Page 20 of Sixty Meters Under

Ryosuke hated to sleep in public places and didn’t like the loss of control in unfamiliar surroundings. But there wasn’t an option to return to the comfort of his space. Ryosuke let this information sink in, but a part of his mind refused to let it.

?

Lennart and Liam monitored the situation at the bunker’s entrance when they heard the doorbell buzz. Both turned their heads at the same time, but Lennart went to answer it and was greeted by three familiar faces.

“Hey, Lenny!”

“Hey, guys!” Lennart smiled and stepped to the side. The trio greeted him and entered one by one.

“Ooo, there’s our team!” Liam grinned when he saw their friends.

A young woman, with long black hair caught in a ponytail, entered first. “Hey, Liam! What’s up?” She sat in the armchair next to the table. She was the bunker’s hairdresser.

“Hey, Alice, babe!” Liam followed her with his gaze then looked at the couple who entered after her.

Two young men seated themselves on the couch. One was an interior designer and another maintenance technician; both had helped Lennart in the process of the bunker’s renovation.

“I see Liam’s here first. Like always,” One of them commented.

“Well, of course, Edvin. There’s no one to hold me back,” Liam said with a wink.

The other young man rolled his eyes. “Well, we’re here, aren’t we?”

“I’m not saying anything, Matty. I’m just glad the end of the world didn’t come while you were still out.”

“What’s this, the kettle calling the pot black?” Mattias said, irritated. Edvin glanced at him, put his hand on his knee, and lightly squeezed.

Matthias turned to Edvin. “What?”

“Calm down.”

“He got his period?” Liam asked, laughing. Mattias shot him a glare.

“Boys, boys, calm down.” Lennart intervened.

“We’re cool, Lenny. We’re just chatting,” Liam said and raised his hands, feigning innocence.

“We’re just tired,” added Edvin, releasing a heavy sigh.

“So, what now? What’s next?” Alice asked, looking at Lennart then at her other friends.

“For now, we’re settling in. We need to wait until everyone arrives. Tomorrow Hugo will call a meeting, and we’ll go over all the house rules so we can start functioning as normally as we can.”

Chapter 7

Lennart sat in the room at the top level of the bunker, looking through the papers. His eyes were glued to the list of residents, when he asked: “So, who else needs to arrive?”

“Two families from Japan. Seven people, to be precise. They should arrive together,” Anna said as she looked up from her laptop. She had arrived without further complications after the accident. Now, when she was rested, she took it upon herself to recheck who had arrived and who hadn’t.

Lennart ran his fingers over his chin thoughtfully. “Did they contact us? Does Hugo have any information about them?”

“He said he got an email from Miss... I can’t remember her name,” Anna muttered and looked at the list once more, before adding, “Miss Ayame Nakashima.”

“They are on the way?”

“Yes. Hugo told me she sent an email. Their flight was delayed, but they’re on their way. The family from China arrived about two hours ago; they’ll probably be here soon.”

Lennart looked back on the list before pushing it aside and sighing.