Apophis

by Eliza Lentzski

An attractive woman, probably in her late-twenties or early-thirties, rushed into the room. It was clear we’d woken her up. Her shiny brunette hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail and wild strands stubbornly stuck out. She wore teal scrubs which very well could have been pajamas, or her work uniform, or both.

  “Ryan?” The woman stopped when she saw our rag-tag group crowded in the modest room. “Is that you under there?”

  The man still wearing his ski-cap chuckled. With his hands full of me, I suppose he couldn’t really take it off. “Damn, you’re good, Doc.”

  The woman, the doctor apparently, trained her gaze on me next. “And who is this?” I saw her eyes move past me and land on my father, Mr. West, and Nora, who had been trailing closely behind. “And why are you the knight in shining ski-cap?”

  “We found these folks over by the springs,” the man named Ryan said. “They were pretty banged up, so we brought them down here.”

  The woman’s face scrunched up. “That’s never happened before.”

  Ryan shrugged. “I know. But Paul gave the order.”

  “Must be nice to be on the council,” she snorted. She cleared her throat loudly. “So what seems to be the problem?” she said, snapping into a more professional tone.

  “My ankle,” I said weakly, still embarrassed that I’d been carried for what felt like a lifetime by this masked man. “I twisted it.” I tried to flex my foot to show her which one, but it ached too much.

  “She hurt it when were running away from your goons,” Nora blurted out.

  “Nora,” her father’s voice was low.

  The doctor nodded curtly. I had to hand it to the woman. In her position, I would probably have been overwhelmed and confused by our sudden intrusion, but she seemed to take it all in stride.

  “Ryan, set her on one of the cots. And you,” she said, pointing at Mr. West, “get comfortable, too. I don’t like the look of your coloring.”

  The doctor pressed her fingers into my skin and seemed to be feeling for something. I sucked in a sharp breath when her fingers moved over a particularly tender spot.

  “Well, it doesn’t appear to be broken,” she announced after a little more poking and prodding. “It’s probably just a nasty sprain. If we had an x-ray machine or an MRI scanner I could tell you more, but we’ve got to make due with the resources we have.”

  “Thank you for taking a look at it,” I said, remembering my manners. I hadn’t used them in a while.

  She flashed me a toothy smile. I instantly liked her. “It’s what I get paid the big bucks for,” she brushed off.

  She wrapped my ankle tight in an ace bandage and securely fastened two metal butterfly clips to keep the wrap in place. “Keep it elevated as much as you can,” she instructed. “I’ll get you some ibuprofen to keep the swelling down.”

  “And what happened to you?" she asked, turning to Mr. West who was seated on a nearby cot. She straightened her ponytail.

  “Just a little cut,” he said, touching his fingers to his forehead. “I’m fine.”

  The doctor yanked off his ski cap and Mr. West made a pained noise. “Just a little cut,” she echoed mockingly. She removed the bandage that my grandmother had applied days ago. “This needs stitches,” she said, frowning at the wound. “You’re lucky it’s not worse with all the dirt and sweat and fire ash and who knows what else getting into this open wound.” She looked to Ryan who, for some reason, had yet to take off his ski mask. “I’m going to grab these folks some extra clothes to sleep in and then, Ryan, why don’t you show them to the bunks while I stitch up their friend?”

  “Absolutely not,” Nora’s voice rang out. Of course she would object.

  “Nora, I’ll be fine,” her father coaxed. “Go get settled and I’ll come find you when I’m done here with the doctor. Besides, Sam might need some help.”

  I was about to object; why was everyone treating me like an invalid?

  The masked man, Ryan, made a movement toward me, but I held up both my hands. “Not that I don’t appreciate the help,” I said, “but I’m going to take it from here.”

  He shrugged, nonplussed. “Follow me to your bunks,” he announced.

  I went to stand and before I was even to my feet, Nora was at my elbow. “I've got it,” I said under my breath.

  “Stop being stubborn.” She grabbed my elbow and led me toward the doorway where my father and Ryan had gone.

