Holding his breath, JD walked down the stone stairs into the bunker. Cold air stroked his trembling fingers. The smell of disinfectant and moisture mingled in his nose.

Footsteps echoed off the bare, tiled walls. Everything looked so cold, so uncharitable, and not at all like the property on the surface. This place had not been made by the owners of the estate, but for her, by people who had no idea what she had been like. This place was not meant to be familiar or comforting, it existed solely for the reason to serve its purpose.

Marcus walked in front of his son, clutching his rifle tightly. It was obvious how much he loathed returning to this place. His breathing was unusually fast for him and his shoulders were so tense that it looked as if he would fly into a rage at any moment and smash everything to pieces.

At the end of the stairs they stopped in front of a heavy iron door. The metal was already discolored in some places, dirty and a little rusty.

Marcus had to sigh heavily at the sight. Slowly he reached out and pressed his hand against the cold metal, just to remember how it had been that day. It took a moment for the memories to pass him by and his body felt like it belonged to him again.

The hinges groaned and screamed as the two of them pushed against the door together to enter the bunker.
Immediately, a warm breath of stuffy, stale air hit them.

Surprised, JD had to cough.

"Shit!", he cursed, holding a hand over his mouth. "What is that?!"

Marcus looked over at one of the medicine cabinets with a grim look.

Colourful boxes filled with pills and medications that no doctor would ever use again these days. The dusty panes were covered with a transparent liquid that had dried years ago.

Bottles of disinfectant had tipped over in the cabinets and spilled out. The liquid covered the floor and made the cracked tiles glisten.

"We should clean that.", JD said. "The smell is killing me."

But Marcus shook his head and walked towards the strange thing that stood in the middle of the room.

"There's an air circulation system. We just need to get it going again and it will be fine.", he pointed at a square in the wall.

The thing he squatted next to looked a lot like a brain scanner, with a movable hospital bed and a huge circle-shaped arch on top. Many robot arms were attached to it, each one having a different purpose.

"That's where you were born.", Marcus patted the bed on which still a hint of faded blood was visible. "Not something you'd wish to be born in, but it did safe you. And your mother."

He he looked up again, JD could read a silent apology in his fathers eyes.

"You think it will be able to help?", he asked and turned away again, to take a look at the rest.

Somehow, this place have him the creeps. Whenever his eyes fell onto something, a cold shiver crawled down his spine and made the burned flesh on his arm twitch.

He remembered everything about this place, but not really. There weren't memories in his mind, no pictures nor sounds. But there were feeling. And whenever he looked at something those feelings stabbed him in the chest, making him the most uncomfortable he had ever been.

Groaning, Marcus crawled underneath the machine and checked the outside before getting up again and turning to the computer. A loud, heavy sound filled the silence as he wiped a thick layer of dust from the screen and turned it on.

"I thought I'd never have to return here.", he growled and inserted the data that Baird had given him. "At least everything is still running... We won't have to fix anything."

Humming, JD nodded and threw a glance over his shoulder. He was able to feel in how much discomfort his father was. And yet, there was a question burning under his nails.

"Dad?", he finally asked, still avoiding his eyes.

Without taking his eyes off the screen, Marcus hummed. His fingers typed something into the computer, making some windows pop up.

The arch above the hospital bed started moving. It sounded as if a rusty car was about to move, scratchy and dangerously slow. For a second it looked like it would fall apart before the arms started moving in a smooth manner.

"What?", Marcus asked, refusing to turn to him as well.

JD bit his tongue.

"Why do you hate this place so much?"

Marcus froze.

"I told you the story."

"Yeah, but... I didn't kill mom. I was born here, like a normal baby."

"Yes."

"So, why do you hate it here? Everything turned out well."

"It didn't."

"But I didn't kill her.", JD raised an eyebrow.

For the first time after arriving, he turned to his father and took a step towards him. But he stopped at the other side of the machine. Somehow, having this thing between the two of them gave him a sense of security. Just in case that his words would make Marcus explode.

Clenching his hands into fists, Marcus took a deep breath in. As he exhaled, his eyes closed and he had to fight back the weakness that was about to take over his voice.

"But your sister did.", he finally said, so calm and silent that it made him wonder how he could be this way.

JD froze. His eyes jumped through the room.

Suddenly, something inside his chest pulled together and it felt like the constant pain in his arm was about to burn across his entire body.

He didn't know why, but he felt like he could have found something that would have told him this earlier. A wave of regret washed over him.

Why did he had to ask?

Carefully, he lowered his weapon and walked around the machine to get to Marcus. But as he stood beside him, he didn't know how to react.

"Dad...", he whispered.

Without a word, Marcus let out a deep breath and pulled him into a hug.

"Don't.", he said. "Just do your best so you won't have to tell the same story one day."