The Boy from the Bunker - Season 3

Episode Four, Part 2:

Episode Four, Part 2:
A l t e r a t i o n

Kodiak opened his eyes, as if suddenly pulled awake by an instinct beating inside him. He was overwhelmed by his senses - unsure what to focus on first, or what felt more dominant - or what pain was screaming the loudest. 

Bright lights shone down from above, aching his eyes right through to the back of his head. It took a couple of second of furious blinking before he could see, and even then, his vision was still blurry. Kodiak tried to think of his last memory: what was the last thing that happened before I got here? And then, perhaps even more pressing: where am I?

His eyes trailed down to his hands - feeling a restraint on them as he moved. One of his hands was chained up to a railing, giving him only a metre or so to move around. He followed the edges of the wall, trying to comprehend more of the space he was in, his stomach turning as he realized he was in some sort of cell. 

He tried tugging on his hand, curious to see how strong the chains were, knowing that it was a hopeless task. But the noise he made alerted his presence to someone else in the room, and they stirred in their own hazy consciousness, trying to come to terms with what was happening. 

"Kodi?" The voice was soft, but full of fear. A fear that echoed throughout the room. 

Kodiak shot up, immediately trying to hurry over to her, forgetting already that he couldn't move anywhere. His shoulder jarred him backwards, pulling him back into the wall with a loud thud. 

"Elara?" He breathed out, ignoring the pain in his arm. "Elara, is that you?" 

"Yes! W-where are you? Come here." She replied. 

His heart broke inside of him, realizing that he had to tell her he couldn't get to her. "I-I can't." He told her, sounding completely defeated. 

He looked over at where Elara was, able to see her long, red hair hanging over the bed that she laid upon - centre of the room. The bed was arched up slightly so she wasn't completely flat, and Kodiak knew that she was able to get a good view of the room from where she was. 

"I'm... I'm tied up to the wall, but I'm right behind you. Turn around, Ell." 

Elara shook her head, hot tears burning her cheeks. "I can't either." Her voice rang out. "They've done the same to me. My hands are strapped down to the bed." 

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" 

Elara wanted to tell him 'no', to ease the terror that must have been raging inside of him, but she couldn't hide it. 

"I don't know." She answered, her voice distant. "I think I've been awake for a while. I've heard a lot of noises... They came in a couple of times," she informed him, "but I pretended to be asleep, and then it went quiet again." 

"Okay..." Kodiak muttered out, trying to come up with a plan in a matter of seconds, not knowing when or if they would be back again. "If they come in again, do the same thing. Don't let them know you're awake, alright?" 

Elara nodded, choking out an agreement so he could hear her. 

"Kodi..."

"Yeah?" 

"I think they're...They might've..." She didn't know what to say. She couldn't even describe to him what she saw as she looked down at her body. 

"What? What's wrong? Tell me, Ell." 

"I think they've done something to me." 

"What do you mean? When? When did they do it?" 

"Maybe when I was asleep. There's marks on me. Wires everywhere. Blood, but I don't know where it came from." 

He didn't answer her, but Elara heard an enraged grunt, and a clash of metals behind her. She turned her head to the side, trying to see what was happening behind her, but the cell was directly behind her: completely out of sight. 

Kodiak pulled furiously on his chains, one foot against the wall as he tried to pull himself away, feeling the burden for whatever had happened to her. 

"Kodi-" 

"I'm gonna get us out of here." 

"Kodi, it's okay! I'm okay." She lied. She could hear him stop his attempts at breaking free, taking it as a sign to keep speaking, knowing it was calming him down, but it was too late. They had heard him, and both Kodiak and Elara could hear the approaching footsteps from whatever was outside the room. 

Kodiak looked over desperately in her direction, wishing he could see her, make sure he was okay, but there was nothing he could do to get to her. He watched as Elara sunk further into the bed, his own feet carrying him backwards as he collapsed against the wall, letting his eyes close so they could buy themselves more time. 

He heard her whisper before the doors opened. A voice so close to silence, trembling under the weight of her fear. 

"I'm not afraid." She said. But she was. She was terrified. 

Four // Part 2

What are they doing to her?

If you've read Counterfeit, you might have some idea...