Nuclear War Club: Seven high school students are in detention when Nuclear War explodes.Game on, they are on their own.

by Triarii, Colt

  “We found a Wal-Mart truck with about fifty gallons of water,” Karen said.

  “We are going back for another load,” she explained hurriedly. David threw them three empty backpacks, and they took off without waiting for their backpacks to be unloaded.

  When they returned, Liu crawled into the trailer first and loaded their backpacks while Doron and Karen remained outside.

  “Eleven minutes left,” Doron yelled. Liu took one of the large garbage bags they had brought for water and began filling it with Lipton instant noodles, Swiss Miss hot chocolate mix packets, Hershey chocolate bars, small school lunch size bags of Lays potato chips and Doritos, beef jerky, pickled sausage, Twinkies, and Oreos.

  Liu handed the black heavy duty bag to Doron, and said “I will carry these extras back myself,” as she struggled under the load. Doron shrugged, left her with the heavy load, and hurried back.

  “Karen incoming,” she yelled, lagging way behind. She was soaking wet from trying to cover their tracks, and struggled to shut the manhole cover over her head.

  “Thanks,” David said, as she slung her backpack to him.

  Karen and Liu then started off south to change clothes, while Doron went north in the tunnel. Karen was pleased, they were seven minutes late but they had over thirty five gallons of water, more available at a known location close by, and everyone had returned safely with no signs of radiation burns.

  “Hold it, isn’t it our turn to play decontamination with Karen and Liu?” Zeke shouted. Karen just looked disgusted, and continued down the tunnel to change clothes.

  When Liu came back, she reached in the backpack pile near the tunnel entrance. And dumped out the black plastic bag onto the floor. There was a stunned silence.

  “Yes!” shouted Jorge, who had dreamed of Oreos.

  “There is more when we go back,” Liu said.

  “How do we split this up?” asked Zeke. Karen noticed he did not ask whether we split this up.

  “It’s Liu’s choice, but I would pass it out like dealing cards. Each person makes a choice until it’s all gone,” suggested David.

  Every item was separated into its individual packages, except the Oreos, which were divided into stacks of three, like poker chips. They sat in a circle. Karen had not realized how much they missed junk food since they had been only eating nuts, raisins, and MREs.

  “Liu, you start,” David announced. Liu took one of the instant noodles, chicken flavor.

  “I think Liu gets an extra, first round draft pick, don’t you agree?” asked Karen.

  “Yes!” said Zeke, and they all nodded. Liu then added one stack of Oreos to her pile.

  Zeke and Jorge also both took a cookie stack. Ashley and Doron both took a Hershey bar, Karen took a beef jerky packet. David took a pickled sausage wrapped in plastic, reeking of vinegar.

  “Was there coffee in the trailer?” David asked.

  “Don’t know,” Karen answered.

  “And David,” Karen said seriously.

  “I saw tracks on the other side of the trailer, five sets in the fallout dust heading north,” Karen said.

  25.

  Doron and Jorge completed the sunlight periscope on Day Six. They had rigged up two small make up mirrors from the bug out bags onto two long metal pipes ripped out of the sewer, projected up the ventilation shaft. The angle of the mirror was adjustable by separately moving the poles, so the sun could be tracked. The shaft mirror reflected light down where it was banked off of a tilted mirror down the tunnel.

  “If we could find a convex mirror, like they have to catch shoplifters in stores, we would not have to track the sun,” Doron explained.

  David was thrilled with the profound morale difference the sunshine made in the attitude of the sewer rats, especially Ashley. The light only reached about twenty feet, but everyone wanted to be on both sides of the light beam all day long. Having a day and night helped restore a sense of normalcy they had not realized they missed.

  “Ain’t no sunshine when he’s gone……..” Zeke sang the Bill Wither’s classic, or at least those words he knew, as everyone laughed and clapped for Doron.

  “First, I would like to thank the Academy,” Doron said.

