Chapter 5-1 - Bunker
1 - Bunker
[OCTOBER 4TH, 2024; WASHINGTON D.C.]
“Stella...hey, are you alright?” Ryan asked, rushing over to his sister. The impact of the explosion caused a great amount of debris to fall in their direction. Between the distant sounds of gunfire and the lonesome howling wind, the night sky that was decorated with an unpleasant smog only added to the sense of dread.
“Y-yeah...” Stella whimpered, slowly getting up. Her legs were full of bruises, dust and dirt colored her pretty blonde hair.
“No you’re not...your arm is bleeding.” Ryan said. He quickly ripped a piece of his shirt off and used it to bandage the rather ugly wound on his sister’s right arm. “I think they aren’t here anymore.”
“My foot hurts...” Stella said, finding it difficult to walk. She had great physical endurance for a girl that was barely a teenager. Even most adults would find it excruciatingly difficult to navigate a ruined landscape with all those injuries. Ryan wrapped her arm around his neck and helped her move around. He tied to cover her eyes as much as possible - preventing her from seeing the many corpses laying around. The bombardment was rough.
“It’s gonna be alright. We’re gonna find a place to stay, and we'll make sure your foot doesn’t hurt anymore.” Ryan comforted her. Slowly, they moved around. This part of town was hit pretty hard, it was where most hotels and residences hosting soulfuls was.
Ryan looked up to see a pair of helicopters in the sky. The sun was down, it was a foggy day, but an even greater, darker orchestra of clouds surrounded his heart. Separated and torn away from his family, he was the only one responsible for protecting his soulful sister against essentially the entire world.
They finally sat down and rested in the remnants of a ruined shop, buried under blocks of cement and a sea of shattered glass. Even walking in that area was dangerous, but they had no other option.
“Stella, are you hungry?” Ryan asked, searching for the supplies in the shop. He had the luxury of having the entire place for himself, but most fresh products were already expired. “I need to see if there’s some bandages around first...”
“Ryan, where’s mom?”
“I don’t know.” Ryan replied. “She’s somewhere out there, and she counts on me to keep you safe. Once we leave D.C., we’ll be safe, alright? But it’s a pretty long way out of here, so you have to be strong.”
“Okay...” Stella said. She hugged her legs, sitting on the cold and colorless floor of the market. It was hard to hear, but she was sobbing.
“I found some canned pineapple for you. You want some?” Ryan asked, trying his hardest to not react to his sibling’s outpour of emotions. “There’s some pickles too. They’re pretty good for your health.”
“And most importantly, there’s water here. Finding this place was a miracle.”
“Hey, big bro...” Stella said, her voice shaky.
“What is it?” Ryan approached her with some canned food and a bottle of water. He poured some of the water on his sleeve and tried to clean Stella’s face.
“If they find us...will you be able to fight them?”
“Yeah. I’m strong, right? I’ll fight them just fine.” Ryan said.
“You’re lying.” Stella said, much more upset. “They have guns.”
“I have some guns too!” Ryan said, flexing his not-really-that-impressive arm muscles. “Stella, you’ll be safe, okay? I promise you.”
A sequence of powerful clicking sounds was heard from afar. No matter how positive Ryan tried to be, the sound of gunfire still terrified him. He got his phone out.
“Dear God...thousands of soulfuls confirmed killed worldwide...”
“They’re using the system to their advantage.”
“They’re going into residences of confirmed soulfuls and culling them with no remorse. And they have soulfuls that sniff out other soulfuls and kill them. This isn’t an anti-terrorist operation, this is a fucking genocide.”
Ryan looked over to his sister. Despite the conflict, she looked peaceful. She was picking at the fruit and taking small sips of water in between.
“And for some reason, it was decided that she’d be one too...”
Ryan took a deep breath and approached her again, sitting down next to her. He took a small protein bar he found on the shelf close to them and unwrapped it. He hadn’t eaten for a day, but he still didn’t have an appetite.
“Big bro...are you hungry?” Stella asked. Seeing the lack of reaction, she quickly pushed the cans closer to him.
“You should eat first.” Ryan said. “If you get hungry, you’ll get sick-”
Stella lunged at him and hugged him.
“Stop...treating yourself badly.” She said, holding him tightly. Ryan hugged her back, taken by surprise by the gesture. It was moments like these that fueled him with enough happiness and resolve to keep pushing forward. He softly smiled, kissing Stella on the cheek before finally letting go of the embrace.
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“Okay, you convinced me.” He said, holding back his own tears. “I’ll eat too. Whaddya got here?”
“You got me the food, and you already forgot about it? You’re so silly!” Stella laughed.
“Yeah, I’m a bit forgetful lately. Say, why don’t we split the pineapples? I can find us some grain-based food here too. We need to eat properly.”
“No, the pineapples are mine!” Stella said. “You can eat anything else.”
“Right, I forgot.” Ryan smiled. “In that case, I’ll go and-”
One of the gunshots sounded a little closer than the rest. Soon, the trail of a powerful flashlight was seen on the street. Ryan fell silent, slowly letting go of his food and standing up. She quickly signaled Stella to remain quiet.
They tried to go for the back exit, but it was blocked off by debris. It was strange seeing this area of the city bombed and devastated. The soldiers responsible for the tenseness of the predicament had revealed themselves - there were six soldiers and one soulful.
