𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞:

For the first time in 14 years, light poured into the Bunker. And Wynn was certain that whatever had happened to make his entire world erupt around him, it was his fault...

A siren pierced above all other noise Wynn could hear - even louder than the crumbling of the brick wall in front of him, and in an effort to protect himself from losing his hearing completely, Wynn pressed his trembling hands against his ears.

His eyes struggled to adjust to the sudden, overwhelming light peaking in, but to his relief, there was something obscuring it; something that seemed to be growing larger, as if creeping closer to him; something that resembled a person...

Until then, Wynn had never truly known if there were other people alive in the world. For all he could remember, his world was only as big as the Bunker, and that amassed to a grand total of 17 other people. But now there was someone else in his world, and as they inched forwards - almost revealing sight of their face - Wynn became consumed by the vibrating of the staircase behind, imagining it as a heard of wildebeests storming through the grassy plains ready to trample right over him.

Too afraid to turn around and see who was coming, Wynn couldn't help but jolt when a hand latched onto his shoulder, briskly pulling him to his feet.

"Come with me. Hurry up," a familiar voice muttered, not giving Wynn any chance to argue as he was tugged to his feet and dragged along behind.

He blinked several times, trying to compose himself long enough to make out who had a hold of him. There was a sense of relief when he realised it was Ares - his older brother by 4 years - and not one of the shadowy figures he had seen at the crumbling entrance to his Bunker, but the sight of him wasn't enough to take away all of the newfound fear he was suddenly so aware of.

"W-what's happening? Did I open the Bunker? Are we all gonna die? Have I gotten us all killed-"

"No! Wynn, calm down!" Ares panicked, coming to a standstill and setting both of his hands on Wynn's shoulders. "We're not going to die."

"Then what's happening?"

"We're...being invaded," Ares answered, noticeably swallowing down a mouthful of unease. Truthfully, he didn't know what to say to his younger brother. "Whoever it is, they're going to try and take us out of here... To the ground."

Wynn shook his head, unable to fathom what his brother had told him; his world hadn't been any larger than the walls that enclosed him in the Bunker, and the thought of stepping outside and finding another universe waiting was nothing short of terrifying. He wasn't ready. He would never be.

"I don't-"

"I don't want to either, but I don't think we'll have a choice. Just get back down to the others and hide with Mom."

"Ares, no-"

Wynn tried to argue; tried to make sure his brother didn't stand right in the face of danger, but before he knew it, he was being shoved through the supposed-secret door to the pantry - which he had discovered and snuck out of too many times to count - and was locked out, leaving only Ares, his father and the chancellor of the Bunker - who had followed the sound of the commotion - to face their newly acquainted enemies.

Without any other choice, Wynn hurried through the pantry until he arrived in the kitchen, nervously stumbling through only to find all of the lights switched off and no one around.

But then, as he went to say something - call out for his mother's name - a hand latched onto his sleeve and yanked him to the side. He thought he was being attacked at first; that somehow, one of the intruders had beaten him downstairs and was ready to drag him to the ground, but it wasn't. It was his mother, Martha.

"Mom?" Wynn panicked, struggling to make out her face in the darkness. "What are you-"

"Go hide with Quill and Elara," she cut him off, leaving no time for Wynn to argue as his mother shoved him behind her in the direction of the couches where his younger brother and sister were hiding behind. "Don't let either of them out of your sight. I have to find Ares and your father-"

As she moved in the direction of the pantry - intending to follow the series of open doorways and eventually, a staircase which would take her to the invaded entrance of their home - a swarm of armed men burst into view, all hoisting large rifles in their hands and wasting no time to aim them at Wynn and his family.

Of all the instincts fighting to gain Wynn's attention, the one ringing out the loudest in his head was the one telling him to shield his younger siblings from their infiltrators. He ducked behind the couch without a second thought, using one hand to grab onto his brother, and the other on his sister, and pulled them both in behind him.

He knew he wouldn't be able to do much to protect them; he had never had a gun pointed at him in his life and didn't know the first thing about disarming someone, let alone how to dodge a bullet, but he could make sure his siblings were safe behind him and that if a shot was to be fired, he would take the bullet first.

He could feel them both shiver behind him and as the chaos around them grew louder and louder, Wynn no longer felt brave enough to face the world and instead, chose to squeeze his eyes shut, trying to trick himself into believing it was all a bad dream. Only it wasn't... It was real; as real as the hands grabbing onto his collar and lifting him to his feet; as real as the stranger tearing his younger brother and sister out of reach from him, and easily diminishing his attempt to reach them.

Wynn looked around for his parents, or Ares, or anyone from the Bunker that could come to his rescue, but they were all caught up with their own armed-guards and impossible hopes of being free. The only person whose attention Wynn did manage to grab was that of a girl's - standing unfazed in the middle of the Bunker and watching on as chaos unfolded. She was the only one, as far as Wynn could see, to be without a weapon, but there was something about her that seemed more daunting and more dominating than anyone else. Her eyes scanned the room, widening with what Wynn could only distinguish as intrigue, until they landed on him.

Beyond his own understanding, Wynn realised that he knew something about her already... She was the figure he had seen at the door to the Bunker as it crumbled open in front of him; she was the girl from the ground who led the invasion of his home and was now tearing his family away from everything he had ever known...

She pulled her eyes away and gave her head a quick shake, as if trying to clear her mind from all the distractions. "We are Basilisk," she said, projecting her voice out into their home, a proud smile tugging at her lips. "The ground is waiting for you. We're here to get you out."

Without even realising it, Wynn found himself backing away and fighting off the hands that were latched onto him, hoping that they were able to see his refusal at being taken even though it was becoming increasingly clear that they weren't being given a choice: the storming in of their army was enough to confirm that, let alone their determination to round everyone up despite their attempts to get away.

Everyone was screaming, yelling at each other for help, one by one all being torn from the security and familiarity of their home. Without so much as a minute to grab any of their belongings - leaving with only the clothes on their backs - Wynn and the rest of his family were forced through the open door and up the unrenowned staircase where the world caved in, suddenly thrusted into their new life.

As the light from outside expanded, Wynn became more determined to resist being pushed forward, eventually finding that two guards needed to have a hold on him, both working together to achieve their dominance over him.

He stumbled out onto the dirt ground, an overwhelming abundance of life exploding onto him. The air was lighter; the colours were more vibrant than anything he had ever imagined; the warmth of the sun was burning against his skin in a way that he didn't know was possible to feel from something so far away. It felt like a new world entirely; a new universe he was stepping out into; an entire life he was leaving behind.

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞.
𝑳𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒏𝒌𝒆𝒓.

This series is my heart and soul and I'm so glad to share it with you (on a much more grammatically correct scale). I hope you grow to love Wynn, his family, and the girl from the ground just as much as I do. ♡

Fingers crossed for the Watty's; it's always been my dream to win one and I'm so proud of what I've achieved with this series so far!!!

08/01/22.