The Bunker

Outside Inside #3

by Michael Gardner

Injured and confused, Amos wakes up in what appears to be an underground bunker. The bunker is occupied by a solitary man named Ray. At first, Amos believes he is safe, but when Ray refuses to let Amos leave the bunker, he begins to wonder if Ray is his saviour or his captor.

Outside Inside is what happens when a writer, who can only be described as a polygamist with genres, starts a series of short stories exploring life, death and everything in between. The series wouldn’t be complete without a story about disaster, so hold onto your hard hat and prepare for a journey to the end of the world!

32 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 25, 2017

About the author

Michael Gardner writes stories from the twilight zone of his mind, a middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition and the forgotten recesses of his sock drawer. Cross over if you dare.

Reviews

[Connie Lacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Bunker" struck me at first as an apocalyptic tale. Two men in a bunker because things have gone terribly wrong in the outside world. Amos can’t remember his life BEFORE. Little snippets come to him, though. Amos is taken care of by Ray. Bit by bit, Amos begins to suspect Ray isn’t so much a good Samaritan caretaker as his captor and guard.

There’s a good bit of pain and guilt in this story as the main character struggles to understand what happened in his past and why he’s trapped in this underground bunker. The story works on different levels and I admit, I was relieved there was a hopeful ending.

As always, Michael Gardner succeeds in creating memorable characters by making their emotional trials real. In this case, some very deep emotional trials.

[Ginger Bensman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Bunker is a gripping short story. An injured amnesiac Amos is rescued by Ray and sequestered in an underground bunker where Ray nurses him back to health and protects him from the hostile forces of an unseen world outside. As Amos recovers, he strains against the limitations of the bunker and Ray's efforts to keep him"safe". He longs to go outside. This is a clever work of fiction, so full of nuance, that I may need to read it again.