Ryan helped her sister stand up, and started to slowly guide her towards the exit - using even the small pillars and shards of debris as cover. He didn’t know that his location was already compromised. Exiting the store, he was assured that by some miracle they’d be safe.
“Over there.” the soulful in a posh uniform said, pointing his sword in their direction. “There’s one. I feel like it’s an incomplete soul, but be cautious regardless.”
“I’ll stand back, there’s something else I can smell from here.”
The soldiers around him nodded and started to slowly advance forwards. Ryan started to feel that sense of dread. He quickly guided her sister further away, but the trained soldiers were inevitably going to catch up. The flashlights attached to their rifles revealed what was in front of them, and soon, one of the trails would shine its light on Stella herself...
“Engaging target!” The soldier yelled, firing off a burst in her direction. The bullets miraculously missed. Ryan managed to drag her away just in time, just when he saw the light.
“Huh?! What is this?!” Stella asked, confused and scared.
“Stella, run as fast as you can!” Ryan yelled. They sprinted, but Ryan could feel that she was falling behind. He quickly crouched, letting Stella jump up on her back.
He ran as fast as his legs allowed him to, faster than he’s ever ran in his life. He heard the bullets wheeze past him. He turned as many corners as he could, trying to block their line of sight. But an enraged teen with his sibling on his back could only get so far.
One of the bullets ended up grazing his leg, forcing him to stop for a second. Despite the pain, Ryan kept sprinting. The chase was slowly becoming more and more disadvantageous for him.
“I know what the routes are.” Ryan thought.
“I’ll throw them off if they’re unfamiliar with the layout. I’ll try to sneak into the sewers.”
The soldiers split up. Two of them continued straight forward, chasing the target, with one making sure to fire as much as possible. The other four went separate ways, aiming to encircle their target.
Ryan’s own stamina started to slowly fade away. His breathing was ragged, out of rhythm. He was surprised to hear a pair of footsteps to his right. His original route was now rendered useless, his only way to escape was to reach the dead end of the alleyway and somehow sneak into one of the buildings.
Just as he took the last turn, he felt something. It was another bullet, barely missing his neck.
“Damn it!”
“Just what the hell do they want from her?!”
“She didn’t even do anything!”
“Stella, listen to me.” Ryan said, putting her down. “Go and hide in the building on the right. The special uniform was the one who sniffed you out, but I didn’t see him anywhere. You can escape.”
“But...what about you?!” Stella asked.
“I’ll figure something out.” Ryan said, listening to the footsteps approaching him. The scattered soldiers started to unify back into one group now that their target was cornered. “Just go!”
“I’m not leaving you here!” Stella said. At that moment, the soldiers revealed themselves. They pointed their rifles at him.
“Run!” Ryan said, pushing her closer to the building's entrance and stepping forward, essentially shielding her. There was a lot of fear in his eyes. He spread his arms open, rushing at the soldiers. No matter what his brain and regrets were telling him, he knew his duty as an older brother.
His resolve was what blessed him with good fortune.
A powerful lightning-like arrow struck at the crowd of soldiers, killing most of them instantly. The one behind the arrow had taken the high ground beforehand, waiting for the perfect moment. Ryan was amazed, and Stella was both scared and confused. Oskar dropped down from the rooftop and approached them.
“Stay back! Who the hell are you?!” Ryan yelled, stepping closer to his sister.
“Hey, easy, I’m a soulful.” Oskar said, unsummoning his weapon and raising his hands. “We are part of the Heisei. You’re safe now.”
Ryan’s breathing started to slow down. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, he felt the awful pain of the bullet wound. Apparently, it wasn’t just one injury - his leg was completely pierced by a bullet. Thankfully it wasn’t a serious problem.
“The girl, is she your sister?” Oskar asked. “Was she their target?”
“Yeah.” Ryan said. A loud crashing noise was heard nearby.
“What was that? Are they back?!” Stella asked, hiding behind her brother.
“No, it’s alright.” Oskar sighed. “Sakuto’s cleaning up the rest of them.”
And soon enough, Sakuto was seen on the rooftop. He held one of the soldier’s bodies, and jumped down, slamming it into the ground and his target off for good.
“Damn it, Sakuto. The kid didn’t have to see that.” Oskar said.
“I’m sure she’s seen worse by now.” Sakuto said. He approached the girl and crouched down. He and Oskar both had their very own Heisei uniforms on. “It’s all gonna be alright, okay? Oskar and I are really strong. We will protect you.”
“Will you...protect big bro...too?” Stella asked.
“Yeah.” Sakuto stood up. He turned to face Ryan. “We’ll keep you safe too, man. Those scumbags aren’t gonna get to you.”
“Thank you...” Ryan said. He tried to extend his hand, but he found some trouble even standing up. Falling on the ground, he held onto his leg.
“Oskar, you got the bag, right? Give him some painkillers, I’ll bandage the wound.” Sakuto said. “This one’s a soulless, so his stuff is gonna be pretty difficult to deal with. We’ll get them closer to the Heisei-controlled territories.”
“On it.” Oskar said. He turned his attention away for just a second, but it was enough for the last soldier standing to make his move. A gunshot was followed by Stella dropping on her knees...