THE END - Book I - Of THE EVENT SERIES

by Marshall Huffman

“They will. If worse comes to worst they will rig a two man lift and get us up that way. It ain’t like we’re trapped down here,” the boss replied.

  “Don’t you think they would have at least dropped a land line down?”

  “Maybe they are busy with the damage from the explosion. Look, I know it ain’t easy for us to sit around on our butts but we ain’t got much choice right now.”

  “Maybe we should try to get topside ourselves and find out what’s happening,” one of the women miners said.

  Several miners groaned or chuckled at the suggestion. Climb out of a pit 1650 feet deep? What the hell was she thinking?

  “Gina, we can’t hoist ourselves up sixteen hundred feet. How the hell do you think we could do that?”

  “I don’t know but I think we should start thinking of a way.”

  “Relax, eat your lunch, get some sleep but give it a rest will you?” Mike told her.

  “Fine. You wait and see,” she said and stomped off to get her lunch bucket.”

  “KC, where are you?”

  “Over here,” he said standing up and walking toward Mike.

  “Could we rig something to get out of here if we had to?”

  “Why? Do you really think Gina is right?”

  Mike leaned closer to KC’s ear so that none of the others could hear what he wanted to say.

  “I mean, just in case. I’ve been thinking. The blast had to be pretty damn big for us to feel the affect clear down here. What if the demolition storage building somehow exploded? We just got a new shipment yesterday and the place was crammed full. If that went up it would take out most of the town,” Mike said.

  “Holly crap. I didn’t think about something like that.”

  “It would explain why it is taking so long to hear from up topside.”

  “Lord, that many explosives would rip the town apart. Damn.”

  “Don’t say anything to anybody just yet. I don’t want to get everyone stirred up. Get your guys and see if you can figure out any way to start getting us out of here if we get no support.”

  “Alright. We will start on it. I know we can reach level H but after that…” he didn’t finish the sentence.

  “Just get started. We can tackle one problem at a time if we have to get ourselves out,” the boss said.

  KC gathered up his men and they walked down the corridor so they could talk without others butting in or asking them a million questions.

  “We need to brainstorm. If we had to get ourselves out of here, what’s the best way to go about it?”

  “Why would we have to do that?” one of his men asked.

  “Maybe we won’t but let’s just pretend that’s the challenge. What would we have to do?”

  “We could weld a structure together to get to the next level and then brace across that and raise the structure and repeat the process.”

  “Without electricity, no welding. Also no hoist to lift the structure,” KC replied.

  “Climb the cable for the lift car?” another asked.

  “Yeah, right. You go first,” one of the men replied.

  “What about using the pinning bolts?” KC asked.

  “You mean like making steps?”

  “Something like that. Place them at an angle to each other so we don’t have to stand straight up to get to the next step.”

  “How would we get them in the wall without a drill?”

  “The old fashion way. We could take the tip off one of the machines and use a hammer to knock out a whole deep enough to get a purchase with the bolts.”

  “Do you know how hard that would be and how long it would take? Christ the pecker-head weighs ten or fifteen pounds alone. I can’t imagine standing five hundred feet up trying to use a sledge hammer to get a hole in the side of the pit so another bolt could be started.”

  “I didn’t say it would be easy and I’m open to other suggestions,” KC replied.

  “I guess we could rig a net somehow or find a way of keeping the person punching out the holes from falling,” one of the others added.

  “It would take all day just to go one or two levels.”

  “What is the alternative? We just stay here and run out of food and water? The ventilation fans aren’t working so eventually the CO from our own bodies will start to become a factor. Unless anyone has a better plan I think we should give it a try.”

  No one objected or made any comments.

  “Good, let’s get started. I’ll tell Mike the plan and you guys round up all the materials we need.”

  “What if we don’t have enough bolts?”

  “Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it, okay?”

  “Fine.”

  “Now get to it,” KC said, heading off to find Mike.

  ****

  “You think we can actually do that?” Mike asked.

  “I think it’s worth a try. We can’t build a structure of any height without electricity. Making a stairs to the next level is the only way I can think of. Once we get there we can haul up the tools and bolts and go to the next level, and on and on.”

  “You won’t have enough bolts for that, will you?”

  “We will remove the bolts as we all get to the next level. We will have to lose one or two but we should make it,” K.C. told him.

  “All right, have your men get started,” Mike said.

  “They are already getting the materials. We will have to steal one of the pecker-heads from a drill but that’s about all,” KC replied.

  “Excellent. I guess I had better tell the others. They will know something is going on and they have a right to know,” Mike said.

  “That’s your call. I just have to find a way out of this mess.”

  KC went off to get his men working and Mike gathered up the rest of the crew and filled them in on what was being done about getting them back to the surface.

  ****

  Getting to the first level up was the hardest. KC’s crew had to find the best way to get the hole punched out while balancing on one of the bolts screwed into the side of the wall. It took them twelve hours to build the steps that would take them from the ground floor to the next level. They fell in heaps as they finally pulled themselves up and over the final ledge.

