by Dave Conifer
“I know,” Joe said. “Plenty of people are sick already. In a way, that’s what this meeting is all about. You’ll see. Just hang tight. And trust me. I’m The Weiner King, remember?”
Eighteen
When they approached the modest home of Grover and Crystal Monroe, in the moon shadow of the water tower, Nick knew there were armed guards all around, and most of them watching him. He wished he hadn't agreed to come, but it was too late now. Might as well find out what this was all about.
"Did you know Grover Monroe is a heart surgeon?" Joe asked. "I never knew that. Who'd have thought we have a doctor in this neighborhood?”
"I didn't know it either," Nick said. "Because I’ve never heard of him."
The house, one of only seven different models built in Crestview, was a medium-sized Colonial on the same half-acre lot that every house occupied. It didn't look like the home of a heart surgeon. As they walked up the driveway, Nick strained to remember anything at all about the Monroes, but came up with nothing.
A sentry dressed in black clothing nodded at Joe as they approached the front door, before stepping out of the way without a word. "They're in the basement," Joe said after they were in the house.
"They who?" Nick asked. "What's going on here?"
"Grover and a couple of others," Joe said. "Nick, keep an open mind here, okay? This is the opportunity of a lifetime, if you play your cards right."
By then they were walking down the hardwood stairs into the basement. Nick heard at least two people speaking, but that stopped with the clatter of Joe’s boots on the steps. Nick padded quietly behind in his sneakers, wondering what to expect. Thanks to Joe’s buildup of this meeting, he could feel his heart racing.
Lit only by two candles on either end of a coffee table, the basement was too dark for Nick to see much at first. As his eyes adjusted, a lean black man rose from a stuffed chair. "Hi, Nick," he said in a deep, gentle voice. “I’m Grover Monroe.” He extended his hand, which Nick shook. "Thanks for coming by on such short notice." Nick felt somebody swish past him from out the darkness and head up the staircase.
Grover's grip was tight, and his hand surprisingly rough for a doctor. Maybe all that talk about surgeons needing soft hands was nonsense. Grover definitely looked the part otherwise, with his well-manicured hair, stylish glasses and close-cropped beard.
"No problem," Nick mumbled. "It's a little confusing, getting dragged over here to your bunker in the middle of the night. But these days, everything is always confusing." He’d expected a larger group. Hadn't Joe said there was a meeting going on?
"Have a seat, Nick," Grover said. As Nick came closer, he realized that there was somebody else there. Was he hiding on purpose? Nick was sure he had been. When the lurker realized he’d been spotted, he emerged from the flickering shadows of the candles. Without cracking a smile, he nodded curtly before moving to the chair next to Grover’s.
“Nick, this is Lanny Enright,” Grover said.
“What’s he doing hiding over there in the dark?” Nick asked.
“We thought it might be better if you and I talked first. Sorry about that.”
“No sweat,” Nick said. “He just surprised me, that’s all.”
“I know none of this makes sense to you,” Grover said apologetically. “I hope you’ll let me explain.”
“I’m all ears,” Nick replied. Joe hadn’t moved from where he stood, but now he walked over and took a seat on the couch next to Nick.
“Thanks,” Grover said. “I’m going to get right to the point. You’ve seen how crazy things are getting, I assume?”
“Well, sure,” Nick agreed. “And getting crazier. I didn’t expect it to get this bad this quick.”
Grover nodded. “Well-said, Nick. Are you okay with me calling you Nick?”
“Sure,” Nick answered with a shrug. “Everybody does.” He leaned forward. “Do you know what happened? What caused all this?”
“We know more than most do,” Grover said. “We’ll get to that, but maybe not tonight. I’ll tell you right now that it’s not going to get fixed anytime soon.”
“Really?” Nick replied, disappointment evident in his voice. “Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. What happened?”
