He nodded, and we both walked toward the pile of materials that had been discarded the night before. I immediately determined that Larry would be far more useful than myself in hanging the sheeting.
He was so tall he could actually move the ceiling tiles, if desired. He would hang a strip from the ceiling, secure it in place, staple it to the floor, then start the gap layer an inch or so behind the first.
He was an absolute machine, installing walls as I struggled to keep supplies ready for him. After only forty-five minutes, we had a double layer of walls set to keep a limited area warm.
We now had about ten feet of contained space to walk around in. It took some time, but with an airlock built into the walls made from overlapping plastic flaps, people stopped complaining as they exited the server room.
One quick consultation later, and Jessie approved opening both server room airlock doors to ensure something like regular airflow through the opened area.
We wanted to be careful, since we had no way of providing fresh air ourselves. I realized the bathrooms would be an issue, since they were far across the main office.
Larry finally spoke up. “Dante had a great idea. If we continue extending the walls all the way to the bathrooms, and put an airlock in front of the lobby door, we can contain our warm air. There are enough of us to make this happen. I think we’ll need triple walls to ensure actual warmth, but the cubicles will stop being ice-cubicles.”
He paused for a moment. I was too stunned to laugh. That was literally the first time I had heard Larry make a joke.
I stared in slack jawed amazement. He shrugged, and set about gathering more materials. I shook my head and started hauling stuff through the plastic airlock into the office proper.
The cubicles caused a bit of trouble, since they were often in the way. We left them alone, since both Larry and I were far more focused on finishing the expansion as soon as possible. When we were about twenty feet shy of completing the south side, a call came through the plastic.
“Come get your lunch,” shouted Jessie. Larry and I met eyes. My stomach rumbled as if to punctuate our silent agreement.
We eased down the supplies and headed back through the temporary airlock. A quick glance at my watch showed that it was already 11am, based on the old clock. It was still just as dark outside, as it had been throughout the night; without the sun, the moon never shone anymore.
I sat down, weary from the work Larry and I had been doing. It was tough, even if the materials themselves weren’t particularly heavy. Linda sat next to me, shoulder to shoulder.
I saw Jessie looking over more than once, but she seemed to hold her tongue. It was strange to see. I chatted with Linda and Eddie as we ate our MREs. They were far from gourmet, but it was nutrients and it would make a turd, as one of my old friends had a habit of saying.
That friend had likely already died as well. Little thoughts like that constantly popped in, trying to fuck me up.
I discovered that if I wasn’t actively focusing on a job or project, something to do and help, I was stuck reminiscing. Images and memories constantly popped up, causing my heart to hitch and my eyes to water.
Everybody I had known, my friends, my pets, they were all gone. Linda quickly caught my mood.
She looked up at me, from where she leaned against me. She was so tiny, so fragile. Yet she contained so much strength. She bolstered me, helped me move forward.
Yes, everything I had known and loved was gone in this new, horrifying world. But there were people left that I could help and care for. Being caught in nostalgia and misery over the past would help nobody.
I took a deep breath, and quietly asked Linda to let me up. She obliged, and I stood to get ready. Larry was soon at my side, and we were ready to get back to expanding our living area. Then Jessie walked up.
“We need more supplies. We don’t have everything up here. Walk with me, gentlemen.”
She strode beyond us, imperiously. The doors of the airlock were held open now, so we walked beyond them to the newly opened area.
Then she led us into her office, and closed the door. I was a little confused, because Jessie was rarely about secrecy and clearly treasured transparency.
“Here’s the long and the short of it,” she started. “We need more stuff from the store at ground level. Our crew are not going to be satisfied with living in the server room while we wait for rescue.”
“Wait, we’re going to be rescued?” I interjected. She looked at me with clear annoyance.
“Yes. Our office is supposed to be a sort of lookout. However, the storms have knocked out our communications. In that event, someone is supposed to come for us. I just don’t know how long it will be. Could be today, could be a month from now. So we need things to make us all more comfortable. I’ve drawn up some ideas for supplies. Pillows, tents, clothes, jackets, more food. Stuff we can actually use.”
I nodded. “Why aren't they coming sooner? And, I know this isn’t actually related, but how is the bathroom warm? And how are the toilets still working?”
“Didn’t I tell you that earlier? Huh, maybe not. Water is heavily insulated as it comes up the main trunk. We get water and power from the bunker under the building. There's registers that recycle the air in the bathroom and server room. It's part of the space we lost to the storage room. Like central air. We have to wait for them to come to us, since we don't have any vehicles to get out to the base we're attached to.”
