by A. L. Jambor
The girls were not impressed. What they walked into was an ordinary looking living room. The furniture was nice, but not what they had expected. Andrew could see their disappointment.
"Ladies, do not look so forlorn. This is but the beginning of our journey. Follow me and you will not be disappointed.”
The little band headed for the next room on Andrew’s agenda. They walked to a small hallway with a door on the right and a door on the left. Andrew stopped at the door on the right. He opened it and the girls filed in.
They were at the top of what looked like a large movie theater, seating for 225. The girls ooed and ahhed as they gazed at the elaborately appointed theater. It was a mini movie palace with a working organ in the corner and curtains that opened and closed. It had a stage for putting on plays. Jacob had thought of everything.
"Ladies, we must press on. The best is yet to come.”
The girls followed Andrew to the room on the right. This door led to the special room that Jacob had created for Emily. There was a switch outside the door that Andrew flicked on. Then he opened the door and the girls entered.
The virtual reality room was amazing. When inside the room, you had the feeling that you were standing outside in a garden. There was no smell, of course, as they hadn’t brought in any real flowers yet. There were no simulated bug or bird sounds yet either. But the flowers looked real, as did the sky. It surrounded the girls, and Maria Elena began to cry.
"What’s wrong?” Mindy asked.
"I miss my family. I miss the outdoors. I want to go home.”
Maria Elena tried to find the door, but it was camouflaged. Andrew helped her and got the door open. She ran from the room and Mindy followed her. They ended up in the living room, where Maria Elena fell onto the large over-stuffed sofa with Mindy right behind her.
Mindy put her arms around Maria Elena and let her cry on her shoulder. Andrew came in and saw the girls together. He quietly went back to the virtual room to check on Katie and Alyssa.
Andrew told the girls to follow him and they left the virtual room and flicked off the switch. Andrew led them to the kitchen, where they marveled at the huge double ovens and refrigerator. Alyssa noticed a big panel on the floor of the kitchen and asked Andrew what it was.
“It’s the basement. I haven’t been down there in ages. Let’s take a look.”
Andrew pulled the panel up from the floor and laid it against the wall. He flicked on the light switch and descended the stairs. The girls were watching him go. When Andrew got to the bottom of the stairs, he looked around. He then looked up at the two little heads staring down at him and waved for them to follow.
When the girls got to the bottom of the stairs, they saw row upon row of supermarket-sized freezer units. They heard Andrew say, “That son of a bitch” under his breath.
Andrew then asked the girls to each take a side and count the units as they walked down the aisles. Katie went right and Alyssa went left. When they got to the ends, Andrew asked them, “How many?”
"I counted 10.” Alyssa said.
"I counted 10.” Katie said.
Andrew called the girls back.
"You’ve gotta see it, Andrew. The food is unbelievable. There’s one with nothing but cakes!” The usually reserved Katie was overwhelmed by the sight of all that real food.
Andrew walked by the first two units. The first rows were different kinds of meats including beef, pork and fowl. The chickens in the chicken coops must have just been for laying eggs. There were bags and bags of frozen vegetables to have until the fields were producing regularly. There were birthday cakes frozen in anticipation of family celebrations. It was the birthday cakes that made Alyssa break down. She began to cry.
"I don’t even know what day it is. I missed my birthday.”
"It was my birthday, too, Lyssie,” said Katie as tears rolled down her face.
"I’m sorry girls. If I’d known it would upset you, I wouldn’t have brought you here.”
Like most men who don’t know what to do when a girl cries, Andrew did what most men do to relieve the tension in the air. He started tickling the girl’s sides. The girls started to giggle between the tears.
"Come on, I think we better go see how the other girls are doing.”
Andrew let the girls go up the stairs first. When they got to the living room, Mindy still had one arm around Maria Elena.
"We found a whole basement full of real food!” Alyssa yelled.
"Yeah, it looks really good. There are birthday cakes too,” Katie said as she walked over to Maria Elena’s other side. She sat down and put her arm around her too.
