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"Alright," began the Lion, "listen up, plebes. It's Halloween. Normally that would mean sending you pledgies out in the woods all night in your underwear, but this year we're bringing back an age old tradition."

Hank turned to Ellen, a Coyote. She smiled at him as he motioned for her to say her part. "The rivalry between Theta," a chorus of female screams.

"And Gamma," said Hank, which was followed by male hollering.

"Stretches back almost 50 years, to when Gamma was first created. 10 years _after_Theta."

"Well you know what they say," interrupted Hank. "A gentleman always lets a lady come first."

"Woooo!" shouted Ricardo, the Iguana, along with most of the other males. The brown Spaniel beside him, however, just smirked at his friend and rolled his eyes.

"As I was saying," Ellen continued. "The rivalry stretches back almost 50 years." The point was highlighted by the jackets they all wore, all but the assembled pledges. The girls had maroon ones with blue letters. The boys wore the reverse, Blue with maroon letters. "But in the spirit of good sportsmanship, rather than resorting to childish pranks, we resolve our differences through competition. And this year, after ten years, Theta and Gamma are proud to bring back to you pledgies, The Bunker Hunt."

They both gestured to the entrance behind them, a dark rectangular whole on the side of a hill, reinforced with concrete stones.

"Do we still get to run around in our underwear?" asked Sam.

"Did I say you could talk, Fox?" Hank asked loudly.

"Sir no sir!" Sam replied, stifling a smile.

The Lion gave him a pointed look before continuing. "The Bunker Hunt was a tradition that occurred every Halloween, where pledges would be sent down into the bunker and made to traverse the maze-like networks looking for totems from their respective house, and the first team to find them all and return would bring victory to their house."

"However," Ellen continued, "The Bunker Hunt was discontinued when the owners decided to close the bunker to the public, and stopped allowing our houses to use it. But last summer the school bought the land, and with a little persuasion, they have agreed to let us use it again.

"But with some restrictions," said Hank. "First, we only have until midnight. After that we have to clear the area. Normally the tunnels would be rigged with scares, but unfortunately our deadline prevents that." Here he took one long look at all the different pledges lined up. "Although I think the darkness alone will be enough to for some of you. Second, for safety reasons, the school insists you be given maps so you don't get lost. Now, this obviously takes away some of the fun, so Ellen and I had a little...fun, with the maps to keep things more interesting."

While Hank pulled out maps and flashlights from a large duffel bag, Ellen carried on with the explanation. "And finally, some tunnels have been blocked off, so the space we have to use is smaller. On top of that, this year both Theta and Gamma have had a spike in the number of pledges we're considering. Now as much as we'd love to shove you all down in there, too many people ruin the fear element, and that's just not in the Halloween spirit. And so because of that, this year's Bunker Hunt will be done by three volunteers from each houses group of pledges. You'll be brought down into the bunker to hunt for totems from your own house. There are five each, and the first team to collect them all wins, and those pledges will be free from hazing for an entire month." She paused to allow a group of excited murmurs to rise up before continuing. "Now, first, a few words of caution. The Bunker Hunt is not for the weak of heart. Nyctophobia, fear of the dark. Claustrophobia, fear of tight or enclosed spaces. Taphophobia, fear of being buried alive. These are all things you'll be facing dead on, and at the same time. You might start to feel short of breath, feel the panic rising in your body as you start to hyperventilate, right before you pass out in some deep dark hole in the ground. If you're not careful," she paused, flashing a big gleaming smile, "you might die."

The effect was almost visible. A few pledges had obviously changed their minds about wanting to go down there. "Alright," Ellen continued. "As it was from the very beginning, ladies first."

"I volunteer as tribute!" shouted an Otter girl. She was received with applause and cheering, mixed in with a few giggles and groans.

"Alright," said Ellen. "The first volunteer is Madison. Who wants to go with her?"

After a moment of silence, a Leopard girl spoke up. "Fuck it. I'll go."

"Leona. Good. Come on ladies, we need one more person. Show your Theta spirit."

