Escape

We didn’t know what to call it, so we just called it The War. It was the last war of our world, and it happened roughly 100 years ago- according to our parents at least, but they were already dead and they heard the story from their parents. All we had left to remember them was a golden heart shaped locket I wore around my neck containing their picture and our father's rosary bestowed upon my brother. The world they knew was a wasteland now, and we’d been living in this bunker since the day we were born. We knew nothing of the outside world, other than what we saw in the magazines and read about in the old newspapers our grandparents had kept as memories. This underground bunker contained our entire 18 years of life. My entire 18 years of life. We were twins, but not the sort who look the same. We were both unlucky enough to be born in this miserable hole at the same time.

We didn’t know what to call it, so we just called it The War. It was the last war of our world, and it happened roughly 100 years ago- according to our parents at least, but they were already dead and they heard the story from their parents. All we had left to remember them was a golden heart shaped locket I wore around my neck containing their picture and our father's rosary bestowed upon my brother. The world they knew was a wasteland now, and we’d been living in this bunker since the day we were born. We knew nothing of the outside world, other than what we saw in the magazines and read about in the old newspapers our grandparents had kept as memories. This underground bunker contained our entire 18 years of life. My entire 18 years of life. We were twins, but not the sort who look the same. We were both unlucky enough to be born in this miserable hole at the same time. There wasn’t very much of anything here; it was an underground complex of bedrooms and a meeting hall, as well as a storeroom with enough supplies to last two centuries for all of its occupants. We had another hundred years worth of food and water for everyone here today. It wasn’t so bad though; now that we were both finally old enough to start receiving tobacco and alcohol rations. I don’t really see why the residents follow the Old Laws; it’s not like it really matters anymore. The Old Gods are dead and the Government forsook us to their space colonies. The only ones left here were those too poor to leave the planet but too rich to die with the rest. We were the in-between remnants of the planet.

Svid went to the storeroom to redeem his weekly alcohol voucher for a bottle of vodka from the Pre-War days, and it was still as fresh as the day they’d brought it under. At least, that’s what the clerk liked to say. Though he had never eaten any fresh food a day in his life, Svid was pretty sure you could taste the fact that it had all been freeze dried. The food down there was shit and everyone knew it; even the clerk who lied through his teeth that it wasn’t. They said it would be another fifty years before the radioactive chemical’s half life was reached, but Svid had no idea what that even meant. If he really stopped to think about it however, he'd admit that he didn’t really care to be honest. If I had to spend another 50 years down here I’d take my suicide voucher and make use of it, the lad thought to himself. They were all given a suicide voucher at birth, a sort of ironic gift to give a newborn child. The first birthday gift was always the same; life, along with a suicide voucher. There weren’t any real birthday gifts down there, however; they had nothing to celebrate. If anything, the inhabitants of The Bunker had all grown to hate birthdays; they served as no more than the constant reminder of how long you’d been stuck in this hell under earth.

You weren’t allowed to leave either; even though there was an exit- it had been forbidden. The last person to leave died within minutes of surface exposure and his corpse went missing along with his radioactivity suit. The Bunker's board of council forbade the inhabitants to leave from that moment onwards, stating that it was too dangerous outside. They didn’t want to risk letting whatever was out there a chance to gain entry. Svid didn’t know what sort of murderous beasts were on the Outside, but death by their hands seemed a lot more appealing than death Underground.

“Today’s the day Niko.” Svid said to his brother, passing the bottle of vodka over after taking a swig upon entering their abode within the vast bunker that seemed so small after a lifetime imprisoned within it.

“Not this again Svid.” He groaned.

“Why can’t you just appreciate the life our parents gave us?” Niko poured himself a shot before filling a glass for Svid as well.

“Appreciate what? Life in prison?” Svid replied bitterly like the vodka he gulped down after accepting the proffered glass.

“They’ll never let us leave alive.” Niko answered rather calmly and dejectedly.

“So we’ll die trying. A cornered animal lashes back against it’s oppressors with all of its dying might.” Svid rebutted, an intensity burning in his eyes that couldn't be dulled by the vodka he drank freely.

“You know nothing of cornered animals besides in the books you read. You read too much brother; it’s playing with your mind.” Niko was upset.

“Brother, I leave tonight, with or without you; this is either our farewell or the beginning of our adventures. It’s all up to you.” Svid replied with finality.

He sat in silence and had another shot- Svid took one as well. He put the shot glass aside and got up to grab a normal drinking glass.

“If we’re going to do this, I’m going to need a bigger glass.” He said somberly, and so the pair plotted their escape.

