"Cora, do you hear that?" I was being shaken awake by Mia, who was carefully listening to the gunfire outside.
"It sounds like a war is going on. Nothing new." I mumbled, turning over.
"Cora." She stated with a huff.
I rolled my eyes, the good thing about sleeping in a bunker is that you could actually sleep without too many interruptions.
"I know, it is a lot more shooting than normal. It's going to attract all the dead in hearing radius." I sat up and pressed my ear to the cold metal door.
"What should we do?" Mia asked, fumbling with the strings of her hoodie.
There really wasn't much for us to do. We came down here because of a nuclear explosion and I had only popped my head out a few times since then. I knew we were going to have to make our way back to the house soon and continue to survive the way we had been for the past few years. However, during the middle of what sounded like a war, wasn't the best time.
"Mia, I'll go check it out but you have to stay here for now." I explained.
"Why can't I just come with you? I want to go back to the house and I think those carrots need to be cooked or eaten before they go bad." She whined.
Mia was beyond her years but I guess we all had to be in a time like this.
"I'll grab you the carrots on my way back. I'm just going to quickly check the house and see if I can make out what's going on, then I'll be right back." I pulled on my brown boots and laced them tight.
I smoothed over my black faded jeans and buttoned up my dark brown flannel. I started up the small ladder and began undoing all the locks to the bunker door. Once it was ready to be opened, I grabbed my pistol, hooking it to my belt and Mia handed me the staff.
"You remember how to lock these right?" I looked down at her.
She smiled that goofy smile and put her hands on her hips. "Duh." It was good to see that she still had some childlike innocence to her.
I shook my head and carefully pushed the heavy metal door open. My dark green eyes scanned the area around me to make sure it was clear. When I was satisfied, I hopped out of our hole, "remember the knock." I whispered as I shut the door and covered it with twigs and leaves.
The sunlight was bright and it took a few long moments for my eyes to adjust. I gripped my staff with one hand and kept my other close to my pistol. I crept forward towards the entrance of the woods. I could see our home and to my relief, it looked untouched and unharmed. I quietly made my way a crossed the backyard, keeping low to the ground and trying to go undetected from any unknown eyes watching this area. As I got closer to the house I heard more gun shots raining out in the distance.
After a few more quick steps I was leaning with my back against the old white siding of the farm house. Looking each direction to confirm that I wasn't being followed. I made my way up the back steps and used the key from my belt to open the door.
I know it almost seems pointless to lock doors these days but to me it was still a good idea. If you were inside, you would hear if someone was breaking in and if you were coming home, you would be able to tell if the door had been messed with.
I closed and locked the door behind me. Everything was the way Mia and I left it. It was a clean home with large paneled wood floors. We made sure to keep our food, weapons and other objects out of sight from the windows. This was in case someone looked inside, they would assume the place had already been worked over or it was just vacant since the beginning.
I took a minute to clear the bottom floor before I ascended the steps and cleared the bedrooms. I went to my Uncles old bedroom and squatted by the window, making sure I wasn't going to be seen. I picked up the binoculars that I kept there and studied the area where the shots were coming from.
The main part of town could be seen from the window but buildings, trees and hills made it hard to make out what was going on. It wasn't really groups of people fighting the dead, but instead it was groups of people fighting each other, then turning into the dead and then having to fight the dead.
It looked like they were pretty preoccupied so I grabbed a bag and started stuffing a few essentials inside. I made my way back downstairs and to the kitchen. I opened the cabinet and grabbed what was left of the Advil. By the time I was done the bullets seemed to cease. I locked the door and quickly went around to the side of the house. I lifted a tarp and grabbed the bunch of carrots that Mia was so desperately worried about.
I was about to head back to the bunker when I head a vehicle being driven down the road out front. The white van tinkered out as it was trying to make it over the hill. I ducked down next to the vegetable garden and peeked around the wood, keeping my eyes peeled for any sign of danger.