THE OUTSIDE WORLD | ✔ #ONC2023 Shortlister

Chapter Eleven

She produces a ring of keys from her bag and chooses one with a red mark on it.

"Would you like me to give you a tour, or do you want to settle yourselves in?"

"I think we'll be alright," Gunner replies as Sandra places the keys into his hand.

"Great! If you need anything else, just come over. And if you need to go somewhere, I have a friend who can drive you around."

"Perfect," I say, nodding. "We will be sure to do that."

Sandra excuses herself and leaves back the way we came. Gunner holds up the keys, motioning to the bright teal doorway a few paces away from us.

"Think we'll stay permanently?" I ask, lowering my voice.

"We probably won't know until everything unfolds," he replies, taking my hand as he leads the way to the door. "I just hope this place has the means for us to get this footage to the Bunker."

"Yeah.. Uh, Gunner; we did the right thing by keeping certain details undisclosed, right?"

"Yes, we did the right thing. We don't know who we're dealing with yet and chances are, we'll find answers up here."

I nod, "Okay."

We stop at the front door; Gunner holds up the key with the red mark. And a moment later, we're passing the threshold.

Gunner and I don't spend too much time familiarizing ourselves with our new habitat. We've holed up in the main room with a large sofa and a settee, and the biggest projector screen I have ever seen. It's even bigger than the one from Surface Work orientation. The room is familiar, very much like the rooms we left behind.

"Look at what I found in the office," Gunner says as he enters from the connecting room. "It's brand new too."

"What is it?" I ask as he joins me on the floor between the larger sofa and the center table.

"Portable computer. The box is sealed; whoever owns it didn't even open it."

He pulls out his pocket knife and slices through the plastic wrapping. Within minutes, Gunner is connecting a power cable and turns on the device.

"Completely untouched," he says with a smile. "Riv, I think we've found our way to send messages to Delgado."

"And you've used one of these things before, when?"

"Coding class, school elective. My dad wanted me to work for the Control Centers."

"Did not know that... How will this help us get the footage to Delgado?"

He starts typing into a command window. The only words I understand are "contact Alison", "Clarissa Delgado," and "Bunker Mayor Bennett".

"Got her," Gunner says, his tone triumphant as a video feed of Clarissa and Dani appears on the computer screen.

"Alison chose a resourceful pair," she says as Dani scoots out of the frame. "Barton, Westmore; what are your findings?"

"Paradise," I reply as Gunner connects his head camera. "Our current location has not seen war in years."

"Any chance you know where you are located?"

"No, we didn't see anything that would tell us those specifics."

"And we didn't exactly ask," Gunner adds, holding up the camera. "We have some footage for you. I'm working on sending it to you now."

I'm still confused about how Gunner knows what to do. The school elective and his explanation makes perfect sense. But-

"We've kept your identity anonymous until we can find someone connected to John Bennett or Alison," I say, watching the screen as Gunner sends our bulk of footage through a messaging software. "Whoever initiated Exit Protocol might not be here at all. Could be somewhere else."

"Or they are very good at staying hidden," Clarissa says with a sigh. "Good work, you two. Keep capturing as much video footage as you can. If you can get people to smile for the camera, Alison can confirm the identity of the person who activated the protocol... Where did you find the computer you're using?"

"In the house we're borrowing," Gunner replies, picking up the empty box he took the computer from. "You'll see the woman we spoke to in one of the clips. She gave us permission to be here."

"Good, stay there until I can figure out your next step. Be safe."

The video call disconnects and Gunner turns off the computer.

[wordcount:1270]