A New Dawn

The bunker's air was still and stale, a metallic tang clinging to every breath. Chris stood at the entrance, one hand on the steel door frame, the other clutching Yasmine's hand. Behind them, the corridor stretched into darkness, lined with shelves of canned goods, bottled water, and ammunition. It was a fortress, a steel womb meant to keep the dead out. But the dead weren't the only things they feared anymore.

Monte and Marie sat on a pair of cots near the far wall, their faces pale in the weak glow of a battery-powered lantern. Marie's eyes were fixed on the floor, her fingers twisting a loose thread on her sleeve. Monte kept glancing at the door, as if expecting something to claw through. Yasmine released Chris's hand and knelt beside them, murmuring something soft, something motherly that Chris couldn't quite hear. He wished he could.

The rest of the group had spread out across the main room. Ashley leaned against a support beam, arms crossed, her gaze distant. Trey paced near the far corner, his boots scraping against the concrete. Monta sat on a crate, his hands trembling as he tried to adjust a loose valve on a portable stove. Kacy was by the radio equipment, her fingers hovering over the dials, but she hadn't turned it on.