The door creaked open another few centimeters. Marcus again spent a few minutes winding the device's arm, charging up more electricity. The device, a contraption of his own creation, was essentially a supercapacitor bank. He was sure such devices likely existed elsewhere, but he had built one of his own out of necessity and boredom. He built it years ago, during his school days, as part of a science competition. He earned third for his supercapacitor device, for which he had no catchy name. He lost to a kid that built a magnetic stablizing field for a fusion reactor. Not even the reactor itself, just the magnetic field for one. He still harbored some resentment for that.

Supercapacitors were almost like the opposite of batteries. Batteries slowly charge up power chemically, and then slowly release that power. Capacitors, and by extension supercapacitors, charged up a tremendous amount of power quickly, but then they released that power just as quickly. This allowed him to spend just a few minutes winding the arm, which was connected to a well-wound copper coil, so that each rotation pumped more electricity into the cells. And once the green LED on the side was fully lit, the supercapacitors were close to full, and Marcus "pulled the trigger" so to speak, discharging the cells all at once, sending a tremendous amount of energy into the door panel system. Such a system was likely to simply blow fuses, but he had thought of that. He assumed the door needed a tremendous amount of power to cycle, considering the size, and guessed the voltage needed to open it. He tuned the computer on the device to that voltage, and sent it into the panel almost all at once.

And slowly, with each button press, the door creaked open ever so slowly.

"Any day now, Rhyne," said Brogers, who stood with her back to the door, keeping watch. The others were collectively standing around, rifles in hand, save for McCullagh. They stood below an awning of concrete, a sort of recess before the door. It had likely been many, many years since this door had seen the light of day. Marcus sighed.

"Do you want to come wind this thing up?" he asked her, not without a touch of annoyance. His arm was already sore from winding the thing. I need to make this crank longer, he thought to himself. Get more mechanical advantage. Brogers didn't reply, indicating her unwillingness to assist. Deknost, who had been watching this whole time, knelt down to Marcus' level.

"How can I help, friend Marcus?" the big man asked him. Marcus handed the device to the larger man, showing him how to hold it.

"Hold it here, and crank here. Don't rush the cranking, the motor has an extremely high level of resistence, and you'll tire yourself out quicker for little benefit." He pointed to the red button on the side that functioned as the trigger. "I've already set it up, so you just crank until all of the green lights are fully lit, and then press this button. Deknost nodded.

"I imagine if I touch these wires when I press the button, I would die?" he asked Marcus. The young engineer nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes, and it would be very painful as you died." he replied. Deknost smiled widely, and cranked the device. After a few minutes of cranking, the lights were lit, and Deknost looked at Marcus for assurance. Marcus nodded, and the big man pressed the button on the side, discharging the cells. The wires sparked, and the door creaked open just a little bit more. The giant grinned even wider, pleased with himself.

"Did you make this device?" he asked Marcus, who nodded.

"It was part of a school project," the younger man replied. Deknost cooed with wonder.

"This is an excellent device, Marcus," he said quietly with a smile. "I did not know you were this crafty." Marcus smiled at the compliment.

"Thank you, Deknost," he replied. The bigger man shook his head.

"My mother calls me Deknost," he said, "you can call me Dek." Marcus nodded and smiled at the bigger man.

"Ok Dek, thank you." The two crouched by the wires, passing the device back and forth when one grew tired and sore from winding the device. After what seemed like an eternity, Van Pelt walked up behind them to get a closer look. After a brief explanation on how it all worked, her brow furrowed.

"Wouldn't that make it really easy to break in?" she asked. "Isn't this a military bunker? How does that work? They wouldn't make it so easy to get inside." Marcus nodded.

"If this bunker were manned, this panel would be powered, and this device, or a device like this one, wouldn't be able to do this. As in, once the power gets turned on, this place is impenetrable, unless you used force or something." Marcus thumped the concrete to the side of the door, upon which the panel was installed. "Once I get the reactor up and running in this bunker, we'll be the safest people on the planet." Van Pelt nodded, stepping back to give them space.

After almost an hour, the door creaked open just wide enough for someone to slip through. Brogers stepped forward to inspect the doorway. Beyond, there was only inky blackness.

"I think we can begin sending people in," Brogers said, trying to peer into the bunker. She pointed her rifle's flashlight into the doorway, but the light was consumed by the abyss beyond. She frowned, lowering her rifle. "Any volunteers?" she asked, turning around to address the group. Deknost shook his head, standing up.

"It is not big enough for me" he said sadly. Marcus continued to wind the device, before discharging it again, creaking the door open just a few centimetets more.

"How about now?" Marcus said with a grin at the big man. Deknost crossed his arms over his chest, pretending to be annoyed.

"No, smartass, it is still not big enough," he said with an exasperated look on his face.

"I'll do it," said Kee McCullagh. The group looked at her in surprise. "I'll go in," she repeated. She had been standing to the side this whole time, and other than yesterday, when Marcus had directly asked her a question, she hadn't spoken a word. She stood tall, arms at her sides, and her voice sounded sure, though nobody could see her face beneath her helmet. Brogers, out of all of them, was the most surprised.