“Life isn’t easy right now,” Grover continued, ignoring the question. “Nobody likes living without electricity, cars, and whatnot. We’re all running out of food and water.” He steepled his hands under his chin. “But you know all this. Tell me what you’re thinking. What’s the biggest threat we’re facing right now? Right here in Cherry Hill. Right here in Crestview.”
Nick shrugged. “I think you covered the basics. But what worries me most is how people are reacting to the trouble. It’s like we’re getting more primitive the longer this goes on. Only the strong survive, or something like that. It’s worse every day.” He looked at the rifle in the hands of the man sitting next to Grover. He’d already forgotten his name. “Like this guy, for instance. He’s obviously here to scare me, and he’s doing a pretty good job of it. Because I know if he wanted to, he could blow my head off and there’s nobody around to do anything about it.”
“Lanny’s not going to blow your head off,” Grover assured Nick. “But aside from that, I’m happy to hear that we’re on the same wavelength.”
“Doesn’t feel that way to me,” Nick said. “I’m sitting in your basement with a rifle aimed at my head.”
“It’s not aimed at your head,” Joe said. “Settle down, man.”
Before Nick could answer, he heard voices and shuffling feet coming from upstairs. “Grover! Good news! We got another truck running!” Whoever it was stopped short at the bottom of the steps. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know. I’ll wait upstairs.” She turned to leave.
“Hold on, Carly,” Grover said, waving her over. “It’s okay. Do you know Nick?”
“I’ve seen him around,” Carly said.
“Wait, you live at the house that always has—“ Nick stopped abruptly.
Carly laughed. “You can say it. There’s always a car in the driveway with the hood up, and somebody under it. Me and my dad. A couple of mechanics that can’t leave their work at the shop.”
“You’re both mechanics?” Nick asked.
“Is Hal here, too?” Grover asked. Nick guessed that Hal was Carly’s father.
“On his way,” Carly said. “Old man isn’t as fast as me. Plus, he had to take the truck over, and catch a ride back. Drove it under its own power this time,” she said proudly.
“He’s not alone, I hope,” Lanny commented.
“Nope. He’s in good hands. Lots of them.”
“Can you wait for me upstairs, Carly?” Grover asked. “I won’t be much longer.”
“Sure,” Carly said. She nodded at Nick and went back upstairs.
“So, where were we?” Grover asked. “We were talking about how dangerous it’s getting. Let me ask you this, Nick. What did you say a minute ago? Something about how there isn’t anybody around to do anything about it if Lanny shot you, right?”
“Right,” Nick said. “It’s like the old west. If you have guns, or if you have the biggest mob, you do whatever you want.”
“And how long do you think that’ll last? Roughly speaking, at least.”
Nick shrugged in the darkness. “No clue. Nobody can know. Nobody’s even seen a cop since all this happened. There’s no authority anymore, at least none that I know of. Nobody’s in charge. So, like I said, mob rules.”
“But how long will it go on?” Grover repeated.
“You’re the one who said it’s not getting fixed anytime soon,” Nick said. “Could be forever, for all I know.”
“It certainly could,” Grover agreed. “Or at least for a very long time. All things considered, I think the best-case scenario is that things stay the same, indefinitely, as they are now. Which isn’t too good. I suspect you agree,” Grover said. “What about the worst-case scenario?”
Nick took a deep breath. “Dewey and
I were talking about this yesterday. It’s going to get uglier and uglier, and pretty quick.”
“Sure is,” Lanny agreed. “Hungry people can do things they didn’t know they had in them.”
“I’ve said the same thing ten times in the last week,” Nick told them. “And that’s not even considering what’ll happen when winter comes and it gets cold. This is the easy part. Next January we’ll be talking about how easy we had it in the summer.”
“We’ve already seen it happening. I’m sure you have, too,” said Grover. “The shopping centers were finished off a long time ago. How many homes have been broken into and looted? Right here in Crestview! How many people have pulled food off their neighbor’s table and left them with nothing?” He gestured at Lanny. “He’s not here to scare you. He’s here to protect me. Because who knows what a cold, hungry, hopeless man will do? Are you still with me?”