There was a loud sigh before a Vixen named Karen raised her hand. "Alright, I'll go too."

Amidst the cheering, Ellen called out. "And finally Karen. Alright, we have our three Theta volunteers!"

"Alright," Hanks said, "Now it times to pick out the boys. And before I forget, Sam!"

The male Fox went rigid. "What?"

"For your little outburst earlier, you'll be Gamma's first Volunteer."

"What?"

"A round of applause for Sam!"

The cheers rose up, and the Fox sent special dirty looks to those he thought were his friends. But then a joking whistle cheered him right back up, and he faced the Lion again. "Fine, if you want me to come in your hole so bad, I will."

A few guys laughed, and even the Lion stifled a smile as he approached the Fox. He leaned in slowly, putting their faces too close, and making someone else whistle. "Don't make me take your flashlight privileges too, Fox." Despite the grin on his face, Sam was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. Satisfied, the Lion stepped back to his place beside the Ellen. "Alright men, we need two more volunteers." He gave Sam another look. "Hopefully someone with a bit more testosterone."

"That's not what-" but a look from Hank made the Fox close his mouth.

"So who else thinks they're man enough for the Bunker Hunt?"

"I'll go," the Iguana said, raising his hand. The other's hooted and cheered again, all but Sam, who was eyeing his Spaniel friend.

"Ricky, that a boy! Alright, one more. Who's willing to prove their tough enough to for the bunker?"

"Terry volunteers," Sam called out suddenly.

The Spaniel turned on him. "The fuck?"

"I second that nomination," Ricky laughed, making the brown Spaniel stiffen a bit.

Hank meanwhile, was making an almost pain faced, though it was mixed with humor. "No nominations."

"What's wrong Hank?" asked Sam. "Scared the homos are going to be too good at exploring holes?"

"Gamma house is a place of tolerance," said Hank. "We don't care about orientation. But we also follow rules, and this year the rule is participants must volunteer."

"I didn't volunteer!"

"I volunteered you for you. As your superior, it is in my right to bend rules. And as a lowly pledge, it is your job to follow them. So then," His gaze fixed on the Spaniel, who tried not to squirm. "Unless Terry wants to volunteer, someone else needs to go."

The Fox turned to his friend, but quickly looked at the Iguana behind him before giving Terry a pleading look.

"...Fine. Alright, I'll go."

Hank smiled and shook his head, letting out an audible sigh. "Alright," he said. "I guess, that's Gamma house's team." The crowd cheered as each team was made to step forward. "Now then, along with the teams, each house will need a supervising senior member to go down with them for added safety. Gamma's, any volunteers?"

Almost immediately a large Wolf spoke up. "I'll go."

"Justin, perfect."

"What about you Thetas?" asked Ellen.

A Husky girl stepped forward, smiling. "Let me. It'll be fun."

The Coyote smile back. "Patricia it is then. Alright! Let's give one last round of applause for our teams!"

Both houses hollered and cheered, each trying to be louder than the other. Under all the noise, Sam whispered to his friend, "Do you hate me?"

"Completely," Terry replied.

"Maybe you'll get some alone time with Ricky in the dark though."

Instead of answering, the Spaniel elbowed his friend, who laughed.

"Pledges," said Hank meaningfully. "Look up at the sky. For some of you it might very well be the last time you see it. As for the rest of you pansies," he said, looking at the remaining pledges of each house. "We don't want you to miss out on the Halloween spirit. I bet you've been wondering what's under the tarp."

They all turned their heads as Ellen walked over to the side of the crowd, where something had been hidden behind a large tarp. On either side was another representative from each house. Ellen grabbed the cloth, pulled, and revealed a large assortment of pumpkins. She said, "If you're hoping it's just simple pumpkin carving contest, well, we'll let these guys tell you what's really going on. As for our volunteers, it's time to follow us down the tunnel so we can begin the Bunker Hunt."