  David was pleased that everyone was slowly getting used to each other. Or perhaps more precisely, they had learned to avoid those who seriously annoyed them. Karen and Ashley avoided each other, Jorge and Liu seemed to get on each other’s nerves, and Doron found everyone’s mere existence annoying. The tunnel had enough room for all, just head north or south. But now there was beach front property, since during the day everyone wanted to be near Doron’s sunbeam on the north manhole cover. At night everyone still slept in the larger south hole with the tent.

  Doron was eager to try the periscope out at night when it was a full moon, as they would be here about eight more days.

  Or would they, David wondered.

  No one really talked about what would happen after the fourteen days were up. Would they stick together or split up? Would they search for their families? They were not family, and they were not related.

  The truth was, they didn’t really like or trust each other. They were together only because they had been in detention together when the Nuclear War started. David knew he would have to keep them together, and function as a team.

  Doron repeatedly mentioned it would be critical to find a deep water spring. Physical books, not e-books, would be critical to survival. They needed a shortwave radio, they still had no idea who had launched the nuke attack. David was astounded at the fertility of Doron’s logical analysis of this new paradigm.

  Doron had a long list of what he needed. He wanted to take one of the solar panels from the traffic lights and rig it to a 12 volt car battery with an inverter. They could have remote tunnel lights all night, he explained. Their laptops and electronic devices would work.

  The fallout peaked at about seven inches, as far as they could estimate from a stick Doron had marked, and stuck in the ground near the air vent shaft.

  David was going tunnel crazy, and Zeke was full blown berserk. Everyone was on edge, so David started formalizing the evening meal to encourage conversation among people who had been trapped in the same tunnel for almost a week.

  Every night David tried to have a focused conversation topic that most of them would join. Ashley was becoming more withdrawn, and ominously, unconcerned about her appearance.

  Karen told them she missed her horse Missy. Zeke threatened to leave the tunnel every day, saying he was tired of being “cooped up”.

  Jorge was very concerned about his broken leg healing properly. Liu talked like she was broke, and was being charged by the word. Doron seemed fascinated by the possibilities that were now open.

  David found the school book photos of the game from Becky and Angela in his backpack. He wondered what happened to them. Did they end up like LeShawn and Monique? He didn’t bring the topic up, it was gloomy enough already.

  “What happens on Day Fourteen?” Doron asked. “That’s three days from now.”

  Everyone was staring at the candle flickering in the middle of the circle. David watched them eat, amazed at the different permutations they could create with limited ingredients. Liu was eating instant noodles with crumbled Doritos on top. Ashley was having steaming Swiss Miss hot chocolate mix with marsh mellows, stirring it with a Hershey chocolate bar dissolving into the brew.

  “There is serious radiation up there,” Doron warned. “Maybe would should stay here.”

  “This is a tomb. When I have served my fourteen day sentence, I am out of here. If I die of radiation, I will die in the sunshine,” Zeke said.

  No one said anything, but it was clear everyone was leaving to face their fate on Day 14.

  “We do need to find water,” Doron conceded.

  “We will probably see the Army ready to rescue us, and take us back home,” said Ashley cheerfully.

  “Could be,” David said quickly before someone crushed Ashl
ey’s spirit.

  “My Dad will be looking for me,” said Liu with certainty. “If he is alive,” was the unsaid thought of everyone there. It was quiet for a few moments.

  “I will need to see if my Dad survived. We live on a ranch about twenty three miles northeast of the school,” said Karen.

  “I hope I can hotwire a motorcycle,” Karen explained.

  “You saw the tracks near the Wal-Mart trailer,” Liu said to Karen.

  “I know,” said Karen. “But I have to go. I have to know.” No doubt she was heading north east on Day Fourteen. You could write that down, David thought.

  “What about this,” David said, staring into the candle. “We already checked on Zeke’s family. Say we stick together and check on each one’s family,” David continued.

  “If we can’t find anyone, we stick together as a group and head east and find a deep water spring, like Doron says,” David said, realizing the importance of getting Doron on board.