"Girls, it’s time to leave. Everybody up.” Andrew opened the door and let the girls leave before following them. He closed the door and made sure it was locked.
"Sorry, I thought it would be more fun.” Andrew looked down at the girls.
"No, it was fun. I loved that room. And it was different. Thanks for letting us come.” As usual, Katie took the lead. She and Alyssa turned and ran toward the center of the city.
"She’s right, Andrew. It was fun because it wasn’t the same old thing.” Mindy smiled at Andrew. She motioned him to bend over and when he did she hugged him. Maria Elena also hugged him. Then the girls ran toward Mindy’s house, leaving Andrew far behind.
*****
Andrew walked to the cafeteria. He went into the kitchen area where George was putting what they laughingly called lunch together. He was opening can after can of prepared spaghetti. He threw the contents of the cans into a big pot to heat up on the stove. He looked up when Andrew walked in.
George was a short, plump middle-aged man. What little hair he had was tousled wildly about his head. George didn’t get much company when working in the kitchen and he welcomed Andrew heartily.
"Andrew my boy, what brings you to my humble establishment?”
"George, why do you do the cooking?”
"Why, it’s my passion, my boy. Always has been. My medical degree was my parents’ dream.”
George had been hired as the biosphere physician, but no one ever got sick so he asked if he could prepare the meals. His only regret was that most of the food the crew found on their excursions was already prepared.
"What if I told you there was real food to cook located in a basement under Wilmer’s residence?” Andrew waited for George’s reaction.
George looked skeptically at Andrew. He knew Andrew liked to joke.
"You wouldn’t joke with me about this, Andrew. This is too serious to me to joke about.” George was frowning at Andrew.
"I’m not joking, George. Meat, vegetables, sugar, flour, you name it. I’d like to punch Wilmer in his fat, ugly face right now. How many weeks have we been eating that dreck?”
Andrew pointed to the big pot simmering on the stove.
“I was down there the first week I came here, but the basement was empty. It must’ve been that special crew he sent down from Jersey. They must’ve set it up. The son of a bitch never told us about it.” Andrew was fuming.
George’s face lit up. He rubbed his hands together and smiled.
“My boy,” he said to Andrew, “Stop frowning. Tonight we dine al fresco!” He then asked Andrew to lead the way to the land of milk and honey.
Chapter 18
Mindy and the girls ate their lunch of spaghetti. They talked about the virtual room and the kitchen. They also talked about the basement full of food.
"I bet we eat better tonight,” Katie said. “I hope we have a birthday cake.”
Alyssa was staring dreamily into space. "I wanted to grab some of that cheese. I really miss cheese.”
Mindy felt good today. Surrounded by her friends and knowing that future meals would be made with real food, food she could share with Baby Girl, made Mindy’s heart warm. Then she remembered that Mark was still missing.
She also remembered that he wanted to leave the biosphere and she wasn’t sure that she wanted to go anymore. These girls had become her
sisters.
Mindy said she had to leave and she dumped what was left of her lunch in the trash. She put her tray on the stand. She waved at the girls as she ran out the cafeteria doors.
Mindy stopped for Baby Girl and then headed over to Mark’s house. This time when she knocked, and Mark told her to come in.
"You’re not going to believe what I found out there. I’ve been trying to make a map.”
Mindy looked confused. "What are you talking about?”
"Oh yeah, I went outside this morning. I just thought of it and did it.” Mark grinned at Mindy. “I couldn’t sleep, and it was really early. I would’ve taken you but you were asleep.”
"Did you even try to wake me up?” Mindy had her hands on her hips and her “Mindy” frown on her face.
"Well no, but Mindy, it was so interesting. Out that back door is the way to the woods. In the woods is this huge satellite dish that they must have used to find us.” Mark was breathless as he spoke. He was so excited.
"And there are wind towers and solar panels for the energy. That Wilmer guy thought of everything. Oh, and there was a body of some guy who worked here too.”
Mindy made a face and sat down on the floor next to Mark. She looked at his map.
