Noah planned to use the pumps as trade, and they would be precious enough that he kept the majority of them in hardened locations like this one. He slowly walked among the shelves, gingerly touching the cold metal, and imagining what the world would have been like in his first life if more communities had had pumps like these.
The decision not to store pump parts in the standard warehouses had been a difficult one, but like his armories, the harm the pumps could cause in the wrong hands was just too great to risk.
“Okay, that’s that,” said Noah. Nobody was around to hear. He realized that his Log Cabin escort hadn’t entered the building. Noah chuckled a bit–he hadn’t asked them to stay behind, but entering this place seemed to quickly becoming taboo among everyone who visited the site.
Noah left the warehouses, knowing what the rest of them held. He had one more place to visit here in the Fallback Den.
Deep down, several floors lower, past the living sections, Noah found the sensitive area of the complex, where guards would be posted and average vault dwellers would not be allowed. Past the security point, he reached the office set aside for himself, behind a thick steel door and locks. He wasn’t there to see his office site, though. Noah turned down a short hallway and yet another steel door, this one even thicker, like a bank vault. Well, Noah amended, it was a bank vault a few years ago.
He opened the door, and witnessed the most important room in the entire Den.
The library was stacked from floor to ceiling with books, full of thousands of years of human knowledge and history, all in print. This room of the Den had been designed to stay dry, and could be pumped with air if necessary.
Books on animal husbandry, carpentry, medicine...Noah had tried to plan for everything. He slowly walked around the edges of the large room, touching the solid shelving. His heart practically burst with pride. If all his other preparations failed, this room could still help humanity survive the Shift.
In the rear of the room, another solid door stood closed. Noah opened it, and explored the Den’s printing room for the first time in person. This room was huge, almost the size of a warehouse. It had an alternate entrance on the other side of the room leading to the barracks, so in the future, if workers were using the dozen printing presses, they would not need to come through the library.
Shelving stood ready to aid in the printing process, and Noah knew that tons of vacuum-wrapped paper sat in the warehouses.
If the den’s library was the brain of Noah’s future plans, this printing room could be its heart. Noah had several similar setups throughout the US. They’d all been difficult and expensive to create, not to mention potentially even more dangerous than his secret armories.
Noah took out his harmonica again, playing a thoughtful song to break the almost sacred stillness of the room. He didn’t think of himself as special and didn’t take a lot of pride in his life’s work, it had just needed to be done. The libraries and printing rooms he’d set up were exceptions. His chest swelled–if he died today, his life had made a difference.
He wondered what Doc would think of the place as he let his eyes roam, the harmonica music bouncing off cold concrete. Right now the room was lit with electric lights, but one day, it would be filled with the yellow light of lanterns.
With that thought, Noah left and locked up, heading back towards the entrance. As he passed his office, he opened the door on a whim and checked inside. A huge desk for his use stood at the other end of the room, and shelves had been built into the walls, exactly how he would want them situated.
Noah had drawn up the plans for the entire building, after all.
On one wall hung a number of instruments, including a guitar, bongo drums, a flute, and even cymbals. After the Shift, Noah remembered how music had all but vanished, only existing if people could create their own music. Maybe with the skills he’d learned in this new life, and the help of instruments, he could help make the world a happier, warmer place.
Noah softly closed and locked the door to his future office, humbled that several rooms exactly like it existed in other places in the world, too. He really had been working hard. This building hadn’t been easy, nor cheap to build.
His harmonica seemed to switch music on its own, playing a sad melody as Noah thought about all the people who would die in the first few weeks of the Shift. He couldn’t stop all of it, not on his own, but hopefully he could save the people he loved, maybe even bringing them to special places like the Den. By the time Noah had finished playing, he was outside again.
With one last wistful look through the open doors of the Fallback Den, he locked the door and gestured to the nearest Log Cabin guard. Bella, an average height, overweight, reliable, and utterly trustworthy woman, jogged over. She had her brunette hair piled up under a Log Cabin hat. Her uniform bulged a bit over her body armor, and Noah knew she was an expert with the FN Five-seven on her hip.
[Community] information that displayed in Noah’s vision reminded him that Bella had served in the US Army and had worked as a police officer before being employed by Log Cabin.
“Bella, please let Steve at the airport know that we’re heading back. Tell him that since we’re already in Colorado, I want to visit the horse farm. He’ll know what I mean.”
“Understood.” The guard turned, pressing an earbud with her fingers as she whispered into her mic. Noah took a few steps out of the pavilion, letting the sun hit his face and breathing in the fresh mountain air. He wanted to enjoy the sensation of his feet being on solid ground since he’d be flying again in about an hour.
The day was not finished yet, not even close.
Chapter 22
Krystal Connolly’s curly red hair bounced in the springtime wind as she walked with Noah, the intermittent trees throughout her neighborhood cast friendly shadows. Noah had lost count how many times they had strolled wordlessly like this together, simply enjoying each other’s company. As usual, he was lost in thought.