The Coyote and the Lion led the group into the hole as they were followed by more cheering and applause. By the time it stopped, they were far enough down the tunnel that they could barely make out whatever explanation was being given for the pumpkins.

The way down was pitch black. The only light was coming from Hank's giant flashlight. Their footsteps on the dirt floor started getting louder and louder as the silence grew. It was oppressive, and none of them could bring themselves to break it by talking. They passed by several forks in the road, but the Lion in front of them kept a steady pace, seeming to know the way very well. The further they went, the more it became clear that path was angled slightly downward, and though it was vaguely wide, they could feel the walls pressing down the deeper they went.

"Pledges!" Hank suddenly shouted. Almost everyone jumped.

"Fucking hell," Leona cursed. "Scared the shit out of me."

But Hank just grinned even wider. "I think I should tell you a bit more about this place. You'll notice there's no lights here. Originally the bunker was built to be a safe house, so the entrance was built to look like a mine. There's also a lot of fake tunnels to divert anyone who did decide to look down here, so make sure you stay close, or you could get lost in the dark."

"Pledges!"

A light suddenly shown behind them, illuminating their cries of alarm. At some point Ellen had managed to fall back behind them with a flashlight. She was grinning, clearly satisfied with their reactions.

"Are you feeling the oxygen run thin yet?" she asked. "The bunker's ventilated, so you probably won't suffocate. It's also mostly made of concrete, so that it maybe won't collapse. It's broken up into five different floors. All are fair game. We'll send you down in pairs. This is a team sport, but whichever individual pledge brings back the greatest number of totems will win a special prize."

Hank led them down one more turn before stopping. "Alright, we're here." He shined a light on a pair of steel doors, built right into the rocky wall of the tunnel. For a moment they all just stared at it.

"Well," Terry said finally. "We aren't that deep at least."

Hank turned to face them, smiling. "We'll see. Justin and Patricia, as the supervisors, you'll go first." He handed the Wolf and the Husky a flashlight each and a pair of backpacks, along with a map folded like a pamphlet. "You two ready?" he asked. When they nodded he twisted the thick rusty handle and opened the door.

Inside was pitch black, and it took them all a second to realize it was a staircase leading further down. Both Justin and Patricia turned on their flashlight before beginning their descent down. When they were far enough, Hank closed the door again.

"No team will be allowed out," Hank told the pledges. "Not until a team's total number of totems have been retrieved. That means even if the other team wins, the loosing team must keep looking until all of theirs are found too. When you've found a totem, bring it back up the stairs and knock. We'll take it and send you back until all the ones from your team have been found."

"What do the totems look like?" Karen asked.

"That's for you to figure out," he answered the Vixen. "You'll each be given a flashlight and a map. If you got your cellphones on you, you'll also have a watch and a camera to take Bunker Hunt selfies with. But good luck getting any service down there."

"You'll have until 11:30," Ellen said. "After that, Justin and Patricia will start collecting you and sending you back. The winning team members gain immunity from hazing for a month, while the loosing team will face a penalty. If there is no winner when the time is up, both teams will have to suffer the penalty. If you have any questions ask them now."

"What happens if we find another team's totem?" asked Madison, the Otter.

Hank and Ellen looked at each other for a moment, before shrugging and smiling. The Coyote said, "Taking another team's totem out of the bunker is illegal, and will result in a forfeit. Another team's totem can't help you win anyway. But if the other team can't find their totem...well, that's probably good news for you."

Madison smirked, and both teams eyed each other. That meant hiding totems was allowed. There were no more questions, so they waited in silence until Hank decided enough time had passed to let the first pair through.

"Alright," he said. "For our first pair, let's have our two Foxes go."

Sam and Karen looked at each other nervously as they stepped forward to receive a map and flashlight. Hank opened the door, and they both looked down into it.

"You know," Sam said to Hank. "I had kind of pictured something else when I imagined what the first time you invited me into your hole would be like."

"Just start walking pledgie."

Sam turned to Karen. "Ladies first?"

"I'm pretty sure that would still mean you," she said.

