by Patrick Shea
“Alec, you know I love that horse and I’d love to take him. Palouse will be a great teacher for him and I’m comfortable with both horses. Pulling the extra weight shouldn’t be a problem for the RV; it’s got a large diesel engine that can handle about anything. My only problem will be the snow this first winter. They did include snow chains for the thing though, so I’ll be okay.”
“Great, I’m glad that’s settled. Kelly started fixing lunch for us, now that your back she’ll finish.”
Kelly responded, “It will only take a few minutes, I’ll call you when it’s ready.”
As Kelly walked back into the ranch house Alec said, “Okay, what really happened in town? When you talked about the drunken cowboys you both looked like you’ve been caught with your hands in the cookie jar.”
Elliot grimaced and said, “I didn’t want to trouble Ms. Randall, but we had serious trouble with a group that wanted to commandeer Noah’s RV I ended up shooting two of them and Noah and I shot up a saloon on our way out of town. There are probably some others killed or wounded as well. The townspeople that gave us the RV agreed with what we did so there won’t be any trouble from them, but if the rest of those cowboys know who we are they could cause some trouble for us. I don’t know how they could know that though. Noah, what do you think?”
“I agree with you. The only way they could know is through the registration form they asked me to fill out so they could go on the web and register the RV. But the trouble started before I could fill out the form; in fact it’s still in the RV.”
Alec said, “That sounds good to me. I think I’ll set out my Winchester and my shotgun just in case, and I’d appreciate it if the two of you would stay armed for the next couple of days, but it sounds to me like it’s over. I appreciate your having the sense to keep this from Kelly. She has enough to worry about without adding a possible gunfight to the list. I’ll let her know that the guns are because you heard there were some hooligans running around the county shooting things up at random. That isn’t far from the truth at that.”
With that the three men went to join Kelly for lunch.
Chapter 7
Chapter Twenty: The End of What We Know
Thursday: The High Rockies & Baltimore, Maryland
It was now Thursday and Jack Sweeney had just finished talking with Jane Silverton. She was distraught beyond control. In the last twenty-four hours she had lost both of her parents and both of her children.
Jack had tried to console her without the least bit of success. He had previously planned a route for her to take with a location he thought would be suitable for the winter. But when he asked her when she was going to leave she told him she couldn’t go, that she was going to stay with her kids.
Jack couldn’t think of a more gruesome idea, but he didn’t know what to do. He told her he would call her back in a couple of hours and made her promise she would answer the phone when he called. She promised, but Jack was concerned that she just didn’t care enough to follow through.
Just then Irene entered his office and said, “Jack, I was just talking to Ron and he said that everyone in the Presidential bunker is now symptomatic. It’s all happened in the last twenty-four hours.”
“Oh hell, that means the seals have actually failed. Has he heard from any of the other military bunkers?”
“He said that at least two of them are showing symptoms. He also contacted the CDC bunker, but everyone there is fine, at least to this point.”
“Okay, thanks Irene. I’ll go find Ron, we’ll have to get everyone together in the cafeteria and talk through this. Let our folks know we’re going to meet and I’ll see you down there.”
“That’s exactly what Ron just asked me. He’s sending his staff to the cafeteria now. He asked that you wait here for him so the two of you could talk first. I’ll get our staff moving and I’ll see you in the cafeteria.”
While he was waiting for Ron, Jack thought about the fact that these seals were also bound to fail. Residents of the nearest towns had been showing symptoms for five days now so he knew the virus was in the area, and probably already in the bunker. He was surprised that he felt almost ambiguous about it. He always knew he would refuse to spend his remaining days locked in the bunker and consequently the thought of the virus being nearby didn’t have much effect on him. That feeling was only strengthened by the phone call he had received from A.J.’s daughter, who informed Jack that A.J. had died this morning.
Jack was saddened but not surprised by the news. He had talked to A.J. almost daily and he knew the end was near. Almost everyone he had known had died or was near death and Jack was almost numb from thinking about the tragedy that was occurring. All of Europe had been ravaged by now, all of Asia and India were gone, North and South America were in the final throes of the virus, and Australia, which would be last as things turned out, was in the last week of the virus.
Jack had to be honest and admit that he had a distinct feeling of fear, but he knew this was due to the unknown nature of death. Whether it happened now or a year from now he thought he would feel the same way. One way or another he was going to die from this virus and it just didn’t matter to him if it was next week or a year from now. The extra year living in a bunker did nothing to excite him. In fact by now he was convinced that being a survivor wasn’t a benefit at all. It would require a hard life and a hard death of those who were chosen.
He knew some of the folks in the bunker, especially the younger ones, were hoping they could last until the CDC came up with a vaccine, but Jack knew there would be no vaccine. Folks had a better chance of winning a lottery. The scientists in the CDC bunker were working with restricted resources and there was only a small group of scientists to begin with.
Ron walked into the office with a serious look on his face and said, “I’m not sure how everyone is going to take this, so let’s talk about the options that are available. I think there are really only two, the first is to have our staffs stay here and the second is to let them go wherever they want to go, and give them what help we can. I don’t know about your mission, but mine is over. All world leaders are either dead or dying and in a matter of days last minute retribution won’t even be an option.”
