Deadfall: Survivors

by Richard Flunker

  Tague is the first one to come out, wrapped in his blanket. He’s looking at me and looking around at my “house”, at least this tiny section of it. I just pointed at the stack of clothes I’ve thrown on one of the tables to his right.

  This is where the questions will begin. I wonder just how many will be asked tonight.

  I need to go find that recorder, for tonight’s conversation will be interesting. That, I can deal with.

  For now, I'm home. And I'm safe.

  Entry 25 – Actually, Day Sixteen, At Night. [24]

  Everyone is sleeping in. The whole place is locked down tight. Everyone ate well last night. I recorded everything, and I hope I write this down as accurately as possible. I do add on a few things that I didn’t explain as well last night, but, its only minor details. I’m doing this on one of the computers, as I can actually type fast enough to keep up with the voices, mostly.

  It’s weird typing. I think I almost got used to writing.

  Ok, here goes:

  I didn’t start the recording until I thought that the actual conversation would break into what I expected it would. Pork chops and rice were served with spinach. Just some things that were in the freezer in the kitchen. Evan asked first: “So. A house huh?”

  “…do you guys mind if I record this?”

  Tague “For what?”

  “Just for my journal. I want to make sure everything I write down is as accurate as possible.”

  (I remember odd looks.)

  Aaron “Accurate for what?”

  “I suspect there are going to be lots of questions, and I want to make sure that I get what you all say exactly as you say it.”

  Lucy “Okay…”

  Tague “Makes sense, I think. I’ve seen you writing in your journal. Why the journal?”

  “It was just something I started a few weeks ago, thinking I was by myself. It’s easy enough to recollect what I thought. It is a lot harder to remember exactly what others said or asked. The journal though, I think it’s just for me, or, for anyone else. I guess it becomes our story, I think. I'm honestly not sure just where it is going.”

  Heather “Can we add to it?”

  “Like write in it?”

  (Heather nodded)

  “I don’t see why not. Probably better overall. Different perspectives. Now that I think of it, I think I should have asked you all if it was ok that I wrote about you.”

  Aaron “Man, you saved us. Do whatever you wish.”

  Tague “Don’t think you’ll get a lawsuit from me.”

  Chris “You gonna eat that?”

  “Ok, well. Okay then.”

  Evan “So what do you have to say then?”

  “The house? Yes. There is a lot to say. I’ll start as far back as I can recall, or at least as far back as relevant.”

  “This house is technically, not my house. It belongs to my father. And yes, as you can clearly see, it’s not a house in your general terms. Other than the entrance and several sunlights, the entirety of this place is undergrou…”

  Evan “Sunlights?”

  “…nd. Ah, yeah, Sunlights. Mirrored tubes that direct sunlight down into the rooms here. It’s not super bright, but, it gives light on sunny days in case of electrical failure.”

  Evan “How do you get electricity here?”

  “Ok, hold on. Let me get back to that in a second. So this house belongs to my father, who some, or all or none of you may know of. His name is Richard Arche. He wrote…”

  Lucy “The guy that wrote or directed those movies?”

  “…some….yes. That guy. He’s actually more renowned for all the books that he wrote, many of which were turned into movies. He wrote books about a very specific genre, ironically, the end of the world, in a whole vast of different ways.”

  (Lucy, to the others) “He’s the guy who did ‘Fire Above’. That movie really frightened me. Scared me. I didn’t sleep right that night.”

  “That was one of his good ones. The book is better. Anyways, yes, he did those movies. And books. And while some, well, of the movies were really good, award winning, like Fire, most of them were just summer blockbuster types. Many of his books went the graphic novel route, you know, like comic book type. There were a few animated TV shows, games, that kind of stuff.”

  “What it comes down to, is that my dad was very wealthy.”

  Heather “What happened to your father?”

  “I’ll get to that. At some point in writing all of his books and doing his movies, he made some pretty important friends in many places, people who liked his ideas about dealing with extreme situations. My dad had a weird sense of understanding about technology. He wasn’t a techie kind of guy, he didn’t develop anything, but he had a way of looking at scenarios and applying existing technology to it in a way that made sense, but not always thought of before. So, while he made money with his books and movies, he also had contracts with companies, as well as the military. The details of all this? I don’t know. I'm just…or was, a high school teacher.”

  Evan “You were a teacher?” (Laughter)

  “Yeah, History. Whole different world.”

  Dawn “Your name is Brian Arche then?”

  “Ah. No. My name is Brian Orbison. My father changed his name at some point when he began writing his books. Not sure why. I never changed mine. Never knew why, never asked really.”

  “I had it pretty rough as a young kid. My mother left us for who knows what and we were on our own, barely making it, until his first book got published, and then it went crazy from there. We had money, and he had time, so we hiked a lot out here. The one passion we shared, hiking.”

  “After college, I moved on and actually began teaching down there in Hendersonville, where I found you guys. I didn’t see much of my dad, he was always traveling around doing his stuff, but he had always hinted at buying a sweet house out here in the mountains for us to hang out at and hike from.”