"Oh... well, yeah, go ahead." Brogers stepped aside for McCullagh to enter. "You can't have a rifle, though. Not unless you see something inside." McCullagh nodded, holding out her hand for a flashlight. Ghi had been handed McCullagh's rifle while Deknost helped Marcus, so the young marine unclipped the flashlight from the end of McCullagh's rifle, handing the handheld device to her. She clicked the flashlight on, testing the power. It wasn't necessarily bright, but it would have to do. The marine steeled herself, and then turned her body sideways to squeeze into the gap between the massive steel doors.

The group listened as she walked into the bunker, the sound of her boots grasping at the grit that had been blown through the door into the bunker. After a few seconds, her footsteps petered out, as she walked into the bunker. Marcus continued to wind the device, opening the door just a few more centimeters every few minutes. After ninety seconds, Brogers stepped up to the door, putting her face close to the opening.

"McCullagh?" she called out. "Is it clear?" she asked. After a brief moment, McCullagh crawled back through the doorway, surprising Brogers, who jumped back.

"Yeah, it's clear," said McCullagh. "It's a large antechamber, with some small vehicles. Nothing spectacular. There's another door inside, though. Looks like this one, but smaller." Brogers groaned in frustration. At this rate, it would take them too long to get back to the Enoch. The co-leader looked at Marcus.

"Looks like that device of yours is going to have to work overtime, Rhyne," she said to him. He nodded and sighed, continuing to wind the device. Yeah, he thought to himself, I definitely need a longer crank.

After another hour, the door was open wide enough for everyone to comfortably walk through, including Deknost, who had to turn slightly sideways to enter, but not uncomfortably. The young engineer packed up the device and lifted his rifle to join the others in going inside. Inside, it was just as McCullagh said: an antechamber, of sorts, containing small vehicles and one exosuit, which was ancient. It was almost the size of the Enoch's hold, but nowhere as tall. It was also roomier, as this antechamber didn't have as much clutter and fewer supplies. A few crates smattered the room, and Brogers had the crewmembers open them up to investigate their contents.

Meanwhile, Marcus walked to the other side of the room, pulling the panel off of the wall. He repeated his movements from earlier, connecting the device to specific wires, and setting the desired voltage and frequency. After a few minutes of winding, he discharged the device, and the door groaned open slightly. But it's opening faster than the other door, Marcus mused. Lighter door, faster open time. Behind him, the others talked amongst themselves, looking into the crates.

"This one has rations," Ghi said, calling Brogers over. She hoisted a brown plastic-sealed meal, and read the label.

"Yeah," she said sarcastically, "rations that expired forty years ago." She tossed the ration pack into the crate from which it had come from, and walked away. Ghi, however, didn't respond to her, instead choosing to pick through the rations. On the other side of the room, Deknost and Van Pelt opened another crate. They pulled out packaging material, and Van Pelt gasped.

"What is it?" Brogers asked excitedly, walking over.

"Ammo!" Van Pelt responded, holding up boxes of ammunition. Brogers looked at the ammo boxes, while Deknost walked away, trying to stifle his laughter. Brogers looked at Van Pelt with a "are you fucking with me" body expression.

"Van Pelt, the EMC hasn't even used the rifle this ammunition goes with in over sixty years." Brogers said. Van Pelt nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah!" the other woman exclaimed, "This stuff is vintage! Imagine what this stuff must be worth! At least a meal's worth or two!" Deknost could no longer hold his laughter, and guffawed merrily. Brogers sighed, walking away from the two jokers. She walked over to Marcus, boots clomping on the concrete as she approached.

"Give me some good news, co-leader," she said, sounding exasperated. "This room's full of trash. We need to get further inside, and quickly." Marcus looked up at Brogers, and then at the vehicles further back in the room. They ranged from small single-person ATVs to larger trucks.

"The good news is, if those are electric, as I imagine they are, we may be able to take the sprocket back double-time." He said to Brogers. She followed his eye to the vehicles, understanding what he was saying.

"If you can get an exosuit running, we can load the sprocket onto one of those trucks, right?" she asked him. He nodded, though there were multiple catches to that idea. "And if we can use those trucks, we can take the sprocket at least part of the way, right?" Marcus shrugged.

"If we play our cards right, we can take the sprocket the whole way. Even if the batteries have degraded over time, which they most certainly should have, I bet they could still get us home." Brogers nodded at his plan.

"Ok, then that's a good idea, Rhyne. That's good news. How's the door?" she said, gesturing at the slab of iron barring their path. Marcus sighed, his arm tired.

"It's coming along," he said to her, "though it would go faster if you would take a turn at it." He handed her the device, which she took. After a quick tutorial, she was winding the device and expending the cells. The door groaned open slightly more. She nodded, understanding the difficulty of the task.

"Ok," she said while winding the contraption, "first priorities when we get inside is find oxygen of some sort, and the reactor. Then we find the sprocket, we load it up, and get back to the Enoch on time." Marcus furrowed his brow.