“My mission is also at an end. I think we’ve done all we can for the survivors. The rest is now up to them. The sad part is that we’ve extended the life of our staffs by a matter of weeks, but now they have no living family to join for the end.”
“I know. But there isn’t anything we can do about that. My folks knew they were going to die alone when they volunteered for this mission, and so did yours. It didn’t work out as well as they had probably hoped, but we made no promises either. If you agree on those being the only two options let’s go tell them they’re free to leave.”
As Ron and Jack walked into the cafeteria the buzz of conversation ended abruptly. Ron looked at the group and said, “Jack and I have discussed this and we agree on the options. As I’m sure you’ve heard, the seals on most of the country’s bunkers have failed and almost everyone is now symptomatic. I’m sure ours have also failed by now and we will start showing symptoms in the very near term. The only reason we haven’t shown symptoms by now is due to the remote location of this bunker.
“I know this hasn’t worked out as we planned, but there isn’t anything we can do about that. We’ve decided that you’re free to go, or to stay, as you see fit. The advantage of staying is that we don’t yet know for sure the seals here will fail, or if they do, when they will fail, so staying in this bunker may prolong your life. We won’t open the bunker to the outside world until we are sure the seals have failed.
“However, there is a way to leave the bunker without exposing residents to the virus. One area that isn’t on the maps we provided you is a garage on level one. That area includes Humvees, and other vehicles that you are welcome to use. The problem is that we need to know your decision up front, and the decision is irrevocable if you want to take a vehicle. Everyo
ne who wants to leave will be assigned a vehicle. If there aren’t enough vehicles we’ll plan on pooling the vehicles based on destination. We’ll assign vehicles by random selection. You may get a Humvee, or it may be a deuce and a half, or something else. Getting fuel on the way to where ever you go will be your problem, but you’ll leave here with a full tank of gas.
“Once everyone who decides to leave is in the assigned vehicle, the rest of the group will close the blast door between the garage area and the rest of the bunker.
When the blast doors are resealed I’ll open the outside doors and you will be able to drive out. You can see the road out of here from the side of the hill. All you have to do is drive carefully downhill to the county road. All vehicles have good maps inside.
“However, those blast doors can’t be reopened without exposing the rest of the bunker to the outside environment. But, you’ll be able to walk out anytime you want to. There is a pressurized entrance and exit on level one that will let someone walk out without letting the virus in. You could walk out that way, and then hike around the hill to the back and get a vehicle out of the garage area and drive away. If there are any vehicles left of course.
“Jack, do you have anything to add?”
“Only that I want to ensure my team that our mission is complete. If you want to take advantage of Ron’s offer please feel free to do so. If you stay, there is still advisory work that can be done, but I think the critical pieces are all complete at this point.
“Anyone who wants to leave should be ready to go after breakfast in the morning. We’ll provide food and water for your backpacks, and everyone who departs should take a sidearm with them. If you want to take an assault rifle with ammunition you’re welcome to. My team is available to anyone who wants advice on what to expect out there, but it’s going to be as bad as you can imagine.
“The world as we know it is dead and the few people still alive are capable of anything. There will be plenty of food, water and gas for you, but you’ll have to find it yourself. Stay out of the cities and towns, the death and disease will be overwhelming, and many of them are on fire by now. Get to your destination quickly, and stay there.”
Jack and Ron stayed and talked with their teams for the next couple of hours. Everyone had questions about the pros and cons of staying or going. This was a tough decision and he wanted to make sure everyone had the benefit of talking through this. In the end it looked like only a handful of people saw any advantage to leaving the bunker. There was simply nowhere to go that would be better than staying. No one was interested in seeing the death and destruction that marked the end of the world as they knew it.
Most of those who chose to leave were the young members who simply thought they would like to drive to the west coast and live on the beaches for the last couple of weeks, even if this was late November.
Irene asked Jack about joining this group and he told her she should do so. He could not, but he would like it if she did something for herself now. She said she had never been to the Pacific and she thought she would like to see the ocean. The group that had made this choice was split evenly between men and women so she felt she would fit in okay. Two others of Jack’s team decided to join this group and the rest decided to stay in the bunker.
Later in Jack’s office Ron asked, “It looks like most of the group have made up their minds by now. How about you, have you thought about leaving?”
“Actually I have. I’ve told you about Harry Silverton, the scientist working in Edinburgh who first brought the virus to my attention; his wife is in Baltimore. She was visiting her parents when the virus broke out and when Harry asked me to take care of her I promised I would. I’ve done what I can from here, but I don’t think it’s enough. As it turns out, Jane is a survivor. I’ve talked to her a couple of times today and she told me her parents and both of her kids have died in the past twenty-four hours. She is taking it so poorly I’m not sure she can take care of herself any longer. I’m thinking about driving to Baltimore just to make sure she gets set up in a survivor RV and goes to her initial destination.”
Ron said, “That sounds like a good thing to do. Better than sitting around here waiting to die. If you want to do that I’ll give you one of the chemical warfare vehicles for the trip, there are a couple of them in the garage.
