Chapter 7

It was while I was being helped to my new quarters, that one of the girls noticed the blood trail. Yep, I had been hit too. I think some of it had to be secondary strikes, as it looked only to be a very bad scrape. Two of them, one on my left calf and also my upper right thigh. The one on my calf was the nastier looking, and required many stitches. My leg was really stiff after the stitches were done, and the wound swabbed with an anti bacteria solution. Anna bade me take several pain pills, and I noticed after awhile that I didn’t hurt as much.

While Anna was directing her assistants in the efforts to dress our wounds, Violet had the others drag out the body bags and zip the remains of Jim and Martin up in them. Later, the rear hatch that Greg and I had used to repair all the gear in the domed silos, was opened and the two body bags containing Jim and Martin were left in the tunnel.

I really didn’t do much in the way of being the head man. Things went on like before, everyone doing about the same thing. While I wasn’t lording it over anyone, being the so called head man, I was keeping anyone else from becoming a dictator. I might be a little slow, but I get there. Meaning I slowly came to realize that my role in all this was secondary to Violets. She was making the decisions and seeing that everything was attended to. I asked her why she didn’t just take over being the head honcho, and she explained that I was the one who could protect them. She needed me as a figure head, knowing that the men would be less likely to challenge me for control. As long as I looked out for the girls and the women, they would all support me and back up whatever I said. I liked it, I was the head man, that didn’t have to make any decisions, Didn’t have to tell anyone what to do. I was like Carl, only with Violet running things.

When I finally did move into the new quarters, the bed was much larger. Carl had been living pretty good. The bed was soft and had a television mounted at the foot. There was a list of movies sitting on the bedside locker, and also a televised listing too. All I had to do was punch in the number and that movie would come on. Violet told me all the sets in the bunker were so equipped. It was new to me, and I enjoyed seeing some of the films I had missed over the years. When I asked how the system could have the latest movies, Violet read up on the system and learned that the Bunker was constantly being up dated with all the latest films and programs. It would have really impressed me several years earlier, but my ardor for movies and such had waned in the last few years.

The new quarters were really nice, but I didn’t feel like I belonged in them. I sure wasn’t about to let Carl back in as he’d proved to be un-trust worthy. He drifted back into the shadows, so to speak. He still helped Dave with the communications, even though there was nothing to communicate. The atmospherics were unstable, and signals when we did receive something was unintelligible. We still had readings coming in from our weather instruments, and Carl helped keep the records. From the readings, it showed that the outside temperature was continuing to drop. Each day it was colder, and the nights even more so.

Leaving the Bunker was still on my mind, but as yet, the weather wasn’t improving. There was some other problems too. It was about a month later, when Violet came to my quarters to inform me that some of the girls were pregnant. I can’t say that it wasn’t unexpected, but it was still a jab at my plans. I had been figuring when it warmed up enough, to head out of the valley and head east. The reason was that east was better ground for livestock. The eastern slope of the Cascades had a healthier climate for raising cattle and horses. It was also better hunting. That was my idea, but not everyone agreed.

The valley was better for crops, that was true, but it was a wet climate. With the dust cloud from all the bombs still high in the atmosphere and circling the earth, there was no telling when it would warm up enough to grow anything but grass. From the weather gauges, we could tell that nothing was warming up as yet. I was beginning to think that the babies the girls were going to have, might be in their late teens before we could leave. I knew that was impossible as we didn’t have the supplies for that long of stay.

So we sat back and settled into a routine, of everyday life. I was no longer the outsider. Whenever I sat down to eat, there was always young girls and women that came over to sit with me. Violet and I became very close, and we had a few flings with each other. She was right, she did know how to keep me happy. Our get together’s were not that often, and only when everyone else seemed occupied in other projects and duties.

Any attempt to keep the girls inline, failed. Violet knew it was hopeless trying to manage the girls and their hormones. The only reason she had tried was because if we had to leave the valley once we exited the bunker, it would be much harder doing so with a bunch of pregnant girls and babies. Staying in the valley and putting the farm land back to crops was the ideal. There was the fear that it might not be possible to remain nearby.

The girls that wanted Sex, sought out Bill, Dave or Greg. Even Carl was seen to be cuddling with a few. It was entirely the girls choice. But not all the girls were having sex. There were those that did not want to take the chance of getting pregnant. And also those that didn’t like the choice of available partners. For some reason, none of the girls showed up around my quarters. I felt a pang of jealousy, that I was being left out of all the free love, but then I did have some moments with Violet. I found out later, that Violet and the women told the girls to stay away from me. The reason, they didn’t want to cloud my thinking and become like the other men. If I needed any attention, Violet would see to my needs. It worked.

