Page 39 of Sixty Meters Under

“We have no idea what’s going on,” Lennart added, turning. He put his headphones down to rest his ears from hissing.

“Wanna sit?” Liam offered his seat to Alice.

“No, I’ll be fine like this.” She approached the table and sat at its edge. Edvin and Mattias seated themselves on the chairs at another table. Liam sat back in his chair and Lennart noticed how Liam had become bothered by Alice’s close proximity.

Edvin spoke up again, “Does this mean the fuckers really kept bombing?”

“It seems so,” Liam replied. “We haven’t been able to solve the problem from the inside. It’s not our system that broke down; the cameras outside are dead too. Also, radiation levels are high, so I think that sums it up.”

“Shit.” Edvin heaved a sigh.

Mattias seemed the most distressed. “What do we do now?”

“Nothing. We’re safe here, so for now we’ll wait.” Liam shrugged.

“We have to wait for the radiation to recede to safe levels, then send a few volunteers to see what it looks like outside of the bunker,” Lennart explained.

“Yeah, but we hope we’ll get some signal before that,” Liam added.

“In short, we’re fucked.”

They all turned to Alice. Liam looked up at her. “We’re prepared to live here for five years at least. Let’s hope the situation stabilizes before we run out of supplies.”

“Very comforting.” She rolled her eyes.

“What else would you want? We have everything we need here. This is actually a great place to be in right now!” Liam said with a grin.

“I know, it’s just–” Alice trailed off and looked away.

“Yeah. I understand.” Liam put his hand on her thigh. Alice stared at him and Lennart expected to see Liam’s hand to be slapped any second. In the meantime, he put his headphones on, and shouted, “Guys, I think I hear something!”

“What!?” Liam pressed a button so they all could hear.

The room was filled with static, but a voice was barely audible in the background. Liam tried to fix the signal, but his efforts resulted in hissing and the voice was lost. “Fuck!” Liam shoutedand punched the machine. A loud thud echoed through the room, and suddenly they could hear the voice more clearly.

I’m stating this again, if anyone can hear me: the world is burning! I repeat, the world is on fire!

They all froze. The voice continued:

—after the second bomb there was a third one and— began to fight back.

“What?” Liam exclaimed, staring at the radio.

The radiation is spreading! Probably thousands… no, millions are dead. I advise all those who are in bunkers to stay hidden. This will not pass in a few days… It will last for months!

All of a sudden, they could hear a different voice with an eerie vibe:

…pray... pray for us all.

Only… only a miracle can save us. The end of the world is near… pray… everyone pray…

Gasps filled the room. Alice wiped tears from her cheeks and Liam pulled her into a hug. Lennart noticed she didn’t protest, and he was glad to see them getting along. Mattias began sobbing as well and buried his face into Edvin’s shoulder.

Lennart remained in his spot and stared at the radio in silent horror.

?

Ayame and Ryosuke were back in their room, the majority of their day spent in the canteen. Today was a day of mourning, but after the latest news the atmosphere was even gloomier.