With the others on his heels, Mark tapped the new battery powered touch-light at the bottom of the stairs. He had bought several of the adhesive-backed lamps at Fleet Farm, for five bucks apiece, and every room in the shelter now contained at least one. Mark unlocked the freshly painted door and opened it. Secretly, he wished that the others had seen what it looked like before. He knew that was foolish, but he wanted them to know how much work he had put in to renovate the bunker. He stepped inside and began touching the stick-on lights.
“Oh my God,” said Tina.
“Are you serious?” asked Anita.
Mark knew this was high praise coming from the sisters, and he grinned. “Thank you,” he said. “It took a lot of work to whip the old place back into shape.”
“Wow, I never knew this was here,” lied Glick.
“Holy cats,” said Larry, who followed Mark from the living quarters to the sleeping quarters. “This place is a lot bigger than I thought it’d be. Good job, neighbor.”
“The pantry and bathroom are just through here. Grandma insisted on having a bathtub and a toilet. They both work. There’s no hot water, but we do have a septic tank and a drain-field. I just replaced the old hand pump. The well is a hundred feet deep and the water is good.”
“I could live down here,” said Tina.
“That’s the point,” said Larry.
“You were right,” said Jumbo. “It’s not very big, is it?”
Mark had been anticipating this type of reaction from Jumbo, but the comment had still stung. “No, it’s not very big. But it is functional.”
“Yeah,” said Anita. “So quit your complaining.”
“I’m not complaining. I was just imagining all of us down here with our kids. No, this place is totally awesome, man. I was just thinking it’d be awful tight if we were all down here.”
“You mentioned a bathroom?” asked Tiffany.
“Right through there,” said Mark, pointing to the open door.
Tiffany brushed past Mark to peer into the pantry/bathroom and she nodded her head. “You’re not big on privacy down here, are you?”
Mark stepped inside and pulled the long curtains around the tub and toilet. “They’re not walls, but they work. You have to fill the toilet with a bucket, but it flushes.”
“That’s kind of primitive, isn’t it?”
“Oh my God, Tiffany,” said Anita. “Mark is nice enough to invite us all down here, and all you can do is complain? Where are your manners?”
“We’re not complaining,” said Jumbo, putting his arm over Tiffany’s shoulder. “We’re just stating the obvious. Look, this place is perfect for one family; it was probably designed to house one family, am I right?”
Mark nodded his head. He wasn’t about to get into an argument. Besides, what Jumbo had said was true. The more he tried to imagine ten children down here, the less he cared for the idea. “But this is the only shelter we have,” he said, “unless you have one tucked away, somewhere.”
“Not yet, I don’t,” said Jumbo.
Glick laughed. “Yeah, and where would you put it?” he asked. “You only have an acre lot.”
“Don’t these things take a long time to build?” asked Dottie. “What if we’re attacked again today, or tomorrow?”
Bones nodded his head. “Dottie’s right,” he said. “Even if you did have the property, there probably isn’t enough time to build and supply a bomb shelter.”
“We can’t think about how much time we have,” said Jumbo. “This thing could blow over in a few days or it might drag on for months. We don’t know that. Mark, I hate to put you on the spot like this, but would you sell us part of the woods? I want to build one of these; one that’s big enough for all of us. Go ahead and name your price.”
Mark sighed. He didn’t want to part with another inch of his property. The money meant nothing to him. Still, he had been prepared to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Lystrom’s, and everyone else. They were all looking at him and he hated being in this position. Once again, Mark imagined nineteen people down in the shelter. He turned to look at the toilet and he got to thinking about how long the line could get. “I’ll give you the land,” he said. “But it will belong to all of you and you cannot sell it.”
“Anything you say, chief,” said Jumbo.
“Never call me that again,” said Mark. “I am not a chief.”
“Damn it, Jumbo,” said Larry. “Why do you always have to be such a creep?”
“I didn’t mean nothin’ by it. Come on, Larry, I’ve called you chief a thousand times.”
