“No offense kid, but you look twelve. What the hell are you gonna do?” Koran barked.
“This is actually Dr. Nielman, he built this place, so you might want to show a little more respect,” MJ said as she rounded the corner. “Craig who are your new friends?”
Craig painfully grinned then turned back to the mob. “Listen, I’m sure you guys have lots of questions and I don’t blame you. But it’s late, it’s been a long couple of days. So, how about everyone just, just relax for a bit. Get some food, take a warm shower and we’ll talk about all of this tomorrow.”
One by one they reluctantly agreed, and Max showed them to the sleeping quarters. Once they were able to eat real food and relax some of the complaining died down. It wasn’t a resolution, but for the rest of the night at least it was a truce.
“What a day,” Randall said as he sat on the edge of the twin-sized mattress.
David and Charlie were already sound asleep a few feet away. Alistair was lying on his back staring up at the ceiling and hadn’t said much since the fall out in the atrium. They were all in a bit of shock and didn’t know what to make of it. It was too much too fast, they needed time to process.
“What are we gonna do Randall?” Melinda rolled over and asked him.
“What can we do? I, I wanna talk to this Max guy. He seems to be the one that knows everything. Maybe get some real answers for a change.”
“What’s that gonna do?”
“I don’t know.”
“But, they said we were stranded here.”
Randall opened his mouth a few times, but the words escaped him. What could he tell her to make it all better? Spaceships and Mars and the end of the world. It felt like some invisible force was squeezing him in its hands. Like the universe wanted to reinforce just how helpless he was.
There was nothing he could do. No action, no remedy that would fix it. His entire life, he’d dealt with stress, with planning for the worse case scenario and ways to mitigate that risk. He’d always been in control, he’d always had a way out, an answer for whatever the world threw at him.
But there was no answer to this. There was no way out. His safety, his family’s safety was left to chance. And in the dark silence, he realized just how insignificant his will really was.
“Randall,” Melinda called and tapped his shoulder.
He jumped then stood up and forced a smile onto his face. “I’ll be back,” he said. “I’m gonna go walk around a bit.”
Without another word he headed for the door. He stepped outside and followed a long hallway back to the atrium. Pale, amber lights lit the way just enough to keep him from walking into a wall, but not much else.
His bare feet slapped against the cold, stone floor like water, the sound echoing into the shadows. Randall stopped in the center and stared up toward the ceiling. Craggy stones jutted out at awkward angles where the architecture collided with the mountain, fortifying the structure.
“Pretty neat huh?” a voice called from behind him.
Randall turned and found skinny guy a few years younger than him standing near the hall. He had wild brown hair and a look on his face like he hadn’t slept in a week.
“Max, right?” Randall asked.
“That’s me. I can never sleep ever so I kinda roam the halls. Make sure everything’s working. It’s been a little lonely here.”
“So, you…you built this?”
“Not exactly. I helped design it, a lot of the systems were my idea. I’m guess I’m like the architect of it all you could say.”
“Then you knew what was going on?”
Max stared at Randall with a desperate look. “I um, I thought I did. I was wrong.”
“It’s true then…about the space ship and all of that?”
“Yeah, it’s true. It’s true they left us too.”
Randall didn’t reply. He sighed and looked away, hiding the tears in his eyes. He’d failed to protect his family and that realization cut straight to his core. Sniffling, he wiped his face and swallowed.
“So, it’s all over then isn’t it?” Randall asked.
“What do you mean?”
“We really did come here to die. There’s no ship and there’s nowhere else to go.”
“That’s not entirely true. We’re working on a few things. Don’t give up just yet.”
There was a low hum and the ground trembled slightly. Randall gasped and looked around nervously.
“It’s just the hydro-pumping system,” Max told him. “We’re tapped into an aquifer half a mile down. Every night it runs for three hours to fill the holding tanks.”
Randall nodded as his pulse started to settle.
“Where are you from?” Max asked.
“Florida. You?”
“Georgia…Atlanta.”
“Guess we’re both a long way from home.”
Max smiled. “Well, I’m gonna…I got some things I have to check on.”
“Don’t let me stop you. It was nice officially meeting you Max.”
“You too, I um, I didn’t catch your name.”
“Randall.”
“Nice to meet you Randall.”
Max shook his hand then followed the corridor in the opposite direction. Randall stood in the atrium for another ten minutes just staring into the darkness. He thought about his old life and wondered how much time separated him from the man he used to be.
He thought back to work friends and his “go-bag” and the people he’d lost along the way. He thought about Greg and he thought about Mike. He wondered what had become of Mike’s family and how differently things could’ve gone. He could’ve easily died that day and left his family to figure out their path alone.
Yawning, Randall slowly made his way back to his room. Tip-toeing, he pushed the door opened and stepped inside, engulfing himself in a storm of darkness. It took a few minutes for his eyes to adjust then he made his way to his bed and crawled under the blanket.
