"I don't know," Sam said. "It's probably just some sort of utility room, could be like chemicals and what have you for the pool. Something that they wouldn't want to have where the general public could stumble on it."
They made their way down the stairs into a pitch-black room. There was no more light filtering through down here, and in spite of how much their eyes had adjusted to the dark, they couldn't see a thing. They had to feel their way around. The room was small, and there seemed to be some shelves along one wall. It was pretty cramped for the five of them. They almost tripped over a few low shelves, scattering tools onto the floor.
"With all that noise banging around on the floor, we're certainly not going to be sneaking up on anybody," Veronica said.
"I can't imagine there's anybody in here behind this door," Holly said.
There was a door on the other side of the small room, and when they tried it, it was locked.
"Well damn, that's kind of uneventful, isn't it," Garrett said. "I mean, we make it all the way down here, and now we don't even get to see where all the spooky noises are coming from."
"Maybe that's a good thing," Veronica said. "If the door's locked, not only can't we get in, but whatever is making that noise can't get out."
"Maybe it's someone that needs help. Maybe they're banging on something in the hopes of getting us to come down and help them," Sam said.
"That doesn't really make a lot of sense," Garrett said. "How would they even know we’re in here. This building has been vacant for days. If there's somebody down there, they'd have no way of hearing us when we were a floor up. This place is built solid; they wouldn't hear our footsteps up above.
"Then again," Veronica said, "if it is somebody in there, even as remote as that possibility is, don't we have an obligation to help them? I mean, everything you guys said about being left in the street and nobody up there. That's horrible, isn't it? We're not like that. Aren't we obligated to help?" Veronica leaned against the locked door and called out, "Hello! Anybody in there? Can you hear me? Hello!"
Then Sam was making more noise behind them, rummaging through the tools, looking for something.
"Sam, what are you doing?" Holly asked.
"If there is somebody back there, or if it's nothing, or maybe just some stupid raccoon or whatever, then I think we need to know. Veronica's right, we can't just leave people behind, even if we don't know who they are. Maybe there's something here that can bust through that locked door."
Then they were all rummaging through the tools and the shelves, making all sorts of racket. No one seemed to care at this point whether it was a person or machine or animal that was making the noise. They just wanted to figure out what it was and get on with things.
Eventually, Gary found a prybar and after numerous attempts between him and everybody else in the group, they snapped the door lock open.
While it was pitch black inside, the room definitely opened up under the pool. You could smell chlorine, and it was damp. Running their hands along the walls, they could feel the slickness. It was a pump room, and what they eventually found was that one of the hydraulic pumps that ran the pool had got stuck in a bad position when the power went out. The internals of the pump were banging against each other, trying to release the hydraulic pressure. Gary found a few extra tools in the exterior room and fiddled away in the dark. Feeling his way around the pumps, he was able to relieve the hydraulic pressure to one of the valves. That put an end to the mystery of the banging noise.
"Well, that was pretty anticlimactic," Holly said. "I don't know if any of the rest of you noticed, but on the plus side, I have a feeling we may have found some interesting things down here. I noticed a number of the other doors that we passed were all storage rooms. We should check them out and see if we can find anything useful."
<<<>>>
It's actually pretty surprising the number of things that you can find in a YMCA. The facilities are equipped to handle a number of different activities and age groups so they're stocked with all sorts of supplies. The group spent the next few hours rummaging through as many of the open rooms as they could and with Gary's help some of the locked rooms too. One of the most valuable things they found, at least for the moment, was a storage room full of arts and crafts supplies. YMCAs had plenty of arts and crafts supplies to facilitate day camps for kids during the summer and after school programs.
The most useful item that they found in that room was a whole box of glow sticks. Most were the kind that they sell at concerts, that you can wear as necklaces or bracelets, but there were also a few big sticks that were more helpful for moving through all the dark rooms in the building.
They also found a storeroom full of food. The YMCA had a snack bar that provided lunch and snacks for patrons who were either just dropping in for an afternoon workout or wanted to stop for a quick bite at the end of the day. Whoever was in charge of keeping supplies up for the restaurant/snack bar must have been a prepper. There were cases upon cases of water, juices and soda pop. Likely more than the five of them could drink in six months. Even if they did run out of what they found in the storeroom, the pool with its thousands of gallons of water would last for years.
Not to mention there were all kinds of nonperishable goods stored in the room, including healthy snacks. There were cases of protein bars and lots of other carbohydrate-laden foods. The only thing it was missing was a freezer room fully stocked with meat. There was a freezing unit upstairs in the restaurant area, but it had thawed out days ago, and the food inside was already questionable.
They also found gear for outdoor physical activity. Everything from boating to rock climbing to backpacking and hiking. Apparently, not everyone visiting Atlantic City came to gamble. Judging from the look of the equipment though, there weren't a lot of non-gamblers visiting. Everything looked virtually brand new. Climbing gear, backpacks, life jackets, camping gear and clothing.
Who would have thought that a YMCA could be a goldmine for supplies to survive an apocalypse?
