Poison Ivy

Chapter 2: Getting Out

Reese rolled out a table that had been covered in scratches from the pocket knife he had carried into the bunker. Everyone had always thought that it was useless for him to carry around something as strange and unused in everyday life as a knife, especially at some public school in the middle of nowhere. He made sure to rub it in their faces as soon as they got into the bunker and finished panicking. He had carved hundreds of calculations and a mapping of the general area into the plastic table that had been stored in there. There hadn't been time to clean out the bunker as bombs started falling, so they ended up with a strange assortment of really questionable canned food, yoga balls and wrestling mats. 

"Alright, so judging by these calculations, which I had Quinn double check, outside is going to be super super radioactive and toxic," Reese explained. He looked up from the table to make eye contact with the rest of the group. All of them stood there, ready to save the world, acting like a group of people who knew what they were doing, like this was a walk in the park. Looking back down at the scratches on the table, he continued. "On the other hand, from what we know, there is a very good chance that all of the radioactivity would have gotten to us by now anyways and there isn't any added danger."

"So basically, what you're saying is either we will all die immediately if we leave, or all of the damage is done already and we're pretty much screwed." Taylor summarized, crossing his arms.

"Basically," Reese confirmed, running a hand through his hair.

"Great,"

"Well then I only see one option," Ivy said, cracking her knuckles for dramatic effect.

"For God's sake, stop that!" Rie said, cringing at the sound. Hand over her fist, Ivy continued talking.

"We're standing on Death's door either way, so let's get the hell out of here."

Cora basically jumped in excitement, even though it felt like a kaleidoscope of butterflies were flapping about in her stomach. 

Rie smirked, adrenaline coursing through her veins. Lives were on the line, and that was the most exciting, yet nerve wrecking thing she could imagine.

Quinn and Taylor high-fived each other, smiling like they were about to take over the world.

"Alright," Reese said, "Who's first?"

The group looked at each other, wondering who was willing to step up to the plate of potential death.

"I'll do it!" Cora said, jumping up and prancing to the door. Everyone cringed, hoping that nothing bad would happen to her, but also having no will to take her place. She unscrewed the crank that locked the door and pushed on it. Nothing happened. Furrowing her brow, she pushed against the door harder. Nothing. Using her shoulder, she pushed as hard as she could. Nothing. Taylor joined her. Nothing. 

Gasping, Cora spoke, 

"It's barricaded."

"Back entrance then?" Amythist suggested.

"But then we have to go through the crawlspace," Ivy said worriedly.

"So?"

"Barricades, spiders, the fact that it wasn't exactly structurally sound before nuclear warfare."

"I'm not seeing another option here, Ivy," Reese said.

Ivy ran her hand through her hair, sighing.

"Fine, but I'm going in the middle, so any demons will have to go through you guys first."

"Really feeling the love here, Ivy," Rie said, rummaging through the cans of food, looking for a flashlight. She finally found one behind a can of pears. 

With what was left of their dwindling courage, they filed into the dusty crawlspace. Pieces of the roof had cracked, leaving jagged pieces of wood at right about head height, and the floor was wet due to leaking. They tried not to think about the pretty crap conditions and just focus on getting out. After about twenty minutes of discomfort and one too many jokes about the human centipede, courtesy of Taylor, they finally made it out of the damned crawlspace and thankfully, the door wasn't blocked. 

The seven of them crawled out, coughing and complaining all of the way. Quickly, all of the annoyed chatter silenced when they saw where they were. No longer were they in a small, tree-filled area where everything was sweet and proper, it was a wasteland. Any trees that still stood were crippled and disfigured, missing branches and covered in the dust of old leaves, though most trees lay dead on ground. Grass had been substituted for dry, cracked dirt. The air was dusty and thick, making it difficult to breathe properly. Un-even gusts of wind blew through, breaking branches and creating sand storms.

"I think we just walked into the apocalypse," Taylor said, genuinely shocked.

"That is the premise of this story, so yeah I'd  say you're right," Rie confirmed. Everyone glanced at her out of the corner of their eyes, but just continued to gape at the sight before them.

"Welp. Anybody got a plan?" asked Cora, trying to encourage a circle formation. Everyone obliged, forming a circle in an attempt to make a plan.

"Now, I know this sounds like something that would get us killed in a horror movie, but hear me out. We split up...."

"Ivy, if you wanted us all killed, you could just say so," Amythist complained. Ivy shushed her and continued. 

"As I was saying, we split up in an attempt to find another settlement, or at least signs of one. If you find one, return to the bunker. If something goes wrong, return to the bunker. If it's been, let's say five days and you've found nothing, return to the bunker. The first group back will just wait for the others."

"Who will be in what group?" asked Quinn.

"Well, I say me, Am and Reese in one group, then Quinn, Rie, Taylor and Cora in the other. Sound like a solid plan?" asked Ivy.

"Well, not really. It seems pretty likely to get us killed in multiple, probably horrible ways," Quinn pointed out. "But on the other hand, I don't have a better plan. So, continue."

"Alright, everyone understand?" Ivy asked. They all nodded, some more reluctantly than others. "My group will go East, Taylor, bring your group West."

"Who put Taylor in charge?" Rie complained, seeming rather offended.

"I did, and I put me in charge as well. As long as we're done here, let's move out!" Ivy said, walking in her direction. Somewhat unwillingly, they left the safety and comfort that was the bunker and headed off into the uncharted territory.