by Benson, Tom
“What do you think?”
“I think you should hold this, mate, while I try and move this push-bar.”
Paul accepted the flashlight. “What about the warning of a hazard?”
“It says ‘Possible hazard on exit from the external door’, which tells me that there is something between this door and the one that poses the danger.”
“You mean there might be something like a … an airlock or chamber of some sort?”
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking, but stay back, just in case I’m wrong.” Bill gripped the push-bar with both hands, got up onto his toes and heaved his weight downward—nothing. “It’s a bit stiff, which I suppose is to be expected.”
“What if I lay the flashlight on the deck and we both have a go. Steady rocking on it together?”
“Come on, mate, let’s do this.”
The light was placed between and behind them, and they tried together several times to budge the bar. On the fifth attempt, there was a metal grinding noise at one end.
“Okay, Paul, keep it going together—now, on three … one … two … three.”
The pair continued to grip and jump up and down, puffing for breath, until at last the bar went loose, and the door moved inward slightly. The men stopped and stepped back, breathing heavily. Bill stooped to lift the flashlight. He shone the beam into the area as he pushed the door open with his boot.
“Good guess,” Paul said as he looked into the long narrow chamber. The floor was concrete, and the walls were tiled up to and around an arched ceiling. A few tiles lay broken on the floor, but though some were cracked, most were still sound and secure.
“This is a good omen,” Bill said. “If something like an emergency exit has been built to last this long, it speaks volumes about the standard of the workmanship.”
“I agree that it’s in great condition, but why is it a good omen?”
“This is a route for leaving the tunnel in a hurry—the maintenance portals will be built to the same standard, and they would have been set up for men to spend time in them occasionally.” Bill shone the flashlight on the other door, which was several metres away. “There is the door with a possible hazard on the other side, so we’ll leave that one until it’s needed.”
“I suppose there will be a narrow passage leading to the final door which exits into a forest or the mountainside.”
“I’d agree with that, mate.”
“I wonder what that oblong box is up there?” Paul moved left and right to look.
“Wipe all the shit off but don’t cut yourself.”
Paul rubbed a hand over the flat area about the size of a small shoebox. “It’s glass—a light, or it will be if we can arrange a source of power.”
“I think we’ll list this little find under the heading of hope.” Bill tapped his companion on the shoulder. “Let’s move on, mate.”
The pair closed the door most of the way and then set off once again into the tunnel. For a while, they crunched along on the gravel without conversation.
“Paul, what have you got on the coach in the way of tools?”
“I have the usual breakdown and wheel-changing equipment. I also carry a small but comprehensive toolbox in the storage bin—why do you ask?”
“We may not have much down here, but if we can adapt or disable the push bars on the doors, we could make use of these exit chambers. I’m just thinking out loud at the moment.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“The coach is comfortable, but we could be in this tunnel for some time, and we can’t live in the coach—we’ll need to organise some type of makeshift accommodation.”
“Do you ever stop planning?”
“No,” Bill laughed as the pair of them continued walking and talking. “While we’re thinking of planning, what type of power pack is on the coach?”
“It’s a relatively new hybrid—solar power obtained via the veins in the windows, combined with the choice to switch over to electric or the emergency traction-wheel generator.”
“The solar energy part, are we talking about the windows that make up the roof?”
“No, all of the windows, including the windscreen. There is a fine metal thread element which runs through every pane of glass, and the solar power which is absorbed is fed to the individual window frame. From there it joins a network of thin cables and feeds the cell under the coach.”
“What about if the weather isn’t so bright?”
“As long as there is sufficient power to get the drive or traction wheels at the back turning, they charge the power pack.”
“How efficient is the system?”
“The sunlight we had today was enough to give a full charge, which means that if I hadn’t driven us in here, we could travel for about three hundred miles without sunlight.”
“Okay, so you could start the motor?”
“Yes—have you got an idea forming?”
“I’ll have to think it through, but yes, there is a germ of an idea in my head. In the military, invariably, if we didn’t have access to the correct equipment, we had to improvise to complete a task or mission. When it’s been your lifestyle for twenty years, it sticks with you.”
“Look, Bill, another reflective section, and it looks a bit broader.”
When they arrived, it was to find that the coloured strip was to indicate the entrance to a maintenance portal—MP-1. The door this time had no emergency push-bar, but a regular handle. Bill turned the handle and pulled hard. The door creaked. He slammed a foot against the wall and pulled harder—opening the resistant door a few inches.
“Hold the flashlight again, Paul.” Bill, at six-foot and muscular was the best person to force an entry. He squeezed his right shoulder between the door and the frame and pushed. The door jammed when partly open, but it was enough to get inside.
Paul eased his slimmer physique through the gap and handed the flashlight back to Bill, who was showing such determination to make progress.