"That’s the pasture,” she said, pointing at the area next to Mark’s drawing of the fence with the dead animals in it.
"How do you know that?” Mark asked.
"I asked Andrew to take me outside. He said he couldn’t, but he showed me all around. He showed me a place where Wilmer would have lived. It has a virtual room and movie theater in it. And underneath it is all this food in freezers.” Now Mindy was breathless talking about her morning adventures. But there was no stopping Mark.
"I went up the road to the highway. It’s a pretty long walk if we go at night. It might be too dark out there. We should go during the day, and we’ll have to go soon because they’re going to set locks on the hatchways.” Mark waited for Mindy’s reaction. When she didn’t react, he looked over at Baby Girl.
"How much does she weigh?”
"I don’t know.” Mindy looked at Baby Girl too trying to figure out how much she weighed.
"There’s a ladder to the hatchway. What if we can’t get her up there?” Mark was petting the little dog.
"Well, I’m not going to leave her here!” Mindy stood up. She again had her hands on her hips.
"We’re going to have to figure out how to lift her up. Maybe we can tie a rope around her middle.” Mark put his hands around the little dog’s belly. He tried to lift her that way and she yelped.
"Well, that won’t work.” Mark set Baby Girl down. The little dog’s bug eyes looked at him and Mark could swear she had the same look on her face as Mindy. “Maybe we could put her in a back-pack and pull that up with a rope or something.”
"I didn’t see any rope around the field. Where would we get rope?” Mindy was feeling frustrated. This undertaking might be more than she and Mark could handle.
"Mindy, I don’t give up easy, and now that I’ve been outside, I can’t stay in here. You promised you would go with me. Don’t give up on me.”
Mark looked so cute. His eyes were so dreamy. Mindy knew she couldn’t say no to him.
"I think we should take a walk around the animal field today. You have to see it. We can sneak in. There may be rope there. Let’s put Baby Girl back inside and go there.”
After they put Baby Girl in Mindy’s house, Mark and Mindy went to the field. When they got in the door, Mindy took Mark’s arm and turned right. They walked through the animal room door and down the stairs. Mindy showed Mark the chickens and the screen showing the pasture.
While they walked by the large animal pens, Mark spied a piece of rope tied to one of the walls in a pen. It was just long enough to hoist a little dog in a backpack up a ladder. While he was wrapping the rope around his hand, Mark looked up and saw Calvin watching them. He came down the stairs and walked over to Mindy.
"So, who invited you in here?” Calvin looked mad. Mindy wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not.
"Andrew showed me this room today. I just wanted to show Mark.” Mindy smiled her sweetest smile.
"That sugar don’t work on me, little lady. And I see you’re stealin’ my rope.” Calvin was glaring at Mark. “Now, just what do you need rope for?”
"To pull a little dog up a ladder.” Mark was mad now himself.
"What’s your name, boy?” Calvin walked closer to Mark.
"Mark. Mark Bennett.”
"So that makes you Mark and Mindy, eh?” With that Calvin burst into a big smile. “Mark and Mindy, that’s really funny.” Mark and Mindy looked at each other and then at Calvin.
"You don’t get it, Mark and Mindy. Well, I guess you’re too young for that one. Anyway, Mark, what are you planning to do with my rope again?”
"I told you. We want to pull Baby Girl up the hatchway ladder.” Mindy was frowning again. Why had he told Calvin that?
"And just why would that little dog need to go up there?”
"We want to go home.” Mark looked genuinely sad. Calvin pursed his lips and looked at the floor.
"Son, we all want to go home.” Calvin walked over and squatted down to look Mark in the eye. “We’re all tired of living in this place.”
"But we can live out there. I had everything I needed. I can live out there.” Mark felt tears of anger welling in his eyes. He didn’t want to cry in front of Calvin.
"Well, you kids did survive a long time out there.” Calvin thought for a minute. “Where are you plannin’ to go?”
"My house is near St. Petersburg. I live by the beach. Mindy’s parents live there too.”
