Gridlock

Bunker

"I don't believe this." I muttered.

We were seated in a circle in a little underground area. It wasn't near the size of the fort, but it would do.

My father was currently rounding up food for us.

"Believe what?" Asked Emma. She was resting on my shoulder. I must have woken her.

"My dad. I haven't seen him in years and now he shows up." I say to her but loud enough do the group hears it. "Maybe he thought you really needed help this time. You know, with your injuries." Nikki stated.

"Oh so now I need help? I was thrown and I broke some ribs. This is nothing compared to when I was alone. Kids in the orphanage jumped me. School kids took valuables. I only have one left! And teachers didn't do anything. But what could they do? The couldn't call a parent and say their child is having some social issues with the other kids. The owners of the orphanage had no authority, so orphans didn't listen to them. We had already lost our parents. What more could they take? I was alone for so long. Beaten, rejected, etc you name it. That man has no right to come into my life now." I said in full anger. I found interest in the floor beneath me, not looking anyone in the eyes.

"What happened to your mom?" Tyler asked.

"Ask him." Was all I said as my dad entered.

"Bryce you know as well as I do that she left." He told me, glaring.

"But why did she leave? Normally, it's vice versa when it comes to parents leaving their child." I said with no emotion. I stared at the ground.

~ Emma's Pov~
(Yea I'm found someone else's view point)

I snapped my head to Bryce. How could he say that?! Especially in that tone!

His dad only sighed. "You wanna blame me for it? Go ahead kid. But like I've told you when you were younger. I don't know why she left."

Silence.

I looked at Bryce. I was worried about him. He normally had a calm attitude towards everything, but it seems his father puts him on edge. I miss his smile. I had only seen it a few times, but it made me feel safe when I saw it.

Carter spoke up. "Hey Bryce?"

"Yea?"

"About how far are we from the Gridlock Gates?"

"Who knows? I lost the map." Bryce looked down more.

"You did WHAT?!" Nikki and Carter both yelled at him. Even Sparky seemed a bit surprised when he said this.

"I don't know, ok?! When we got here, I checked my pockets, and it was gone." He explained.

"Check again!" Nikki told him. "It's gotta be somewhere!"

Bryce went through each of his pockets. He wore cargos so he had a few. All that was in there was a bullet, a pack of gum, and some.... thing. The others looked at it as well. It seemed like a Chinese fan, but there was something off about it.

"It's a balisong." Bryce grabbed it, flipped it, and a 9 inch blade came out. It startled me and I jumped into Bryce. Lucky, he had a good grip on the knife, so he didn't drop it.

"Ah so you still have it." His dad said.

Bryce didn't say a word. He just flipped the knife again and put it in his pocket.

"Can someone explain to me please?" Tyler asked.

"I gave that to him and he was a mere boy. It's called a balisong, or butterfly knife." He man said.

"Why'd you give it to him?" I asked.

"For something to remember me by, and for defense." The man stated.

Bryce made a tsk noise and closed his eyes. I don't understand. This isn't the boy I was used to. His eyes seemed so hateful. I then looked to his dad, whose eyes showed sadness and regret. He was about to say something, but Bryce beat him to it.

"We need to go. This bunker is too small for us all to reside." He stood.

"Well, at least take this." His dad held out some paper. Bryce didn't seem like getting close to the guy, so I grabbed the paper. I unraveled it...

"A map!" This would've excited me more, if it hadn't been for a loud banging from the front of bunker.

"Shit... not again.."