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She reached down, sifting through the moss and leaves that had grown over most of the opening, blocking the fresh water from entering. Then she scraped away the debris, mud lodging beneath her fingernails.
When she was done, she rinsed her hands in the ice cold water and scanned the brush nearby.
She’d already spotted a couple of rabbits and birds while they were eating. So if she had more energy the next day, maybe she’d try to hunt and get a real meal. The MRE’s had never been her favorite. They reminded her of long, uncomfortable trips with her dad, and she wouldn’t have been surprised if that alone contributed to the nausea she’d felt earlier.
She splashed some of the cold water up onto her face, then stood, making her way back to Maddie.
“Done?” she called out as she approached, watching Maddie leaned back on her palms, sun streaming down across her face.
Maddie nodded. “Feels like it’s been forever since I actually felt full.”
Saff hummed, reaching down to pick up the pot from the ground.
She gathered their things and led them back down into the bunker. The brief trip above ground had already taken a lot out of her, and she wanted to use what little she had left to finish searching the bunker.
Maddie sat in one of the folding chairs at the table, waiting while Saff finished going through all of the containers, then went down the small hall to the back room.
She set one of the lanterns on the floor near the white tiles of the shower area. Then she reached out, pushing down on the pump a few times before turning the nozzle.
A loud groan moved through the pipe, then a second later, water droplets trickled out. She frowned, pumping a few more times.
Then, slowly, a sloshing sound came down through the pipe in the ceiling. Before she could move, it sputtered out onto the white tiled floor in front of her. She reached one hand forward into the stream, then quickly retracted it, shaking the wetness from her fingers.
It was ice cold, but at least it was clean running water. Her father might not have planned for her to be there, but at least he’d thought to make that addition in the bunker. And for that, she was grateful.
Saff turned the nozzle until the water slowed back to a trickle, then wiped the remaining wetness onto the front of her hoodie.
She stepped back, holding the lantern up against the far wall where the dusty weapons hung.
There were seventeen different guns in total, including one shotgun. There were also more grenades and some heavier artillery that he must’ve gotten a long time ago from one of his old military contacts.
But still, the amount didn’t even come close to what their raiding group had collected. And she realized then why he hadn’t gone to the bunker right when the outbreak happened. There weren’t enough supplies down there. It would maybe be enough to last one person a year, if they rationed carefully. But anything longer than that, and he would’ve needed to gather a lot more first.
She wondered if that had been his plan all along. Raiding with his friends—with her—until he had enough to survive there alone for a while.
She picked up the lantern, turning around and walking to the opposite end of the small space, where a clutter of items and boxes sat in a pile unorganized.
She moved some of the boxes, coughing as dust stirred into the air. In one of them, she found clothes. His clothes.
She paused, picking up one of the unfolded shirts.
A shirt from the Marines. His shirt.
She shoved the box aside, and the lantern light shined down on a metal frame behind the boxes.
She held it up, getting a better look.
A second cot.
She stepped around the boxes and picked it up, resting the metal bar on her shoulder before going back into the main area.
Maddie raised her head as she entered. “Find anything good?”
Saff set the cot down on the ground and unfolded it, coughing as more dust rippled out.
“Another cot.”
Maddie brightened at that. “So I don’t need to sleep on the floor tonight?”