Everyone was asleep, but Randall’s mind was spinning. He folded a pillow under his head and expected to spend the next few hours tossing and turning. Instead, he blinked his eyes a few times then collapsed under the weight of exhaustion.
He awoke the next morning to Hunter banging on his door.
“Wake up in there!” Hunter screamed. “We’re all meeting in the conference room.”
Randall groaned then sat up and dropped his legs off the side of the bed. Wincing, he pushed himself to a stand and stumbled across the room.
“What do you want Hunter?” he asked as he cracked the door open.
Hunter was standing outside with an agitated look on his face. His left arm was strapped across his chest in a sling and his eyes were bloodshot like he hadn’t slept at all.
“We’re meeting in the conference room down the hall in ten minutes.”
“Meeting for what? And what happened to you?”
Hunter groaned. “Did you forget I took a round saving your ass? They’ve got a doctor here…she patched me up. Now get your family up and get to the meeting.”
Hunter spun around and walked off. Randall scratched his head then closed the door and headed to the bathroom.
“What was that about?” Melinda asked him.
“Some kind of meeting,” Randall shrugged. “Guess we need to get moving, sounds like they’re about to start.”
“Maybe it’s good news.”
“Maybe it is,” Randall replied then kissed her on the cheek.
Twenty minutes later they made their way to the conference room. Everyone else was already inside so they found a seat at the back of the room and sat down.
“Now that everyone is here, I guess we can start,” Craig said and cleared his throat.
“What’s the point of all this?” Koran asked angrily.
Craig gave him a sideways glance. “A lot of you had questions and to be honest, I have some myself. So, I’ll try to answer as much as I can, and I think Max and MJ can fill you in on the rest.”
; “Okay,” Koran said skeptically and stood up. “I’ll start this off. You guys bring us here to die in this shit hole or what?”
“As I understand it, Hunter and his men saved your life. And Lockship died for you. So as far as I’m concerned, you’re an observer. If you have any questions I’m sure you can find the answers on the other side of the blast doors.”
Fuming, Koran slowly sat back in his chair. With an angry scowl, he crossed his legs and looked away. The room was glaring at him, shocked by Craig’s outburst and more shocked by how little Koran objected.
“Anyone else?” Craig asked.
Randall looked at all the shocked faces and swallowed. It didn’t seem like there’d be any more questions. Craig had a way about him, a commanding presence that made Randall feel like a child being scolded by the principal.
Wrinkling his forehead, Randall stood up and faced Craig. He glanced back at Melinda then cleared his throat. “I just want to know what’s going on. I mean, it’s been a long couple of weeks and I…I feel like we’ve just been running from crisis right into another crisis.”
Randall sighed and ran his hands across his head. He grabbed his chair and collapsed into it. Melinda reached out and took his hand and he smiled back at her.
“We all just want some answers,” he said in a quivering voice. “Is this it? Is this really the end?”
“It’s…” Craig started, but Max stood up and cut him off.
“So, I think we can survive this,” Max said in an uncertain voice.
“What is this?” Randall asked. “What is this…this thing, that has everything falling to shit?”
Max rubbed his face then stepped into the center of the room. “I’ll try to explain it the best I can,” he started. “The core of the earth is overheating. That’s causing the tectonic plates to shift as the gases are released which is having a cataclysmic effect on our atmosphere. The earthquakes, the storms, all of it…when this is over nothing is gonna be the same. Very soon we’ll hit a peak.”
“But you said we can survive this?” Melinda asked.
“This facility, it was made to withstand the worst of it. It’s built directly into the mountain, it’s strong and I think it can weather the storm. We’ve got a lot to do to get this place ready, but yeah…I think we can survive this.”
Daniel hesitantly stood up and cleared his throat. The room suddenly seemed bigger, but it was too late to back down. “Why here?” he asked with a shaky voice.
Max wrinkled his brow and stared at him. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you said the core is overheating. You said plates were shifting, so why build your shelter here? And…and if they thought it would get so bad that they’d rather leave the planet and try surviving on Mars, what makes you think we’re gonna make it?”
Max smiled. “What’s your name kid?” he asked.
“Daniel.”
“Well, Daniel that’s a real good question. We built the shelter here because we felt it was the safest. The worst of it will be near the equator, that’s where we’ll see the extremes. Rising seas to the south, the ring of fire to the west. This is the safest place in the continental United States.” Max paused and took a deep breath. “As far as leaving the planet, there were other scientist, other people that came up with their own conclusions. Some were convinced that there wouldn’t be any planet left after all of this.”
“How does that make this better?” Trevor asked with a laugh.
“It doesn’t. I didn’t come to that conclusion, the majority of us didn’t.”
“But the government decided to leave anyway,” Daniel said grimly.
Max held his hands up in surrender. “Once it’s out there it’s out there. All it took was one country to buy in, one leader and then it became a race. We hear China wants to build a habitat on Mars, then another country follows. Do you want to err on the side of caution and go, or be the idiot’s that stay back on Earth while the rest of the world takes over space?”
Daniel tilted his head to the side and frowned. “We are those idiots that stayed back on Earth.”
