Chapter 4: Disaster

A sharp alarm rings. I smack on it and get up as I give my eyes a small rub. Walking to my wardrobe and put on your clothes, then wash my face before heading down the stairs. I find the kitchen empty. Suspecting my parents are in their room again, I turn towards it but find the door wide open. As confusion fills the house, I walk towards the front door just as my parents open it to walk inside. I take a peek outside between them to see a man in all black and a fedora walking away swiftly, with two heavily armoured guards by his side.

My father closes the door, and they both turn to me with their arms crossed.

"Well…that was the commander in person. And…there are a couple of new bunkers under construction in case things go south. Too bad we're not eligible to be assigned to one of those." He glances at me and smacks on the door with his fist. "You only had to behave! Nothing more, just to behave! I hope you're happy. I don't know what we'll do now." My father sighs, then opens the door wide. "Anyway…we love you. Have a good day at school, and…please try to behave. Don't do more harm, okay?" I walk through the door and glance back to see my mother shaking her head slowly, then my father slamming the door shut. The pollution covers most of the sun, so the streets are barely lit. Reaching the crosswalk to only see five military trucks speeding by with such speed they almost crash into one another. As I walk on the crossway, dried blood can still be seen on the road . I walk towards school and try to blend in with the crowd of students as I walk to the front door.

The officer from yesterday glances over at me and frowns before turning back to the rest of the officers as I walk through the front door.

Inside, Bradley and Abbie greet me, and I head up to the first lesson.

Of course, I sit next to Abbie. "Well, it's up to us now to make the most out of this day. And don't die of boredom. Right?" She laughs and draws a smile to my face, too. Just like yesterday, the lessons pass by faster with a good friend by my side.

And eventually, the last lesson is about to end. About time, I think to myself as I shove the book into my backpack. When the bell rings, I stand up but suddenly fall back into my chair as the ground begins to shake. I can even feel the vibrations inside my body.

I hear an alarm go off inside the school, then one outside, then one more in the distance…soon, all I can hear are alarms from all around the district. They echo with such volume that would make ears bleed, and the already unfolding chaos throughout the entire school isn't helping either, but I manage to read the lips of the teacher, Miss Shannon. "Downstairs." She repeats it a couple of times, then makes a run for it. I quickly jump over the desk and motion Bradley and Abbie to follow me.

I try to catch up with the teacher as fast as I can, while paying attention to my friends. It proves to be a hard task, as every second someone else screams into my already pained ears or bumps into me, almost knocking me off my feet. It's a long way down, or at least it seems like it. As I arrive on the main floor, I notice how everyone is running about everywhere, even outside. Some teachers try to gather students, while others push them aside to run for their lives.

Eventually, I arrive on the lowest floor, which looks like a long, dark corridor. I was expecting a bigger crowd. There only seems to be around twenty students, including myself, down here. The smell reminds me of old, mouldy cheese, and it looks more wrecked than the rest of the school.

I and the others are standing in front of a big, thick, rusty door as Miss Shannon scans her card on a tiny computer attached to the wall, then she begins hitting the keys, probably inputting the password. I glance at the white writing above the door: Bunker #D;IG;575;

I turn my head to the right and notice there are at least two more bunkers similar to this one.

Before I have any more time to think about it, someone gives me a push from behind, and I find myself in a huge elevator. "Stop dawdling!" I glance at the tall student for a moment, before I turn back to Shannon. She looks inside, then begins to shut the door. "I'll bring the others." With that said, she shuts the door tight from the outside and turns the wheel on the door, resulting in a loud cranking noise. The lights turn on and the elevator begins to go down slowly. I notice there are stairs to my right as the elevator arrives after what feels like years, in complete silence.

As I step out of the elevator, I find myself in a huge room that reminds me of a living room. The others scatter, and I walk through what seems to be the layout of the bunker. Next to the living room are the living quarters and the restrooms, and after that is the kitchen.

"I found the remote!" I turn around to find one of my classmates, nerdy Peter, holding a remote and turning on the television on the other side of the room. It seems show my district from a camera placed on the roof of the school.

I can hear the alarms, the people screaming, shouting, cars bumping into each other and even see officers hijacking cars. There seems to be complete chaos. Others around me are asking the questions I am currently asking myself in my head, to be honest I would like to know the hell is happening as well.

'What's going on? What's happening? Why are we here…?' Everyone is focusing on the screen when a huge light emits from somewhere in the district. The television goes silent, and the ground shakes even more. A second later, I begin to see something that looks like a mushroom made out of smoke, then something that seems to be a huge wave coming right in my direction.

The television goes black, and a loud explosion can be heard coming from the surface. I can feel the bunker itself shaking and see dust falling from the ceiling and the cracks. Peter keeps pressing the buttons on the remote, expecting it to come back. After minutes of silence, Philip, the well-known oldest member and bully of the school, who has pushed me into the elevator, turns around. His eyes widen and he mumbles, "My…parents."

I ignore the immediate noise around me, and my eyes widen as my heart suddenly throbs as fast as it can, feeling it in my throat. Uncontrollably, tears roll down your cheeks as I keep staring off into nothingness.