Chapter 79 We did it!

We are all aghast to see how the bandits" bodies dance by the incessant gunfire from the turrets as they are shot into ribbons. The bandits that are behind the line just screamed as the men who proceeded inside the borderline piled dead, blood spilled in the dry desert land in front of the main front vault door of the facility. All of us, fear-stricken, went silent as we watched the horrifying view and the blood-curdling sound of the turret gunfire that killed, as I estimate, twenty people that had entered its range.
I feel like my heart"s going to explode any moment as I look at the faces of the bandits that are still standing behind the line, watching their men being slaughtered in front of them. But they still remained standing there, not moving so we couldn"t get out of the vehicle and see if there were guards in front of the facility.
Jayson, with shivering fingers, pushed some buttons again on the panel and the holographic image of the map turned all green, as the radio made a static sound and a voice was heard from it, calling from inside the facility.
Jayson"s eyes are wide, and his lips are partly open as if he"s in a state of shock.
"This is from Bunker twenty-eight! I repeat this is from Bunker twenty-eight. Please state your concern about entering this bunker!" the low voice asked in a firm tone, his voice sounded like it was booming in my ears. After the gunshots had stopped, all of us, wide-eyed with fear, had just leaned against the wall of the armored car, unable to believe that we had made it into the boundary of the bunker. Even Jayson was silent the whole minute, his breathing fast as if he ran a mile rather than driving a heavy car.
Cold sweat ran down from my forehead down to my jaw, my hair sticking on my face. My attention was caught when Timothy and the others decided to stand from being crouched down on the floor. The two boys, Timothy and Li, did a good job of taking care of Roanie and Mona while Greg is touching his belly, looking green and weak in the rear of the car. He looked at us with weary eyes, making me think if he had vomited even his intestines on the way his face looked so pale.
Mona pulled from Li"s hold and moved to help Greg. It"s really in her nature to help those who don"t feel well and we are thankful she"s brave enough no matter how bad or disgusting it looks. She"s never the kind of a girl that gets repelled that easy.
Roanie is brave enough to handle a Creeper but in a situation like this, it seems she couldn"t handle the pressure and the adrenaline like us. I can"t blame her. It"s the first time she encountered such a death-defying stunt like this together with Greg and me and the others are so used to but I can"t deny the fact that I am still scared to the bone when the bandits started firing explosives at us.
"Wow, Li! New record! You didn"t throw up!" Timothy tried to break the grave silence with humor by making fun of Li while he brushed the dirt off his pants that were from the floor.
"Wow, Timothy! New record! You didn"t pee in your pants!" Li sarcastically snorted at Timothy and we all laughed but the fear and the adrenaline were still in our veins and the humor felt good after we had survived getting out of the enemy"s camp.
"What now, Jayson?" Li asked him as he stepped into the cockpit, taking a peek at Jayson"s still shocked face, not believing he had delivered us all to safety. The voice from the radio was still speaking and because he was still in shock, Jayson still couldn"t move before the man behind that voice hung the call. I ran towards the cockpit and snatched the radio from his hand.
He got startled when I spoke, "This is Harriet Collins from Bunker four. We"re requesting that you open the vault door and let us in. We had the permission of the leader of that bunker and we are sent here with the son of the CEO of The Flitzenberg Companies, Timothy Flitzenberg."
A static noise again and then I heard a sharp tone from the other line. When I look at the right side of the car, the bandits are still there, standing like they are waiting for the door to be opened. But why? They wouldn"t be able to enter it anyway.
I guess they are curious about what is inside the vault door.
I somehow feel pity for all these people. They all just wanted to have equal rights and be saved by the government even if they are not Arcanian residents. Even if they are from countries that need more of the world"s attention because of the fact that they couldn"t even eat three times a day.
I wonder if these people are aware of the havoc they have caused on this land, though. But just looking at their faces, I don"t think they are the ones who are involved in making those bioweapons that almost wiped out the population of this continent. Why were people all forced to hide under the bunkers and leave their houses, their belongings, the life they used to have.
But I guess, this world was just made to fight each other"s differences and I couldn"t blame them for being like this nor the New Arcanian Government. I just have the fact that so many innocent lives had been lost because of this war and I know for sure that the leader of this bunker doesn"t want to spread more blood in this rocky desert because if he did, he would have probably wiped out all of these men that camped out here. Maybe he"s just letting them stay because he knows that these people are just blinded by the idealism of the Scarlet Tundra and that taking them in would only give them a huge risk by betraying the people of the bunker and letting in the bandits.
So they must have just decided to let them stay outside but with limits for precaution just like these giant turrets up the thick gates of the facility.
"Are you okay?" I ask Jayson who is silently watching me. He shook his head as if trying to regain his control back and wake up from being shocked. His green eyes look blank like he"s dumbstruck by something. "Did you hit your head?"
"N-No, sorry." He replied, touching his head and I wonder if his ears are still ringing because of the explosion and the adrenaline. "I"m sorry I just couldn"t believe—"
I leaned over to him and embraced him, my eyes all teary and I suddenly felt him shudder under me, his shoulders shaking as he silently sobbed. I hushed him as I caressed his wavy dark hair and he wrapped his arms around my boy, trying to hold on to the comfort that I am giving him. Li and Timothy moved towards us and embraced us both into a group hug then came Roanie and Mona. Greg just stood behind us and watched us smiling, his face still white as a paper and his eyes red, just trying to prevent himself from bursting into tears.
"You did it... you actually did it, bro!" Li cried while hugging both me and Jayson, all of us couldn"t believe that we were still alive, whole and kicking!
A blaring sound coming from inside the vault almost deafened us as I and the others moved to look at the window and see what was happening. The lights from the upper part of the thick concrete Gate beamed towards the sky like spotlights on the clouds and then spotlights lighted down, all concentrated in our direction. Jayson had to cover his face from the light because it was too blinding. And then the radio gave out a static noise again and someone spoke from the other line.
"This is Col. Hera of Bunker, twenty-eight. I request you to proceed slowly when the vault starts to open. We welcome you here, heroes of Zone four."
Then we heard something heavy being moved and the clanging of metal of the vault as it slowly opened. The front door of the facility has a height of I guess twenty meters tall, and fifteen meters wide. It is three times larger than the facility of bunker four and a strong fortress against the enemies. It is understandable that this bunker is the first thing that the high-profiled people chose to seek shelter here, including Timothy"s father, the richest man alive in the continent of Arcania.
It"s embarrassing that Timothy is always our ticket to safety when entering places like these.
"Here we go, guys! The Bunker Twenty-Eight!" Jayson exclaimed as he put his hands again on the wheels, his feet slightly pushing the gas so we could move inside the opening door, while I watched the men who, just a few hours ago, were chasing us and wanted us to kill.
"Let"s go..." I whispered.