40 Days After

Serena’s singing a popular eighties song while sweeping the floor for the second time of the day. The broom’s swish against the bunker’s concrete floors relaxed her in a way it hadn’t before aliens invaded. Ben’s seated at what she calls his nerd station, fixing a radio that’s emitting the annoying drone of static. At the la-la part of the sing, she pumps up the volume, dancing with the broom.

“Surely there is another song you could sing?” Ben asks, looking at her over the rim of his glasses. She rolls her eyes and sticks out her tongue, falling on the sofa, letting the broom clatter on the floor.

“If you didn’t want me singing the same songs, you should have brought more music with you.” She says, crossing her arms and leaning back, remembering the golden days of thousands of songs at her fingertips.

“Pardon me, your highness, for not having enough of a selection for you,” he said sarcastically, the only way he talked to her lately.“Can you put the broom back where it belongs, please?”

“Sure thing, bossman,” Serena said, wincing at her petulant tone as she puts the broom in the utility closet. She stops at the chalkboard where she has been marking the days spent in the bunker with an X.

“Why do you keep calling me that?” Ben asked, his back to her as he continued repairing the radio.

“You’re the boss of this bunker, are you not?” Serena said sarcastically, touching the space beside the 40th X she wrote this morning. Beneath her collection is the daily schedule and routine that Ben put together for them both so they don’t grow bored, go crazy, or both. One glance at the wall clock reveals that she should be filling out the food logs.

“We are a team. We’ve been over this,” Ben said, his voice sounding tired. She said nothing while walking into the storage room to plan meals.

Before they became trapped in the bunker, Serena and Ben’s relationship was a working one, and the transition into bunkmates had been rough waters. They got along as well as Spongebob and Squidward, most days. She preferred when all she knew about him was that he was a neat freak with an aptitude for technology. Ben rigidly followed his schedule, and she flitted from one task to the other, leaving chaos in her wake.

“I’m going out.” Ben’s voice interrupted her from the cozy fog of the task she was lost in.

“Out of the bunker?” Serena said, her eyebrows lifting.

“Yeah, I’m going to adjust the antenna. I’ll be back,” Ben said as casually as if they left the bunker daily for a gallon of milk.

He walks down the hallway to the hatch, with a tool bag slung on his shoulder, his dark hair reaching the collar of his shirt, reminding her how long it’s been since she saw the sun. Her auburn ponytail sways as she jogs down the hallway after him. Ben turns, annoyance like a neon sign across his face. Serena crosses her arms and looks at him, not breaking eye contact. He sighs and rolls his eyes.

“I’m coming with you.”

“Like hell you are.”

“Oh, I see, it’s only safe for you to leave the bunker. Silly me,” Serena said, eyes wide and a fake smile plastered on her face.

“Did I say that?” he said, narrowing his eyes at her. The fluorescent lighting reveals the dark circles under his eyes.

Serena puffs air out between her lips. “You don’t need to say it. Actions speak louder than words.”

He pretends to bang his head on the wall, and Serena shrugs her shoulder. “You can do it for real. You have a well-stocked medical kit down here, plenty of bandages and pain relievers.”

It’s a staring deathmatch as they keep their eyes locked on one another, each refusing to break the connection. Ben’s honey eyes break away from her chocolate eyes first.

“Look, we’ve been over this. With external connection cut off, we cannot know how the world operates. Anything could be waiting for us.”

Serena taps her foot. “Hmm, you expect me to eat a spoonful of this crap?”

He ignores her and starts climbing the ladder to the hatch. Halfway to the top, he stops and sighs. “Will you promise to stay at the hatch?”

She feels the tug of annoyance as she reaches the first rung.

“You’re not my dad, Ben; I don’t need you to watch out for me.”

The silence falls heavy and stretches between them enough for Serena to get nervous and start chewing her bottom lip. Did she go too far this time?

“Serena, did you ever think that maybe I feel responsible for you and I’m just looking out for you?”

“I’ll stay at the hatch,” Serena said, heart hammering as he unlocked and flipped the lid open. Warm, buttery sunshine poured in, and she closed her eyes, cherishing the glow on her face. When she opened her eyes, Ben was staring at her, and she blushed and looked away.