"Yeah," he agreed. "You are pretty butch."

If they weren't both feeling so stiff, one of them might have laughed. But instead Sam turned on his flashlight and took his first step down the stairway, followed quickly by Karen. They had barely made any progress before they heard Hank close the door shut behind him. Everywhere the light didn't touch was pitch-black. Somehow the silence seemed to intensify, and their breathing sounded obscenely loud.

"Fuck," Sam cursed quietly His voiced echoed strangely. "Wanna hold hands?"

He meant it as a joke, but he felt instantly relieved when Karen actually linked her arm with his, since there hands were holding their maps. "Let's keep going," she said. "Justin and Patricia are down there somewhere already."

The thought that they weren't completely alone was vaguely comforting, and they slowly started walking again. The sound of their footsteps was oddly distorted, and the tunnel felt increasingly narrow. Sam wondered how Justin could have even fit through here, when just two small Foxes already made it feel cramped. And they just kept going and going.

"Damn it," Sam whispered. "How deep is this thing?"

"Wait," Karen said. "What's that?"

They both pointed their lights forward, and down in the distance could vaguely see a door. Their pace increased just a bit as they hurried, desperately needing to get out of the narrow stairway.

"What if it's locked?" Karen asked.

The thought sent a cold spike through both of them.

"Why would you say that?"

"Sorry sorry. No, it has to open. Justin and Patricia must have used it."

But the doubt had been placed, and as they reached it Karen could hear Sam chanting under his breath, "Please be open. Please be open Please be open."

He unlinked his arm from Karen, stuffing his map in his jacket pocket as his hand reached out to grab the handle, and he hesitated for just a second before trying to turn it.

It didn't budge.

Anxiety built up quickly. He pulled again, and then again, but it wasn't giving. "It won't open!"

"Try the other way."

He did, and immediately the handle turned and the door moved. "Fucking hell," Sam laughed, almost hysterically. The both let out sighs of relief. "Holy frick I'm an idiot."

Karen laughed raggedly, punching him in the arm. "Damn it Sam you scared the shit out of me."

"I'm sorry!" he laughed. "Gosh damn I almost shit myself. Jeez fuck."

He hadn't opened the door all the way yet. They had been content just finding out it wasn't locked. But now Sam felt frozen. Fear had kept his body moving, but relief had turned him to stone. To move was to break the moment, to invite the fear back in.

"Sam?"

"...Sorry. You ready?"

"Yeah."

They kept their lights low, illuminating the floor as Sam slowly opened the door, cringing as it creaked. They could feel their hearts beat fast and loud in their ears. Both their lights travelled further along the floor, showing only dusty concrete up to the far wall. They started to step slowly into the large room, until for just a second Sam's light found something on the far wall that made them both gasp and freeze.

"What was it?" Karen squeaked.

"Fuck. Please fuck no."

He raised his light again, slowly, to where the double door stood wide open. They both grabbed onto each other again as his light travelled up the opening. Through it was a wide hallway, with several more doors hanging open.

"Fuck," Sam said again.

"We have to walk through that?"

"We probably have to go in all of them."

"...What if Justin and Patricia are hiding behind one of the doors?" Karen laughed nervously.

Sam considered the hallway. "Justin?" he called out quietly. It was barely above a whisper, but down here it was loud. "Patricia?"

No answer.

"If they're hiding, they're not going to answer."

"Worth a shot," Sam shrugged. They hadn't moved from the entrance, but gaining courage, Sam started to walk them both forward slowly. They hadn't let go of each other either.

"Sam, wait. Look over there."

Karen's light had moved toward the wall on their left, where a lone door stood closed, with no indication of what could behind it.Sam looked the other way, checking to see if there was anything on the other wall.

"What are those?"

"Holes," Karen said simply.

"Yeah, but wait made them?"

"I don't know."

Sam looked at them for a moment. "What if they're bullet holes?"

"Why would there be bullet holes down here?"

"Well," he shrugged. "It was supposed to be safe house remember? Maybe whoever they were hiding from got in."