As the months went by, it was easier to spot the seven pregnant girls. Tummies grew, and the girls waddled more and more as they walked. The Basket ball games continued, but with fewer teams. There wasn’t the severe competition as before. Now the games were played just for the enjoyment. I even went back to refereeing.

Many of the girls were giving me the come on look, even the pregnant ones, but no one came to my door at night. They were all growing up, and filling out. Not just the Preggers. It was becoming harder and harder to ignore the looks and displays of scantily dressed women. I had even been in the shower when a couple of girls waltzed in and joined me. Having two naked well shaped women soaping my body down, was wonderful. I saw them all as women, because it was very hard to see the little girl in them, especially when nude. It was because of this that Violet took to taking showers with me. Violet still had a nice body, even at fifty five. Never in my life did I ever think I would be taking up with a woman twice my age.

At our council meetings, with everyone present, even the girls, it was again stressed on how difficult it would be to travel with babies and pregnant women. Of course there were the sassy remarks from some girls, that the whole reason they were here was to breed. Not only was Violet trying to change their thinking but so was every woman there. Anna had gone over the need to put off having babies with the girls many times, but the pregnancies kept happening. She even mentioned that it might be a good idea if a trip outside was made, if only to find a supply of birth control pills. It wasn’t too late to close the barn door as we still had some of the horse’s in it. The idea was mulled over for a moment or two, but then it was decided not to risk going out. Everyone did take an oath to do what they could to avoid getting pregnant. It seemed to help as there were no new pregnancies announced.

Greg on the other hand, did get his woman pregnant. Violet on learning about it, just shook her head sadly. She expected the woman to use better sense, but she was in love with Greg and nature took over.

So the winter went on, and on. Christmas came and went, without much notice. There wasn’t much chance of gift giving, other than of one’s self. New Years did get some notice as people were wanting to have a good time. “ punch of some type was served and a dance was held in the gym. Everyone was having a good time. All the men were dancing with the women, and there were women dancing with those that didn’t have a man. I danced a few, but Violet cautioned me from getting too distracted. AThere’s still the chance that someone is still looking to take over. Which means, that your life is in danger.” She said when I finally found time for a dance with her. She was right, I knew that I would never be able to trust Carl, or the others. Even Greg, I still couldn’t trust him, though I liked him more than the others. Violet and I had talked about it many times. With all the men being serviced by one or more of the women or girls, there was still that chance someone would attempt to take over. I didn’t say anything to Violet, but I was also aware that there were women that would like to be in control too. At first I had worried about Violets intentions, but knew that if she had wanted to take total control, there were plenty of opportunities when she could easily have done so. For all practical reasons she was in control.

I didn’t want to be in charge. It had just happened because I didn’t want to be killed. I was sure I would have been, had I not taken the action that I did. Being in control of the bunker, required a wisdom I didn’t possess.

What I began to sense was a feeling of danger for Violet. She was not only my right hand, she was my council. I didn’t do anything without talking it over with her first. Matter of fact, most of what I did do, was at her suggestion. If someone wanted to upset the apple cart, so to speak, they need only do something to Violet. I started watching the others when she was around, and noted that there were a few unwelcome looks directed her way. I couldn’t point out any one person that really went out of their way to show disdain or resentment. People had many reasons to feel some kind of resentment, even if it was juvenile in nature. Violet could keep an eye on those that might want to do me harm, but I figured she wasn’t capable of watching out for herself. I knew that Carl would be a good candidate for an assassin, though he would be more apt to having someone else do it.

It was because of my fears for her, that I asked Violet to move into my quarters with me. My request was met with a smile and acceptance. I know we’d had sex many times, but I wasn’t quite prepared for our living together. It was nice at first and then it just got better. During the day hours we had a lot to do with running the Bunker. There was still the schedule for the sun room. Where everyone took a turn at tanning and getting some vitamin D. I still carried at least one of my revolvers at all times. Even when taking showers, which we had to do in the large rest room, I kept it hidden under a towel that was never very far from me. I suppose everyone knew that I was carrying a firearm, but I still tried to conceal it.

