Three Years In The Bunker

Eden walked into the kitchen and saw Rachel sitting on the couch. She seemed distant, she was just staring into space without any real expression on her face.

She was still having a hard time after coming off the Bliss. If Eden was being honest, she didn't think Faith was going to be able to come out of it.

Eden was an addict. She was hooked on drugs and alcohol years and years ago, but after she left Klaus she tried to get clean. She wound up slipping back into it a couple of times until she got to Montana.

Although it seems like it wouldn't have taken that long, Eden was wandering around homeless and hooked on some pretty bad shit for over a year. Then when she reached Montana it was a whole new ball game. She was living on the street, winter had been brutal, Eden had no money and even less luck. She was all out of options.

She was camped out by a store in a small town when she was given a few bills by a passerby. She was grateful, but when she checked the bills she realized that the person had accidentally given her a 100 dollar bill, rather than 2 10s.

She thought about keeping it, but she figured that whoever gave her that was going to need it just like she would so she chased after the person that gave her the money.

And that's how she met Hope County's Sheriff Earl Whitehorse.

Whitehorse was grateful to her for returning the money, and after a hot coffee and a while spent chatting he decided to give her a chance at redemption. The rest is history.

Whitehorse's only condition was that Eden couldn't turn back to any substances. If she stayed clean then she had a job with the Hope County Sheriff's Department. So she did. It was unbelievably hard, but the thought of sleeping out on the streets again...that sent a chill up Eden's spine.

So Eden finally got clean, she was about 6 months sober when she first came to Hope County. It felt like ages ago now. Everything that felt so world domineering then was such a minuscule memory now. That was something Eden could never get used to in the bunker, the fact that time moved so slowly and yet they've already been here for over 3 years.

It was hard to cope with something like that. The ghosts of her past cling to her even though she tried to let them go. As time went on, her grief became guilt that grabbed ahold of her, each passing minute it held on tighter and tighter.

    After so long in the same bunker, everyone else was getting a little stir crazy. It was hard to sit with yourself all day long.

"Do you think there's anything still out there?" Rachel asked Eden, her eyes remained glazed over as she spoke, as if she weren't really in the room.

Eden pondered her question for a minute. Obviously she wanted to believe that some people survived and that they were rebuilding, but was that really possible?

"I don't know." Eden admitted. "It depends on who survived, but I'd like to hope that there are still people out there surviving." Rachel looked down at her hands in her lap, silent.

"How have you been able to handle it? The silence? The isolation? How can you even sit here without breaking down?" Rachel asked, emotion creeping up into her words as she looked over at Eden.

Eden and Rachel locked eyes, Rachel's trembling gaze meeting Eden's. She knew that Rachel was unstable, she also knew what that expression was screaming out even if Rachel wasn't saying anything.

"In the beginning I didn't know how to handle myself, I was trapped in my own head with no way out. I couldn't cope. And I tried everyday to find someway to end my suffering. But I never found it." Faith stayed focused on Eden's words as she spoke.

     "What stopped you?" Rachel asked her.

     Eden paused again. She knew the answer, but part of her didn't know what she should say.

     "Was it Jacob?" Rachel asked, noticing the hesitation in Eden's eyes.

     Eden looked away from Rachel and eyed her hands. "No matter what I tried, he was always there to stop me somehow." She admitted. "I don't even know why he did it, a part of me feels like I should've died with the rest of the world. I feel like an imposter in my own life."

     "You don't have your own life when the Seeds are involved." Rachel stated numbly, Eden looked over and saw her staring off into the distance again. "They take it over, every inch. Like a vine creeping it's way to your throat, they choke you out until there's nothing left to do but die."

     Eden neck seemed to throb at that statement. It was a long time ago, but somehow one sentence just brought the pain back.

Another silence settled between the two of them. Neither of them really knew what to say, or how to try saying it. Then Rachel stood up unexpectedly and left the room, leaving Eden to sit there with herself.

She say by herself for a while, just thinking. Thinking about what was going to be waiting when those bunker doors opened. She had no idea how long they'd already been down here and she had no idea how much longer they'd be in there.

Their food was dwindling. That much she knew. But she had no idea how long they'd be able to stretch, they were all trying to wait as long as they could before eating, and then only eating enough to keep them going. Everyone was getting fatigued, they were all tired and pale and ready to leave. But they had no idea what was out there, or if there was even anything left.

She tried not to let it get to her head, it wasn't like there was anything she could do about it. She just had to stay calm and let the cards fall.

Eden got up off the couch and walked to go to her room. She passed the door to the room next to Eden's where John and Joseph slept. Faith had moved to the medical room to get some space away from everyone and Jacob had moved to the weapons room a long time ago.

     She glanced through the window of the closed door and saw Joseph and John talking. Joseph was standing by one of the beds while John paced back and forth. The room was soundproof so Eden couldn't hear what they were talking about, but John seemed frustrated. He kept making big motions with his hands and pointing at Joseph and the door.

     He looked at the door and saw Eden looking in. This didn't seem to help his mood. Eden looked away and took a few more steps down the hallway to get to her room.

     The air was hot, dense, and dry. Everything in sight for miles was dry and covered in sand. Dunes formed and deflated, directions became skewed. Wind swept by, kicking up sand and dirt into the air. The heat of the sun was inescapable, nothing could possibly beat it's rays back.

