“This is insane.” Zelda looked dumbfounded.
“Yeah, man. Is doomsday prepping like your hobby or something?” Titus asked.
She was so accustomed to this being her hobby that she’d forgotten it wasn’t exactly a normal thing to do. Most people went to the beach during their time off, or hung out with friends – drinks at the bar and all that. But the Test had changed her, Thorne knew. How could she relax after the things she’d seen? How could she just trust that humanity would continue as normal and not break down into another world-rending war? No, some scars couldn’t be forgotten. She’d seen the world go to shit once before. If ever it happened again, well, she’d made sure she would be ready.
“With the situation we’re in right now, I’d say it worked out,” she said, sparing them the sorry backstory.
Kaiden nodded. “Can’t argue with that.”
Thorne smirked, then pointed out the last feature of the bunker. Cut into the wall between the kitchen and dining room was an in-set doorway.
“Hallway to the bedrooms and bathrooms,” she said. “Nothing fancy. Two in total with bunk beds in each. They’re bolted in place so there wasn’t much I could do about swapping them out, but I did update the mattresses, at least. They’re... almost comfortable.”
“Do the spiders get in frequently?” Titus asked with a shudder, still pulling webs from his face and neck.
“Just the small ones,” Thorne said. “Though those are the most venomous.”
“Well, that’s just fine. You know, I’ve always wanted to die in some random swamp via spider bite.”
“Oh, and make sure to check the toilets before you use them. Found a frog or two in there before…” She felt herself frown. “Still can’t figure out how they’re getting inside…” Bothersome little things had been plaguing her since day one.
She shook the thought away and looked back up at the wanted fugitives she was bringing into her emergency shelter.
“So... what do you say? Think this’ll do the job?”
Kaiden shook his head disbelievingly.
“Seems as good a place as any to bring down the Party, I guess.” He shook his head again. “Home sweet swamp bunker.”
Chapter Five
As it happened, the bunker wasn’t so bad – for a place in the middle of a swamp and all.
Kaiden found himself pleasantly surprised. It took a few days to get the bunker fully functioning – not that they were in any particular hurry. Titus had died in their battle against the Voidlord and still had a few days left on his respawn timer. It gave them plenty of time to plot and plan while they fixed up the bunker.
All in all, Thorne had kept it in good shape. Even still, it had needed a bit of work before going fully online. The tech side was the most important to cover. They had to double check the internet connection was secure and ensure the system was holding a stable connection that would support four people online at once.
There were also more mundane things, like figuring out sleeping arrangements and rationing the food responsibly. Through it all, Kaiden kept a close watch on Thorne. She hadn’t given them a reason yet to distrust her, and considering Zelda and Titus had agreed to let her watch Bernstein’s message, it seemed like she was becoming part of the team. But that was a ruse; he knew it was. He’d let her get comfortable. If she was comfortable, she’d be more likely to make a mistake. To slip up and reveal what she was truly after.
“The AFBS can only be accessed from the heart of Warden Headquarters. Now, I doubt the Warden Corps would react kindly to my request to borrow their system for a quick broadcast. That’s why I – er, I guess now you – have to take it by force,” Bernstein’s video message repeated. Kaiden stared across the bunker’s table to where Thorne was seated. She nodded, apparently taking in everything Bernstein had said.
“I caught bits of it when waking up in the van but really wasn’t cognizant enough to understand it all,” she said, shooting an annoyed glance at Titus. Still sore about being stunned, undoubtedly. Probably that hadn’t felt very good, Kaiden thought, remembering when he’d been tazed by the rebels.
“If keeping my gun makes you feel safer, that’s fine,” Thorne said to Titus. “But in the interest of us working together, don’t shoot me with it again, yeah?”
The big man shrugged. “Don’t give me a reason to.”
“All right, all right. Everyone play nice,” Kaiden said, giving them both stern looks. “We’ve agreed to join forces for the time being – as strange as that feels. But if this is going to work, we need to be focused on the same objective, not picking at one another.” He looked at Titus. “Let’s not stun Thorne again.” He turned to Thorne next. “Please don’t give us a reason to stun you.”
“Seriously, though,” Zelda added. “We don’t have time to bicker, especially not with what I’m seeing online. The Party’s stepped up their raids, searching for us no doubt. And word is there’s a blanket curfew on the way. That’s just speculation for now, but I wouldn’t put it past them.”
“No, that sounds right,” Thorne said, leaning back in her chair and blowing out a breath. “Moran’s sure to be pissed the database slipped through his fingers. If anything, this is just the beginning. The longer we hold the database, the more pressure he’ll feel. His actions are only going to get more and more severe in response.”
That doesn’t sound good. Kaiden frowned. “How severe are we talking here?”
Thorne crossed her arms.
“Hard to say exactly, but if his shadow government is as powerful as he implied it was, then he can bring to bear the full power of the Party. And I don’t see why he would hesitate to do so, considering that database,” she nodded to the hard drive at the center of the table, “will bring down
