“Bill…well, let’s just say this place is a backup to an official bunker the military built in the east. He wanted something out west just in case. We worked together on this place and he supplied the technical aspects of it as well as, well, almost everything.”
Mom’s mouth was dropped in shock. “Are you telling me this is a government bunker? Are soldiers going to show up here?”
Dad shot a quick guilty glance at me before focusing back on her. “Umm, no. This place is what you would call…off the books. Only Bill and a few trusted colleagues of his and us know about it. He used foreign contractors to build most of it and haul in the containers. When Bill called to warn me he was in the capital so I doubt anyone is coming.”
He leaned forward and kissed her softly before turning to me and kissing my forehead. “Take care of your Mom. Help her get settled in and unpack some of the stuff we brought. I’ll be back before you notice. If either of you need help just ask AIRIA and she’ll help in any way she can. I love you both so much. I promise we will be safe here and I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He rose to his feet and looked down on our scared and confused faces. “I just need to grab a few things and then I have to go.”
I sat holding Mom’s hand and watched him stride over to another panel on the wall and punch in a code. Once again a section in the wall indented and slid to the side. He stepped through and disappeared. When the panel stayed open I couldn’t help my curiosity so I squeezed Mom’s hand and bounced up and crossed the room to the opening. I stood in dazed shock as I watched Dad’s back as he walked further into a massive cavern. Lights sprang on ahead of him as he moved, exposing the huge room. To my left was a row of metal storage containers of the type that I had seen before on trains. I could only imagine what they were filled with. To my right was wire and mesh racks with garden containers on them. Below them were raised garden beds filled with soil but empty of plants. I wasn’t ready to venture any further into the room but it looked like animal pens were set up further away. I marveled at everything that I could see and wondered when Dad had the time to set all of this up and how Mom and I didn’t know about it. A soft moan came from Mom making me quickly move back to her side.
“What is it? Is the baby ok?” I asked in fear.
She shook her head and took deep breaths before answering me.
“I’m ok honey. It’s just the stress of all this. Can you help me stretch out? My back is killing me. Then maybe you could get me some water.”
“Of course Mom, just rest!”
I helped her get her feet up onto the couch and pulled a soft afghan from the back of it to cover her with. Patting her on the shoulder, I headed to the new kitchen and started to open cupboards. I had to shake my head in wonder as I saw replicas of our dinnerware from home. Dad had gone to so much trouble to make everything just like home that I felt a swell of love fill me. After checking out the pantry and finding boxes of shrink-wrapped food I grabbed a glass and opened the fridge. Inside it had a shelf full of bottled water and another one had stacks of different sodas. I grabbed a cold bottle of water for Mom and a can of Ginger Ale for myself before going back and settling on the floor beside her.
Her soft breathing told me she had dozed off so I left her water on the coffee table and sipped at my soda while thinking about what all had happened so far today. I started to get overwhelmed at the thought of never going back home or school or anywhere that I was used to, and I felt tears start to well in my eyes. I just couldn’t believe that my world was ending. Looking around at the copy of my home just made me more sad, so I closed my eyes, leaned back against the couch and waited for whatever came next.
A soft hand on my shoulder startled me from my deep thoughts. Dad was looking down at me with eyes that were filled with worry and love.
“Sky, I have to go. I need you to help Mom get settled in. I promise I’ll be back in a few hours.” He paused and brushed a stray curl from my forehead. “Everything is going to be ok, I promise.”
I opened my mouth to reply but nothing came out so I just nodded and pushed to my feet and leaned into him. His strong Dad arms wrapped around me and made me feel safe but all too soon he gently pushed me away and leaned over Mom. I stepped away to give them privacy as they whispered words to each other and then he was gone.
I stood staring at the door he had left from for at least five minutes before turning back to Mom. She had closed her eyes once again so I grabbed a few bags and carried them into what would be our bedrooms. One of the rooms had a huge king sized bed so I guessed it was my parents. I nudged the other door open and peeked in. A double bed was against one wall with a desk beside it. Sitting on it was a small radio with an iPod resting in the docking station. A few long strides had me across the room reaching out to thumb on the player. A smile cracked my face as it lit up and displayed all the playlists I had on the dead model I had left in the truck. Shaking my head in wonder at my Dad’s attention to detail, I spun around the room and took in the Taylor Swift and One Direction posters on the wall.
The smile slowly faded from my face as I realized that those music artists may no longer exist. I dropped the bags on the bed and made my way back to the living room. I couldn’t help but start to think about how many people might now be dead. The computer voice had said bombs but how many and where?
Looking over at Mom and then scanning the ceiling I tentatively asked, “Umm, Computer? Are you there?”
“Skylar Ross you may refer to me as Computer or AIRIA. How may I assist you?”
“Umm, ok, AIRIA you can call me Skylar. I, uh, I just wondered if you knew how many bombs have gone off and um, if very many were close to here.”
“Skylar Ross, last satellite data was from thirty-six minutes ago. At that time there had been two thousand sixty-three ground strikes with three hundred and thirty-nine occurring in North America. The closest strike was Edmonton, Alberta. The second closest strike was Vancouver, British Columbia. Up to date satellite imagery may be obtained in the future if undamaged satellites come into communication range.”
A gasp from Mom had me meeting her horror filled eyes. She had stood up from the couch and her hand reached out to take mine. Her eyes had a sheen of tears in them and her voice was a harsh whisper.
“My God, how many people must have died?”
“Vanessa Ross, estimates of initial casualties from ground strikes would be three billion. Calculating secondary casualties from radiation fallout and infrastructure breakdown now…”
“NO! I, we don’t want to know that!” Mom was shaking her head frantically. “Oh, oh Sky, half the world just died!”
The tears were pouring down both our faces as we tried to grasp the huge number of people who had just died when without warning Mom’s grip on my hand turned bone crushing and she doubled over with an agonizing moan.
“Mom! Mom, are you ok? What is it?” I tried to help her back up but she just kept moaning until she fell to her knees.
Her breath was a harsh pant as she raised her head and pain filled eyes met mine.
“Sky, the baby…my water just broke!”
Also by Theresa Shaver
The Stranded Series
Land – Book One
Sea – Book Two
Home - Book Three
City Escape – Book Four
Frozen – Book Five
The Endless Winter Series
Snow & Ash – Book One
Rain & Ruin – Book Two
Sun & Smoke – Book Three
Fire & Fury – Book Four
Scorched – A Dry Earth Novel
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Please visit: http://theresashaver.com
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STRANDED: Box Set: Books 1-6 Page 113