"Just thinking out loud here, but maybe a change of plans wouldn't be such a bad idea," Gary said. The others in the group looked at him questioningly. They'd found so far that while Gary may be a whiz with machines, his ideas and suggestions for tactics weren't always the best. "Given that this city and likely the rest of the country has gone to shit, maybe it makes more sense for us to just hold up here for a while. We've got everything that we could possibly need to survive for months. Food, water and other supplies. I could probably rig a security system to make sure we don't get any surprise visitors looking to raid our supplies. What do you all think?"
They'd just finished eating from their new stash, and everyone was feeling good for the first time in a while. Everyone was just getting used to one another, and some were having second thoughts about Gary.
"I thought you said you had family up in New York that you wanted to get back to?" Garrett said. "Aren't you worried about them and what's going on up there?"
"Well yeah, of course I am. But I'm a pragmatist as well. I mean, I'm not gonna be a whole lot of use to them if I get myself killed doing something stupid down here, like walking into some place full of nut jobs."
"Killed by nut jobs?" Veronica said, almost laughing. "What do you think this is, the Wild West? Things can't be this bad everywhere. Sure, it seems like there's a bunch of locals here that have gone a little overboard." She got dirty looks from Sam. The word overboard brought back some bad memories. "Sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I know there were other people on the boat that we're worried about. That's not what I meant."
"I know what you're thinking," Sam said. "But I think you're a little bit naïve about the big picture. We all know Atlantic City is one of the more civilized places." Holly and Garrett shook their heads. "Yes, I know you two had some bad experiences, but maybe that's just because we're outsiders. There could be a plausible explanation for what happened. The locals could have good reason to behave the way they did. Those guys they
executed in the street could have had a long history of violence. We don't know their side of the story."
"What I do know," Garrett said, "is that I have absolutely no intention of staying here any longer than I have to. Whatever the situation out there is, I don't care. Whatever the other people are doing in Atlantic City or New York City isn't going to keep me here. I'm going to do what I need to do." He looked at Holly. "What we need to do. And that means getting to our daughter. You all should think about what's important to you. This place isn't a permanent solution. Sure, it's pretty well stocked with enough to keep us alive for who knows how long, but we're not gonna spend the rest of our lives living in a YMCA."
"Actually, a lot of people do," Veronica said. "Back home, in the emergency room that I worked in, there were a lot of homeless people who couldn't survive without the local YMCA. They gave out all sorts of free meals and had places for people to sleep who couldn't go anywhere else. Especially during the bad weather, they were a godsend to those people. I'm sure a lot of them thought of the YMCA as home."
"I don't see us staying here for more than a few days," Holly said. "I mean, just enough to get our bearings, get some rest and get Garrett's leg looked at." She looked at Veronica, who nodded.
"I actually found some medical supplies here as well. This place is like a mini city when it comes to being stocked with essentials," Holly said. "We can go take a look at that leg right now if you like."
"That would be great," Garrett agreed.
"Still," Holly said, "once we're good enough to travel, we're gonna go. I hope you guys come with us, as I think we make for a good group. We've got enough skills amongst us to overcome obstacles and help each other along the way. I certainly don't want to do this alone, or just with Garrett. We've found enough supplies here, so all we need is a better means of transportation. If we can get a car or two working, then we'll be in great shape."
"Yes, we would be," Sam agreed. "Although that's still not without its problems. If as many of these cars and trucks died with the power outage as we've seen around the city, then the highways are likely to be clogged like a fat man's arteries after Thanksgiving. We'll have to figure out backup modes of transportation to get us to where we want to go. Maybe something low-tech, like bicycles even."
"You're kidding, right?" Gary said. "I can't remember the last time I actually rode a bicycle."
"Well," Garrett said. "It may not be such a horrible idea. If what Sam suggested is true and the main roads are all clogged up. Something tells me that if we snooped around here long enough, we'd probably find some good bicycles."
"I think it's a pretty good idea," Veronica said. "I like it."
Before the conversation was finished, Gary walked away from the group grumbling to himself, but only Veronica noticed.
Unfortunately, what none of them inside the YMCA had realized was that they weren't the only ones figuring out what a fabulous resource they had stumbled into. They'd been followed, and those who had followed them didn't have the best of intentions. Javier was watching and would soon be reporting back to his very grateful leader. Javier was grateful that he hadn't said anything to Jaden earlier about the two from the beach. Javier's patience had rewarded him with an even greater discovery.
Chapter 16 ~ Calm Before Storm
For the first time in more days than they could think to remember, the group had an opportunity for a respite. They hadn't been attacked by anybody, man or nature, and things felt relatively normal. It was strange. Holly and Garrett were exploring the building facilities to see what else they could find. It was surprising how many rooms this place had.
They found one room on the second floor that they hadn't explored yet. Venturing inside, they were surprised to find a whole room full of cots. The room's decor was quite different than the rest of the building, with calming blues and natural wood accent pieces. There was one basic night table and storage unit to go with each cot.
"Well, this seems sort of different. Not what I would've expected to find up here," Garrett said.
"Yeah, I guess this is where they provide shelter for some of the less fortunate victims of the casinos these days," Holly said.