New ways he’d recently realized that he hadn’t prepared for the Shift spun through his head, as well as worries about long-term projects he’d put into motion years before. The lab he’d hired to develop a way to produce insulin for diabetics without the use of electricity was nearing completion. Even though he didn’t have a physical orb anymore, or Doc’s strange machine to generate post-Shift power, Noah had still recently stocked up batteries just in case.
Of course, all of his current pondering was so he could distract himself from the moment at hand. We’re eighteen now, he reminded himself. Equal parts excitement and nervousness warred in his chest.
In his previous life, he never could have imagined growing this close with his high school crush. Now, he and Krystal had become close friends, complete with inside jokes. When they were younger, Noah had noticed her fascination with him when he’d entered Washington High School. Up until then, he had just been homeschooled, his mother had continued to push his academics far beyond what a normal kid his age would have been able to handle.
The way Noah saw it, to Krystal, he had been the mysterious homeschooled kid her friends sometimes saw around town. When she had introduced herself, welcoming him to the school, Noah had been a little shy, but had forced himself to talk to her. Unexpectedly, as that first semester went by, he found himself spending more time Krystal.
He knew his former self would have killed to be in his position, but the mental age gap between them forced Noah to distance himself from her, even as they got closer. Noah never felt older than his physical age, but he agonized over the ethics of his situation, and deep down, wondered if Krystal deserved better than a guy who still woke every other night with Shift-related nightmares. For four years he had learned everything about her, but refused to ever seriously consider asking her out on a legitimate date. They had always hung out as friends.
But now, they were both eighteen years old. The Shift would happen in less than a year and they were both young adults—it was now or never. He couldn’t imagine co
mpletely failing at relationships and enduring the Shift without ever experiencing his first kiss…again.
Noah had never really talked to girls much at all in his first life, but in this life, he had made some great female friends. Krystal in particular, in addition to being enchanting, was a truly wonderful person. Over the four years they had known each other, Noah witnessed the naïve crush he had once harbored for her be replaced with real friendship and respect.
Time had always been his enemy, but things had changed.
Even though he still stressed about Shift preparations, there actually wasn’t much left for him to personally handle. Most of his new plans and projects were delegated, now. In another thirty days, I’ll be sending out messages to Log Cabin Security offices to do another training module on uncommon disasters. I also left those envelopes with instructions with Log Cabin folks to give to the Firestarter geniuses. Noah thought that move had been smart. He still planned to mail letters to all of his gifted friends with snail mail before the Shift, but he liked layers of redundancy just in case.
The more Noah thought about it, the more he knew there really wasn’t much more for him to directly oversee anymore. Anyone who tried to prey on the communities he’d planted seeds in—whether raider or Aelves—would get a nasty surprise…hopefully. After over a decade, all the pieces were in place; all his planning had paid off.
Noah had barely taken any time for himself, had hardly spent any money on selfish things. In fact, his entire fortune would be gone in just a few months. Once Noah’s plans went into action, Steelton would be the safest place in the world. His family and friends would be protected in the first fort after the Shift.
Krystal will be here too, and I’ll be able to protect her.
Everything else was done, but there was one last thing Noah wanted to do before the world collapsed into chaos.
The redhead at his side kicked a pile of leaves on the sidewalk and said, “It looks like I’m going to OSU for biology.”
Noah gave her an admonishing look. “A Michigan-born girl working for the enemy, eh?”
Krystal laughed. She flicked at a piece of dry leaf that had blown onto her shoulder. Noah took a deep breath, screwing up his courage and stopped walking. It took Krystal a few seconds to realize that she was walking alone. She turned around with a cocked eyebrow. “What?”
Noah moved forward until he stood only a few inches away, towering over her. “Krystal, we’ve been friends for four years,” he said, his voice steady.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “It feels like we’ve been hanging out since we were kids.”
She tilted her head as if she were confused, and Noah saw her lip tremble, betraying a hidden emotion. She has feelings for me too, Noah thought, his heart swelling. Over the years, it had pained him to be so close but force himself to keep a healthy distance from her. If Noah was going to have anything more than friendship now, he wanted to do it right.
His heart began to race as the words came out. There wasn’t any need to drag it out any longer. “Things are going to change in a couple of months, Kay, and not just for you and me, but for everyone.”
“Yeah, everyone’s going to college,” she added soberly.
“That’s not what I mean. “ Noah shook his head. A pressure had built inside him, ready to burst. “But that doesn’t matter right now. Krystal, before anything major happens, I thought I should tell you something important.”
“Noah—”
“I have feelings for you,” he said plainly. The words finally spoken, a weight lifted that he hadn’t known was there. His shoulders relaxed, and all could think was how good it felt to speak the truth after all this time.
Krystal closed her eyes and inched forward. Their chests were so close that even without [Listen] he could hear her breath. Her hair smelled like lavender. She opened her eyes…and stepped away. Everything about the way she stood had changed, and Noah could sense something was wrong. Her hands tightened into fists, and she looked angry, hurt.
“Are you kidding me, Noah Henson?”
“What?” Noah blinked.