  “Son of a bitch,” one of the men moaned.

  “I’m going to let Mike know we are ready for the rest of them to climb on up,” KC said starting back down the stairs of bolts.

  “Better you than me,” one of the men muttered.

  Each day they got a little better and the time from one level to the next fell from twelve hours to just under nine. It was still back breaking work but they had worked out a system that took off several minutes with the placement of each bolt. The biggest problem they were facing was hunger and water. Food had run out and water was down to a precious few drops.

  Mike whispered to KC, “Any way to do this faster? We don’t have much water left. We still have six more levels to go.”

  “Not much else we can do. We can’t go much faster with the tools we have,” K.C. replied.

  “I don’t think the men can last six more days.”

  “If we could get some more guys that we could show what to do, we could work around the clock. We could be out in a day or two.”

  “Then let’s do it. I don’t think anyone will bitch at this point. All they want to do is get out of here and find out what the hell is going on,” Mike replied.

  “You won’t get any complaints from my guys,” KC said.

  The pace increased dramatically once everyone got comfortable with standing a thousand feet in the air while balanced on a steel bolt and swinging a sledge hammer.

  They were within a hundred and fifty feet when the first mishap occurred. One of the men being relieved dropped a hammer and it hit another guy on the hand. He yelled and let go for just an instant and that was all it took. He slipped back and suddenly he was gone, falling all the way to the bottom of the pit. The one thing that K.C. was most afraid of had fina
lly happened.

  “We’ve been lucky so far. I’ve been expecting someone to fall eventually. Do you know who it was?”

  “Milton Cross,” KC said.

  “Son of a bitch. He has six kids and one on the way,” Mike said.

  “How did it happen?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Everyone is tired and it was just one of those things. No use trying to figure out who should have done what at this point. We need to get everyone back to work so we can get out of here. Everyone is getting weaker by the minute and we will have more accidents if we don’t get out of here fast.”

  “You’re right. Let’s just push on.”

  Early the next day they finally climbed out of the pit. Tired, dirty, and painfully thirsty they stared in amazement. None of the buildings were damaged. If fact there didn’t seem to be anything wrong other than the plants and trees were bare.

  “What the hell is going on? Where is everyone?” someone said.

  “There wasn’t an explosion. The storage building is still like we left it,” someone else pointed out.

  “I damn sure intend to find out why they just left us down there all this time.”

  The statement was met with a chorus of agreements.

  “Find something to drink and eat. I’m going to go to the office and get to the bottom of this,” Mike said.

  “I’ll come along if you like,” KC offered. The two men walked to the main office and went inside. No one was around.

  “What the hell is going on?” Mike asked.

  “Beats the hell out of me. Maybe they were all evacuated because of some chemical spill or something. Did you see the trees?”

  “Yeah, but still. It’s been almost a week and someone would have had to make sure we got out,” Mike replied.

  “What’s that green shit on the floor?” KC asked.

  “Don’t have a clue but it looks like snot.”

  “It has a wedding ring in it,” KC said bending down.

  “You gonna pick that up?”

  “Nah, I think I’ll pass on that,” KC said standing back up.

  “This is all so crazy,”

  “Maybe they thought it was a lost cause. That we were all dead.”

  “They would have checked. They wouldn’t just presume we were all dead and just forget all about us,” Mike insisted.

  “None of this makes sense if you ask me,” KC replied.

  “I guess we should get into town and have someone tell us what the hell is going on,” Mike suggested.

  “After I get something to eat and drink. I’m starved.”

  “I think we need to go now. We can get something to eat in town.”

  “Ah, what the hell. Another few minutes ain’t gonna kill me I guess.”

  “Let’s go,” Mike said and they walked to his car.

  It wouldn’t start.

  “What the hell? This thing is practically new,” Mike said, trying the ignition key again and again.

  “Forget it. Let’s take my truck,” K.C. said. They climbed into his 1970 El Camino and it started right up.

  “Frickin new cars,” Mike muttered as they drove off.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Death Valley

  Kim DeLaine decided it was time to quit feeling sorry for herself. She was the one who had insisted she could cross Death Valley. No one had made her. If fact it was quite the opposite. She looked at the sky wondering what had happened to make it look so strange. It didn’t look like rain exactly but the dark swirling clouds made her feel uneasy.

  Kim got out her map and tried to figure which way to go to find the highway again. It was time to give up this foolishness. She knew approximately which direction she had come from when she first found the abandoned town. Even though nothing looked exactly the same she still felt she could figure it out. She needed to take care of getting her canteens filled first and washing her face of the grime and grit from hiding in the cave and abandoned mine.

  Kim walked across the crunching sand and carefully looked around before walking to the water spigot. After filling her canteens and washing her face, she let the water run down her front. It was time to take off in the direction she sure hoped would bring her to the highway eventually. She looked at her watch but it had stopped. She must have hit it when she was trying to get away from the motorcycle gang.