At first, it looked like the exit chamber they’d been in earlier, including the rear emergency exit a few metres away with the warning of a possible hazard. The difference was that both side walls had doors. Two doors on the left wall and one on the right. Bill pushed the nearest left door, and they both went inside. It was a small room, but to all intents and purposes, it was a kitchen. Immediately to the front was a tiny rudimentary cooker and grill. Above was a flue for heat and steam to escape. To the left was a small sink with a single tap, and to the right, a large cupboard with shelving containing a few dusty metal mugs, metal plates and utensils. In the bottom of the cupboard were two large boxes.
A reasonable level of light was reflected around the room because the entire portal had been fitted with white tiles.
“I like this already.” Bill placed the flashlight on the small worktop beside the cooker and lifted one of the large wooden boxes from the cupboard. Attached to the edge of the box lid was a metal loop or hasp which hooked over a thin metal bar.
Bill flicked open the hasp and lifted the lid. “What do we have here?”
“What is it?” Paul leant forward to look inside.
Bill lifted out one of the contents. “In my days in camouflage, we would have laughed at this stuff but eaten it anyway—composite rations. Some of it might taste like shit, but it keeps you alive and can be stored for bloody years.”
“Does it have a date on the packaging somewhere?”
“Personally, I’ve never been bothered by that sort of thing, mate, but we’ll have a look.” He lifted out a tin containing chocolate, fruit and nut flavoured bars, and it was stamped ‘Use by Dec 2067’ which he showed to Paul and winked. Bill lifted out a large wrapped bundle of protein bars. “These bars are each the equivalent of a meal.” He turned the packaging over. ‘Use by Apr 2068’.
“Does this mean we’re not going to starve to death?”
“Yes mate, but this tells me that a replenishment team has been sent in here recently.”
He paused. “Maybe in the past five years.”
“How do you know, and why would they?”
“Food like this lasts for many years, but not fifty or more. I’d guess that some local government or council has deemed the tunnel a safe haven for their emergency planning committee.”
“Like a bunker, to conduct an official role in a crisis?”
“Exactly, mate, which is good. I reckon they would have ensured all of the portals had food.”
“What about water?”
“We must find drinking water, and that might not be so easy. Let’s try that tap.” After trying several times, they were unable to turn the tap.
“At least we know it’s here,” Paul said. “We could come back with some tools later.”
Bill nodded. “Let’s see what’s in the other room.” They went into the room on the other side of the small tiled chamber to find a long slatted wooden bench and an equally long wooden table—both sturdy. Above the wooden bench was another, but it was folded flat against the wall.
“This bench and the folded one above are fitted as bunks,” Bill said. “At some stage, the maintenance guys must have expected a lengthy stay in shit conditions.”
The room was as small as the kitchen, but in this case, instead of a cupboard, there were three metal doors which took up the whole of one wall.
Bill opened all of them to find that they were full of wiring, massive fuse-links and other electrical components. At one level to the side was a set of large throw switches—all in the downward position.
He turned and grinned at Paul in the beam of the flashlight as he lifted one switch after the other. Nothing happened, but he left them up anyway. “I had to do that—you never know.”
“We’ve still got a door to check—what do you think it’ll be?”
Bill said, “I’m guessing it’s a basic toilet.”
They went along the tiled chamber to the third door. After effort was applied, the slightly smaller door opened.
Paul waved a hand across his face and blew out hard. “What is it?”
Bill reached out with the flashlight and shone it around inside. “It is a toilet, but there’s no water in there, and the whole room looks and smells like a zoo for insects and strange, resilient plant life.”
“Is it like the kitchen tap do you think—workable if we can locate the water source?”
“Yes, Paul. The lack of a water supply might be the reason nobody came down here.”
“Maybe it was one of those jobs which just didn’t get followed up.”
“Judging by the condition of the toilet, it might have put the repairmen off.” He laughed. “Time is on our side, as long as we have a source of drinking water. Talking of which, I think we deserve a drink.”
They moved along the chamber and both took a pull from the bottle Paul had carried along.
Paul said, “Shall we go on to the next portal?”
Bill played a fingertip across his watch, and it illuminated. “No, mate, I think we’ll head back and see how our companions are doing.” He paused. “For the foreseeable future we don’t have day and night, or regular sleeping patterns, so we could come along here again later.”
They set off back towards the coach, both happier having found something positive to report on their return. They discussed the idea that the food had been replenished but the water supply and toilets had not been maintained. They were both content that the lack of running water was the reason that no local emergency committee was using the place at this crucial time.
Bill said, “You and Dawn gave out small bottles of water earlier today—how much do you carry on the coach?”
“We’ll have a few cases of water. We usually maintain a good stock of bottled water and snack foods in one of the big compartments, especially in the summer. If the coach is being used for a longer tour, then the storage areas would have some refreshments, but mainly be used for luggage. We’ve been picking up occasional passengers as part of our three-day excursion, so we’ve had no need to account for more than their backpacks.”
“I’m glad we’re all dressed for hiking up hills and through woodland. I wouldn’t like to be traipsing through here in regular shoes.”