“They don’t make much sense in terms of the chemical seals, since we know they won’t keep the virus out, but they have some other advantages. The biggest advantage is that they have a large enough fuel tank to get from here to the east coast with only one stop for refueling. Secondly, they have a small refrigerator and microwave built in, and more importantly, they have a chemical toilet. That means you could make the run from here to the east coast with one stop if the roads are clear.”
Jack said, “Thanks Ron, I appreciate that, and I’ll take you up on that. But with only me driving I’ll have to make a couple of stops just to sleep.”
“I forgot to mention, they also have two drop down cots built in. They were built to be self-sustaining for a crew of two.”
“Great, I won’t have to sleep on the floor, but I’ll still have to stop to sleep.”
“Not if there are at least two people doing the driving. You and I can drive and sleep in shifts. We should be able to make Baltimore in twenty-four hours of hard driving.”
“What do you mean by us? Are you really planning on making the trip?”
Ron smiled and said, “I am. I’ve talked to my deputy who has no intention of leaving the bunker. My family has a vacation home on Chesapeake Bay that is sitting there empty now. That gives me a choice that others don’t have. I’d rather die there than here in this bunker. So what do you say, shall we give it a try?”
Jack felt relieved. He knew he was going to try to get to Jane but he didn’t know how until now. This made the trip sound much simpler than he had hoped. He said, “That sounds perfect if you don’t mind dropping me in Baltimore. I’ll print out some maps before we go.”
“Great, we’ll leave in the morning. It won’t hurt to print the maps as a backup, but the truck will have a navigation system we can use. Almost all of the drive will be on I-70, and as long as it’s clear and no one’s blown a bridge up we should have no trouble. By the way, I did the math earlier from here to the Bay and if I subtract the distance to Baltimore we’ll have about a 1900 mile drive together. We’ll have to average eighty miles an hour to make that in twenty-four hours. Top speed on this truck is eighty-five. At that speed we might have to stop twice for gas.”
At nine o’clock the next morning the entire team was assembled in the cafeteria. Of the original members fourteen were leaving the bunker. Twelve were going as a group to the west coast. No one wanted to go home and face the devastation caused by the virus. Jack and Ron were the only two heading east.
Everyone leaving was outfitted with food, water and weapons. The members going west wanted to share vehicles so Ron provided them with six Humvees, telling them that if they wanted they could abandon some of them on the way and travel three or four to each Humvee. There were plenty of vehicles left for anyone who wanted to leave later.
The good-byes were said quietly and quickly. Everyone knew that those leaving were going to die in the next three weeks and sooner if the virus had already invaded the bunker. There wasn’t much to be said.
Ron started the drive since he at least had limited experience with the chemical warfare vehicle. The trip down the mountains to I-25 was narrow and twisting in places and took a couple of hours. After that it was Interstate all the way to Baltimore. To be safe they decided they would refuel in Kansas City, and then again in Columbus, Ohio. Other than that they were planning on no stops at all.
They both worried about driving at night at high speed since a blockage on the road was always possible. They had heard enough reports of accidents left unattended that they knew they would see some of that. The metro areas would be the most hazardous. Fortunately the truck was built for off road use so
they should be able to drive around most problems. All they had to do was see them in time to stop.
The truck looked like a small RV painted in military camouflage. Because of the weight it had double axles on the rear and was outfitted more comfortably than Jack would have guessed. The cab was open to the back so they could move around at will. It had a built in coffee pot so they could keep fresh coffee brewed for the entire trip.
While Ron drove, Jack stayed on the computer with the aid of the attached phone card. The cell system was still working fine. He followed the progress of survivors as each logged onto the survivor web page and recorded their progress. Most movement had started within the last day or so. Many of the notes were heartbreaking. A survivor from Maine named Mary simply said, “They’re all dead now and I’ve started my journey south. I’ll write more later.” From Nebraska a note was posted that read, “May God take and keep my family safe, I wasn’t able to.” It was signed by “Tony headed south.” From Atlanta there was a note from Charlotte that read “I’m driving north, but I don’t know why.”
Jack tried to call each survivor who had started their trip. He found that Mary in Maine was an eighteen year old who was driving south with two other survivors she had met in the last couple of days. Each had their own RV. She could hardly bring herself to talk at all, but she knew she couldn’t stay where she was without going insane.
Tony was a middle aged wheat farmer who answered the phone on the third try but didn’t want to talk. He was surprised that he was talking to Jack Sweeney and seemed to like the fact that Jack had called him, but all he said was, “Call me tomorrow, maybe I’ll be able to think then.”
Charlotte was a young grandmother from Atlanta who had been a business woman and knew a lot about truck farming. She was also surprised that Jack had called her, and she thanked him. But she was in shock and told Jack she was driving only because she had promised her sons and husband that after they died she would make the effort. She was going to a state park they had selected for her in the Tennessee River Valley. She had talked to a couple of survivors, or rather her sons had done so for her, but she hadn’t yet hooked up with anyone. She was supposed to meet a small group in Chattanooga when she arrived there. Jack told her he would call her in the next day or two to see how she was faring.