  It hadn’t gone unnoticed that my father hadn’t uttered a syllable since we got here. He was a quiet man, yes, but this silence was palpable.

  “Where do you think we are?” Nora asked me in a hushed tone. Ryan and my father strode side-by-side ahead of us a few feet as Nora helped me hobble down a long corridor. Like so much of what else I had seen of this place, it was well lit, windowless, and had a short ceiling.

  “Underground, for sure,” I said, “but beyond that I have no idea.”

  I didn’t see anyone else as we walked down the somber-looking hallway. No sounds of life indicated if we were the only ones here. Ryan stopped at a juncture in the hallway. “Girls down that hallway and men down the other,” he said.

  “We can’t stay together?” Nora worried aloud.

  “It’s the rules,” he said.

  “But we’re a family,” Nora objected. “You can’t split up family.”

  “Doesn’t matter.” Ryan shrugged again. “I’m down here with my mom and my little sister. They’re in the female bunks and I’m over in the men’s bunks. You’ll have to hand over your backpacks, too.”

  “Why?” This time I was the one with the question.

  “It’s the rules,” he echoed his earlier statement. “Hoarding is explicitly not allowed. You don’t want to start a riot in the bunk houses. If you want to stay, this is the way it is.”

  All three of us reluctantly parted with our backpacks. I felt vulnerable and not a little naked without it. It had been my constant companion since we’d left Williston.

  “It’s lights out right now, so be as quiet as you can,” Ryan noted. “Find yourself a free bunk. Breakfast is in the mess hall between 06 and 08 hundred tomorrow.”

  “Where’s that?” Nora asked.

  Ryan jerked his thumb in the direction from where we’d just come. “It’s near the doctor’s office. Just follow the stream of people. Everyone will be going there tomorrow morning.”

  “Will you two be alright on your own?” It was the first words my father had uttered we’d gone underground.

  Nora slung her arm around my shoulder awkwardly.

  “Don’t worry, Mr. P,” she said with sunshine in her voice. “I’ll keep Sam out of trouble.”

  He looked between the two of us, looking unconvinced. “I'll see you in the morning at breakfast.”

  +++++

  The women’s bunkroom was large with tall, vaulted ceilings. It reminded me of a high school gymnasium that had been crammed with bunk-beds. The room was dark, but not pitch black. There were no windows, but skylights in the tall ceiling provided just enough moonlight for us to maneuver around until we found a vacant twin bunk.

  The bed was crisply made up and the sheets smelled musty, but it was a bed and we were safe and warm. The mattress creaked and groaned beneath me. It wasn’t the most comfortable bed I’d ever slept on, but it was certainly cozier than the frozen ground we’d been sleeping on lately.

  My stomach growled and I wished I still had my backpack and some extra-salted jerky to fight the dull ache in my stomach. The promise of a hot breakfast in the morning would have to tide me over for the next few hours.

  “Sam?”

  I looked up at the coils of Nora’s mattress above me. I’d gotten the bottom bunk by default. With my swollen ankle there was no way I’d be able to climb up to the top.

  “Are you awake?”

  “No,” I grumbled. “Go to sleep, Nora.”

  I heard her heavy sigh. “I can’t sleep.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Is it weird that I
’m sleeping in a room with 200 other people, and I’m actually lonely?”

  “Keep it down!” came a sharp, hissed whisper. “People are trying to sleep!”

  “Mind your own business,” I snapped back to the darkness.

  The mattress coils groaned and protested as Nora tried to get comfortable above me. I watched the movement of the springs as her slight form tossed and turned. God. I hated her thrall over me. I liked my space. I hated that she was always crowding me. Kind of.

  “Nora,” I growled quietly. “Get down here.”

  “Really?”

  “I won’t tell you again.”

  The mattress made more noises as she scrambled off her bed and down to my own. I moved to one side of the twin-sized mattress and she wiggled in next to me. The heat radiating off of her body was going to make me sweat in more ways than one.

