The Bunker

The gray sky churns, and rain comes down in sparse, heavy drops. I can feel the wind through my threadbare coat. We can't spend another night outside.

It's been about five months since people started getting sick. Some kind of flesh-eating bacteria that targets the brain. It took over people's bodies, like that fungus that hijacks carpenter ants and turns them into empty husks. They were the hosts, and they spread it to the rest of us with their bite. No one ever figured out why. Everything fell apart so fast.

The bacteria ate away at their gray matter until there was almost nothing left. They retained basic motor functions but the human part was gone. Or at least I hope so. They don't sleep. They don't feel pain. They don't stop moving. All they do is eat. It doesn't matter what, as long as it's alive.

I joined up with some people from my apartment building when everything went to hell. We pooled our supplies, commandeered an abandoned school bus, and got the fuck out of the city.

Luka and I are the only ones left.

We come to the edge of the woods. It's a relief - leaves are starting to fall and we need to travel silently. We duck behind a pair of trees and peek around. There's a little white house and a barn. I can see from here that all the doors are open.

"What do you think?"

"I don't know." He sighs. "It's probably been cleaned out already, and who knows what's waiting in there. It might be a trap."

"Yeah, you're right. But I still want to get closer, just a little bit. We haven't seen a house in weeks. There might be something worth the trouble."

"Maybe just a little closer. At least the doors are open, as ominous as that is."

"Right. Let's do it."

We sneak through the open field with our weapons out and ready. Thunder rolls somewhere far away. No one's spotted us yet, but it wouldn't be long.

"Psst! Dorothy!" Luka whispers. "Come here!"

I creep over. There's some kind of vault buried in the dirt. It looks like a submarine.

"It's a bomb shelter," he says. "We could make camp here."

"What if there's already someone in there?"

"There's only one way to find out."

"What if someone locked in a bunch of zombies?"

"I'm tired of this shit. I'm tired of running, I'm tired of everything. I'm like two days away from lying down in this field and letting them have me. So let's take a chance. If it goes bad, then it goes bad. We're on borrowed time anyway."

I'm silent for a moment.

"Go ahead. Open it."

At first Luka struggles to get the wheel moving but finally it comes unstuck. He turns with his entire body. The metal screams. I'm very aware of how exposed we are.

"Hurry," I whisper.

There's movement inside the house.

"Hurry hurry hurry."

A decomposing figure stands in the doorway

"Fuck! Luka, they're coming! Go!"

"Almost got it..."

It runs toward us. Chunks of crumbling flesh fall off and litter the grass.

"Luka!"

"Got it!"

We dive inside and Luka slams the door behind us. I fall down the stairs and hit the dirt floor. I groan and rub my knee.

I take out my flashlight and look around while Luka makes sure the hatch is sealed. There's a bed, latrine, and shelves packed with supplies. A lantern hangs from the ceiling. It still works. I start rifling through the boxes.

"Holy shit. This is not happening."

There's food, bottled water, men's clothes, batteries, toothpaste. I can't even remember the last time I brushed my teeth and now it's all I want to do.

"We really could stay here," Luka says.

"There has to be a catch. No way."

"I don't think there is." He runs his finger over the shelf and inspects the dust. "I think we just won the lottery."

I gargle with mouthwash and spit into the spotless latrine. Luka drops his backpack, kicks off his boots, and climbs under the musty blankets. I turn and stare with my mouth hanging open.

"Oh. My. God. A bed!" I strip off my damp, filthy clothes. My bra and underwear are so worn they're virtually translucent. "I've been dreaming about this every night. Literally."

Luka politely averts his eyes as I crawl into bed with him. I get under the covers and sigh deeply.

"Ahhh. This is better than sex,"

"Um."

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I embarrassing you?"

I hit him with the pillow.

"Geez, leave me alone. I'm trying to sleep. You should try it."

"That's a good idea."

Luka lets me have the pillow. He undresses under the sheets and throws his clothes on the ground. I catch a brief glimpse of him when the blanket rises. We lie with our backs to each other and try to fall asleep.

My body is exhausted but his presence so close to me is distracting. I can feel his electricity.

I turn my head. I see the outline of his profile in the dim light.

"Luka? Do you want to share the pillow?"

"Yeah, sure. Thanks."

He rolls over and cozies up against me. One arm threads the space between the pillow and my shoulder. The other wraps around my chest. He's warm.

Out of nowhere, I start to cry. I cover my face in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why this happening."

"It's okay, don't apologize. We've been through a lot. It had to come out eventually."

"I'm not sure why it picked this particular moment, though. Ugh."

"It's because we're safe here. We're someplace you can let down your guard."

It's Luka who makes me feel safe.

I lightly move my hips against his crotch, just hard enough that it could be an accident. His body stiffens but he doesn't move away. I speed up and his breathing gets heavy. I feel him get hard. He rests his lips against the back of my shoulder and holds me tight.

I reach back and feel his ass through his boxers. He wraps his legs around mine and presses against me. He feels my breasts and slips his hand under my bra. I reach back to find his face. We kiss. It feels natural.

He takes off my underwear first, then his. We've seen each other undressed before, but we never really looked.

He lies next to me and caresses my breasts. We kiss. I run my hands over his back and turn my hips into him. I throw my leg over his ass and grind against him.

"I want you inside me," I whisper.

I kiss his neck. I kiss his throat.

"If you get pregnant, you're dead. We've barely survived as it is."

"It's okay." I kiss his chest and twirl the hair between my fingers. "I haven't gotten my period since this thing started. I'm pretty sure that would be impossible."

He doesn't take much convincing. I press my fingers into his back as he enters me. Our legs tangle. We hold each other, taste each other, explore each other. I bury my face in his neck to stifle my cries. He lies on top of me and brushes my hair out of my face. He angles his hips to stimulate my clitoris.

"I want to feel you cum," he says.

I climax. Luka covers my mouth with his hand so they won't hear me outside. Basking in the afterglow, I lie happily on his chest. He doesn't finish.

I kiss his stomach and prop myself up on the pillow.

"What if we could build a whole life here? Do more than just survive?"

Luka gives me a pained look.

"We can't. You know that. There's no future. Not anymore."

"I know. I know."

"What I know is that I want to be with you until it's all over."

I climb into his lap. He kisses my breasts and teases me until I'm wet again. We fuck passionately. He cums inside me. We lie together on the wet sheets, our bodies intertwined, and fall asleep.

I wake up to a heavy banging sound right outside the door. I shake Luka awake.

"It's okay." He kisses my head and strokes my hair. "They can't get down here. Just stay still."

The noises get louder and the ground seems to tremble. I squeeze his hand.

"They can't. Did you see how long it took me to open that thing? Do you think they know how to turn a wheel?"

The hatch starts to creak and groan. I shriek.

"Oh my God, oh my God..."

Luka kisses me and he puts everything into it. I feel like my heart has been ripped out.

He reaches down and takes a knife from his pocket. The door buckles and shakes. He holds the blade to my throat. A single tear rolls down my cheek.

"I love you," he says.

Sunlight streams through the widening gaps. The metal makes a sickening sound as it breaks.

"I love you too. It's okay."

The door flings open and a mass of squirming, putrefying bodies pours down the stairs. Luka starts to sob and everything goes black.