“But I’m not Native American.”
“Okay, I feel ya. Mark, I’m sorry about that. I promise, it won’t ever happen again. Come on, let’s get out of here and scout out a spot. I want to get moving on this, today. Thanks man, you’re a true friend. You won’t regret this.”
“Aren’t you going to ask me what I think?” asked Tiffany.
Jumbo made a big show of opening his eyes wide and he made an exaggerated O with his mouth. “I’m sorry, babe,” he said. “I got ahead of myself. What do you think?”
“I think I want a big hot tub in our bunker, and a huge bar.”
“Done deal,” said Jumbo, leaning in to kiss his wife.
“And a private bedroom, you can’t forget that.”
“Now you’re talkin’. Is this woman great, or what?”
The others were silent and Mark was unsure of how they felt about any of this. Jumbo and Tiffany led the way back up to the daylight and Mark, feeling deflated, brought up the rear. He turned out the lights and locked up. There were some scattered comments about how nice Mark’s shelter was, but the damage had been done. Jumbo led the group over to the opposite end of the woods to a clearing, where the barbed-wire fence separated SleepingBear’s property from the wildlife refuge. “This would be perfect,” said Jumbo, pointing in the direction of the cul de sac. “We could cut a road there to get the excavators back here. What do you say, Mark?”
He had lost the handle on the situation and all Mark could do was nod his head. He felt a little sick to his stomach and his mind was swimming in dark thoughts. The others had suddenly warmed to the idea of building a new bunker and they all began discussing the best way to go about it. While they were talking dimensions, Mark quietly excused himself. He walked out of the woods and up to his house. He sat down on the new sofa and put his head in his hands. He wondered what Josie would think of what he had done. The thought caused him to laugh. He knew full-well what his wife would have said. The laughing eased his spirit and Mark picked up the remote control and he turned on his television. Thankfully, there was no new news to report on. Mark watched CNN for a few minutes and then he changed channels, stopping when he found The Andy Griffith Show.
Two full episodes later, Dottie and Bones, still dressed in their matching denim outfits, knocked at his door. Mark let them inside and they sat down at his kitchen table. They made small talk for a few minutes, but Mark could tell that there was something on their minds. Finally, Dottie spit it out. “I’m not sending my husband off to war,” she said.
“I won’t go,” added Bones.
Mark had suspected as much and nodded his head. “Are you going to ask for a deferment?”
Bones shrugged. “I already looked into it, but they’re pretty difficult to obtain. We don’t have any children and I don’t have any health issues.”
“What about your shoulders?” asked Dottie, “you know how much they bother you.”
“That’s not enough,” said Bones.
Mark sighed. He had strong feelings on this subject, but he couldn’t share them with the Kibble’s. Mark had served, indeed, he had served honorably; he had a drawer full of medals and citations to show for his service. Bones had been called up by his country and Mark felt it was his duty as an American to report. “Are you thinking about going to Canada?” he asked.
“Oh, heavens no,” said Dottie.
“I want to stay right h
ere. No, I made up my mind and I am going to stay right here. They’re going to have to come and get me.”
“They’ll do that,” said Mark.
“Not right away. The authorities can’t even prove I ever received the draft notice. What if Dot and I had been out of town?”
“That’s right,” agreed Dottie. “They can’t prove anything.”
“I don’t know,” said Mark. He stood up from the table and began to fix a pot of coffee. “They might not be able to prove anything, but that won’t stop them. The authorities will be knocking on your door before you know it. They might even pick you up at work, have you thought of that?”
“I won’t be going to work.”
“No, he’s not. We decided to close down the practice, at least temporarily.”
Mark thought about that as he studied the couple. They both looked scared to death and Mark couldn’t blame them for feeling that way. And it suddenly dawned upon him why they were there. “You want to hide out in my shelter,” he said. “Am I right?”