  She briefly wondered where they had all gone so suddenly but decided she didn’t really care as long as they left her alone. Her GPS wasn’t working either which concerned her a great deal more.

  Kim walked steadily for several hours before finally stopping and resting. She ate some trail mix and downed it with water. Her head was still sore from where that big jerk had grabbed hold of her and tried to drag her back to the others. What the hell made people like that?

  She started walking again but it was getting dark and the temperature was falling rapidly. It was much colder than it had been any previous night. She slipped off her backpack and put her coat on before setting out again. She walked another hour before it was too dark to go on. No moon or stars lit up the desert like they had every other night. It was pitch black.

  She decided she would have to change her routine and walk during the day and sleep at night. It wasn’t as easy as before. The ground was rock hard and transmitted the cold to her body. She tried sitting on her backpack and leaning against a rock but no matter how hard she tried, sleep wouldn’t come. Exhausted she finally fell into a fitful sleep with dreams of the motorcycle gang chasing her.

  When Kim awoke it was a little lighter outside. The sun must be coming up she surmised. She stood up, stretched and rubbed her aching head. She ate beef jerky for breakfast and mixed a cup full of kool-aid to drink. It tasted terrible made with warm water but it did have sugar in it and she would need energy for the trek ahead. If everything went well she should reach the highway by late afternoon. Hopefully she was going in the right direction.

  After splashing water on her face she packed up her gear and started off again. It was getting warmer now that the sun was up and she soon had to take her jacket off once again. The sky was still the same mass of roiling angry clouds. She had never seen the sky look anything like it before.

  Kim trudged on, trying to not think about anything except putting one foot in front of the other. Thinking about the distance would only make things seem worse. Mile after mile she struggled on, only stopping to take a drink or munch on some trail mix.

  With her head down, watching her feet and not the horizon she almost walked right into the side of a car.

  “Whoa, what the hell?” Kim said startled.

  The car was sitting with the front wheels off the road and the rear ones still on the asphalt. She slipped off her backpack and walked around to the driver’s side. On the front seat was a watch, some coins and a man’s belt buckle. On the passenger side was a pair of earrings and a bracelet. Both were covered in a gooey slimey substance. She looked down the highway and saw another car a few hundred yards further on. A blue SUV was stopped right in the center of the road.

  “Too creepy,” she said trying to figure out why people would just walk off and leave their cars.

  “This doesn’t make a lick of sense,” she muttered as she walked down to the next vehicle.

  Inside were four blotches of the same kind she had seen in the first car.

  “What is that stuff?” Kim said looking at a hair barrette covered in gunk on the back seat.

  Even more strange was the fact that the keys were still in the ignition.

  “They couldn’t have both just run out of gas like this,” Kim muttered, pondering what could possibly have happened.

  She looked at the substance on the seats and tried to think what it could possibly be. Kim stepped back from the SUV.

  “No way,” she said suddenly. “No way,” she repeated.

  There had to be some other explanation. That stuff couldn’t be all that was left of the people.

  She thought back to the globs she had
seen when she climbed down from the cave. They were right by the motorcycles where the two women had been talking. It had to have been some kind of nuclear attack. Something had reduced these people to whatever it was on the seats of the cars.

  She reached in and turned the ignition but nothing happened. Even that helped to confirm her theory. She had read about nuclear bombs causing electrical equipment to become useless. Some kind of radiation thing or energy drain.

  She was suddenly overcome with panic. Did that mean she was being radiated too and would soon end up like the people in the cars? She forced herself to take deep breaths.

  “No,” she finally said. This had to have happened instantaneously. They didn’t even have time to get out of their cars. Somehow she had escaped their fate. Remembering the bright flash of light and the ground trembling while in the cave, it must have been a bomb going off. These poor people were caught out in the open and somehow she had been spared by being in the cave.

  She also recalled reading that the area around the atomic bomb blast sites had turned the sand into glass and that is what she had been walking on for the past day.

  She felt bad for the people but there was nothing she could do about it. What the hell would all this mean? Had the whole world gone mad? Standing in the middle of the road, trying to figure it all out wasn’t going to solve anything. She checked her map once more and set off to the north.

  If she was right about her location, there was a small town only ten miles or so down the road. She hitched up her backpack and started off toward the town.

  A mile later she came across another car with exactly the same substance inside. This one must have had three people in it she thought as she counted the gooey splotches.

  She walked on, trying not to go too fast. She wanted to get there but she didn’t want to overextend herself. Several times along the way she stopped and checked out cars but the story was the same each time.

  Thirty minutes later she saw a sign that said Furnace Creek Visitor's Center. It was where she had started out six days before. Just below that was a small sign indicating a gas station was ahead. At last, civilization. Someone there could tell her what was going on and she could call her dad and have him arrange to come get her if her car wouldn’t start.