Revolution Of The Forgotten

Under Lock and Lantern

"We have been walking for hours, Mrs. Rune!" One of the children complained. She was right. It has been quite some time. We left rather early and our journey was delayed often thanks to Mollarks or Zarcs getting in our way.

Runes' expression was distant, not bothering to answer the child's cries. Her eyes kept darting to the sky, watching the sun. I looked up, too. Trying to figure out why the sun fascinated her so much. It was just one giant star. It could not compare to the billions of stars I look at every night. Still, she is drawn to it.

Finally, Mira chimed in, "Let's take a break, Rune. We must eat. Or there will be no energy to go on." Rune paused, acknowledging Mira's worries. Her eyes scanned all the people who remained. Finally, she nods.

"We will find an old bunker and eat there. No point in eating out here. If we do, we will surely die." Rune responded quietly. Our walk continued. Corrie held my hand and I felt a sense of pride caring for someone so small. So innocent. Like Oreiko.

I looked over at Ezra who was silently walking. He didn't look at me. Maybe he didn't want to. I knew that he must have been angry with me, but he had to understand.

Or maybe, I was the one who had to listen and understand. A small smile spreads across my face as I laugh at my own thoughts. I wasn't in the wrong. They were the crazy ones.

All this was crazy, really. Keeping quiet while walking, hiding everytime we heard a noise we didn't recognize but just knew it wasn't human, watching the children fear for their lives. It felt like a dream. A sick, twisted dream.

Finally, we stopped walking. The sun was setting behind the hills. Rune brushed some leaves out the way, revealing a sewer-like lid. She undid the hatch, pulling it up with the help of Mira, gesturing inside.

"Children first." Rune instructed, lighting a lantern and handing it to one of the kids. The girl who held it looked inside the bunker nervously, the hand that held the lantern shaking.

Mira sighed, grabbing the child's hand tightly, offering a soft smile. The child, feeling more confident and safe, began to climb down those wooden stairs. Each step she took creaked under her feet, as if the stairs wanted to say hello.

The girl didn't know whether to be scared or brave. But Mira pushed her to go down further until they were at the very bottom.

The little girl called from the bottom of the stairs that it was safe to come down. And so we did. We climbed one by one, single file, quiet and hungry. Tired, too.

Once we all got down, Rune wasted no time passing food out. Bread, corn, potatoes. She fed the children first. Like everyone should do, and then came the adult meals. Mira and I lit more lamps.

I scanned the bunkers. It was dirty. Leaves and dirt piled up on the beds. Rune was already cleaning up. There weren't any beds. No worries, we brought blankets and Mira can make pillows, I'm sure.

There were about nine adults and five kids, which was fourteen people. Fourteen. God– How many people have died? Back at the camp, there were over a hundred residents. But sickness and the cold took many people's lives.

Everyone has changed since earlier this year. It's a miracle any of us are alive now with monsters constantly hunting us. Croakers, Mollarks, Zarcs and Emberlings. Loomers and Mockers. Anything you can think of, it was real. Nothing was impossible anymore.

We were like characters in a book, in some type of way. Characters searching for a purpose. For a way out. But perhaps, we were looking for something that didn't exist.

The way I see it– The way it's going? We were just wasting our time looking for this laboratory. It will be too full. Resources are already low as it is. And with the flu going around? We were walking towards our own graves.