  “Now, when the comet was first discovered, I tried reaching my dad, seeing as he was into this kind of thing, but I didn’t hear from him for almost a year after the comet. I figured he was completely busy with, well, I'm not sure.”

  “It turns out he was busy with this. He had taken almost every last dime he had, of which he had tons of, and poured it into this little project of his. When the comet was destroyed, my dad actually invited me up here, where he showed it to me for the first time. We were only going to hang out here for two weeks before school started; hike, fish, that kind of thing. But then the zombies started coming out. We watched the first couple of days on the TV while it all unfolded and then it all went black. When it finally went completely silent out there, my father explained to me that this hideout was the best and most valuable item on the entire planet.”

  “Now, I'm not my father. I don’t have his understanding of technology. What I do know is that there are seven levels here, and more rooms and storage areas than I can imagine. There’s stuff in rooms I simply don’t understand; machinery, computers, I don’t know the half of it. Evan…there’s a whole room with just weapons of all sorts, even stuff I don’t see in movies. Large freezer rooms with food and other stuff in it, too. There are spare parts rooms, rooms with boxes, and just more rooms I haven’t even looked in..”

  “We stayed here for a whole month, just kind of waiting to see if anything would happen out there. We scouted around up here in the mountains. That’s when we found that there were no zombies coming up this high. We talked a lot. He had actually written books about zombies and zombie attacks, but to him it was always enjoyable fiction, and a way to make a living. While he was unusually understanding about everything that was happening in the world, probably because this type of thing had been his entire life, he really had nothing to add to it. He had no explanations or solutions.”

  “After that month, he tells me he’s leaving, that he’s going to go raid into Asheville for some parts he needs.”

  “I never see him again. I can only assum
e as to what happened. We’ve all been out there.”

  (Quiet)

  Tague “This place must have cost millions.”

  “He had millions.”

  Tague “I'm talking in the hundreds of millions.”

  “Yeah. I don’t know. He knew people. People who were interested in his way of thinking in apocalyptic scenarios. Maybe…I just don’t know. He never told me.”

  Evan “What else, other than the gun room?”

  “I really don’t know. I’ve gone down to all seven levels, but never into all of the rooms. I do know, as my father told me once, that there was enough food here, for one person to live on for forty years. Dunno what type, or anything. Don’t even know where it all is.”

  (More quiet)

  Heather “What did you do when your dad didn’t come back?”

  “Well, I waited three weeks. Well, obviously, I waited more than that, but, I think it was after three weeks that I kind of decided that something had happened. I made a few hikes over to some of the peaks, and that’s when I saw plenty of smoke rising out of Asheville, so, I felt rather defeated. Even if I went down into Asheville, I would have no idea where to look. I don’t even know what parts he was looking for.”

  “So I came back. And I did nothing. I read books. There’s a room full of books and if those aren’t enough, there's like over a million books in digital storage. I waited, for nothing really. I sat through the winter up here, doing nothing, working out, reading, eating, sleeping. When spring came, that’s when I began to plan to head out. I know this sounds completely insane, after all you guys have been through, but I was bored.”

  Lucy “Don’t feel guilty for being in the right place at the right time.”

  “I don’t feel guilty about that, I don’t think. I just don’t want any of you to, well, I don’t want to demean or belittle all that you guys have been through.”

  Tague “So your father, who wrote novels and made movies about what is going on right now, took the information he must have researched for many years, and made it happen at this place?”

  (Sound of eating, chewing)

  “Yeah, that’s what I came up with, as well.”

  Tague “Did you and your father not have a good relationship? Why did he not tell you more?”

  “Oh no, my father and I got along great, I think. I guess as well as any father and son does. I tried digging a little, asking questions, but it wasn’t like he didn’t want to tell me, but that, he shouldn’t. At one time I wondered if maybe he had scammed people out of money or technology, and didn’t want me to know, but, that simply isn’t who he is. If anything, he's the kind of guy who gets scammed because he’s too open and trusting about everyone and everything around him.”

  “Regardless of that, he isn’t here to answer any questions. What I do have here is this place. Now, it’s not built to house a whole town or community, but I figure that about twelve to fifteen people could live here comfortably. Given the available food, those same people could live off of the food here in storage for about three years, without having to do anything else outside. Three years would seem to me to be ample enough time to, at the very least, learn how to plant corn or raise some pigs. Seems simple, but that’s how I think.”

  “Everyone is welcome to crash anywhere on the main floor here. There are more than enough couches and cushions to make do tonight. And then tomorrow we can plan everything out, where people can stay.”

  (Sound of something hitting a plate)

  Chris “Sorry.”

  Aaron “I think the bigger question now is, what do we do? Here? Or anywhere?”

  Evan “I think that’s a simple answer. We stay here until they all die out.”

  (Sound of a chair shuffling)

  Tague “Two main things wrong with that idea, which, sounds ideal. First, we have no idea if the zombies will die out. We don’t know how their physiology works. It could be years, decades or even longer. We have no way of knowing. Second, we have talked about closed communities. We saw what probably happened in the airport. It only takes one mistake. Now, even if we do make a system that keeps us all under guard, the eventuality is that we will all die. And then, that’s it.”