“This? Now?” Krystal seethed. “For four years I dropped every hint I could. Even an idiot like you should have picked up on it, and now you’re telling me you have feelings for me? I can’t believe this. You friend-zoned me from the beginning. I cried for you, Noah. Do you know how pathetic that made me feel?
“My friends said I should move on. Every time I was about to actually do that, you’d come sweeping into town again, talking to everyone, and take me to a movie—as friends—and I would die inside all over again. It was a like a force of nature—you were like a force of nature. Like a hurricane. And every time, I’d get caught up in it, happy with what we had, and afraid to ruin everything or completely let go.
“See, deep down, I realized a long time ago that you were never going to return my feelings, but I couldn’t give up hope. Then I wondered if there was something wrong with me.” Krystal’s voice wavered, about to turn into a sob, but firmed again. “You were never anything but sweet to me, and sometimes even saved time for me instead of your family. I couldn’t be mad at you, but I…I just couldn’t. I cried so, so many times.” The words came out in a rush, and Krystal’s face began to turn red, her voice growing louder.
“It was only a few months ago that I really, finally moved on, or so I thought. I decided that college would be a fresh start. Do you know the really crappy thing too? Even as a friend, you treated me so well, my parents kept asking when we were going to date. They. Love. You. Noah. Do you know how much harder that made it for me to give up on how I felt? But now, after I spent an embarrassing amount of time agonizing over all of this, and finally moved on, you spring this on me? On a walk? Oh no, buster. No way, Jose.”
Noah’s heart slowed so much, he thought it almost stopped. His throat went dry. No, he thought, confused. This isn’t how it’s supposed to go. Lamely, even to his own ears, he managed to get out, “It’s the truth. I–I do have feelings for you.”
Krystal straightened her back and raised her chin. “I waited, Noah. I waited a long, long time.”
He recognized the tone in her voice, and it cut him like a katana. He could still hear the frustration and resentment in her words, but below all of that, the deep hurt. Noah had kept a measured distance from Krystal throughout their friendship, resolved to never cross the platonic line until they were adults.
But he never thought about how it must have been for her. He’d never even considered that she might have real feelings for him. Even with his Charisma stat, and all his other advantages, the possibility just hadn’t been real to him. One of the most important people in his life had been hurting, he’d been to blame, and he’d been oblivious.
Unlike Noah, Krystal didn’t have a mission to save the world. She’d had a reason to hold back. Now Noah was struck with the clarity of hindsight. Moments they had spent together were given new meaning now.
Noah thought about all the things he’d brushed off as coincidence or wishful thinking on his part—her hand “accidentally” brushing against his, her insistence to study on the smaller couch so they sat closer together, or asking him to a movie with friends, only for others to bail and end up going alone with her. I always just thought she saw me as kooky and weird–the smart, new kid. Noah needed to wrap his head around the machine gun lightning bolts of clarity. She had real feelings. She cares for me. What was I thinking?
He grimaced, realizing how he'd tortured someone he cared about. The weight that lifted from him earlier came back, tripled, having absorbed crushing guilt. Stunned, he could only manage to whisper, “I’m sorry.”
Krystal studied him sadly, silent for a while. She finally said, “I know. As usual, you’re a decent guy, and I can’t truly hold anything against you. I could have said something before too, but you had your own stuff going on. It wasn’t like I was blind, I’ve always known how busy you were. Like, what was a crush compared to all the people you employ? But
we’re eighteen now, Noah. You had your chance.”
She’s right, Noah thought. If I were her, I would have given up on me ages ago. She deserves someone who can be there for her all the time and not when it’s convenient. Noah swallowed. I’m an idiot.
Before he could say anything more, or wrap his mind around the situation, to stomach his disappointment, Krystal added, “We can still be friends.”
Noah winced, and even as he reacted, he could tell that Krystal knew she’s said the wrong thing too.
They’d already been friends.
Krystal crossed her arms and bit her lip. “Noah?”
He shook his head, still shocked by…everything. It had all happened so fast. He’d planned this day for years, fantasizing about being finished with his preparation for the Shift, to live a normal life for at least a few months. Everything had gone wrong. Guilt, disappointment, frustration, and sorrow pulled different directions on his heart. He haltingly said, “I think I need some time alone right now. I’m not…I’m not mad. If anything, I feel really stupid. I actually understand. I just want some time to process, if that’s okay.”
Big, silent tears began to descend down Krystal’s cheeks and her lip trembled, making it harder for Noah to keep his composure. His eyes tickled.
It took Krystal a couple tries before she could speak. “Of course it’s okay,” she whispered.
“Alright,” said Noah, and coughed a little. He walked forward to Krystal, and then past, keeping his eyes forward the entire time. His eyelids burned. Back ramrod straight, Noah managed to politely force out, “Goodbye.” He didn’t turn back, so he would never know if she watched him go.
His chest hurt, and tears finally fell.
Chapter 23
“That’s rough, bro,” Johnny Dormund said, tone sympathetic. He drove his large, red pickup truck, probably the only kind of vehicle that could match his huge frame. Noah sat in the passenger seat, staring dully at the Michigan trees as they whizzed by.
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