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(M/N) was frozen, staring at the screen as the room went into uproar. Questions and demands rang out as they tried to decipher Katsuki's words. "And you... in Thirteen... dead by morning!" Yet no one was asking about the messenger whose blood had been replaced by static.
A voice called the others to attention. "Shut up!" Every pair of eyes fell on Shota. "It's not some big mystery! He was telling us we're about to be attacked. Here. In Thirteen."
"How would he have that information?"
"Why should we trust him?"
"How do you know?
Shota growled in frustration. "They're beating him bloody while we speak. What more do you need? (M/N), help me out here!"
It took (M/N) a moment to find his voice again. "Shota's right. I don't know where Katsuki got the information. Or if it's true. But he believes it is. And they're-" He couldn't say aloud what Nezu was doing to him.
"You don't know him," Shota said to Kaina. "We do. Get your people to safety."
The president didn't seem alarmed, only somewhat perplexed, by this turn of events. She mulled over the words, tapping one finger lightly on the rim of the control board in front of her. When she spoke, she addressed Shota in an even voice. "Of course, we have prepared for such a scenario. Although we have decades of support for the assumption that further direct attacks on Thirteen would be counterproductive to the Capitol's cause. Nuclear missiles would release radiation into the atmosphere, with incalculable environmental results. Even routine bombing could badly damage our military compound, which we know they hope to regain. And, of course, they invite a counterstrike. It is conceivable that, given our current alliance with the rebels, those would be viewed as acceptable risks."
"You think so?" Shota said. It was a shade too sincere, but the subtleties of irony were often wasted in 13.
"I do. At any rate, we're overdue for a Level Five security drill," Kaina said. "Let's proceed with the lockdown." She began to type rapidly on her keyboard, authorising her decision.
Mashirao guided Denki and (M/N) out of Command along the hall to a doorway and on to a wide stairway as the ear-piercing sirens began to sound throughout the complex. Streams of people were converging to form a river that flowed only downward. No one shrieked or tried to push ahead. Even the children didn't resist. They descended, flight after flight, speechless, because no word could be heard above this sound. (M/N) looked for his mother and Eri, but it was impossible to see anyone but those immediately around him. They were both working in the hospital tonight, though, so there was no way they could miss the drill.
Groups of people began to peel off into marked doorways and still Mashirao directed him downward, until finally the stairs ended at the edge of an enormous cavern. (M/N) started to walk straight in and Mashirao stopped him, showing him that he had to wave his schedule in front of a scanner so that he was accounted for. No doubt the information was going to some computer somewhere to make sure no one had gone astray.
The place seemed unable to decide if it was natural or man-made. Certain areas of the walls were stone, while steel beams and concrete heavily reinforced others. Sleeping bunks were cut directly into the rock walls. There was a kitchen, bathrooms, and a first-aid station. This place was designed for an extended stay.
White signs with letters or numbers were placed at intervals around the cavern. As Mashirao told Denki and (M/N) to report to the area that matched their assigned quarters - in (M/N)'s case E for Compartment E - Kan strolled up. "Ah, here you are," he said. Recent events had had little effect on Kan's mood. He still had a happy glow from Tenya's success on the Airtime Assault. Eyes on the forest, not on the trees. Not on Katsuki's punishment or 13's imminent blasting. "(M/N), obviously this is a bad time for you, what with Katsuki's setback, but you need to be aware that others will be watching you."
"What?" (M/N) said. He couldn't believe Kan actually just downgraded Katsuki's dire circumstances to a setback.
"The other people in the bunker, they'll be taking their cue on how to react from you. If you're calm and brave, others will try to be as well. If you panic, it could spread like wildfire," Kan explained. (M/N) just stared at him. "Fire is catching, so to speak," Kan continued, as if (M/N) was just being slow on the uptake.
"Why don't I just pretend I'm on camera, Kan?" (M/N) said.
"Yes! Perfect. One is always much braver with an audience," Kan said. "Look at the courage Katsuki just displayed!"
It took everything in (M/N)'s power not to punch the man.
"I've got to get back to Kaina before lockdown. You keep up the good work!" he said, and then headed off.
