Makkedah Yancy

The Heart-shaped Compass

Pandora Christine was wandering around the park when she saw the bombs hit, there was no time to run or hide. Truthfully, she should have been prepared, but growing up in a peaceful town off in the country in complete solitary peace, you wouldn’t expect for the Vipers to attack. Of course, if anything, she would have thought that the Fangs would have a better evacuation plan for every town. Problem with living in peace in the country, they don’t focus on that. Living in World War III was scary, with only two sides to fight for. You were either with the Vipers or the Fangs, and of course, America was with the Fangs, but she was having second thoughts. Cowering behind a bush, she put her hands to her ears, trying to rid of the ringing sounds piercing her hearing. Letting out a cry of pain when another bomb hit, she crawled on her stomach to behind a fallen tree. She had no training on what to do when attacked by a bomb, so she sat up cluelessly, searching for a sign of someone or something tangible that could help protect her. Then she saw something flash by the peeking sunlight hidden mostly by the smoke clouds. She reached out for it without thinking, desperate to save herself. Her fist curled around it, a cold metal chain tickling her arm as it trailed down. Opening her hand, it revealed a heart shaped locket, and she pried it open with her trembling fingers. Inside was a compass, that pointed toward the bombs. She furrowed her eyebrows before another bomb crashed down, starting a fire into the trees. She coughed out smoke before looking back down at the compass, it must have been broken, for she knew that a compass always pointed north, but she knew the direction of the bombs was south. She stood up, feeling the strange urge to walk south, toward the danger. The compass glowed brightly in the darkness, lighting up her face like a candle glow. Everything seemed to pause, time and sound, the ringing gone from her ears. She stared at the locket with awe, and unconsciously walked in the direction it pointed. Slowly she tracked through the ruble and explosions, not noticing the falling bombs and cries. All that seems to exist was the locket. That’s when it changed direction, leading her out of the park and into the towns diner that was just out of the woods. The door was already broken down, and glass littered the polished floors, but she continued as if there was no glass to begin with. She maneuvered around the counter and into the back room where the chef had worked. Somehow, the compass seemed to point down, and she crouched to the ground and saw it. A small tile piece had a small engraving of a heart. She put her finger to it and pressed down, the tile fell, along with many others, and the ones beneath her. She plummeted, surprisingly, down to the earth, where a deep whole was dug. She wasn’t sure how long she fell, but she clutched the locket the whole time. When she reached the ground, instead of crashing to her death, she gently landed on her feet. She looked around and found she was in a huge room draped with tree roots and vines. She was in an underground bunker. And what she saw in the room took her breath away, and she felt her hands shake as she looked around… for this would change everything. The lockets’ glow faded, till it was nothing more than an old compass once again…