Dottie’s head bobbed up and down. “We can pay you,” she said. “We don’t know what else to do. Bones has a brother up on Lake of the Woods, but he won’t take us in.”
“His son, my nephew, was drafted,” explained Bones.
Mark dumped the water into the coffee maker and returned to the table. He sat down, heavily. “What about the others?” he asked. “Have you said anything to them?”
“Oh God, no,” said Dottie. “You can’t trust Jumbo Lystrom as far as you can throw him. And Tina and Anita? Why those girls couldn’t keep a secret if their lives depended upon it. No, this would be strictly between us.”
Mark chuckled at that. “I can’t argue with you there,” he said. “Look, I won’t take your money. It sounds like you two have already made your minds up about this. If this is what you really want to do, I won’t stand in your way,” he dug his shelter keys from his pocket and tossed them to Bones. “Here’s the deal: if you two get caught, I didn’t give you those. Don’t worry, I have an extra set. If you get caught, I knew nothing about any of this. You know you might have to stay down there for months, maybe longer. What are you going to tell the others?”
“We’ve already talked about that,” said Bones. “We’re going to tell them that Dottie is going to stay with her sister, Helen, up in Duluth.”
“What about your cars?”
“They’ll be in the garage,” said Dottie.
Mark shook his head. “The authorities will probably search your house when they come looking for you. They’ll know that you can’t be far away and if they talk to Jumbo…”
“I didn’t think about that,” said Bones. “What do you suggest?”
Mark scratched his head. “You should park one of your cars down at the airport, tonight, while everyone is sleeping. Be ready to move into the shelter when you get back home. That’s what I would do.”
“That sounds like a good plan,” said Dottie. “I don’t know how we can ever repay you.”
“Just promise me that if you ever get caught that you won’t say I was involved. Who knows, I might be joining you both down there, soon enough.”
For the next hour, they drank strong coffee as they finalized their plans. There were tears in Dottie’s eyes when she stepped out the door. Mark watched them walk home, thinking how strange his life had become. He would think about that many times over the coming days and weeks.
Chapter 7
The hole was enormous and filled with scaffolding and bracing. Mark stood at the top and stared down at the bottom, where a group of men were raking out a layer of sand. The day was warm and sunny and a gentle breeze drifted through what was left of the woods. The area was buzzing with activity. Jumbo, wearing a hardhat over a shirt and tie and carrying a set of blueprints, walked up to join him. “The concrete is on the way,” he said, jutting out his chin and nodding his head. “Just like downtown, huh?”
“Just like downtown,” repeated Mark.
“We have to wait three days for it to cure, but we’ve got plenty to do while that’s happening. Just think, a week ago, this was only a dream. I told you that I’m a man of action.”
“How are you going to get the trailer house down there?”
“Manufactured home,” corrected Mark. “Don’t let Tiff hear you call it a trailer house, she’d have a cow. The plan is to use a crane and sling both sections in. My guy tells me it won’t be a problem. The well is already in and the LP tank should be delivered, tomorrow. Five thousand gallons, baby.”
Mark shook his head. “This must have cost you a fortune,” he said. “I didn’t know there was so much money in used cars.”
“You’d be surprised. I’m not going to tell you that this isn’t killing my bank account, it is. But the guys are ponying up their share and you can’t put a price on comfort, know what I mean? Look man, I just want to thank you again for allowing us to do this. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.”
Reluctantly, Mark took Jumbo’s hand and they shook. The woods, once quiet and pristine, now looked as if a tornado had swept through it. Tall oaks lay where they had fallen, ripped from the ground, roots exposed to sunlight. The pile of excavated earth stood like a mountainous anthill, obscene in its sheer size. Mark turned to Jumbo, but he was already twenty feet away and barking orders. Larry and Glick stood by a pickup truck and Mark wandered over to join them. “Hey Mark,” said Larry.
“This is quite a project,” said Mark. “I didn’t know it was going to be so big.”