Paul said, “My thoughts are in turmoil at the moment. I keep thinking of how things would have turned out if I’d headed north.”
“Hey, mate, if you didn’t have the local knowledge to find this place and the guts to get us here, we might have made it halfway to Fort William.”
“Halfway? Do you think Fort William was affected by one of the blasts?”
“I wouldn’t repeat it to the others, Paul, but I think most of Fort William will either have been vaporised or swallowed by that tsunami we witnessed from the mountain road. Remember, the town sits on a coastline beside a bloody big loch.”
“You’re right, I don’t think we should mention it, especially since it was where we were supposed to take you guys after Dawn did the mountainside hike.”
The men fell silent, both with their own train of thought regarding Fort William. The town had been directly in the path of the gigantic wave. Nobody in the area would have stood a chance, whether or not the population was in a secured safe zone—the town would now be a modern Atlantis, full of corpses.
From a long way, they could see the dim interior lights of the coach and even at two hundred metres, Bill was able to switch off the flashlight. There was a slight glint on the metal rails reflecting the lights from the distant coach. The vehicle sat there bathed in the glow of its interior lights against the stark contrast of the tunnel. Far behind the vehicle and out of sight was the entrance—now wholly sealed with fallen debris.
“It’s so good to see you two back,” Dawn said, standing on the gravel outside the door of the coach. “We’ve got a problem—a big problem.”
“What’s up?” Bill said.
“One of the passengers has gone missing.”
4 - A Dark Secret
Bill shook his head in disbelief. “How could we lose a passenger—there isn’t anywhere to go? We haven’t seen anybody and we’ve just walked a fair distance towards the coach.”
Dawn said, “We brought in a case of bottles of water and told the passengers to take it easy and share. Everything was going well, and then a few people asked if they could get out to stretch their legs, so those of us up front said, it was okay but not to leave the area beside the coach.”
Bill said, “How did it come to light that we’d lost somebody?”
“A woman at the back started asking about Ken, who’d been sitting near her earlier. Ken had failed to get back onboard.”
Paul said, “Has anybody gone out looking in the area between the back of the coach and the entrance we used? Remember that it’s now blocked.”
“Alan and Calvin have gone together, and they’ve been gone for about twenty minutes. They haven’t got a strong flashlight like you guys, but they’ve both got mobile phones with lights on. Oh, God, I should have—”
“Okay, Dawn,” Bill said. “You’re not to blame—there are a lot of people trapped in here, but thanks to our circumstances, these people are no longer your responsibility. Now, we’re a group of human beings who need mutual support.”
“How can you be so calm?”
“I’ll have a private breakdown later,” Bill whispered and winked, but didn’t smile. “We owe it to ourselves and everybody in this group to keep our shit together. I know it’s frightening to most, but thanks to the professionalism of you guys we’re alive, and our aim now, is to stay that way.”
“This is all becoming a bit weird now that we’re in here,” Dawn said. “What should I do?”
Bill glanced at Paul before turning back. “Dawn, I reckon you’re a strong character but right now I think we need you to use your interpersonal skills to keep things together with the passengers.” He nodded as if considering something. “I don’t like the sound of a missing person. Would you mind holding the fort while Paul and I go and fin
d the other two guys and see what might have happened?”
“You’ve got it, and you two be careful.”
Paul walked slowly along one side of the rails while Bill walked on the other side. “What do you think, Bill?”
“I don’t know what to think, mate, but I can hear those two fellas up ahead calling out somebody’s name, so they haven’t found anybody yet.”
“Maybe the man has fallen over and bumped his head.”
“Yes, you’re probably right.” Bill shone the flashlight several metres ahead, just as he’d done when they had walked in the other direction and deeper into the tunnel. This time they knew they only had to walk about a quarter-mile, or less if they found the others. The voices ahead became clearer.
“Ken!”
“Ken!”
Alan and Calvin were calling out alternately and leaving a brief silence for a response. A weak beam of light was playing left to right up ahead.
Bill and Paul were within thirty metres of the other two men. The first search party stopped, and both shone their mobile phones on something on the ground.
“Oh fuck—” Alan gasped before he stumbled and vomited.
“Come away,” Calvin said, and he too vomited. He looked back at the approaching light. “Who’s that?”
“Bill and Paul, mate,” Bill said. “What have you found?”
Calvin had an arm around the older man’s shoulders as he continued to retch. “I don’t know if it’s the man we’re looking for, but whoever it is, it’s too late.” Calvin puked again.
Paul said, “What should we—”
Bill said, “You stay with these two guys—I’ll check it out.”
“I can come with—”
“No, Paul. Stay with these two guys, please.” Bill paused. “Make sure they don’t wander off, mate.”
Alan, Calvin and Paul stood in the dim light of a mobile phone within touching distance of each other. The beam of the flashlight played left and right as Bill left them to go farther to investigate. The beam stopped for a few seconds and then swung left and right, stopping a few times briefly. After a few minutes, Bill returned to his companions.