The blue sky stretched above her, fluffy white clouds painted across the blue, and the air was enough to make tears form in her eyes. With closed eyes, she leans back and lets the sunlight dance across her skin, warming her as she sits on the edge, true to her word, not straying as Ben fiddles with the antenna.

She notices how different the world is since she went underground. The blue of the sky is vibrant and without a chemtrail insight. The second sign is how quiet the world is. She hears nothing but the faint whistle of the wind through the trees. There’s an eerie quality that settles on her as she takes in the world around her.

Her contentment over sunshine and blue skies fade as a void opens inside her. She has no idea if her brother is safe or if her mother is still alive. A flood of tears pushes behind her eyelids, threatening to break. Serena doesn’t want to ruin the moment, so she starts humming.

When Ben finishes working on the antenna, he returns to her side and gives her an expression of amusement. “You are still singing that song, huh?”

“I’m humming, not singing.”

“My apologies”

They are both quiet for a moment, each wanting to delay the moment they return to the underground.

“At least, the earth doesn’t rumble around us anymore,” Serena said, tilting her face to the sky as if she could soak enough sun for later how she missed the joy of naturally getting Vitamin D.

“It’s been silent for a few days, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe for us to leave,” Ben said, referring to the absence of the giant footfalls and the early rumbles that happened at all hours of the day. “I have a plan, but I just need you to trust me.”

For a crazy moment, she debates running into the woods around them and running until she feels a semblance of what humanity calls normal. Would she feel free and wild? Or would she regret leaving behind the rigid schedule and security that life in the bunker provided her? Shame floods her as she realizes she wouldn’t survive out here alone, not when she doesn’t know what the enemy looks like or how the world works post-invasion. Knowing your survival depends on another person it’s a tough pill to swallow.

“Time to go down the rabbit hole,” Ben said, interrupting her thoughts. She nods and follows him down. Once below, she hides in the storage room, crying until she feels empty.

Later, after a quiet dinner, Serena is curled up with a novel when a voice breaks through the static. Ben has her back to her at his nerd station, but she watches his back straighten as if someone’s calling him to attention.

“Citizens, I hope this message finds you in a safe and secure location. The invaders are rounding up humans and taking them to the domed camps they have set up. It’s unconfirmed what happens under the domes.” Serena and Ben exchange a glance, and she gulps as she comes to stand next to him. “The invaders are humanoid. You can identify them by their sharp, conical teeth and eyes that glow in the dark. Keep in mind; they run both fast and long.” Serena clutched Ben’s shoulder. “It’s like trying to outrun someone on a bicycle at full speed with unlimited stamina. As for those sucked up in the tubes on invasion day, we have some…” static interrupted the broadcast, and Serena’s legs felt like jelly. “But for, now those are unconfirmed, we are asking that anyone hearing this broadcast remain….”

This time, the static returns in full force and remains filling the silent bunker. Ben covers his face with his hands, and Serena cries. It was a lot of information to process, and her brain rejected the sharp course humanity was taking. Ben stands and wraps his arms around Serena, and she sinks into his chest. She cries for the fate of her mother and brother, her friends, even her ex-boyfriend Justin. The loss of human life and the idea of human captives weigh heavy on her heart.

Serena takes a step back when they break apart, maintaining eye contact with him. To her surprise, his eyes water, and his face softens. Using a gentle tone, he tells her, “We have everything we need here.”

“I know, and I’m grateful for everything we have,” she said. They have shelter, clean water, air that’s safe to breathe, generators for when the solar panels fail, and food.

“You know, I’ve been meaning to say this,” Serena says before a loud clang on the hatch interrupts her. She follows Ben down the hallway to the ladder with wide eyes.

“Hello! Anyone down there?”

“Can you hear us?”

Ben shakes his head and motions for her to be quiet as he pulls out a scope from the wall and begins adjusting it. Serena parts her lips in surprise. “We have a scope?”

“I knew you were not paying attention during the tour,” he said, giving her a pointed look.

“Whatever, who is it?” She said, standing on tiptoes, trying to see around him.

“A dude wearing a shotgun across his chest and a woman wearing head to toe camo”

“Are we going to let them in?”

He sighed and turned to her. “Why would we roll out the welcoming mat for them?”