  (Moment of silence)

  “I have thought about a few things as far as a watch or guard here. I think the biggest thing is for no one to ever be alone, at any time. Well, short of showering or the bathroom…”

  (Laughter)

  “… but, yeah. And at night, everyone sleeps alone, in separate rooms. Or, even more severely, chained to the beds. Doesn’t even have to be locked, I have yet to see a zombie unlock or even turn a knob on a door.”

  Lucy “What if we want to share a room?”

  (Unintelligible)

  “I guess that would be a choice you and Aaron make together. Assumed risk I guess.”

  Dawn “What about children?”

  “Well, Chris would get his own room, too. Or he could share with Heather, again, assumed risk.”

  Dawn “No, I meant, future children.”

  (Mixed conversation)

  (Someone laughs)

  “Well, I suppose…”

  Dawn “It’s bound to happen, right? I mean, isn’t that what we should do?”

  “We?”

  (Laughter)

  Dawn “I didn’t mean you specifically (laugh). I just meant, well, that I know I'm past my time, but, isn’t that part of what we would need to do?”

  (A few seconds of silence)

  Tague “Is that a good idea? Would we just be making children that would also have no certain future on this planet?”

  Dawn “So just because our death brings more possible death, we should stop having children?”

  Tague “Maybe. Maybe there’s a reason for this, and that mankind’s time is up.”

  (Loud disagreement)

  Evan “Kinda makes sense. But I don’t want to think my time is up. Never thought of it before, but kids would be nice. Then again, we have a problem with that.”

  “I agree.”

  Dawn “What problem?”

  (Some laughter)

  Evan “Look around. Unless you're gonna start breedin Lucy, something she may not like, we’re kinda stuck in the kid making department. No offense to the old and young.”

  (Heather says something)

  Aaron “I think we’re getting a little too far ahead…”

  Lucy “If it came down to it, I guess I’d…”

  Aaron “What??”

  (More mixed conversation)

  “Everyone like the pork chops?”

  (The talking stops)

  Aaron “What?”

  “The food, was it good?”

  (Silence)

  Chris “Hell yeah it was.”

  Heather “Chris!”

  Chris “What? It was. I was so hungry.”

  Tague “What are you heading at, Brian?”

  “Just that we have food and a very safe place. Maybe, we don’t have to decide tonight because we have plenty of time. I think we all need to get our strength and health back, probably more so importantly for Heather and Chris. Some nights of sleep without worrying about anything will do everyone real good.”

  “Tague, you seem to know more than anyone else here about, well, technology, maybe…”

  Tague “Just communications things; cameras, audio systems, things of that nature.”

  “Well, it might be more than me. Maybe you can help just identify the stuff stored here.”

  “Evan, you’re obviously the local gun expert. I think it would be wise, I know I need it, that everyone know how to use and handle a gun, and practice, too. I’ll show you where all the stuff is stored tomorrow.”

  “Aaron, you and Lucy can maybe get a good detailed count of our food, to give us a good idea of…”

  Aaron “Wait, you're giving us chores?”

  “Oh no. That’s not what I meant. I just…”

  Aaron “I'm just kidding, man. You tell me there’s
a dirty toilet needing cleaning, and there are no zombies trying to bite my head off, I’ll do it.”

  “You have to stop messing with me like that. I'm just trying to think of things to do, to keep us busy. Again, tons of books and I'm sure there are tons of movies, too. My father mentioned something about tons of stuff stored digitally, and that included movies, videos and tv shows, things like that.”

  “Heather, Chris and Dawn, you’ll be with me, to just hit up every single room and try to make sense of what there is. I'm also going to dig through my dad’s stuff to try to figure out, well, anything.”

  Dawn “I can cook, too.”

  (Moment of silence)

  Dawn “I'm kidding actually. I can’t cook worth a hoot. But, I’ll try anything.”

  “Sounds good to me. Now, a few more matters of business.”

  (Sound of a chair moving)

  (Movement)

  “Ok, I have a few things here…”

  (Sound of a bag moving )

  “First, I have vitamins. Who knows how we've been eating, so, take vitamins every day, just to help get back up to shape.”

  (Sounds of small bags landing on table)

  “And, secondly, I have, toothbrushes and toothpaste…”

  (Cheers)

  “Yeah, I thought that one would be a popular one..but just wait until I dig out some ice cream, I think I have some in here…”

  Lucy “Are you kidding me??”

  (More convoluted and mixed talking)

  (End recording)

  Entry 26 – The Grand Tour.[25]

  This entry is a combination of the audio of conversations we had today while I took everyone around the entire house. After this entry, I will collect all the information that Tague and I, and, well everyone, put together for the house. We all still call it just a house. Despite my house being nothing like a normal house, it helps everyone to simply call it that. A place to call home..

  Everyone appeared to have slept well last night. I'm sure the couches were more than comfortable enough, although someone mentioned that Evan ended up sleeping on the floor anyways, but I think the nature of the safety here really allowed everyone to sleep peacefully, and probably as fully as they could for the first time in a long time. Also, the heavy meal likely helped.