Chapter 2

The desks at the back of the room, did more to beckon my attention with the computers silently waiting for someone to use them. Stepping around the bedside Cabinet I moved to the back and sat down at the closest desk. I couldn’t tell how old the computer was, but it was different than all those that I had worked with in the past. It took a few moments to find the start button, and then it came to life. Expecting to see the internet, it was a disappointment when it didn’t happen. There was nothing else that was of interest to me at the moment, so I shut it down.

The need to hear some news about what had happened up there at ground level, was strong in me. I got the feeling though, that learning anything was just not going to happen any time soon.

With all the nuke’s going off, it wasn’t much of a surprise that I couldn’t get out on the computer. Just as I thinking of turning the computer back on, and seeing what could be learned about the Bunker, my door opened and the nurse came in.

She had a smile for me, and said she was glad to see me up, but I still had to continue to rest and not strain my reserves by too much action. She introduced herself to me, as Anna Kerlee. A very pretty woman, which triggered the thought, that was the reason she had been chosen for the Bunker. Anna had a nice figure to go with light golden blond hair. She looked to be more of a cheerleader type then a nurse.

“nna nodded to my computer screen and commented that it looked like we were going to be in the bunker for a bit of time. When I asked how long, she replied that it looked to be at least a year or more. AI understand that there was more bombs then they ever expected.” She placed a thermometer in my mouth and continued talking. “From What Carlson says, our area didn’t get hit as hard. He did say that some bombs dropped off the coast, had wiped out pretty much every living thing. Dogs, cats, deer, children, everybody. Said it was the fog. A Radioactive mist, that was breathed in. Sooner or later, everyone that inhaled the mist will die, If they haven’t already.”

“Sounds terrible. But won’t the Coast Range protect us?” I offered, talking around the thermometer.

“I suppose it will or did. Just a simple mask, like a dust mask would be some protection, provided one washed thoroughly after being exposed. I don’t think we will know anymore for a while, the internet went down right after that. At least we did find out a few things.” Then she cautioned me not to talk, as she wanted a good reading from the thermometer. “Lets hope, that a great many thought to protect themselves by breathing through a mask, or even a piece of cloth.”

After taking my temp and checking my pulse and blood pressure, Anna told me to stay comfortable and she would have a food tray delivered to me. Then with a pleasant goodbye, she softly left through the door.

It was a while later, when I heard a door chime. It surprised me as I had no idea that the room had a door bell. Rather than walking to the door, I just called out, “Come in.” in a loud voice. Momentarily the door slowly swung open and there stood one of the younger girls, holding what looked to be my food tray. “Come in Come in,” I said, on seeing the tray, I realized that I was very hungry.

“I brought your food.” she said, and came into the room. Seeing only my bed side cabinet and the desk’s, she took the tray to nearest desk. I could see that she was apprehensive on being here, and was anxious to leave.

“I’m kind a out of touch.” I spoke gently. “How have things been. Are you and the other girls comfortable here?”

The look I got back was fearful, like I was prying into something that should remain hidden. For a moment she didn’t say anything, but was slowly backing away after setting the tray down. “What do you mean?” Her voice was soft and timid.

“Are you comfortable ... I mean, are you and the others getting along here in the bunker? You know, ah ... Is the food good, ah ... Just what do you think about all this?” I was trying to explain what I meant, and wondering what the problem was. Why was she acting like she was afraid of me.

“Were doing okay, I guess.” She showed so many signs of nervousness, looking back at the door. I expected her to turn and run out at any moment. I assumed that it was me, that she was afraid of, but I didn’t know why. Taking a deep breath, she continued. “I guess we’re going to be here for a long time. Mr Carlson said that bombs have destroyed everything. Almost no one is left alive. I know you have been sick, but is it true? Is everything gone, like Mr Carlson and the others have been saying?”

“I don’t know how much damage has been done. Same with how long we have to stay down here, before it’s safe to go outside. But I understand that we are safe here.” I assured her. “We have plenty of food and a safe source of water.”

“I know all of that. What I want to know is why just us girls were brought here? What about the boys, what about Freddy. My Boy friend Freddy. Why wasn’t he brought here too?” She was still looking scared, but there was anger coming out too.

“Look, I wasn’t in on the planning or making any decisions. I just happened by as all this was going down. The truth is, I’m not suppose to be here.” By explaining my non involvement, I think I was trying to convince her that we two were on the same side. Meaning, I wasn’t in control and didn’t have knowledge of what was going on. My problem was, that I did have a strong feeling of what some of the men were setting up.