  “We need to stay together as a group, even if we are sick and tired of each other. It’s like John Wayne joining a wagon train until they cross Indian country,” David smiled.

  “That’s smart, like a wagon train,” said Jorge.

  “We will get along better once we are released from this sewer and have our own space,” Doron said, warming to the idea of leaving the tunnel.

  “Each of us is more vulnerable without group security and firepower. One twig is easily snapped, a bundle of sticks cannot be broken. And I don’t believe, unfortunately, there will be any Army to help us for a while,” David finished, looking at Ashley.

  “I know this, on Day 14, I am going to wash my clothes and rig up a long shower,” said Karen.

  “You really think we could find a bathtub and heat the water?” asked Ashley.

  “Sure,” said David. “Why not? There are lots of bathtubs out there. You can also get put a couple of gallons of water in a black garbage bag, hang it from a tree limb in the sun. When it has warmed up, punch a small hole in the bottom with a nail or a pencil, and have a warm shower,” David said. Ashley smiled as everyone was quiet for a few minutes.

  “You know, there is never an Amish around when you need one,” Doron said.

  “What are you talking about?” Zeke asked.

  “The Witness, with Harrison Ford,” Ashley said suddenly, “Amish are like the Pilgrims, except they are alive today.”

  Everyone just stared at Ashley, she thought in terms of movies.

  “The Amish are a religious group that live without modern conveniences like electricity. If we can find any of their books we need to read them,” Doron explained, “I wish I had read some of their manuals on drilling for water and hand pumps.”

  “I wish I had spent more time talking to my parents,” Liu said. The suddenly mood became darker as the candle flickered. Everyone wished they had spent more time with their parents.

  Zeke jumped up and said, “You know a big regret of mine?”

  No one said anything. They all knew Zeke was the surrogate father for Monique and LeShawn. Liu’s comment hung heavy.

  “I regret the time I wasted,” said Zeke, pausing dramatically. Liu and Ashley nodded tearfully, and sympathetically.

  “All that time I wasted studying for the SAT set for next week,” Zeke smiled.

  “It’s like a really bad cell phone plan. I will never get any of those SAT study minutes back,” Zeke deadpanned, as everyone laughed.

  For some reason it seemed incredibly humorous. David fist bumped Zeke.

  26.

  Diary of Liu Nguyen

  Sunshine from Doron’s periscope makes an amazing difference in my mood. I put my hand through the beam. It cheers me up.

  Doron is a genius.

  I constantly dream of food. I have dreams of eating a big fat juicy cheeseburger.

  I never really liked hamburgers back in the world. Maybe my body is telling me we are short of fats.

  I am ready to leave the tunnel.

  Whether we live or die, we will face our fate.

  I know, melodramatic.

  But Zeke was right when he said this was a tomb, we should at least live before we are buried.

  And I have to know.

  “Doron Cohen, Day 14. Left heading east, with the Barley Union High School Nuclear War Club,” Doron carved into the sewer tunnel wall with the K Bar.

  Finally, it was Day 14. Doron had carved their history on the wall. Then each one carved their names, and left messages for their family.

  David took an M-16, gave the other one to Karen, and they divided the clips. Zeke and Jorge got the 9mms, and Doron and Liu slung the 12 gauge shotguns over their shoulder.

  “Everyone needs to know how to shoot each weapon,” David explained, “as soon as we have time to practice. For the time being, if something happens, Ashley here is how you shoot the shotgun.” David pumped the 12 gauge after pressing the eject pin and three shells ejected the chamber. He then checked to be sure there was nothing in the chamber, pumped it and handed it to Ashley.

  “Let’s divide up the food and water, in case we get separated,” David said. Jorge split the water up and handed each their share and Karen divided up the food.

  “Be sure each of you have a knife, and matches in a waterproof bag,” David said.

  “The book says we should be okay from a radiation standpoint as long as we stay dust free now that’s it’s been fourteen days,” David said.