Nick nodded silently.
“What did you call this place before?” Grover asked. “A bunker?”
“I did,” Nick said. “I’ve walked by about a hundred times, trying to figure out what’s going on in here.”
“Well, a bunker is exactly what it is,” Grover said. “If you want to call it that. Others might call it a safe, well-protected haven where we have enough to eat, and we can sleep at night without fear, at least for the moment. We traded freedom for safety. Nobody comes in or goes out without guys like Lanny knowing it. Nobody eats until we tell them they can, and how much, and, well, you get the picture. Eleven houses worth of families. The people in the twelfth house disappeared right at the beginning, before we got organized.”
“Where’d they go?”
“Who knows if they’re even still alive? That’s kind of what I’m getting at, Nick,” Grover explained. “In our new world, there’s no safety except in numbers. And guns. Bunkers like this one are the new reality. Until this gets fixed, that’s how life is going to be.”
“So why am I here?” Nick asked.
Grover looked at Joe, and then Lanny, each of whom nodded in turn. “We want you to join us.”
“Me? Why?” Nick asked. “It sounds like you don’t have any vacancies. Why take on another mouth to feed?”
“You’re thinking short-term,” Grover said. “Sure, you’re welcome to move in here if that’s what you want. But we’re planning for the long-term. We have big plans, and we want you to be part of them.”
“Plans?” Nick asked. “Like what? Why haven’t I heard about this?”
“You haven’t heard about us because we don’t talk,” Grover explained. “The more people who know, the more chance there is for trouble.”
“What can you tell me about the big plans?”
“We’re leaving,” Grover said. “We’re making preparations, collecting food and supplies, finding vehicles, you name it. We’re going someplace else.”
“Where?” Nick asked. “Why?’
“Because as you already said, the biggest threat we all face right now are lawless mobs and desperate people,” Grover said. “We want to get out into open space where we can feel safe, and build something from scratch.”
“But where will you go?” Nick repeated.
“We have two options still on the table,” Grover said. “We’ll go west, to Central Pennsylvania, or east, into the Pine Barrens. We’d prefer to go west, because it’s bigger country, but the river is in the way. Even if the bridges were open, which they aren’t, they’re bottlenecks that we’re nervous about passing through. There’ll be some dangerous characters waiting on both sides. We’re not ready for that. Not yet.”
“You know about all this?” Nick asked Joe. “I see you every day. At least I used to. You never mentioned this.”
“And neither will you,” Grover said firmly. “You’ll keep this to yourself, whether you join us or not. Understood?”
“Yeah, sure,” Nick said, looking over at Lanny and his rifle. “But let me ask you this. Why me?”
“Everybody was picked for a reason,” Joe said.
“That’s why I’m asking,” Nick replied.
“For starters, you fit the profile we need,” Grover answered. “You’re in good shape. You’re the kind of man who travels light. But mostly because you’re not afraid to get your hands dirty.”
“So you want me because I’m not fat or old, and I don’t have too much stuff,” Nick said. “Not too selective, are we?”
“There’s more,” Grover assured him. “You know your way around a toolbox. We’ll need that, too.”
“Okay,” Nick said. “I can see that. I’m not sure I have enough tools for everybody.”
“Tools can be had,” Grover said. “But we need people like you who know how to use them. And there’s going to be a lot of work to do. Somebody’s got to organize it, and lead the crews. You’re used to doing that.”
“What kind of work are you talking about?” Nick asked suspiciously.
“You name it,” Grover replied. “Remember, we’re starting from square one. All I’m talking about is good, clean, hard work. You know all about that, and that’s why you’re here.”
“So basically, you’re assembling a team that knows how to do everything,” Nick said. “Good luck with that.”
“I’m not sure how serious you are, but that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Grover said. “You call it a team. I call it a society.”
“Wow,” Nick said. “Look, I’m not saying I’m not interested, but my situation is complicated. How long do I have to decide?”