With a strong look that she wasn’t buying anything I had said, the girl went to the door and left. The room felt much emptier after she was gone. I kept thinking about what she said about her boy friend Freddy. Why wasn’t he and the other boys brought to the bunker. I felt that I knew the answer, but I was hoping that I was wrong. It didn’t bother me, that the girls would be having babies sometime in the future. That’s what young girls do, they grow up and have babies. It was the fact that Jim Christian and the other men, were planning on using them as their harems. Sex objects, whether they are willing or not. That was what was wrong.

As yet, I really hadn’t discussed my part or role that I was to play in all this. I didn’t figure that I would be given a free ride, that I would have to in some way, pay for my being here. Even with all the automatic functions that the bunker had, I was sure there were things that would need attending.

Taking stock of my health, I found that I was feeling a lot better than I had in months. Still I knew that I had to take it easy as I didn’t want another relapse. Looking around in some of the drawers, I found some blue medical scrubs. They were the same type of garment that doctors and aides use in operating rooms. I had seen scrubs used as pajamas and even work clothes in labs and other medical facilities. Now I was going to wear them because I couldn’t find my clothes. I supposed the things I had been wearing were now in some laundry or maybe even trashed.

The scrubs were okay, they fit fine, with the help of a couple of drawstrings. The one drawback in this whole wardrobe thing was that I didn’t have shoes. All I could find were some paper slippers. I saw them but continued searching for my shoes. I looked under the bunks and around the desks. I even went through the cabinets and drawers, but no luck. Finally I gave up and put those flimsy paper slippers on. The first thing on my agenda was to find out what happened to my shoes and get them or some other pair just as good. Clothing I didn’t really care about, but shoes, Those I felt very strong about. I had paid damn good money for them and I wasn’t about to give them up.

Opening the door, I stepped into a passage way that led to an empty room. I half expected some activity to be going on. It was the largest room in the bunker, according to the charts that were tacked on the wall of every room in the place. Not only was the room empty, but it was quiet. There wasn’t any sound coming from the other rooms either. I looked to the clock on the far wall and saw that it was early afternoon. I figured lunch was over and everyone must be off doing personal things. I saw a couple of basketballs laying in a corner, and surmised that someone had been shooting hoops or playing a game. I took in several things that I had missed or just didn’t remember about this main room. Besides being laid out as a basketball court, it also sported a score board. If the full complement of people had been brought down into the bunker, I could see where a lot of games would have been played. Now with the small number of people that did come down, the games were probably not going to be happening any time soon.

I directed my attention to the communications room, and shuffled my way over to it. Those papers slippers hanging loosely on my feet would fall off, if I took a normal step. Now I was motivating by sliding my feet, keeping my toes mostly on the floor. Stopping at the first chair I came too, I placed my foot on it and tied the loose ends on the slippers. After having done that, I could take a somewhat normal step. The slippers were thin and I had to watch where I put my feet, as small particles were scattered all across the floor.

There was a tremendous desire for me to find out what the outside situation was. I figured that I had been out for a couple of days, at least I wasn’t up and around, so there had to be more news. When I opened the door and entered the room, I saw Carl and two others in conversation. They looked up as I came in, but there was no expression change in their faces. It was obvious to me, that I was not important enough for them to care that I was up and around. I felt odd wearing hospital scrubs, while they were still in street clothes.

Carl, said a few more words to Greg Rarey and Bill Stubbs, before turning back to me. “I heard that you were coming around. You think your over all that sickness?”

“I sure hope so.” I answered and then turned to look at all the computers. Most of the screens were blank, and the ones lit up, were showing only screen savers. “Do we still have the internet?”

Shaking his head no, Carl said that it was gone. So was Radio and Television. It concerned me that we were completely cut off from the outside world. When Carl informed me that they still had a couple of satellites in orbit, I felt a twinge of hope. Carl stated that the magnetic pulse had taken out just about everything else. Seeing that I didn’t quite understand, he explained there had been several high altitude air bursts, which fried the power grid. Only systems like our bunker, where the power grid was shielded, and generated their own power, were still operating. That was why we weren’t getting any communications.

“Well, what information do you have?” I wanted to hear something good along with all the bad news.

“We know from the satellite we can connect with, that there are others out there, still functioning. Just who and how many, we haven’t been able to learn. I suppose it’s to keep the enemy from knowing how bad were hurt.” Carl then motioned to a computer with a blank screen. “That one there will give us more information, as soon as we figure out how to rotate the dish. It’s suppose to be in a protective shield, but I surmise that there was a lot of debris flying around up there. Probably jammed it up.”

“Is there any way to un-jam it?” I couldn’t see how it could be done from this room.

Carl smiled and nodded his head. I think he was trying to reassure me that the situation was not as bleak as it seemed. “Soon as were sure there is no danger of another nuke going off, one or two of us will go up in protective suits, and breathing gear to take a look. We have plenty of spare parts. It’s just a matter of making sure the radiation count is low enough to send someone out.”