  “Thank you, Sammy,” she whispered.

  “Don’t call me Sammy,” I quietly hissed.

  “I know.”

  “Go to sleep.”

  +++++

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The next morning, I woke up to Nora’s hand between my thighs. She was still sleeping soundly beside me, her breathing slow and even, but her hand seemed to have other plans. Somehow during the night it had migrated up my leg and was now rested against the bare skin of my inner left thigh. The sleep shorts Doctor Allyse had given me had ridden up at some point in the night, too, so there was no barrier between the heat of her palm and my naked skin. It was completely innocent, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t feeling equal parts awkward and turned on.

  I had limited options. I could wake her up and experience her wrath – I could practically guarantee she’d turn on Turbo Bitch Mode if I made a big deal about where her hand had spent the night. I could try to wiggle out of bed like some masochist coyote ugly reject and pray she didn’t wake up in the middle of my escape. Or, I could go back asleep and pretend it had never happened and just hope her hand was gone by the time I woke up.

  Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to make any of those decisions for myself.

  “Good morning, Sammy.” If I had thought her voice uncommonly attractive before, it paled in comparison to the way my name rolled off her tongue first thing in the morning. I felt her dangerously placed hand give me a firm squeeze.

  I immediately sat up and threw the covers off of me. I think all that traveling through snow and icy winds had altered my body’s internal temperature. I could feel the sweat start to trickle down the small of my back.

  Nora sat up slowly in bed. “Where are you going, weirdo?” Her eyebrows crunched together.

  “I’m gonna go check on my dad,” I called out as I escaped out of the bunk house.

  +++++

  I looked up at the ugly rattle of a plastic food tray plunking down next to me. I expected to see Nora and her knowing smirk, but was instead surprised to see a tall, dark-haired guy, who looked fresh out of high school. He settled into the vacant seat right next to me. It was a little unnerving. The cafeteria wasn’t all that crowded and there were plenty of other seats available. That he decided to take the seat right next to mine was honestly annoying. I liked my space.

  I had come directly to the mess hall from the men’s bunks. I probably should have stopped back at the women’s bunk to pick up Nora before breakfast, but I was still rattled from our brief morning interaction. The men’s bunks themselves were messy with their own unique odor from so many men living together in one space. It reminded me of the bachelor rows that had sprouted up in Williston during the oil boom. Men in various stages of undress shuffled around me, unconcerned about my presence. I had gotten so accustomed to people being bundled up because of the Frost that all that human flesh on display was a little disorienting.

  Thankfully, I had found my father easily as he and Mr. West had claimed a bunk close to the main door. I was relieved that my dad seemed to be back to his normal self. His extreme silence the previous night had alarmed me. I was thankful that he didn’t look so tired and worried anymore. Maybe this was the break he had needed – that we all needed.

  “How’s your ankle?”

  The question from the guy sitting next to me was startling. Either word moved really fast in this place, or he had been part of the group that had found us. Everyone had been wearing ski masks that covered everything but their eyes and mouths though; I wouldn’t have been able to recognize him from the previous night if I’d wanted to.

  “I’m the one who carried you,” he clarified.

  “Oh, uh.” I felt my face reddening. “Thanks for the help.”

  “Not a problem.” He grinned broadly. “I’m Ryan, by the way.”

  “Right. I remember from last night,” I nodded. “I’m Samantha,” I introduced myself. “But everyone calls me Sam.”

  “You look familiar to me,” Ryan said as he dug into his breakfast sandwich. “Have we met somewhere? I mean, before last night?”

  I crinkled my nose. It was the end of the world and the pick-up lines still hadn’t improved. “No. I just have one of those faces. People say that all the time.”

  He stared hard, really examining my face. “I swear I know you from somewhere.”

  I shook my head. “Sorry. I don’t think so.”

  Ryan shrugged and went back to devouring the food on his tray. He didn’t really eat, it was more of a shoveling motion. If he’d had better table etiquette I might have actually called him attractive – good cheekbones and a square, serious jaw. His dark olive skin tone set off his closely-cropped jet black hair. I figured he was at least part Native American like a good portion of the population in this part of the country.