"Oh yeah," she agreed. "We never asked Ellen why they built this place in the first place."

"Probably a war or something. Or maybe it's a safe house for like, a nuclear war or a meteor strike or something."

"Yeah, maybe."

The silence settled down around them again. Both their lights were avoiding the hallway.

"Should we try the do-" there was a metallic, groaning, MWAAaa-uuUHh "-Oh, oh shit what was that!"

"I don't know, I don't know," Sam breathed out. "It sounded like metal moving or something, I don't know. Maybe a door or something?"

Karen gasped and made him jump. "What if it's Justin and Patricia?"

"Yeah!" he agreed quickly. "Yeah they must be somewhere up ahead. Come on let's go."

He tried to bring them forward, but the Vixen resisted. "No I don't want to go through there," she laughed nervously.

He laughed too, trying to steady his nerves. "Come on, we have to do it eventually. We'll go together."

"I don't want to," she squeaked.

But she followed him slowly toward the double doors. The two Foxes clung to each other tightly as they walked up to the double doors. They were opened inward, and Sam and Karen eyed them nervously.

"Let's look behind them first," the Vixen suggested.

"Yeah."

Reluctantly they let go of each other, making wide arcs around either door. Sam slowly crept his light along the floor, his eyes glued to the shadow place behind the door. He moved the light up, feeling his fear spike for a second before the light revealed nothing but concrete.

He turned back to Karen, flashing his light on her stomach so as not to blind her. "Anything?"

"No," she sighed, relieved.

They smiled ruefully at each other before shinning their lights down the rest of the hallway. "You ready to go?"

"Not really," she admitted. The doors all stood open menacingly open. At the end was a wall, and the option to either turn left or right.

"You know" Sam said, "they probably wouldn't put anything this close to the entrance anyway. Cause then we might end up finding something right away and climbing back up before everyone's down here."

"That's true," Karen agreed. "You think they thought of that though?"

"Yeah," he said, trying to convince himself. "Anyway, everyone's going to check them out when they go through here, so we might as well skip it."

"...Yeah. Okay. We'll just take a quick peak inside each room, and then keep going."

"Yeah. Cool."

They started walking forward, the first door coming up on Sam's side. He only barely flashed his light long enough to see that is was a small room. "Nothing."

His hand moved to grab the handle delicately and slowly started to push it closed. "What are you doing?" Karen asked, but he ignored her. Any second something was going to appear in the doorway, push the door back open. His eyes stayed glued to the inside of the room until it was out of side, his face cringing as the door secured itself in place loudly.

"Why did you close it?"

"Do you want all these doors hanging open behind you?" he asked.

She thought for a moment. "...No. You're right. And this way everyone else won't have to deal with them."

"Right," Sam agreed.

They made their way down the hall, peaking into the small rooms before closing each door carefully. The rooms were mostly empty, a few with only a metal cabinet and a desk or two. When they reached the end of the hallway they looked back, and knew that Sam had been right. If the doors had been left open, it would have been a much more terrifying sight.

"There's a door that way," Sam said, pointing his light down the left side of the hallway. "Look. It has tiny window on it."

"This way just turns," Karen said, looking down the other way. "Let's look around the corner and see where it goes. And then we can decide which way to go."

"Okay."

Karen lead the way, while Sam kept his light looking behind them to make sure nothing was going to suddenly pop up. But the longer he looked at the other end of the hallway, the more ominous that little window started to look, and he became more and more determined that he wasn't going to go back.

When they reached the end, Karen peaked around the corner. "Another door. It has a window too, but it's too dark to see through."

"Let's try it."

She nodded. Neither one of them was eager to pass that first hallway again. They walked up to it, avoiding looking at the tiny window while simultaneously refusing to let it out of there peripheral vision. Karen slowly twisted the handle, and the door creaked as it was pushed open.

Their footsteps sounded different, and as they slowly moved into the new room they realized why. The room was huge, stretched wide and long. But the ceiling's height was the same as the hallway, making the space feel uncomfortably squished.

