Bexley Bunny's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Bexley walked between the buildings, scanning doorways for anyone who might recognize her family name. She kept her journal tucked under one arm. Three days outside the bunker and she still didn't know where to start looking. The town was bigger than her maps had shown. Her mother and brother had left her behind, but she had decided that didn't matter if they had a good reason. A small fort stood at the edge of the path, built from wood planks with metal sheets nailed to the sides. A white flag hung from the top. A child sat inside the entrance, pushing stones around in the dirt. Bexley slowed. The child looked up. "You looking for something?" the child asked. Bexley hesitated, then nodded. "My family," she said. The child tilted their head. "What's their name?" Bexley opened her mouth, but the child spoke first. "Was it Garrett? A man came through asking about bunkers. Said he was looking for his sister." Bexley's chest went tight. That was her brother's name. The child kept talking. "He said he left to find work but he's been searching for an old bunker around here." Bexley pulled out her notepad, the one with rabbits printed around the edges. Her hands shook as she clicked the pen. She wrote Garrett's name at the top of a fresh page. Below it she wrote: looking for me. The child watched her write. "He went north two days ago," they said. Bexley looked up from the page. North was a direction she could follow. She had a name now, and a trail, and her brother was searching too.