A Flash of Red

Chapter Two

Harry

When I was younger, I had auditioned for the school play, Oliver!. I was nine and excited and nearly sure I would get the leading role of the orphan boy. My mother must've been driven crazy with my endless renditions and practicing of "Who Will Buy." I reeked of confidence when I walked out onto the stage and thought that there was no way they could say no to me. But I didn't get the part. I didn't even get ensemble. I was crushed. I cried the whole way home and went straight to my room. I didn't eat dinner that night even after my mom had made my favorite meal at the time, mac n' cheese with cut up hot dogs.

She came up about an hour and a half later. She knocked lightly on my door, using only one or two knuckles.

"Harry?" She said it quietly, not quite whispering but not quite speaking at a normal volume either.

"Mmpf," I grunted in reply.

"Can I come in?"

"I guess."

She slowly opened the door to reveal her wearing her reading glasses around her neck and holding a plate of microwaved food leftover from the dinner I hadn't eaten.
"I thought you'd be hungry."

"And I thought that I would've been Oliver." I crossed my arms over my chest and sniffed.

"I know you did."

"Singing is stupid anyway."

"Now don't say that."

"They gave the part to Tyler! Tyler isn't even in the school chorus! They only gave it to him because he was blonde," I spit out. "It's not fair, Mum!"

"I know it's not. But I'll let you in on a little secret." She looked around as if to make sure that no one was listening and then leaned in closer to me. "Life isn't fair," she whispered.

I groaned. This wasn't the first time she had told me this. I thought a lot of things weren't fair at that age. Like how Gemma was able to go on certain rides that I was too short for or how my cousin, Grant, was able to have extra dessert when I wasn't.

"Everything happens for a reason, Harry."

"Okay and?"

"And when God shuts a door he opens a window."

I think about that moment a lot. Whenever a door was shut on me, I'd hear my mother's voice telling me to look for a window.

The literal door may have been shut on the bunker, but I had just found a piece of paper that had been a window in disguise.

I glanced at the clock. 7:36AM. If there was a time to do this, now was it.

No one would wake up for a while. With no windows or sources of natural light in the bunker, you had no way of knowing when it was morning. Sometimes we slept until 2PM without realizing it, which was normal for Niall but late for everyone else.

I slowly crept down the ladder of my bunk where I had been waiting for the last five and a half hours. It was hard to keep quiet as my whole body was shaking with vibrating anticipation. I couldn't wake Paul or Rick or Al. I couldn't wake the other boys. That part was the hardest. Not in terms of how heavy they slept, but in the sense that I felt guilty taking this chance and not letting them bask in the sky's light with me. I owed them everything. But it was too risky.
I listened to the sounds of everyone's breathing and strained to make sure there were no heavy footsteps on the ground above.

I quickly pulled off the shirt I had been sleeping in and pulled on a plain black t-shirt and black skinny jeans. I silently cursed at myself for not bringing something easier to run in, but then again I wasn't exactly aware that I would later be in this position when I had packed. Thinking about the temperature outside in the early morning, I pulled on a maroon crew neck sweatshirt over my t-shirt. I slipped on a pair of socks and quickly tied my white chucks. I ran my fingers through my hair, making myself look presentable for who I wasn't sure. There was nobody up there.