Garrett gave her a funny look. "Unlucky people in the casinos? I thought everybody was unlucky in the casinos."
"Oh well, you know, even those high-rollers can run out of cash sometimes. I guess a place like this would be a good spot to crash when you run out of cash entirely."
"Yeah," Garrett agreed. "Or maybe when your cruise ship has been hit by a massive storm and you've been left stranded on the beach in Atlantic City with a bunch of crazy survivors in a lifeboat. Then you find yourself attacked by a bunch of vigilantes who think they're the four horsemen of the apocalypse." Garrett looked around the room with a glow stick in his hand. He moved around the room, illuminating all the hiding spots. "Not a bad place to hang out either way, whether you're a down on your luck high-roller or a simple construction worker from North Carolina."
"Yeah, a simple construction worker with a lifetime dream of being a professional fisherman, whose wife ropes him into doing something just so he can get back in her good graces."
"Yeah, something like that."
"Do you suppose we should tell the others about this place?" Holly asked quietly.
"I suppose that would be the right thing to do." He waited a few moments. "Assuming, of course, that you didn't have any plans for your husband with all these beds."
Holly smiled back in the dark. Her face looked funny lit by the glow of the yellow light in Garrett's hand.
"Ha. All these beds and just the two of us. If only I were a younger man."
Holly moved in close, snuggling her head against his chest. "I'll always remember you as a young man. You never grow old in my eyes."
<<<>>>
Sam was always on the prowl it seemed, checking places out and looking for things the others might have missed. They'd been through pretty much every hallway, room and closet in the place. They were gradually mapping it all out. That was, except for the locked office area that they'd first seen when they came in.
"What is it you think you're gonna find in the office area that's so important. A bunch of staplers, maybe to fight off the zombie hordes?" Gary asked Sam, obviously not taking this chore very seriously, but also curious as to what Sam was thinking.
"Well, you never know what one might find behind locked doors. If someone took the time to put a lock on it, there's a good chance of finding something valuable on the other side."
"You look like this isn't the first time you've broken into someplace you weren't supposed to be."
Sam had found some basic hand tools in one of the storerooms and was fiddling around with the lock. It was an electronic lock, but that wasn't enough to stop Sam. He believed there was a solution to every problem, even if it meant going old school with new school technology.
"Not sure what you mean by that." Sam didn't even look back at Gary. Gary asked a lot of questions, Sam thought to himself, and some of them revealed more about Gary than he realized. Part of that impressed Sam and part of it made him suspicious. The lock finally clicked open, and Sam opened the door.
"After you?" Sam held the door open for Gary and ushered them in with his other hand, making a sweeping doorman's gesture.
"Sure, why not. You never know what kind of goodies you can find in somebody's drawers. Maybe even a couple of bottles of something interesting hidden in that file cabinet at the very bottom." Gary scratched his stubbled face. "How about a little competition. See who can find the most valuable items the quickest."
"I'll tell you what." Sam smiled, feeling confident. "I'll make it easy on you. You can have all the unlocked drawers, and I'll take the tougher locked ones."
Gary shook his head. "No way, man, I'm not falling for that. I know all the good stuff's going to be in the locked drawers. I've got a better deal for you." He winked at Sam.
"What kind of deal?"
"How about onl
y the locked drawers count in this competition and we see who can open the most."
"Any time limit?" Sam returned his smile.
"No time limit, just till all drawers are emptied. All the locked ones, that is. Who cares about the open ones, they're probably just full of chocolate bars and rat droppings."
"So what does the winner get?"
Gary hesitated for a moment and held up where he stood. He turned to face Sam. "How about this? Whoever gets the most locked drawers open gets to decide what our next course of action is.
"Next course?" Sam squinted, with his hands on his hips. "I thought we already had a next plan of action. We're stocking up and hitting the road. Getting the hell out of this town and heading north. Why do we need a new plan of action?"
"I don't know, let's just say maybe I like the big city. It's more of a challenge. I kind of like it here."
"And those gangs that are running the town? What about them? Is that something you really want to deal with?"
"Well, I was hoping that I wouldn't have to deal with them alone. That might be too much of a challenge. I'm thinking a comrade in arms would be helpful."
"Oh yeah? And I suspect you have somebody in mind? Like maybe someone else in this very room?"
"Yeah, you might be right on that. I'm thinking that a guy who can crack locks and keep a few secrets might be worth keeping around as a sidekick."
"Thought you said comrade in arms? Sidekick sounds like a demotion to me."
"See, there you go. You can pick locks, keep a secret and you don't miss a beat. I'm definitely thinking you will be handy to have around. Plus, if we really test your mettle, I'm thinking that you might slip up and spill some of those secrets."
"Curious, are we?"
"Let's just say," Gary answered slyly, "I know strong people, and I know weak people. Weak people don't last long, even when things are going well. These days, I don't see a lot of things going well. I'm thinking you and I stick together and let the others go. Let them leave. Who needs a nurse, after all? It's not like we're gonna get hurt, right? Nurses and doctors are for weak people. The kind that get damaged when things go south."
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