  David checked to be sure everyone had on their whistle. “Three whistles if you need help, or are lost,” David explained, nodding to Doron.

  “I have mapped out the best route,” Doron said. “First, Liu’s family is about five miles north, then three miles west to Jorge’s home, ten miles north to my house, then Karen’s ranch is another eight miles north from there,” Doron explained.

  “We have to find an older car that will run. We need one without computer chips, in case the nukes fried all those,” David said.

  “David, are we going to your family?” asked Karen.

  “My Mom was still in Alabama , and if my Dad is alive he will be better off than we are. He will know I will be heading East. We always had a contingency plan for an emergency separation,” explained David.

  “Now, I know that’s why the truck had the guns,” explained David.

  “Lock and load, we know there are people out there,” David said, as everyone checked their guns.

  “We climb up one at a time, stay away from the shaft until the person in front of you clears, their gun will be pointing down,” David said as he climbed out first.

  The sun was rising, there were no clouds. Unlike the last time above ground, David did not smell smoke. The ground was covered with a dirty, white, ash like dust, about three inches deep. The dust seemed to be composed of powdered cement. Small clouds billowed when you moved. David quickly darted behind the concrete debris, then waited and listened. He saw no movement, and heard no sound.

  “Come on out,” he said to Zeke. They spread out, forming a circle until Jorge threw up his crutches and crawled out, the last one.

  “Cover the manhole, in case we have to come back,” said David.

  “Everyone look around, so that you could find your way back here alone,” David commanded. He waited while they all looked for landmarks.

  “Let’s form two lines, one on each side of the road. Zeke you lead on my left, Karen you get in his line so we have an M-16 in both lines,” David said.

  “Stay at least three yards behind the person in front,” David said.

  “Keep your eyes open, always scan the horizon. Tell us if you see anything move, or hear anything,” David said.

  “Let’s roll,” Zeke said, as they walked into the sun.

  David was hot, tired, and short tempered. They had been searching for over three hours, and still had not found an old car that would run. Wearing these fallout ponchos in the California sun was like working in an oven.

  “Huddle up, under this over
pass,” David yelled.

  They all gathered around in a circle and pulled out their bottled water.

  “Karen, I need you on guard,” David said. Karen nodded and turned her back to the group, scanning the road.

  “I thought we would be driving by now. Looks like we are stuck on stupid. Any ideas? I am all ears,” David asked, as he angrily kicked away a piece of rebar.

  “Here, David, I saved enough for everyone to have two Oreos for a special occasion. Looks like this is it,” Liu said.

  David smiled at her, and unscrewed one Oreo apart and slowly licked the white icing, like an ice cream cone. Zeke nodded, he ate his the same way. In fact that’s where David got the idea. Ashley put both her cookies together and nibbled them like a sandwich, holding them over her poncho to save any crumbs that fell. Doron ate his one at a time, nibbling. Liu broke each one in half, put in in her mouth, and let it slowly disintegrate.

  David watched Liu carry Karen her two Oreos.

  “Jorge eats his like alka seltzers, pop, pop, fizz, fizz, that’s all there is,” Zeke laughed, as Jorge smiled.

  “We may not be able to find a car, but we are a professional group of Oreo eaters,” Doron laughed.

  “Thank you, Liu, that was just what I needed, ” David said. It was quiet as everyone ate and drank. The two Oreos really did brighten the mood, David thought.

  “I was thinking, the odds of someone having an old car in running condition at home are very low. We need to leave these homes and move to commercial garages and used car dealers,” Doron said.

  “Yes, I was thinking used car dealers in poor neighborhoods,” Jorge said, “lots of really old pickup trucks are still being used.”

  “What about motorcycles?” Liu asked. “ Do they have these computer chips? I mean were the computer chips just to help gas mileage and motorcycles already get great gas mileage,” Liu said.

  David seemed excited about the motorcycles. He didn’t know if they would be knocked out by EMP. The only way to know would be to find some and try it.