Calvin’s eyebrows rose when he heard that. He stood up and turned to Mindy.
"Little lady, you do know your parents couldn’t have survived.”
Mindy balled her fist and punched Calvin in the stomach.
"STOP SAYING THAT! THEY COULD BE ALIVE! THEY COULD BE!” Mindy’s face was on fire. She was so red she looked like she would burst.
"Calm down, calm down, okay, it’s alright.” Calvin leaned against the pen wall. He looked like he was in pain. “When are you plannin’ to leave?”
"They’re going to set the locks soon, so I guess we have to go tonight.” Mark stood up holding the tightly wound rope.
"Not a good plan. It’s too dark out there at night. You wouldn’t find your way to the highway, and even if you did, it’s pitch black. Better to travel during the day.” Calvin paused again. “What if I were to take you by car?”
Mindy and Mark looked at each other. They felt a spark of excitement.
"You would do that?” Mindy said.
"If you’re determined to leave, I would. My conscience would never stand it if you got lost in the woods. At least this way you’d be safe, the dog would be safe, and I would know where to find you.”
Mark wasn’t sure he wanted Calvin to know where they were going. But he could always have him drop them off a few blocks away.
"I like the idea. What do you think, Mindy?” Mark asked.
Mindy thought for a moment. “I like it, too.”
The three shook hands on their alliance. Calvin told them to meet him at the back room behind the field tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. He told them to bring some food and water in their backpacks, and any clothes they could fit in there.
Mark and Mindy went up the stairs and out the field door. They walked to Mark’s house where Mindy said goodbye. She wanted to spend this last night with her friends. They shook, hands and Mindy walked to the cafeteria to look for Maria Elena, Katie and Alyssa.
Chapter 19
The next morning, Mark knocked on Mindy’s door. She was awake and dressed, and she had grabbed an extra backpack at the store the night before for Baby Girl. Mindy opened the door and let Mark in.
"We’ve gotta get going,” he said urgently.
"I know. I just have to make sure I have enough food for Baby Girl.”
Mindy
looked in the backpack for the umpteenth time. She had put several sticks of beef jerky in there along with all her clothes, cans of dog food, shampoo, and soap. Her pack was heavy.
"Will you hurry up?!” Mark was trying to control his temper. “Calvin told us to be there at 6.”
"Do you think he’ll go without us?” Mindy was looking down her nose at Mark.
Mindy took one more look around the room. She had no more excuses to stay. She had packed everything she needed.
"Okay, I’m ready.”
She made a kissing sound to alert Baby Girl to follow her. When Mark and Baby Girl were out the door, Mindy followed, closing the door tightly behind her.
The trio walked to the back of the building to the door leading to the field. Mark opened the door and hurried inside, followed by Baby Girl. Mindy hung back, taking a look at the city she was leaving behind, along with her three best friends. Mark grabbed her arm and pulled her in.
"What’s the matter with you today?”
"I just wanted to say good-bye. I’m going to miss my friends.”
"That’s why I didn’t make any,” Mark said as he turned left and went down the stairs to the field.
Mindy and Baby Girl descended the stairs slowly. As soon as their feet hit the floor, they began to walk faster to catch up to Mark, who was sprinting to the back room. So far they hadn’t seen anyone who might ask where they were going. When Mindy reached the back room, she could see Mark talking to Calvin, who was getting one last cigarette in before donning his hazmat suit.
"Hey, little lady, glad to see you could make it.” Calvin smiled wide when he saw Mindy. “You ready?” he asked as he put out his cigarette. “Last night before it got too dark, I took the truck to one of the parking lots and picked up a nice Mercedes to take us to St. Pete. Has a full tank and everything. I’m hopin’ I get back before anyone notices the truck is missing.”
Calvin opened the first set of double doors and they all walked through. Then he closed them and opened the next set. When they were all in the last chamber, Calvin secured his hazmat suit by lifting the headpiece over his head and closing all the zippers and Velcro closures. Then he climbed the ladder to the top and pushed the button that opened the hatchway.