“We weren’t supposed to be,” Max mumbled.
“But we are.”
“We have something else. We have the egg.”
“What?”
“Before the ship was built, when we planned to stay here. There’s a…well there’s no way to describe it other than calling it an egg. But it was made so withstand just about anything. It’s an oval about the size of a football field. It’s our final contingency plan and if things get to bad we can survive inside of the egg for years. So smile, we’re gonna be just fine.”
Hunter suddenly pushed his chair out and jumped to his feet. “They left us!” he snapped. “We did all of that shit...all those things that we’re probably going to hell for…you know exactly what I’m talking about Craig. We did all of that for what?”
The room fell silent. Hunter could hear the stillness of his words, echoing like an empty canyon. He’d said too much, and he knew it. But it was the truth. Even if it was never supposed to get out, even if he was ashamed of it. It was the truth.
“What is he talking about?” Koran asked.
“You don’t get to ask me shit,” Craig said angrily.
“What is he talking about?” Randall stood up and echoed.
“We don’t have time for this?” Craig barked and crossed his arms.
“Why not? I thought that’s what this was for…for our questions. Right?”
Craig sucked all the air out of the room and clenched his jaw hard enough to crack his molars in half. He shot Hunter a deathly glance then turned back to Randall.
“Look, this hasn’t been something people plan for, there’s no roadmap for this. Things had to be done to secure our safety…to secure our way of life.”
“You did a shitty job,” Chase grumbled.
“I don’t answer to you kid.”
“No,” Koran spoke up again. “He’s right. All your planning and this is the best we got, a bunker in the side of the mountain.”
Before Craig could respond, Randall spoke up. “What things did you have to do?”
“Things to keep our program safe,” Craig replied.
“Jesus Craig. Stop beating around the bush,” MJ snapped. “You think any of the decisions we had to make were easy? This isn’t the only facility like this. Other countries knew what was happening. Allies and enemies alike. So yes, we had to kill people. I know that doesn’t sound all warm and fuzzy, but that’s what we do. We carry that burden, to keep YOU safe.”
“What!?” Melinda said as her mouth fell open.
“What did you think would happen? What did you think governments would do with this information? We had the jump on everyone, thanks to Max. But since then we’ve been fighting to stay a step ahead.”
“What is it you’re protecting?” Randall asked. “What is so important?”
“This!” MJ shouted. “First it was the Mayflower. There were only five ships like it on the planet. And now this facility. Imagine if everyone knew this location. Imagine how many people would want to get in here.”
There was another calm in the room. Melinda lowered her head as MJ’s words echoed in her ears. Frowning, Randall wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into him.
“It’s okay,” he said.
Hunter watched them for a moment then took a few steps toward Craig. Swallowing, he tapped him on the arm and leaned forward. “I think we need to talk.”
CHAPTER 13
THE TRUTH IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT
“I can’t remember the last time I had real food,” Daniel said as he stuffed a bread roll into his mouth.
“I’ve never felt so hungry in my life,” Trevor added as he finished his third helping of mash potatoes.
“This isn’t gonna be the norm,” Max warned as he walked past them. “After today we go back to rationing.”
“Wait,” Amber called and ran after him.
Max paused and turned arou
nd. Amber approached him hesitantly, taking glances back at the table with each step.
“Um, I know you’ve done so much for us and we’re really thankful, we are. It’s just some of us are really worried about our families. Is there anyway to contact them or find out if they’re okay?”
Max covered his face and grimaced. “I…I, don’t…” he stuttered.
Amber teared up and turned to walk away. Max reached out and grabbed her arm before she could leave.
“Wait,” he said. “Just wait here. I’ll be right back.”
Amber watched as Max ran off across the cafeteria. He hurried out of the door and returned a few moments later, followed by middle-aged woman, with straight, brown hair and a look that said she knew how to handle herself.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name,” Max said as he returned.
“Amber.”
“This is MJ. She knows more about what’s going on out there than me.”
MJ gave Max a sideways glance then turned to Amber. “You were asking about your family?”
“We all were,” Amber replied and motioned back toward the table.
MJ sighed. “There’s really no way to contact anyone anymore. And with everything going on…earlier the national guard moved a lot of people from the populated areas to shelters. They could be there, but there’s no way to be sure.”
“So, what does that mean?”
“There were other shelters, maybe not of this quality, but other shelters. Old missile silos, and things like that. They could’ve made it into one of those.”
“And then what?” Amber asked on the verge of tears.
“I’m not gonna lie to you guys. This is something no one can really plan for. All we can do now is pray that your families made it to a shelter. But I promise you this, after it’s over I’ll do my best to help you find them.”
Sniffling, Amber smiled then reached out and hugged MJ. “Thank you,” she mumbled.
MJ gave her an odd look then hugged her back. She patted her head softly and glanced back to Max and shrugged.
“Everything is gonna be okay,” MJ told her.
Amber nodded then headed back to her table. MJ turned and walked off with Max following along behind her.
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