  “What is this place?” I asked. “I mean, where exactly are we?”

  “Underground.”

  “Well, duh.” I rolled my eyes at the response. “But how and why does this place exist?"

  “Mayor Klein used to be a professor over at Montana University. I’m not sure what he taught, but it had something to do with science or space.” Ryan paused to chug down nearly half of his glass of water. “When they first made the announcement about Apophis,” he continued, “Klein convinced the town to build this bunker. Like Noah and a big ass ark.”

  “Your entire town is down here?” I openly gaped.

  “Yup.” He grinned proudly. “Hot Springs, Montana, population just under 550.”

  “Wow. And I thought North Dakota was small.”

  “Is that where you’re from?”

  I nodded and took a tentative bite of a pile of mystery goo. It tasted like a mixture of pudding and canned fruit. “Yeah,” I said around my mouthful. “I grew up just outside of Williston. It was one of those towns that got built up because of the oil boom.”

  “Cool.” Ryan wiped at his mouth with a napkin. He balled it up and tossed it on his tray. “Well, I gotta get going. I’ve got kitchen duty. I’ll see ya around, Sam.”

  Once again seated by myself, I returned my attention to the food on my tray. It wasn’t a feast, but the variety was a welcomed change from our usual fair of small game and canned fruit and vegetables. The fresh baked bread was my favorite. It reminded me of my grandmother.

  I felt the table move just slightly when Nora plopped down next to me. She looked annoyed and I expected her to complain that I’d come to breakfast without her. “These powdered eggs look disgusting.”

  “Beggers can’t be choosers,” I said. I didn’t tell her that they tasted disgusting, too. I’d let her discover that all on her own.

  “Who was that guy you were talking to?” Nora asked. She stabbed experimentally at the yellow glob on her tray.

  “Just some guy,” I shrugged. “He’s the one who carried me last night.”

  Nora stared after Ryan. “He’s kind of cute. In a backwater kind of way,” she observed. “I suppose that’s your type though.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded.

  “Nothing.”

  I didn’t have time to dig
deeper into her commentary because Nora’s father rushed over to our table. I hadn’t seen him since the previous night and he had a fine line of black stitches high on his temple. “Hurry up and finish your breakfast, girls,” he said, looking red in the face. “The Mayor wants to meet with us.”

  +++++

  Mayor Steven Klein was a diminutive man who wore a crisply ironed shirt tucked into pleated slacks. I didn’t know what I’d been expecting when Mr. West said we were going to meet the mayor of Hot Springs, but the man who stood up from behind an old metal desk when we entered his office, wasn’t the man I thought he’d be. Maybe because this underground complex had such a militaristic, rigid feel to it I’d thought the mayor would be, I don’t know, taller? Former military? More like the men who had found us near the springs themselves, at least. It was a little like pulling the curtain away to reveal that the Great and Powerful Oz was only a man.

  “Welcome, welcome,” the man cheerfully greeted. He adjusted his too-large glasses on his nose. They were the kind once fashionable in the 1970s that came back again, but it was clear that Steve Klein did nothing with irony.

  “I had heard you all were a little worse for the wear. How’s the leg?” he asked me.

  I opened my mouth, but as usual, Nora was the first to speak up for me. “She needs better medical attention than what you’ve provided. I suggest rounding up a group of volunteers, heading over to the nearest hospital, and getting the medical supplies Dr. Allyse really needs.”

  I glared at her. I was so sick of her speaking on my behalf. I had opinions. I could handle my own business. But I bit my tongue for the moment. I didn’t want to squabble in front of this man.

  Mayor Klein steepled his fingers and looked deep in thought. “This here is a democracy, and I can’t just make decisions like that to use our town’s limited resources to go gallivanting around above ground in search of supplies. But twice a month we hold city council meetings for decisions and grievances such as yours, and you’re more than welcome to petition the Council to consider your request.”