(M/N) crossed to the big letter E posted on the wall. Their space consisted of a four-by-four-metre square of stone floor delineated by painted lines. Carved into the wall were two bunks - one of them would be sleeping on the floor - and a ground-level cube space for storage. A piece of white paper, coated in clear plastic, read Bunker Protocol. (M/N) stared fixedly at the little black specks on the sheet. For a while, they were obscured by the residual blood droplets that he couldn't seem to wipe from his vision. Slowly, the words came into focus. The first section was entitled. "On Arrival."
Make sure all members of your Compartment are accounted for.
His mother and Eri had yet to arrive, but he was one of the first people to reach the bunker. Both of them were probably helping to relocate hospital patients.
Go to the Supply Station and secure one pack for each member of your Compartment. Ready your Living Area. Return pack(s).
(M/N) scanned the cavern until he located the Supply Station, a deep room set off by a counter. People waited behind it, but there was not a lot of activity there yet. (M/N) walked over, gave their compartment letter and requested three packs. A man checked the sheet, pulled the specified packs from a shelf, and swung them up onto the counter. After sliding one on his back and getting a grip on the other two with his hands, (M/N) turned to find a group of people rapidly forming behind him. "Excuse me," he said as he tried to carry his supplies through the others. Was it a matter of timing? Or was Kan right? Were these people modelling their behaviour on his?
Back at their space, (M/N) opened one of the packs to find a thin mattress, bedding, two sets of grey clothing, a toothbrush, a comb and a torch. On examining the contents of the other packs, (M/N) found the only discernible difference was that they contained both grey and white outfits. The latter would be for his mother and Eri, in case they had medical duties. After he made up the beds, stored the clothes and returned the backpacks, he had nothing to do but observe the last rule.
Await further instructions.
(M/N) sat cross-legged on the floor to await. A steady flow of people began to fill the room, claiming spaces, collecting supplies. It wouldn't take long until the place was filled up. He wondered if his mother and Eri were going to stay the night wherever the hospital patients had been taken. He doubted it. They were on the list here. He was starting to get anxious, when his mother appeared. (M/N) looked behind her into a sea of strangers. "Where's Eri?" he asked.
"Isn't she here?" she replied. "She was supposed to come straight down from the hospital. She left ten minutes before I did. Where is she? Where could she have gone?"
(M/N) furrowed his brows for a moment, thinking. Imagining Eri react to the sirens, rushing to help the patients, nod as they gesture for her to descend to the bunker, then hesitate with her on the stairs. Torn for a moment. But why?
His eyes widened. "The cat! She went back for him!"
"Oh, no," his mother said. They both knew he was right. They were pushing up against the incoming tide, trying to get out of the bunker. Up ahead, he could see them preparing to shut the big metal doors. Slowly rotating the metal wheels on either side inward. Somehow (M/N) knew that once they had been sealed, nothing in the world would be able to convince the soldiers to open them. Perhaps it would even be beyond their control. (M/N) was indiscriminately shoving people aside as he shouted for them to wait. The space between the doors shrunk to a metre, then half a metre. There were only a few centimetres left when he jammed his hand through the crack.
"Open it! Let me out!" (M/N) cried.
Confusion showed on the soldiers' faces as they reversed the wheels a bit. Not enough to let him pass, but enough to avoid crushing his fingers. He took the opportunity to wedge his shoulder into the opening. "Eri!" he hollered up the stairs. His mother pleaded with the guards as he tried to wriggle his way out. "Eri!"
Then he heard it. The faint sound of footsteps on the stairs. "We're coming!" he heard his sister call.
"Hold the door!" That was Shoto.
"They're coming!" (M/N) told the guards, and they slid the doors open about half a metre. But (M/N) didn't dare move - afraid they would lock them out - until Eri appeared, her cheeks flushed with running, hauling Buttercup. (M/N) pulled her inside and Shoto followed, twisting an armload of baggage sideways to get it into the bunker. The doors were closed with a loud and final clank.
"What were you thinking?" He gave Eri an angry shake and then hugged her, squashing Buttercup between them.
Eri's explanation was already on her lips. "I couldn't leave him behind, (M/N). Not twice. You should have seen him pacing the room and howling. He'd come back to protect us."
