never been wrong, the rumbles began and sirens blared around us. We ran through the crowds of people, trying to get to the common room. I remember hearing my parents yell 'Run and protect each other' I remember the last time I saw them. They pushed us away from them holding each other as they were crushed by the falling darkness. I remember the physical pain in my eye when that piece of rebar hit my eye knowing I had lost something. I remember turning towards Parks to see the pain in his eyes and his body covered in blood almost cut in half. " I say almost yelling the second half as the tears fall fast." I remember watching tears running down his cheeks 'Parks' I screamed out as I tried to move the rubble off of him. Once I got some of it off I saw a piece of the rafters had stabbed through his stomach. I remember him whispering my name 'Doryan. Am I dying' he said to me the fear evident in his voice. I moved down beside him 'No it's ok you're ok I'm gonna get you out of there. Everything will be fine.' I remember trying to lift it off him begging in my head for someone to help me for some way to save him. But that just caused more of the blood to seep out of his body. When that didn't work I tried to stop the bleeding by taking off my jacket to put pressure on the wound. I remember how warm his blood was as it seeped through my jacket. I remember when he grabbed my arm so much pain in his 'Can you finish the puzzle for me?' he asked softly ''I remember the feeling of being helpless stabbing me in my heart as I watched my brother dying "Doryan I think I see the sun." the pain and the fear leaving his face.' I pause feeling Porce grab my hand letting me know that that was enough. But I continue anyway with one last shaky breath and slight sob."That was the last thing he said before more rubble dropped around us and the bunker shifts causing the rafter that was impaling him further officially ripping him in half. He screamed out in pain before going completely silent as the light went from his eyes.' I say my anger fading into a numbness that's when I finally looked up. My eyes shifting to Porce " That's when I heard your voice for the first time. 'It's gonna be alright, my name's Porce. Can you tell me your name?' and you'll never know how glad I was when you came to me,"I finally finished my story, tears still streaming down my face as I reach for my bag on the floorboard turning back to the girls holding the unfinished Rubix cube.