“There’s something else, Nick,” Joe said. “Grover, can I tell him?”
“Please do,” Grover said. “I need to get upstairs. I think I heard Hal come in. Come on up when you’re done.” He looked at Nick. “Good talking to you. Thanks for coming by.” Lanny had already risen from his chair. He waited for Grover to pass, and then followed him up the stairs.
“So the guy with the rifle is a bodyguard for Grover?” Nick asked.
“More or less,” Joe said. “He’s pretty low on the food chain. Normally Grover’s got more guards around him than the president does. Lanny’s a scary guy at first, but he’s not so bad after you get to know him.”
“Level with me, Joe. What’s really going on here? Doesn’t all this secret society in a super bunker stuff creep you out?”
“In a way,” Joe admitted. “But, you know, it beats the alternative. With the way it’s getting out there, I don’t want to be on my own. I have a wife and kids to take care of. You’re single, but you should be thinking the same way.”
“I’m not really that single anymore,” Nick said. “You know all about that. What happens with them if I join up?”
“That’s not up to me,” Joe said. “Grover and his people probably already decided if they’re in or out.”
“I’ll have to ask,” Nick said.
“There’s something Grover needs you to do,” Joe said. “Soon. Tomorrow night, as a matter of fact.”
“The plot thickens,” Nick said. “Let’s hear it.”
“You ever notice that house near the entrance to the development that has the solar panels on the roof?” Joe asked.
“Yeah, sure, I know the place,” Nick said.
“Well, to make a long story short, Grover wants those panels,” Joe said. “And the rest of the system. Whatever’s in there. We know the system got fried, just like everything else, but we can study them and learn how they work, and cannibalize some parts. Your end of it is to go up on the roof and take them down. All forty-eight of them.”
“I take it he knows I’m a roofer?” Nick asked.
“He knows a lot more than that, but yeah,” Joe answered.
“Those panels are bigger than you think,” Nick said. “No way there are that many on that tiny house.”
“Some of them are mounted on stands on the ground in back,” Joe said. “We want them all.”
“Grover needs somebody to steal some solar panels. So much for those leadership skills of mine that
he was talking about,” Nick said.
“You can’t walk away from this, Nick,” Joe warned. “It’s not like we’re going to dump you after the solar panel job.”
“Okay. Tell him to count me in.”
“I will,” Joe promised. “Consider yourself lucky for being invited.”
“How about you?” Nick asked. “Why are they so interested in you? Besides your mad barbecue skills?”
“Don’t sell that short,” Joe said, smiling. “The art of cooking is about to take a major step backwards. Right down to my level.”
“It already has,” Nick said. “We’re out of propane now, but we were grilling every day for a while. Of course, we’re running out of things to cook.”
“You might be okay as a meat and potatoes man, but I’m a cutting edge chef,” Joe said, laughing. “Seriously, though, I think they wanted me because I know everybody. I’m a one-man human resources department. Grover wanted to put this together fast. He needed a nosy neighbor like me who knows what everybody’s up to. That’s my best guess, anyway.”
“I’m surprised Grover’s okay with stealing somebody else’s property,” Nick said. “He sounded so righteous.”
“It’s all about choices,” Joe said. “Life isn’t so neat and clean anymore. But besides that, the stuff we’re stealing is already stolen. Jerry Delaney and his family got run out of that house weeks ago. Your boy Ryne Cronin and his merry men took it over.”
“Cronin’s not my boy,” Nick grunted. “I’m just glad he’s not a part of this, like I thought he was.”
“No way. There’s no place for his kind here,” Joe said. “They’re part of the reason we want to get out of here. Bullies and criminals like him will be springing up all over the place. It makes me feel sorry for everyone we’re leaving behind.”
“So why leave them behind, then? Why not invite them to join up?”
“We can’t take everybody,” Joe replied. “You heard Grover. This is going to be tough. Especially the first winter. Soft, weak people aren’t going to do much better out there than they’ll do here. But what they will do is drag us down with them if we bring them along.”