"Ok. Ok." (M/N) took a few deep breaths to calm himself. "We're under the big E on the wall. Better get him settled in before he loses it." Eri hurried off, and (M/N) found himself face to face with Shoto. He was holding the box of medical supplies from their kitchen in 12. Site of their last conversation, kiss, fallout, whatever. (M/N)'s game bag was slung across his shoulder.
"If Katsuki is right, these didn't stand a chance," Shoto said.
Katsuki. Blood like raindrops on the window. Like wet mud on boots.
"Thanks for... everything." (M/N) took his stuff. "What were you doing up in our rooms?"
"Just double-checking," Shoto said. "We're in Forty-Seven if you need me."
Practically everyone withdrew to their spaces when the doors shut, so (M/N) went to cross to their new home with at least five hundred people watching him. He tried to appear extra calm to make up for his frantic crashing through the crowd. Like that was fooling anyone. So much for setting an example. Honestly (M/N) didn't care. They all thought he was nuts anyway.
Eri had Buttercup installed on the lower bunk, draped in a blanket so that only his face poked out. This was how he liked to be when there was thunder, the one thing that actually frightened him. (M/N)'s mother put her box carefully in the cube. (M/N) crouched, his back supported by the wall, to check what Shoto managed to rescue in his hunting bag. The plant book, the hunting jacket, (M/N)'s parents' wedding photo and the personal contents of his drawer. His mockingjay pin now lived with Keigo's outfit, but the gold locket and Katsuki's pearl were still there.
The faint sound of the sirens cut off sharply. Kaina's voice came over the district audio system, thanking them all for an exemplary evacuation of the upper levels. She stressed that this was not a drill, as Katsuki Bakugou, the District 12 victor, had possibly made a televised reference to an attack on 13 tonight.
That was when the first bomb hit. There was an initial sense of impact followed by an explosion that resonated in (M/N)'s innermost parts, the lining of his intestines, the marrow of his bones, the roots of his teeth. We're all going to die, he thought. His eyes turned upwards, expecting to see giant cracks racing across the ceiling, massive chunks of stone raining down on them, but the bunker itself gave only a slight shudder. The lights went out and (M/N) experienced the disorientation of total darkness. Speechless human sounds - spontaneous shrieks, ragged breaths, baby whimpers, one musical bit of insane laughter - danced around in the charged air. There was the hum of a generator, and a dim wavering glow replaced the stark lighting that was the norm in 13. It was closer to what they had in their homes in 12, when the candles and fire burned low on a winter's night.
(M/N) reached for Eri in the twilight, clamped his hand on her leg and pulled himself over to her. Her voice remained steady as she soothed Buttercup.
Their mother wrapped her arms around them. (M/N) allowed himself to feel young for a moment and rested his head on her shoulder. "That was nothing like the bombs in Eight," (M/N) said.
"Probably a bunker missile," Eri said, keeping her voice calm for the cat's sake. "We learned about them during the orientation for new citizens. They're designed to penetrate deep in the ground before they go off. Because there's no point in bombing Thirteen on the surface anymore."
"Nuclear?" (M/N) asked, feeling a chill run through his body.
"Not necessarily," Eri said. "Some just have a lot of explosives in them. But... it could be either kind, I guess."
The gloom made it hard to see the heavy metal doors at the end of the bunker. Would they be any protection against a nuclear attack? And even if they were one hundred percent effective at sealing out the radiation, which was really unlikely, would they ever be able to leave this place? The thought of spending whatever remained of his life in this stone vault horrified him. He wanted to run madly for the door and demand to be released into whatever laid above. It was pointless. They would never let him out, and he might start some kind of stampede.
"We're so far down, I'm sure we're safe," his mother said. Was she thinking about his father being blown to nothingness in the mines? "It was a close call, though. Thank goodness Katsuki had the wherewithal to warn us."
The wherewithal. A general term that somehow included everything that was needed for him to sound the alarm. The knowledge, the opportunity, the courage. And something else (M/N) couldn't define. Katsuki seemed to have been waging a sort of battle in his mind, fighting to get the message out. Why? The ease with which he manipulated words was his greatest talent. Was his difficulty a result of his torture? Something more? Like madness?