At around midnight the lights went out, to save electricity and signal curfew to the citizens of the bunker. Svid and Niko garbed themselves in their darkest clothes pulled the hoods over their heads before lacing up their boots. It was their intent that they wouldn't be spotted in the darkness of the halls unless a lucky night patrol managed to shine their lights on them, but otherwise they would not be easily seen. Svid slipped a knife into his pocket while his brother prepared himself for the beginning of their quest for freedom. They each filled a pack with all of the tinned foods Svid had been saving with his food vouchers, wrapping them in blankets prior to placing them inside the packs so as to prevent them from making any noise.

They opened the door that served as entrance to their accommodations and slid it shut as quietly as possible behind them before sneaking down the hall. When they got to the intersection that led towards the exit of the residence quarters without meeting any of the guard, they took a joint sign of relief before following the hallway leading out and into the main hall. Svid could hear his heart racing as the pair continued to sneak past the storeroom entrance and main window, which was closed for the night. They crept past it and froze in their tracks as the footsteps of a night patrol echoed in their direction. Backing themselves up into a doorway on the wall opposite wall from where his light would soon shine, the night guard approached. He took a left turn, putting his trajectory directly in their direction. Without a moment's hesitation, Svid charged him and slipped his knife into the patrol's throat. The brothers could both hear him gurgling as blood flooded his throat- it would drown him soon enough. Svid dragged his body up against the wall and laid him in the doorway they’d just been standing in. As the flashlight shined on Svid's victim's face Niko gasped at the sight of blood pouring out of his neck and mouth.

“ You killed him!” he gasped. The alcohol hadn’t numbed away his humanity.

“What do you think they would do to us if they caught us? Take his gun and ammunition.” Svid hissed, handed him the weapon.

“That’s inhuman! How could you…” he began, trying to hand the gun back to his brother.

“There’s no time for that; it’s too late. Now hurry up before they catch us.” Svid replied, shoving the gun with finality back into his brother's hands. They reached the Armoury without any further mishaps, and soon Svid was busying himself about unlocking the door with the keycard he'd nicked off the dead security officer.

“That’s why you did it, isn’t it? You needed his key? They wouldn’t have killed us if they caught us, would they? You bastard.” Niko snapped at his conniving brother in the safety of the Armoury. Just then, the lights flickered on and an alarm went off. The voice of the Head of the Council was heard blaring over the screech of the alarm systems and he spoke loud and clear:

“ALL SECURITY PERSONELL BE WARNED, THERE IS A MURDERER ON THE LOOSE. THE SAFETY OF THE BUNKER HAS BEEN COMPROMISED. NEUTRALISE THE THREAT AT ALL COSTS. EVERYONE BE WARNED, THERE IS A MURDERER ON THE LOOSE.”

“Damn!” Svid said more to himself than anything else.

“We’ve got to get out of here!” Niko moaned.

“Grab what you can!” Svid answered, rushing his brother to take action.

Even as he gave the command, Svid scavenged the room, taking an old machine-pistol along with a standard-issued assault rifle from the Pre-War days. He pocketed as many magazines as the pack and his pockets could fit while Niko took up a sniper rifle for himself, trading his night guard’s pistol for a Mk. II Laser Pistol. Once they were satisfied with their loadouts, the pair made their way out of the room- making a final sprint towards the exit. The brothers shouldered their rifles; instead opting to carry their hand guns where their name suggested they belonged. A night guard shouted for the pair to stop, but Niko shot him without hesitation as the guard went for his gun.

Neither brother hesitated- even for a second; they just kept on running. Gunfire echoed from behind, but they turned the corner just in time to dodge the spray of bullets. The safety doors were lowering in an attempt to close them in, but they were fast enough to escape being closed in the main hallway. With the way back sealed shut behind them, they had no choice but to go on. The pair had just reached the final stretch before the exit. Any remaining possibility of going back was sealed away behind the bunker's air-tight security door along with the night guards who were busy trying to reopen the seal to arrest them.

“Keep guard while I open the bunker entrance.” Svid said to Niko.

“Guard what? They’re stuck behind the doors.” Niko replied uneasily.

Smashing the protective glass that contained the radioactivity suits, Svid took one out for each of them. The guards fired their rounds into the bullet proof glass that the safety doors were made of. Some of their rounds ricocheted and killed three of the Night Watch. Svid got to work on the exit door. It was full metal and the keypad had a small slit that ran down it. Only members of the Council and Night Watch had key cards that overrode the security pad. Otherwise you needed the code. Just like he'd done with the Armoury, Svid slid the dead guard’s key card through the slit and the brothers were granted access to the Decontamination Chamber. They stepped inside and put on the suits before pressing the button that would initiate the decontamination and free them from their prison. The suits were a perfect fit, and so they slung their packs and guns over their shoulders once again, anxiously preparing themselves to depart from that place into the world at large.