“I thought that after a bomb went off, it would be years before it was safe enough to go outside?” My lack of knowledge was enormous when it came to nuclear fallout and its aftermath.

“That’s mostly Ground Zero,” Greg Rarey added to the conversation. “Place’s downwind from a detonation, might be hot for a while, but a good rain will wash a lot of it away. I think we’re going to find that towards the east, is where most of the fallout is going to go. I wouldn’t give a plug nickel for anyone’s chances on the East Coast. That is, if they don’t stay hunkered up until things get settled.”

Carl nodded in agreement. “Here on the pacific coast, the weather patterns continually flow eastward. So unless were right next to ground zero, we will probably be able to leave this shelter in a month or two.”

I heard, Jim scoot his chair back and turn to face our conversation. “Even after it’s relatively safe to go back up. We will be better off to stay down here longer. That’s because there will be those wandering about, looking for supplies and shelter. We will have to avoid them.”

I didn’t like Jim, but I tried to keep that fact to myself. His stated desires for the women and girls was still fresh in my mind. A place to keep breeding stock, the young girls. When I asked what branch of government built the bunker and backed the program, Carl again kind of smiled like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“It was government funded, for the most part.” He said. “But a lot of money came from the private sector. Environmental groups were big on donating, but I hardly think they had any idea just what the program involved.” He shook his head a little and continued. “There could have been some CIA money, or some other secret agency. The one thing I’m sure of, is that the people they wanted down here, never arrived.”

“So, it’s up to us.” Jim smiled smugly. “We have the bunker and all it’s supplies. When the time is right, we will go up topside and restart civilization again.” Looking at me, he asked. “You a good farmer Johnson?”

“Afraid not, just construction. A little bit of logging, before that all shut down.” What I didn’t know about farming would, well never mind. I saw plenty of crops growing in the fields but I had no idea about how to go about it and do a good job.

Jim went on to question me about my logging and construction experiences. I told him a little of what I had done, why not. I couldn’t see where it would hurt, although logging and mostly road building wasn’t the only thing in my past. I studied forestry in school for a couple of years, then went to work with an insurance company, investigating claims. I didn’t like that much, and only did it for a paycheck. If the attack hadn’t come, I would have quit, but as it turned out, I didn’t get the chance. As far as Jim wanting to know about me, I figured he had his reasons. Probably because it was clear, that I didn’t quite go along with using the girls as sex toys. I figure he was trying to find out a way to deal with me.

Right now, I sure didn’t look like much. Oh, I stood just under six feet tall, and in good health I would weigh something like two twenty. I know, the book says I should weigh less, but to hell with the book. I felt good at two twenty. Just wish I was weighing that now. After all the bouts of sickness, I had lost more than twenty pounds, and I wasn’t feeling a bit strong. What Jim was looking at was a man in poor health. I probably looked like a feather could knock me over. Just the same, I always was heavier than what I looked. Whatever reason, Jim had to be interested in me, I figure I would find out sooner or later. His statement that we were no longer under government laws, but our own, Set off alarm bells with me. I knew that if he felt it necessary to do me harm, he probably wouldn’t hesitate.

I wasn’t so sure about the other men either, but I knew for certain what kind of a man Jim Christian was. And he certainly wasn’t a good Christian. Carl was a decent man, as far as running a business and being polite. Still I could see that he barely had control over what was going on in the bunker. Jim, would take over as soon as he could. Probably the fact that he didn’t know how to run all the functions with the bunker, was keeping him in line. Once he figured he knew enough about its operations he’d take control.

Getting back to the subject that I was concerned with, I asked Carl, if he knew anything about the damage up on street level. Again he shook his head, and explained that the magnetic pulse had wiped out all the expose electronics. We couldn’t even get a reading from our temperature gauges. Once the batteries were replaced, then maybe some of the instruments would come back on line.

“The guy that replaces them, will probably be me.” Greg Rarey spoke up. “I was given the grand tour about six months ago on all the life supports and equipment.” Looking at me, it was obvious that I was still rather weak. “When you get to feeling better, you can give me a hand. I think there’s going to be plenty to do in keeping this place going. Oh they say that it’s all self contained and maintenance free, but already we need to go out and fix the aerials and dishes.” He gave a sarcastic chuckle.

“When ever your ready. Let me know.” I answered.

“Well give it a few days.” Carl spoke. “Were in no hurry. It will still be there when ever we decide to fix it. Right now, we should go get something to eat. It’s dinner time.” With that he pushed his chair back and with a nod of his head, motioned for everyone to come along.