Kaina's voice, perhaps a shade grimmer, filled the bunker, the volume level flickering with the lights. "Apparently, Katsuki Bakugou's information was sound and we owe him a great debt of gratitude. Sensors indicate the first missile was not nuclear, but very powerful. We expect more will follow. For the duration of the attack, citizens are to stay in their assigned area unless otherwise notified."
A soldier alerted (M/N)'s mother that she was needed in the first-aid station. She was reluctant to leave, even though she would only be thirty metres away.
"We'll be fine, really," (M/N) told her. "Do you think anything could get past him?" He pointed to Buttercup, who gave him such a half-hearted hiss, they all had to laugh a little. (M/N) even felt sorry for him. After his mother left, he said, "Why don't you climb in with him, Eri?"
"I know it's silly... but I'm afraid the bunk might collapse on us during the attack," she said.
If the bunks collapsed, the whole bunker would have given way and buried them, but (M/N) decided this kind of logic wouldn't be helpful. Instead, he cleaned out the storage cube and made Buttercup a bed inside. Then he pulled a mattress in front of it for him and his sister to share.
They were given clearance in small groups to use the bathroom and brush their teeth, although showering had been cancelled for the day. (M/N) curled up with Eri on the mattress, double layering the blankets because the cavern emitted a chill. Buttercup, miserable even with Eri's constant attention, huddled in the cube.
Despite his disagreeable conditions, he was glad to have time with his sister. His extreme preoccupation since he came here - no, since the first Games, really - had left little attention for her. He hadn't been watching over her the way he should have, the way he used to. After all, it was Shoto who checked their compartment, not him. Something to make up for.
(M/N) realised he had never even bothered to ask her about how she was handling the shock of coming here. "So, how are you liking Thirteen, Eri?" he offered.
"Right now?" she asked. They both laughed. "I miss home badly sometimes. But then I remember there's nothing left to miss anymore. I feel safer here. We don't have to worry about you. Well, not the same way." She paused, and then a shy smile crossed her lips. "I think they're going to train me to be a doctor."
It was the first (M/N) had heard of it. "Well, of course they are. They'd be stupid not to."
"They've been watching me when I help out in the hospital. I'm already taking the medic courses. It's just beginner's stuff. I know a lot of it from home. Still, there's plenty to learn," she said.
"That's great," (M/N) said. Eri a doctor. She couldn't even dream of it in 12. Something small and quiet, like a match being struck, lit up the gloom inside him. This was the sort of future a rebellion could bring.
"What about you, (M/N)? How are you managing?" Her fingertips moved in short, gentle strokes between Buttercup's eyes. "And don't say you're fine."
It was true. Whatever the opposite of fine was, that is what (M/N) was. So he went ahead and told her about Katsuki, his deterioration on-screen, and how he thought they were probably killing him at this very moment. Buttercup had to rely on himself for a while, because now Eri turned her attention to (M/N). Pulling him closer. He stopped talking because there wasn't really anything left to say and there was this piercing sort of pain where his heart was. Maybe he was even having a heart attack, but it didn't seem worth mentioning.
"(M/N), I don't think President Nezu will kill Katsuki," she said. Of course she said that; it was what she thought would calm him. But her next words surprised him. "If he does, he won't have anyone left you want. He won't have any way to hurt you."
Suddenly, (M/N) was reminded of another boy, one who had seen all the evil the Capitol had to offer. Neito Monoma, the tribute from District 7, in the last arena. (M/N) was trying to prevent him from going into the jungle where the jabberjays mimicked the voices of loved ones being tortured, but he brushed it off, saying, "They can't hurt me. I'm not like the rest of you. There's no one left that I love."
Then (M/N) knew Eri was right, that Nezu couldn't afford to waste Katsuki's life, especially now, while the Mockingjay caused so much havoc. He killed Keigo already. Destroyed (M/N)'s home. His family, Shoto, and even Shota were out of his reach. Katsuki was all he had left.
"So, what do you think they'll do to him?" (M/N) asked.
Eri sounded about a thousand years old when she spoke.
"Whatever it takes to break you."
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