     Two people sat around the smouldering remnants of a campfire. When you looked closely, you could tell that they were US soldiers. They had been cooked by the harsh desert heat, their skin was red from the constant beating of the sand.

     Jacob Seed lifted his head, eyes squinting to keep out the desert dust and the blinding sun. It was undoubtedly him, but much younger. He looked across the fire at the man sitting opposite of him. Miller.

     Jacob realizes where he is. The sickly feelings of regret and fear stir in the pit of his stomach. He's aware of what's happening around him, but he can't do anything to control himself.

     He remembers this moment.

     It was many many years ago, way before he even reconnected with Joseph and John.

     He remembers feeling this young and strong, but it's like all of the energy in his body has been totally zapped.

     Jacob looks at Miller again. He's sleeping, trying to mindlessly pass the time he spends in this horrid place. He's open, asleep, and vulnerable.

     Jacob remembers the feeling of paranoia and confusion creeps back in his memory. His whole body throbs with fear of what's coming.

     His mind goes dark, literally. It's like everything around him is hidden in a dark fog. He slowly rises to his feet, carefully as to not wake Miller up.

     He takes a step closer to Miller, then another, and another.

     Jacob's heartbeat reverberates throughout his skull. His hands shake as he tries to suppress his breathing. What is he doing? What is he doing?

     Miller wakes up.

     He looks around, then up at Jacob as he looms over him. "Whatcha doing, Seed?" He asks him strangely.

     Jacob locks eyes with Miller. His only friend. The one person that understands what goes through Jacob's mind.

     And then he lurches down and wraps his hands around Miller's neck.

     He barely has the strength to keep his hands gripped around Miller's neck, but he holds him tight as Miller kicks and fights back.

     Miller beats against Jacob, his screams being muffled by Jacob's hands around his neck. He grabs Jacob's sleeves and tries to yank him off of him. But there's no use.

     Tears form in Jacob's eyes as he grits his teeth. He squeezes his eyes shut and tightens his grip.

     The sand beneath his body begins to solidify but Jacob doesn't falter with his grip. He doesn't notice the change.

Jacob's prey stops fighting back. He won. Jacob opened his eyes.

He looked down and saw Eden instead of Miller. Her eyes were open but they were dark and glazed over, tear tracks ran down the side of her head. Her neck was already beginning to bruise.

     Jacob fell backwards and stared at Eden's body. His chest was so heavy he could barely breathe. He began hyperventilating, the world around him seemed to spin as he focused more intently on Eden's face.

Gently, her head tilted towards him, her unfocused eyes seemingly trained on him. Her lips began to move, followed by a harsh whisper.

"Liar."

Jacob woke up in a cold sweat. He shot straight up in his bed, letting out a yell as he sat up.

He felt his bed move and his head whipped to his side. He looked down and realized he was in bed with someone.

"Jacob?" They groggily woke up, mumbling his name as they did.

Jacob reached next to him and flicked on the lamp sitting next to his bed.

A messy mop of brown hair sat up next to him and rubbed their eyes. They opened their eyes and Jacob instantly realized. He knew those eyes anywhere.

Eden looked at him sleepily. "Did you have a nightmare again?" She asked him, Jacob still didn't have a reply. He was still gathering himself after his dream.

Eden gazed at him as he looked around the room. "It's ok, Jacob, you're not there anymore." She stated, she had been through this before with him.

"I'm going to get some water." Jacob finally stuttered and Eden nodded. "I'll turn the light off." He said but Eden stopped him.

"It's fine, keep it on." She said not unkindly.

Jacob got up out of the bed and walked out of the room. They were in Eden's room, the one where she hid from Jacob and the rest of the Seed's.

Jacob walked to the kitchen and got water. He rubbed his forehead and tried to suppress the dark memories that filled his head. His nightmares weren't getting worse, but the problem was that now he was in such close proximity to people that he couldn't deal with them by himself anymore.

He was constantly fearful of someone happening, something that he couldn't stop. But Eden always seems to have a way of relieving him of his fears.

Jacob wanted to leave behind his past more than anything. But he just couldn't, even after running for years.

When Jacob decided he was calm enough to go back to bed he walked back to Eden's room. He looked through the doorway, the lamp was still on like he had left it.

Eden had fallen back asleep in the bed. The lamp illuminated her sleeping face, she seemed rather peaceful for someone who had just been woken up minutes before.

Jacob quietly walked into the room and stopped in front of the bed. He knelt down in front of the bed so that he could be eye level with her. Jacob stayed in that position for a while, just watching her as she slept.

She had pulled the thin blanket on her bed up to her nose so just her eyes and forehead peaked out. Her breaths were gentle and shallow, a slight whistle came out of her nose as she slept.

Jacob wanted to reach out and do something. Touch her, just to prove to himself that she was real. But he didn't want to wake her up. He didn't want to interrupt this peaceful moment for her.

He reached over and gently clicked the lamp off, exposing the room to darkness again. Jacob heard Eden groan and adjust her position in the bed, but her breathing went back to normal afterwards.

Jacob quietly stood up and walked out of the room. He paused at the doorway, he wanted to go back and lay down in bed with her, but he felt dangerous. He didn't want to hurt her, he had made a promise after all.

Hello party people, apologies again for COMPLETELY ignoring this story for a couple of months. Your girl is going through it at the moment with tons of uni work on my plate HOWEVER I will attempt to keep this more regularly updated! Big thank you to everyone still reading and enjoying this story!