Kyle West: Darkness

We walked back to the front of the tunnel, the natural light of the open door lighting the way. Anna stood in front of the computer station. She hit the “Enter” key. To my surprise, the screen came out of hibernation, flashing blue. A keyboard appeared on the touchscreen along with several buttons, listing, “Camera 1,” “Camera 2,” all the way up to “Camera 6.” After all of these months, Bunker 108’s security system was online. Maybe even the doors had power, along with the lights. Maybe we could get the entire Bunker running again.

But first, we had to make sure it was safe. And that meant looking at the cameras.

Anna touched the “Camera 1” tab. It showed the view directly in front of the Bunker door. It was a bit weird, because the way the camera was pointing showed us standing in front of the computer station. She quickly switched between cameras. Two and Three were both dark. Four showed a shot of the cafeteria. The lights were off; the camera view itself was illuminated green with night vision. The Caf was apparently empty, but tables and chairs were all overturned. There were no bodies. I stared at the screen intently. This was where the Bunker residents had gathered to make their final stand against the Howlers. Even if there were no bodies in the entrance tunnel, it seemed there should be bodies here.

“Something is really, really wrong,” I said.

I was beginning to wonder if we were even in the right Bunker. I stared at the open vault door. 108. There was no denying it. We were in the right place.

Anna switched over to Camera 5. It showed an elevated view of the Hydroponics Lab. The large room was dim, but the grow lights were still on. The plants were wild, green, overgrown. No one had been tending them for the past few months, which dashed any possibility of survivors living here. They were still getting water and light, though. If there had been any survivors, they would surely be in this room because of the constant supply of food and water. But I saw nothing in those tangled plants. By the grow lights, I could see tomatoes, apples, and other fruits piled on the floors, rotting.

Finally, Anna switched over to the final camera, Camera 6. Immediately, the screen flicked to the Officers’ Wing. I felt coldness overtake me when I saw three Howlers standing upright, still and silent. Their white eyes stared vacantly ahead, apparently dormant.

“Well,” Anna said. “There’s our answer.”

So the Bunker was still overrun by Howlers. But who had cleaned the entrance tunnel and the Caf? It was hard to imagine the Howlers doing this themselves. Maybe there were survivors, and they had only reclaimed certain parts of the Bunker. If that were the case, then why had the Hydroponics Lab remained untended?

“Maybe there are still survivors,” I said. “They could have just locked themselves in one area of the Bunker. Perhaps near the reactor. That would explain why the power is still on.”

“Or maybe near the kitchen,” Anna said. “There would be food there.”

“Maybe,” I said.

In my mind’s eye, I pictured the schematic of Bunker 108. It had three levels, and I knew how to access each area. On top was the largest area — the main floor. The main corridor made a square shape. It contained all the social areas — offices, the Caf, the Officers’ Wing, the medical bay, the Rec. The Mids, the area directly beneath the top floor, contained apartments, mostly. The bottom level contained the power plant, the Hydroponics Lab, and the recycling tanks. I had come out of Bunker 108 through the Hydroponics Lab, using a spiral stair that could be accessed by the atrium.

We merely had to open the inner door, enter that security tunnel, go down the stairs, and walk the rest of the way to the Hydroponics Lab. If there were any survivors, I thought that was where they would most likely be. It would also be fairly easy to access, if the security door leading to the stairs was unlocked.

“I know a way we can get to the Hydro Lab,” I said. “We wouldn’t have to go too far in.”

“Maybe we should just watch for a while, first.” Anna switched back to Camera 5, showing the verdant growth overtaking the lab.

“Watching is a fine idea,” I said. “But at least from where the camera is sitting, it’s too high and the vegetation too thick to see anything. We have to actually go there to find out if anyone made it.”

“I still think they’d be in the kitchen,” Anna said. “It’s where I would go.”

Anna and I watched the screen a moment longer. Going inside the atrium meant putting ourselves in danger. Cameras 2 and 3, which were now dark, likely would have showed a view of that area. Anna cycled between the defunct cameras once again. But these cameras were gone, and we would have to be alright with going in blind.

“Are we doing it?” Anna asked. “I can open the door from here. I see the command.”

I hesitated. Worst case, Howlers came spilling out of that door as soon as it was opened. If that happened, we could quickly shut the door and deal with whatever came. There was the danger of those Howlers exploding and infecting Anna — I would be safe because the Elekai virus protected me. At least, I thought it did. If we brought them down quick enough we could run out the entrance of the Bunker and probably escape the blasts.

I wanted to find out what had happened here, and that entailed risks. We had come too far to back out now.

“Do it,” I said.

Anna paused, giving me the opportunity to change my mind. Finally, she pressed the button. A sudden crash caused us both to jump. The door to the inner part of the Bunker slowly rolled back.

Just as the door to the outside swung inward. It was closing on us.

Anna and I ran toward it, but the vault door of 108 slammed shut and thundered in the close confines of the tunnel. The lock wheel twisted shut of its own avail, leaving us in a darkness broken only by my flashlight and the blue screen of the monitor. At the same time I could hear the creak of the inner door opening.

The inner part of the Bunker was open, but we had shut ourselves in at the same time.

Anna breathed beside me, but it was the only sound. Howlers, if there were any, had not reacted to the outside Bunker door closing. That in itself seemed impossible. Where were these things? We had seen them in the Officers’ Wing, but they couldn’t be the only three Howlers in this place…

“Can you try getting the door open again?” I asked.

Anna was already on the directory. “It appears it doesn’t allow the inner door and the outer door to be open at the same time. It’s one or the other.”

The people who had built Bunker 108 had probably done this for security reasons. Now, however, it was biting us in the butt.

“Maybe…we should actually check this place out,” Anna said. “Nothing’s coming out at us, anyway. Not yet.”

I was inclined to agree. My flashlight had enough juice to last several hours. It was plenty of time to have a look around.

“I know this place like the back of my hand,” I said. “It would probably be best to start with Hydroponics. If we go by the security stairwell, it’s pretty close and should be safe.”

Anna went back to the computer screen. She flipped through the various cameras once again — outside, cafeteria, Officers’ Wing…

“Hey.”

“What?”

I looked over her shoulder at the shot of the Officers’ Wings. The three Howlers that had been standing there earlier were now gone.

“They’ve moved,” I said.

We stood in silence for a moment. I strained my ears to hear anything that might be coming. There was nothing.