Looking back, I think that it was a wise move. We never had a close call or anyone attempt to attack her, and I think it was due to her moving into my quarters and spending the evening hours where I could keep her safe. Once we left the Bunker, I was figuring that there would be some going a different way. At least I hoped so, As I had enough of Carl and anyone else that I really didn’t trust.

Violet told me that once we were on our own, and making a go of it. I should take one or more women or girls for my own to have babies with. Explaining “That was the whole idea of this bunker in the first place, but I don’t believe the planners figured we would be in it this long. If it wasn’t for the outside being so cold, I would have suggested that you have babies with them already.”

“If we find anyone out there, these women, will probably take up with them.” I laughed. “ They are probably sick of looking at the choices here.”

“You probably are right about that. But I know there’s a few that think your just the tops.” Violet assured me.

“No, these women, didn’t have a hand in planning all this out, and I know you and they resent that fact. When we leave the bunker, and meet anyone, That’s when we will know their true feelings for us.” meaning us men. After that we never discussed it.

Movie nights were still held, and the smell of popcorn wafted through the passage ways. Some of the girls started spending the whole night in the theater, rather than returning to their quarters. Greg ended up taking out sections of seating, clearing it so mattresses could be laid down. It meant for a harder job of cleaning up, but the girls didn’t mind and went on to enjoy their movie slumber parties. As it was the theater still had more seating then we could ever fill.

Books were rare, the paper bound books that is. There were plenty of books on the computers, and the hand held instruments, but few with a printed page. We had a large supply of all types of paper. We used it every day, from keeping score for any game being played to drawing pictures or maps. The computers were nice, but nothing looked better than having your name tacked up on the bulletin board for having the highest score or some other achievement. The reason I bring this up, was because Tyler Page, began teaching classes in writing. No not novels, but in hand writing. She expressed the fact that once we leave the Bunker, we would not have the computer to rely on. So along with the other ongoing studies, Writing was added.

So far every meal in the bunker had been taken out of its wrapper and heated in a micro wave oven. No one had really cooked anything. So classes were held, educating everyone in the art of cooking. Going through the data banks, a program was made up of finding different food sources in the wild. There was also classes on preparing meat, and the process of rendering it from the carcasses of live stock. We would have to be our own butchers and bakers.

Not everyone wanted to attend the classes, especially the girls. But even the most ardent slacker, understood that we would need these skills even before our food supplies ran out. There were many shocking discoveries as the girls learned just where many of our prepared food stuff came from. Icing and fillings that before were just taken for granted, now were studied and learned. In some cases the girls turned pale on finding out what animal parts went into the good tasting things they loved. Facts that a generation before were well known and accepted, now turned the stomachs of the young ones.

Do to the fact that there just wasn’t enough males to do all the heavy work, the girls also studied mechanics and other fields of repair. The classes on how things worked, were perhaps the most beneficial as spare parts to fix anything would probably be hard to find. Better everyone should learn how to take care of what they had, when there was nothing to fix it with.

It was during this time that the ground began shaking again. At first we felt just a small tremor, but it was enough to get our attention. Several more small tremors occurred and then a much larger shaking seem to pass through like a freight train. We heard several loud sounds like something crashing to the ground. It sounded near, but what it could have been we had no idea. During these events, everyone remained silent. No one spoke, but held onto anything nearby to steady themselves. After it was over, there was a little relief shown, but we all knew that there would be more. I suppose we could call them after shocks, but sometimes the shaking was less sever then the others, and then again the next might be much stronger. The shaking continued on a much milder scale then the first few times. At first they came often, but as the days passed, the intervals were becoming longer and longer. There was enough time in between the quakes, that we could relax a little.

“very concerned Tyler Page, our self appointed teacher, expressed wide eyed concern that the quake pattern and aftershocks just didn’t conform to the past records. AThere is the strong quake, followed by milder aftershocks until they dwindle away. Not like this,” She managed to say after a particular violent shaking. “This is not normal in any way shape or form.”

There was a general agreement among us that Tyler was right. These quakes we suffered through, were not the normal kind. Some of the so called aftershocks had been at least as strong as the first one, but we didn’t really have any means of measuring. The scary part of all this was, that Greg announced a while after the last shaking, that he found a crack in one of the store room walls. That brought a lot of comments and concerns about the safety of our Bunker. Carl did try to alleviate some fears by telling us that we’d already suffered enough quakes to demonstrate the strength of the bunker. It was still safe enough, even with a crack in a store room wall. Still even if they did believe that the bunker was still structurally sound, everyone began checking the different spaces, for unseen damage.