Erin

I’m exhausted in every possible way. My throat is raw from screaming, and my eyes are swollen from crying. It’s been eight hours, and help hasn’t come.

Derek peeled me off of the ladder two hours ago, muttering something about me falling asleep there and hurting myself. He forced me to take a few sips of water and then let me be.

I’ve listened to the other four people trapped down here bouncing ideas off each other, with theories about how we got locked in here ranging from a practical joke to the world’s smartest bear.

They’re all sitting in the living room, shoes off. Bryce is eating a can of peaches, and Derek is eating peanut butter by the spoonful. Kenna is looking lost now that her phone died. Even without service, she was on it constantly.

Matias is asleep in a recliner. How anyone could sleep right now is beyond me. I’m still in agony, trying to hold back a flood of bad memories that won’t stop now that I’ve lost the energy to scream and beat on the door.

It was easier when I could do that. I wanted to be as close to the exit as possible, my panic pouring out through my fists. It used all my energy, leaving no room for my past to haunt me.

My knuckles are bruised and swollen, but I don’t care. My hands are tucked beneath my chin, and I’m curled up in a fetal position.

Help will come, Derek said. But it’s been eight hours. It’s dark now. Where is the security guy?

I was supposed to be at Camp Caroline at four p.m. It’s now nine p.m. Surely, they’ll report me missing. If they do, my aunt and uncle will be worried sick. The kids from the camp who know me will be too.

Derek approaches me and squats down, offering me a cup of water.

“You don’t want to get dehydrated,” he says.

I sit up and reach for the cup, my hands throbbing with pain. Right before I grasp the cup, a powerful boom sounds so loudly I don’t just hear it, I feel it.

Derek sets the cup down and stands up, his expression serious. Matias stirs in the recliner.

“What was that?” Bryce asks, setting down the can of peaches on a rustic wood coffee table.

“Sounded like an explosion,” Derek says.

“Yeah.” Bryce stands up and crosses his arms in front of him. “But out here, what would it be? There’s nothing for miles.”

“Maybe it was an asteroid,” Matias offers. “Or…I don’t know, a missile? A satellite crashing?”

Derek has been calm and collected this whole time, assuring all of us we’ll be rescued soon. I overheard him telling Bryce this bunker is a gift to his father, who has always been concerned about nuclear war.

But right now, Derek’s expression is grim. He sits on the couch, elbows on his spread knees and head in his hands.

Kenna puts a hand on his shoulder, but he doesn’t move.

“Could someone have locked us in here…to protect us?” Matias asks no one in particular.

Derek runs his hands through his hair, sighing heavily. Then he stands up and looks around at us.

“If anyone wants to sleep, this place has two bedrooms with queen beds and one bunk room with eight singles. We don’t have pillows and blankets yet, though. I’ll stay out here and keep watch.”

No one moves. Looks like I’m not the only one who can’t imagine sleeping down here.

“Who, besides John, knows about this place?” Kenna asks.

Derek considers. “Only the contractor and subcontractors who built it. They all signed NDAs, though. I couldn’t have it getting out that I was building a survival bunker. Reporters would’ve had a field day.”

“So, if nothing else, we’ll all be reported missing. And the police will search here.”

“Yeah, but the door is camouflaged,” Matias reminds her.

“Let’s not worry about it right now,” Derek says. “We just need to stay calm until help arrives.”

“My wife must think I got into an accident or something,” Bryce says sadly.

He’s got thinning blond hair and a belly that hangs over his belt. I bet his wife has dinner waiting for him every night. I feel bad that, like my aunt and uncle, she’ll probably fear the worst.

“Are you worried?” Matias asks Derek.

“No. I know help will come, and we’re safe here in the meantime. This place runs on solar power. There’s an air purification system with a backup and water from an underground aquifer near here. We can’t run out of air or water. And we’ve got stuff to do. Books, movies, games. There’s even a walking track around the outer perimeter of this place. We’re gonna be fine.”

Kenna smiles and nods. She’s such a Barbie. Bruce and Matias seem to relax too.

Not me, though. I don’t care what Derek says about his air purification system, I still feel like I’ll choke on the air down here.

I lie down on the floor and curl into myself again, tucking my face beneath my arms. The only sounds I hear are the beating of my heart and my breathing, until my past creeps into my head unbidden.

“Be a good girl and stay quiet, Erin. Don’t say a word.”

Old habits die hard.