“That makes three of us,” said Glick, uneasily. “But you know how Jumbo is: everything has to be first class.”
Mark nodded his head. “I thought the trailer house was eighty by twenty-six,” he said. “That hole is a lot bigger than that.”
“Don’t forget the hot tub,” said Larry. “And Jumbo wanted a patio for the kids to play on. We’re putting some of that indoor/outdoor carpet on the concrete. I don’t know where he’s getting all of the money.”
“He told me that you guys were helping to pay for it.”
Glick laughed. “Yeah, he’s borrowing us that money. We have to pay him back.”
“With interest,” added Larry.
“And you had no say in how it was to be built? That doesn’t sound fair to me.”
Glick shrugged. “Hey,” he said. “Did you hear about Bones? The Feds were over at his place this morning. They said he never reported for duty.”
Mark had seen a sedan sitting in the Kibble’s driveway, earlier that morning. “I never talked to them,” he said. “He didn’t report, huh? I wonder where he ran off, to?”
“He has a brother who lives up north,” said Glick. “My guess is that he went up there.”
“Or Canada,” said Larry. “They could have kept right on driving.”
Glick shook his head. “No, they found his car at the airport. At least, that’s what they told me and Anita. Wherever they went, they took a plane.”
Mark had visited with Bones and Dottie the previous evening. They were both scared to death. They were also starting to go a bit stir crazy. “Well,” said Mark. “You can’t blame him for not wanting to go to Syria.”
“Or South Korea,” said Larry. “That thing sounds like it’s going to blow up any minute.”
“Fifty thousand Chinese troops landed in North Korea, this morning,” said Glick, shaking his head. He then pointed to the hole. “If you ask me, this place can’t be finished soon enough. I’m scared for my family.”
“I hear ya,” said Larry.
Mark felt the emptiness return and he quickly excused himself. He returned home, kicked off his boots and made himself a ham sandwich. He hated feeling so sensitive to casual comments and he wondered if he would live long enough to where those comments would quit bothering him. Mark doubted it. He turned on the television and found the Twins playing an afternoon game. A fan since childhood, Mark still followed the team, despite two decades of misery and mediocrity.
With his beloved Twins clinging to a one run lead, the network interrupted the broadcast for a special report. Mark felt his heart sink. He watched and listened as VP Billy Joe gave yet another news conference. The country was still at DEFCON 2, but they had yet to determine who had fired the missiles and no government had claimed responsibility. Mark wondered why President Crabtree wasn’t giving the news conference, rumor had it that he was ill, but Mark wondered more about the purpose of the news conference. Five long minutes into the conference, and Vice President Josephs had yet to say anything Americans did not already know.
Finally, the other shoe dropped. Mark actually laughed when he heard it. As a matter of national security, access to the World Wide Web was to be suspended for private citizens. To those citizens who could prove financial hardship, the NSA would hear these grievances on a case by case basis, allowing access should they deem it necessary. Even then, Billy Joe went on to say that access would be strictly limited. “The United States government appreciates the cooperation and understanding of the American people. Again, this is a temporary suspension, aimed at thwarting terrorist activity and making our great country a safer place to live. Thank you.”
There would be no question and answer period. Mark listened as a barrage of inquiries were hurled at the VP’s back, but he continued walking and was soon out of the picture. The live shot returned to the studio where the analysts were nearly frothing at the mouth. Mark learned that the action had come courtesy of an Executive Order, and not through a vote of Congress. Short interviews with leaders from the two parties expressed outrage and indignation. President Crabtree was treading on thin ice and from what Mark could gather: his administration had virtually no support. He watched and listened for another half an hour. Mark stood up and shut off the television. He then walked out the door to see if his neighbors had heard the news. He found the group gathered inside Jumbo’s garage.
“This is complete bullshit,” said Larry, who was pacing the floor with a beer in his hand. “You know Crabtree’s buddies won’t be losing their internet privileges. He ought to be impeached.”
Bunkers Page 5