“If we don’t, they won’t last long out there.” She said, gesturing upwards.

Ben rubbed his neck, pushing the scope away. “They’ve lasted this long, haven’t they?”

“What about strength in numbers?” Serena said, crossing her arms.

He chuckled and cocked his brow. “More in here means fewer supplies and more wear and tear to what’s down here. Not to mention, the obvious dangers of being killed or held at gunpoint while they gather food or whatever the heck they are looking for.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What if they only need shelter and security? They are humans, just like us. We don’t the invaders getting them.”

“Forget it,” Ben said, grabbing the shotgun off the gun rack mounted on the wall. “It’s not worth the risk.”

“I think it is,” Serena said, her heart pounding as she leaned against the ladder. Above them, the visitors switched from friendly to urgent as they struck against the hatch. Ben held the shotgun as he and Serena stared each other down.

“I’m laying down the law. We are not letting them in.” Ben said, steel in his honey eyes and jaw tight with frustration.

“Didn’t you hear the radio transmission? We could be turning away people who could be dead by nightfall.”

“Not happening. Be realistic; we are not letting strangers in, Serena. Stop thinking with your heart.” Ben said, shaking his head.

“Maybe, you should start,” Serena shot back, looking through the scope. The tall man used the gun’s butt to bang on the lid while the woman next to him was kneeling on the ground using her fists under the draining daylight.

“This is an asshole move, Ben.”

“I got an asshole move for you.” He said, taking himself and the shotgun down the hallway to the second door that blocks the hallway from the rest of the bunker. “I’m going to close this, and it’s your funeral if you let them in.”

Serena stared as Ben closed the door and then returned her attention to the scope. The man was now crouched beside the woman talking to her. After double-checking her stubborn bunkmate was behind the closed interior door, she crept up the ladder and stopped by the sign that Zombie fallout shelter.

“Christ on a cracker, I’m telling ya, someone’s in there.” The man’s voice was saying, muffled through the metal of the hatch lid.

“Baby, we should have followed the others up to Creek Park.” said the woman’s voice.

“God, Katie, how many times did your mother drop you on your head? I’ve already done told you, I’m taking care of this.” the man’s voice sounded as disgusted as Serena felt listening to him talk to his champion. “One person saying the D.C. folks from town ended up the park and you can’t drop it now, can you?”

Serena’s heart thundered at the word D.C., that’s where her mother worked and half of their small town. She knew that her mother often carpooled with other town residents, and hope bloomed in her chest. Serena didn’t even notice the cold of the metal as she pressed her ear to the hatch as if willing more information to come forth. Half-listening to them, she was forming a plan of her own.

They drifted away, and Serena made her way down the ladder to find Ben leaning on the open interior door. The door swung shut, enclosing her in the tomb of the bunker. The trapped feeling spiked her anxiety as she readied for bed.

Ben was snoring when Serena crept from her bunk, slinging a backpack over her shoulders. She didn’t want to spend the rest of her days trapped below ground with only her former boss for company. It made her shudder to think he could be the last human she ever saw.

As she spun the wheel to open the hatch, Serena gritted her teeth, hoping that Ben wouldn’t wake. She slipped into the fresh night air with stars glittering across the vast sky stretching overhead. Compass in hand, she headed for Creek Park, hope alight in her chest that her mother would be waiting for her there.

When Ben awoke, the first thing he noticed was Serena’s empty but neatly made bunk. He yawned before noticing that he couldn’t smell the coffee brewing, reaching for his glasses. Heart in his throat, he leaped from his bed and walked into the common room. A note was waiting for him on the chalkboard in Serena’s handwriting.

The hill Serena was cresting was known locally for its view of the entire town. Once she made it down the other side, she would follow the creek to Creek Park. Panic was building in her chest, urging her to turn back to the safety of the bunker. She urged herself to climb, promising herself rest and thinking once she reached the top. When she reached the top, all thoughts fled from her mind as she looked down at her hometown. An iridescent dome, glittering in the sun but managing to not blind, covered what was once her hometown. Beneath the dome, in the center, was a glass pyramid managing to reflect muted sunlight. It was the most beautiful and frightening thing she had ever seen.

Click above to read Part One