Inside the Sullivan farmhouse, near the dining room, is a door that leads to the basement. Its old rickety wooden staircase had never been replaced since the house was built. Splinters and halfway rusted nails stuck out from the bottom, but the staircase still holds strong. However, underneath the basement staircase was another door. This hatch was set into the concrete floor of the basement and was made of thick titanium.

A single lock on the hatch was currently unlatched. The door was open and propped up against the wall. Through this metal hatch in the ground is a small concrete-lined hole. On one side of the hole is a ladder that leads down for a few meters and the interior opens up into an underground bunker-style storm shelter. A long hallway leads away from the ladder and deeper into the shelter. Simple in design, the bunker was a singular hallway with multiple doors set into both walls and one at the end of the hallway.

The doors on the walls of the corridor were of simple wood design and shut tightly closed. The door at the end of the hallway was made of layers of steel and copper mesh. This door was even thicker than that of the metal hatch at the top of the ladder. There was no viewport on the door, and there was no need for one. A small domed camera sat in the corner at the end of the hallway above the metal door. The corridor was dark and silent except for the door at the end of the hallway. The bulky steel door was partly open, and a dim blue light was pouring out onto the concrete floor of the corridor.

Inside the well-protected room sat Andrea, who was currently reclining in her chair and watching old documentaries on the ancient species and cultures of Andromeda. From the speakers near the display, it almost sounded as though a human was speaking, but the words were from an unrecognizable language. Large captions filled in the bottom of the screen as she watched. Andrea’s feet were propped up on the desk that was holding up the display screen. She looked quite comfortable wearing her loose blue jeans and a warm hooded jacket with the hood fit snuggly around her head.

For a long time, Andrea just sat there in her chair, happily enjoying her documentary. The interior of the room was not very large, as it had just enough room for the door to fully open, with a small desk set against the back wall. The room was not currently lit up by anything other than the monitors, but there was a small electric light set into the concrete ceiling. It seems that this room had been built with the intention of being a panic room that could monitor the rest of the farm.

On the desk, next to the display that Andrea was watching, were a few monitors. One had a colorized radar showing the storm overhead. On this storm monitor, was a massive blotch of red to one side and the rest was covered in green. Small dots of white popped up periodically on the monitor, possibly showing the locations of recent lightning strikes. On another monitor was a camera feed of the entire farm. It showed the interior of the bunker and the three metal buildings behind the farm. On a shelf above the monitors was a small radio box with simple buttons and knobs on it, and a small electric lantern. The radio was belting out static at a nearly imperceptible volume. The sounds of the documentary effortlessly drowned out the static of the radio.

As Andrea was watching her show, she noticed movement on one of the camera feeds. Andrea swiftly moved her feet from the table and planted them firmly on the ground as she leaned forward to get a better look. The massive metal door for the train storage building, which protected the train tracks, was currently sliding open. When the door reached its full width, the back of the train could be seen gliding along the tracks to rest inside the building. The lights inside the building came on automatically and as the train finished moving, the bulky metal door slowly bolted shut in front of the train’s cabin.

Andrea watched as Vikta and Echo clambered down from the train and strode over to the door where the camera was placed. Andrea pressed a small button on the radio and said, “Be careful when you leave the building. I’m reading multiple lightning strikes every second around us. You need to run to the house when you get outside.”

Vikta holds up a hand to Echo and the young man waits in place as his father walks over to the amateur radio on the table inside. Andrea can see Vikta press a small button on the side of the radio before asking, “Is it really that bad already? I figured we would at least have another hour before the worst part of the storm arrived.”

Andrea sighed before saying, “Yes, it’s going to get worse, but it’s already bad enough. Please be careful running to the house. I don’t think we can get any medical assistance for some time if something bad happens to you.”

Vikta looks over his shoulder at the camera before saying, “We’ll be alright. Echo, get to the house as fast as possible and...”

Vikta lets go of the button on the radio and points over at Echo. On the camera feed, Andrea sees Echo walk over to the black box on the wall and set the security code. As the door to the train storage building swung open and the two men ran into the rain, Andrea hurriedly got up from her comfortable chair. Rushing out of the panic room, Andrea swings open the thick metal door with a hefty pull. As the door continued to swing open on oiled hinges, Andrea jogged down the corridor and quickly climbed up the ladder. In her rush to get up the ladder, the hood of her jacket fell off, and her long black hair flowed out from behind her.