✔️ The Unwanted Bride (Book One) **UNDER EDITING**

Man in the Bunker

A huge yawn escapes from my mouth as I cross over a street sidewalk on the other side of town. The lights of town are slowly starting to go out as the town begins to wake up. My heart is still beating from last night as I quietly slip past the buildings into an alleyway. I duck past a window as the light inside flicks on. A child's laugh is heard ever and a mother's sing-songy voice is heard shortly after. I pause for a second to hear the gentle voice, and my heart begins to have a heavy feeling inside of it. A craving for that voice to be directed towards me. I quickly shake that feeling away and continue on my little journey.

At the end of the alleyway, a chain link fence stetches between the walls of buildings. On the bottom left corner, some of the fence is pulled back from years of people sneaking past to get to the outskirts of the town. I squat down, folding the fence back and stepping through. Once through, I let go and it snaps back into place with a slight rattle on the bounce. I stand back up, fixing the strap of me back before continuing on my journey. Right outside of the fence, a steep hill greets me. It is similar to the one back home, but higher, much higher. With a sigh, I begin the climb.

I take careful steps on the way up, but even with much care, lack of soles for my shoes causes me to slip every one an awhile. Although this section has been worn down for the many of times people sneak out of the town, it is still very labor intensive. Soon after my start, I feel tired. Breaths come fill my lungs in a hurry, causing me to cough or wheeze. The rising sun has since broken over the edge of the cliff like hill, making my body heat up. Taking a short stop for a breath, I close my eyes trying to take slow breaths, and once more I begin to climb. Only minutes after the sun has began to light my path, I feel sweat on my brows. My back begins to feel coooler as well. My legs begin to ache, so as a distraction, I stare at the ground. With each upward movement, the grass grows less green. In town, it was still slightly brown and dead from the winter season, but even that appears green to me compared to this grass. Soon, the grass begins to become more sparce, until eventually, it is not there at all. Glancing up, I see only a short little ways ahead is the top of the hill. Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, I push harder until I find myself standing right on the edge, looking out over the remnants of a lost world.

It is flat. Flat and brownish red, like the color of cinnamon. Up here, the everything feels windier, and more dry. Everytime I come, I find myself looking over the land and imagining what it used to look like. I turn to look over my shoulder. The town, the place I call home, is simply a giant hole in the ground, surrounded by this flat, cinnamon land. A hole created by something during the war. Rumors say it was a nuclear warhead, but I do not think we could survive in such a place. I squint as I scan across the hole, then I see it, my little house sticking up above the town. It looks like a speck, like if I rubbed my eyes it would be gone. After taking one last look, I turn away and begin walking into the bland land, clutching the strap of my bag as I go.

I stand in front of a small metal rod sticking out of the ground. Finally, I made it. Kneeling down, I knock onto the ground and a hollow, metal clanking echos back at me. After 30 seconds or so, the metal rod twists and a popping sound follows, indicating the door is now open. I grab the bar and yank it open with a bone chilling creak due to rust. It settles on the ground with a thud and I begin climbing into the hole. Once a little ways in, I grab the door and lock it back, before continuing the descent down. At the bottom of the long staircase, a single light sways slightly, flickering every now and again when the metal ceiling creaks. Once at the bottom, I come to the second door. I grab the handle and open it to a room filled with bright colors and lights.

Stepping in, I feel a wave of relief pass wash over me and I glance up at beautiful twinkling lights hanging above the entryway of the door. Those are new. A loud crash from from the back left of the place and I cannot help but smile as I walk towards it. I walk my way through twists and turns if shelves filled with random items from the old world. Things that the government has tried to get rid of when the war first ended. Most of the things were already destoryed due to the war, but they came in and tried to do a final sweep to get rid of all relics of old. Even then, some things survived, and there were many people who tried to find them and hide them away. This place was one of the hideaways. Once at the back, I peer over the counter to see someone bundled and wrapped in something unknown. I surpress a laugh as I ring an old bell.