"Whoa." Sam slowly moved his light along the room. There were rows of benches on either side of the room, both sides facing each other, leaving an isle that ran down the middle.

"Wow that's creepy," Karen said, running her light along the empty chairs. "Hey look, over there."

Far across the other side of the room was another windowed door. They each moved their lights around the room, looking for anything else that might be there.

"There's another-" "Ah!"

He turned, and someone was there in Karen's light, coming toward them. His throat seized up, and it took too long to notice the jacket, maroon with blue letters.

"Holy fucking hell!"

"Why would you do that?"

The older Husky girl smiled at them, obviously relishing in their fear. "What? Walk up to you? Would you rather I had shouted something first?"

"Fuck, Patricia," Sam breathed. But the relief was so welcome he was starting to smile. "What is wrong with you?"

"I'm just doing my job," she shrugged. "Supervising. You know this is supposed to be a competition right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, you two can't be clinging together the whole time. You have to split up."

Both pairs of Fox ears fell at the thought of walking around in this dark alone.

"Come on Patricia," Karen pleaded. "It's dark down here."

"I know," she smirked. "Both of you, follow me."

She led them down the aisle between the chairs. The two Foxes shined their lights over them, trying to ignore the feeling of being watched.

"Wah!"

Karen jumped. "What what?"

"Sorry," Sam breathed. "Sorry, it was shadow. I thought someone was sitting in one of the benches."

"Fucking idiot," Patricia said, shaking her head. But Sam caught the slight tone in her voice.

"Sorry Patricia. Didn't mean to scare you."

The Husky let out a single, sarcastic laugh. But behind her back Karen and Sam smiled at each other.

"Alright," she told them. "One of you goes through there," she pointed at the door in the corner that Karen had found, "And the other goes that way." In the other corner was another door, on the side wall, with another little window. It was the one Sam had seen right before Patricia showed up. "Which is it going to be?"

The two Foxes looked at each other fearfully.

"...I guess," Sam said, pointing to the door he had found. "I'll go this way?"

"...And I'll go that way." Karen agreed unhappily.

They walked slowly toward their respective doors, shinning their lights toward each other one last time.

"Good luck," he said.

"Yeah. You too."

Sam opened his door, revealing another hallway, though at least this time only a few doors were hanging open. It didn't help. He looked back again, but Karen was already stepping slowly through her door, so he did the same. He was only barely approaching the first open door when the one behind him closed.

He jumped, spinning around and shinning his light just in time to see Patricia smiling through the tiny window. Then she disappeared, and he was alone in the dark, quiet hallway.

He was too scared to move at first, and he stayed frozen until a though entered his head.

"...Map," he whispered to himself. He started patting his jacket. "Map." He had almost forgotten about it. If he knew where he was going, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

He pulled the giant pamphlet out of his pocket, struggling to open it up all the way. It was much bigger then he thought, and when he got it open he need both hands to hold it up, so instead he put it on the ground, crouching down carefully, ready to spring right back up if he needed to.

His light shined, and he saw three maps for the first three floors. The other two must be on the other side. But he also noticed giant black ink stains covering up chunks of the map, and suddenly he remembered Ellen and Hank saying they had had some fun with the maps.

His heart started to beat faster as he found the first floor, followed along the way he and Karen had come, all the way up the giant stain that covered up the part of the map the contained the hallway he was in now.

The light from his flashlight travelled slowly along the hallway, up to the first open door. It was moving, just a fraction of an inch. He tried to reason it must have been caused by Patricia closing the other door, but alone, in the dark, he just wasn't so sure. His body refused to move, eyes glued to the door until it stopped, and for a moment all he could manage was a single, barely whispered word.

"...Fuck."

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Sorry it's so short. All other updates are intended to be longer. And sorry it isn't quite scary. XD But hopefully it'll still be horror movie/halloweeny enough. And hopefully on time. XP

Comments, critiques, stars, faves, and tales of horror all welcome. <3 <3