"We won't need to find extra oxygen if I can get the reactor up and running. This place will seal, and pressurize, and we could remove our masks." Brogers shook her head, disagreeing with the young engineer.

"And if the reactor won't start? Oxygen, reactor, sprocket, in that order." She expended the supercapacitors, and the door groaned open a few centimeters more. The inky darkness beyond was now clearly visible. "Though we'll split up into teams to find all of those things as quickly as possible. I'll send you and Van Pelt to look for the reactor, Deknost and Ghi will look for the sprocket, and McCullagh and I will look for O2." Marcus grinned wryly.

"You're going to send me with Van Pelt?" he asked her. Brogers sighed, still winding the device.

"Ok, co-leader, would you like to go with Van Pelt to look for the reactor?" she asked him, exasperated. Marcus chuckled.

"Yes, co-leader, that sounds like an excellent idea. One more discharge, and we may be able to send everyone through." Marcus was correct, and after the device was discharged, and Deknost sent through to prove it was open wide enough, Brogers collected the crew and explained to them the plan.

"And remember, guys. This bunker hasn't seen human activity in almost a century. And you know what happens when people aren't around." Everyone knew: wildlife moved in. Chittering natters were well-known to be able to infiltrate where they shouldn't be able to, despite their size. "Stay on guard, keep your rifles in hand." She turned to Marcus. "We didn't think about this before, but will our radios work down here?" Marcus raised his eyebrows, thinking. After a few seconds, he placed his hands on his hips, shaking his head.

"Reinforced concrete, several feet thick, with tons of sand on top of it? I sincerely doubt it, now that you mention it," he said to the group. The others nodded, themselves realizing they should have thought of this eventuality. "This bunker likely used some sort of built-in intercom system, or perhaps the walls have radio antennae built in. I don't know what system they used, and we can't use those systems until I get the power back on anyway." Brogers nodded, apparently deep in thought.

"Ok, everyone come back here after an hour. We're just scouting right now. Explore, find out where things are, map this place out, and then come back before the hour is up." She raised her rifle, checking the safety. "If a group isn't back after an hour and a half, we'll all come looking for you." The group nodded, and they went through the door leading deeper into the bunker, one by one.

They found themselves at a three-way intersection. In all three directions, the concrete tunnels of the bunker disappeared into the darkness, with no end in sight. The tunnels were wide and tall, likely to accomodate exosuits or small vehicles. As agreed upon earlier, Ghi and Deknost went straight ahead, Brogers and McCullagh went right, and Marcus and Van Pelt went left. After everyone exchanged words of good luck, they parted.

Marcus and Van Pelt walked for awhile in silence, their rifles slung over their backs, flashlights in hand. The passageway had every few dozen meters, but they were all open, allowing Marcus and Van Pelt to continue unimpeded. They passed many doors to the sides that were closed, however, and Marcus elected to leave them closed for now. If he could find the reactor and activate it, all of those doors would open up easily enough. The two walked for a time until they reached a section where a door had once been closed, but had fallen partially open for some unknown reason. It was a blast door that opened at several angles, rather than simply sliding to the side as the previous doors had. Marcus inspected the partially open doorway.

"It looks like we can squeeze through," he said, slinging his pack off of his back. Van pelt inspected the doorway as he made his outline smaller.

"Marcus," she said quietly, "it looks like something crawled through here already." He instantly stood up, flashlight in hand to investigate. He looked where she shone her flashlight, on the bottom half of the doorway. Indeed, the dust there had been disturbed, smeared away from the aged metal. Marcus furrowed his brow, looking at her. She looked back at him, and he could sense her trepidation. He felt the same. Without another word, the two prepared to go inside the door. Marcus slipped through first, and Van Pelt handed him his rifle and backpack. She handed him her rifle and pack as well, after which she crawled through. The two scanned the area with flashlights, though they didn't see any signs of movement. Van Pelt held her rifle with flashlight affixed at her hip, scanning the area, and Marcus did the same. After seeing the immediate area was clear, they continued on their path, though at a slower pace, and with rifles in hand.

After several more minutes, they found another door that was opened in the middle of the hallway. Marcus walked over to a placardon the wall, wiping the dust off of it.

"Experimental Wing Three," he read aloud. "Authorized personnel only." Van Pelt read the placard herself, before shaking her head.

"Experimental? I thought this was just a supply depot bunker," she said. Marcus nodded.

"It was supposed to be. But apparently they were doing something down here." he replied, continuing down the way. It had been almost twenty minutes since they left the agreed meeting spot. The hallway suddenly opened up into a large room, which looked like a reception area. Empty gurneys littered the room haphazardly. Several doorways to the sides of the room split off further into the bunker. The two looked at each other.

"Was this a hospital?" Van Pelt asked. Marcus didn't answer, though he doubted it.

"I don't think this is the reactor area," he said quietly, "but I think we should investigate." Van Pelt nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, we'll still get back before the hour is up. We know what's in that passageway behind us; we can move faster knowing what to expect." Marcus nodded, pulling a glowstick out of his pack, cracking it, and dropping it to the floor.

"Let's take a closer look at 'Experimentation Wing three,'" he said.