UpperGround

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙽𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚃𝚘 𝙴𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑

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The room felt cold. My father froze beside me, my mother's cries silent, my finger, still placed on the trigger. I hadn't pulled the trigger, I hadn't even taken a final breath. I blinked, wondering if I was just hearing something until my father looked at me. I saw the confusion in his eyes, matching the confusion I felt. Another loud bang rang out and I heard my mother scream.

My father stood quickly, taking the gun from my hand, and rushing to the door. Only opening it to find my mother curled on the ground with a scared expression on his face, looking in a direction, I could not see from where I was. My father picked her up and brought her over to me, placing her in my lap. "Stay here, and be very quiet." I nodded at his order, wrapping my arms around my mother securely.

He left us alone, I held my mother and did my best to calm her. She was still in shock and tears were still running down her face. I heard footsteps above us, a lot of footsteps. People were inside the house, and from the sounds of gunshots, they were definitely not friendly. I heard my father curse and rush back into the room, he still had the gun in his hand and a panicked but angry look on his face."What is wrong, papa?" I felt worried, looking at his panicked face. He put the gun in his holster and pulled and key from his pocket, the handcuff key.

He walked over to the bed, unlocked the chains around my ankle, and grabbed my mother's arm. "Lucia, please amore. I need you to be strong right now, for me and Rita. I need you to get yourself together. This bunker is no longer safe, we need to go, NOW!" My mother seemed to snap back to reality at his words but they only confused me. What did he mean, the bunker was no longer safe, what happened?

"Papa, what is going on? What happened?" I asked him worried but he only shook his head and grabbed my arm, walking me and my mother to the door. "There is no time to explain now Rita, we need to go now. I will explain later when you both are safe." He said as he walked up into a small room with a red door on the other side. There were duffle bags on a shelf alongside bags with weapons in them. My father grabbed two of the duffle bags, handing one to my mother and helping me put the second one on.

As he strapped the bag to my back, my chest filled with more worry. I didn't know what to do or what was going on around me. Once he finishes strapping the bag to me, he moves to my mother, helping her tighten the bag around her shoulders. I made eye contact with my mother, she looked at me with confident eyes. My mother can be scared and irrational at times but when she is in times where she knows we need her, she is strong, confident, and sharp-minded. My mother used to be fierce and determined all the time without fail until she got married to my father and had me. She put all her hardness aside, so she could raise me to be the child she wished she could have been, happy, smart, kind, and silly at times.

I loved my mother, I know that she gave up a lot just to be with my father. She loved him and he loved her, they were perfect together. Always seeing eye to eye on everything, even when it came to me. My father kissed my mother's cheek after finishing her bag. He then proceeded to grab the last duffle bag and strap it to himself. He had a very serious look on his face as if determined about something very important. I know my father wants to keep me and my mother safe but I worry that he will kill himself in the process.

My father was a very outgoing guy, he loved with his whole heart, giving me and my mother all the care and love we could only wish for. He was always prepared for the inevitable, if any problem were to arise, he was always prepared for the worst, like these past few days. My father built this bunker under this house, stocking it, every month with supplies. I should have known that something would go wrong in the months to come when my father quit the militia. My father loved the militia, he had a bunch of friends who would come and visit for meals made by my mother.

Though just last year, they stopped visiting, my father has left and began stocking the bunker more often. Every time I tried to ask him why the bunker needed to be stocked so much, he would simply say "One day, everything will change for the worst, and we will need to be prepared for it." I never truly understood this either about my father's words when I was younger.

Once my father strapped the bag to his shoulders, he grabbed something off of a hook and handed it to my mother. "Amore, when I say so, go through that door, keep really quiet, and move quick. I'll be right behind you." My mother nodded her head and grabbed my hand tightly. He placed his hand over a button on the wall before turning his head to my mother, "Now!" he shouted, my mother yanked the door open, pulling me behind her. She opened another door and I felt a breeze of wind hit my face as we ran through the woods. I realized then that we were in the woods behind our house, running deeper into the forest.

My stomach sank, what about my father, what about Phoenix? Why did we leave them behind?

My mother and I ran for a few more minutes until we reached a clearing in the trees. There was a black tarp hanging over something quite large. My mother let go of my hand and began removing the tarp, it was a huge truck. I recognized the truck from years ago when my father took me and my mother on a vacation to Malaga. He really liked the truck, he even taught me how to pump gas with the truck but why was the truck here?

I turned around to face the direction that me and my mother ran from, hoping to see my father and Pheonix. My heart only sank deeper into my gut when I only saw tall trees and branches. My mother grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the truck but I planted my feet to the ground. "Mama, what about Papa and Pheonix? Where are they, shouldn't we wait for them?" She looked at me before looking in the direction I was just looking. "We can't stay in the same place Rite, we have to go. Now." She pulled me to the truck, pushing me inside no matter my protest.

I didn't want to leave Papa, I didn't want to leave Pheonix. We can't leave. I begged my mother to wait for them but I only saw determination in her eyes. My mother strapped me into the seatbelt, shut the door, and got into the driver's seat. I removed the seatbelt and tried to get out but before I could, she started the car and pulled off.

"Mama, we can't just leave them!" I shouted at her. "We are not leaving them, Rita, put your seatbelt on." She said, looking in the rearview mirror at me. I put my seatbelt on and my mother sped through the trees. We were going back in the direction of the house, gunshots ringing out through the air. I could see two men firing their weapons at the dead people, my head started to hurt. I felt a huge pain surging through my head, as I watched in horror as the men, shot down the dead people.

As my mother drove the truck closer, I recognized the tall figure of my father, beside a man that I didn't recognize. My mother stopped the truck, honking the horn to grab the attention of the two men. My father fired one more shot before putting his fingers in his mouth and letting out what I believe was a whistle because not five seconds later, Phoenix came running from the basement door. I smiled and opened my door, "Come here Phoenix!" I called for her. She ran over to me and jumped into my lap.

I immediately closed the door behind her, turning my head forward to see my mother moving to the passenger seat and my father jumping in the driver's seat. The door to my right opened and the guy that was shooting alongside my father was getting into the truck beside me. He was wearing a dark blue hoodie and grey cargo pants, with black ug boots. He had dark hair and tanned skin, his haircut was military style. I became curious, did my father know who this was, was he a former militia? I decided that I would ask questions later.

My father drove down a dirt road, trees being the only thing in sight. He pulled the truck into a gated area, there were multiple storage units stationed in rows in the community. He drove down a row and stopped in front of one unit, CW148 was painted in white letters over the orange paint of the unit. My father turned the truck off and turned to face me.

"Rita, dear. I need you to stay quiet and calm. I know you have a bunch of questions as to what is happening but right now, I need you to be strong, okay?" He said, placing his hand on my shoulder. I nodded my head, "Okay papa, I trust you," I said, getting out of the truck, Phoenix following close behind me.

My father opened the storage unit, leading me inside, my mother, the stranger, and Pheonix behind us. I felt worried about what my father was about to reveal to me. The stranger closed the unit door, and the room became very dark. My father let go of my hand, leaving my side and turning on the light. My eyes widen as I take in the scene in front of me. There were photos, camera monitors, computers, and more.

They all had the same few words on the "Death Cloak; V498 Reset Button"...Reset Button?