Emotions

Chapter 4: The Bunker

Suddenly, a light appears at the end of the corridor, which momentarily blinds us. Once through, we appear to be in quite a dirty room that looks like a small bunker. 

As our eyes wander the room, we are stunned. We discover five people, curled up in the right corner of the bunker. They don't speak and only watch us in fear, in the hopes we leave.Observing them, I see they are very unnourished. They must've been in here for a very long time.

After meeting our gaze, the woman quickly grabs the little girl beside her and brings her in close to protect her. The woman looks somewhere at the age of thirty, her clothes are ripped and old. Her long hair looks like it hasn't been combed in ages.

The small girl shakes uncontrollably, not willing to look at us, she burrows her face in the woman's side. From what I can see, she's unbelievably skinny and her clothes are way too big for her body.

Next to her sat a man, who's glaring at us with threatening eyes. He has grown quite a long beard, his clothes being even more damaged than the others are.

Clinging on to him are two small boys, one is watching us with caution, the other is avoiding eye contact. They aren't as skinny as the girl, but it can be seen that they've been through a lot. Even though the two boys look almost identical, the boy on the left seems shyer than the other.

''Who are you guys?'' Lido breaks the silence with a direct question. The five share a look at each other, but it seems no one dares to answer.

At last, the man slowly stands up with the two boys soon following. He then replies in anger: ''What do you want? Did they send you to retrieve us? Is that it? First, you want to brainwash us, and now we can't even hide from you neither?''

After I figure out what the misunderstanding is, I interrupted the man's rage to explain our situation.

''No! We are not from the government, sir! We fell from a hole in a secret passage! We are just some kids who also know what the government does to people who are not suppressing their emotions.''

Surprise takes the man's face. "You're not?!" He then let out a sigh of relief and turns around to face the others. ''Hey guys! They are just kids! They are not here to hurt us!''

However, it seems the woman isn't buying any of it. ''How do you know they are not lying?'' The woman asks suspicious.

The little girl then pulls on the woman's clothes, mustering up a little bravery, she says quietly: "I want to try trusting them..." Although, she is still seeming to be shaking as she holds onto the woman's hand.

The woman smiles warmly upon the child. "Okay honey, I will try." The woman turns to her giving her a tight hug, but it is clear the idea makes her uneasy.

The boys look in each other's eyes and nod. The more daring boy pokes the man and asks: ''Does that mean that girl we found is okay, too?''

Lido's eyes then suddenly flare-up. ''Where is Mana!?'' He bellows as if a switch was turned. Thanks to the abrupt change of voice, the two boys jump backward. Too terrified to speak they point to the left corner of the room. 

There she is, tied up with a lot of rope and unconscious, sitting lifeless in the corner of the room with her head slightly hanging forward.

''MANA!'' Lido shouts from the top of his lungs as he runs towards her. Without a second thought, I follow him.
Lido grabs her shoulders and begins shaking her back and forth to wake her up.
''Mana! Mana! Please wake up!''

A small groan comes out of her mouth and she slowly raises her head. She opens her heavy eyes and calls, ''Lido...? Ziro? Is... Is that you?'' She sounds happy and confused at the same time. ''Where am I? What happened?'' She tries to move, but soon finds out she is tied up.