“Uh, what bunker? What base? And we do have vehicles,” I said. I was growing more confused. A lot of what was going on didn't make a ton of sense.
“Wh-what? No, I told you about the...” she said. She started getting quieter as she spoke, trailing the last few words off. She was recalling everything she had said up to that point.
“No, no I didn’t. Okay. So there’s a bunker under the building. It has a small crew that works on whatever it is that provides power to us up here. We're supposed to maintain the communications and provide an actual lookout over the city. It has massive water reserves and some sort of treatment plants. As for the base, I'm not sure exactly where it is. I wasn't briefed on that. And no, we don't have vehicles that can handle this cold. We don't have anything that can handle that violence either-” she pointed out the window at the debris flying past.
“And you just forgot all of this until now,” I questioned her.
Jessie gave me the stink eye. “I didn’t forget about it, asshole. We were trying not to fucking die from exposure inside one of the bigger cities in America. It was kind of a doomsday situation, okay?”
I felt properly chastised from her remarks. “Fine. Why didn't we just stay inside the bathrooms?”
“Because that tile is going to freeze, and the tile inside the server room won't. The server room is easier to heat, and there's more room. There's also controls for everything in the server room that aren't present in the bathrooms. We're lucky those even work.”
“Alright, I guess that makes sense. What's next?”
She sat in thought for a moment. “I want you to lead a party down to the store on the ground floor. It’s a seriously long climb under any circumstances, but this is far from ideal. Then, not only do you have to grab supplies, but you have to climb back up.”
She paused for a moment. “It's worse than that though. We might have plenty of MREs, but no other foods. We don't have enough water, and if we're going to cook we need another source of heat. Propane stoves or something. The supplies were for more short term habitability, and we didn't think it would get this cold, especially this fast.”
“Why are we still here? Why not get to the bunker?”
“That's dangerous, and we only have supplies for us. I don't know that they could support us, or that we could even access it. I have a keycard, but without elevators and cold gear, people will die.”
“So we have to make do here until we get rescued?”
“Yes. For that reason, I want to send a few people initially, to det
ermine how safe it is to even go to the store. We have no idea what’s out there. Hell, we know next to nothing about what caused this event in the first place.”
“Jessie, chill. I’ll sort out a party. We'll keep an eye out for people and supplies. I’ll take Larry, since he already knows what's up.” Larry nodded in agreement. “I'll ask Brandon and a few others.”
“Great. Figure out six people, then gather supplies. You can take anything you think you’ll need from the supply room, but remember that you’ve got to carry whatever you take down seven hundred feet. And be safe.”
I nodded, then turned to Larry. “Shall we?”
9
June 14, 2033
Seattle, Washington, USA
70th floor, Illeni Building
-30°F
0700 Hours
“Alright folks. Here’s the deal. Larry and I are taking the stairs down all seventy flights to the store at ground level. It’s huge, so it will hopefully still have all sorts of good stuff for us. We are looking for two to three more people to go with us.”
Even as I was saying the last sentence, several people were standing and getting ready.
Hillary and Geno immediately walked up. They were as close to a couple as anybody could be without the relationship.
Geno was a squat guy, bald on top with a glorious beard halfway down his rotund belly. He wasn’t so much in shape as embodying a shape.
Still, I knew he was insanely strong. In reality, he was built like an ox. Or, more like a Dwarf, actually. He was only five-four, but he weighed as much as I did.
Hillary was Texan. That was the first thing you noticed. She wore the flannel, the jeans, the cowboy boots. She even wore the hat at times.
She was bubbly, basically the opposite of ultra-cynical Geno. She also stood at five-seven, making her a fair bit taller than him.
They had been frenemies in the office from the start, and best friends otherwise. They fought like cats, always in some tiff or other.
Yet, they were inseparable. If one was assigned to a project, the other was working it within the hour. Jessie had given up on trying to make them work on anything alone. They were a great team, if a bit distracting.
Larry walked up, a hulk of a man. He stood close to seven feet tall, and nearly five feet wide. He was like a walking brick wall. On top of that, he rarely spoke.
I nodded to him, and he nodded back. Enough said.
Linda was soon by my side. “When do we leave?”
I turned to her, uncomfortable. “You should stay here.”
“Why, because I’m a woman?” she snarked back. I could see little flames behind her eyes. I had to be careful.
“No, that has nothing to do with it. Hillary is coming with us—”
“Then why can’t I go?”
I looked to the others for support, but they backed up. Linda was infamous for her temper. “Look, you were a nurse before you joined on here, right?”
“Yeah, and that’s why I would be perfect to go with you.”
I shook my head. “You need to stay up here. We’re seriously lucky that nobody has fallen sick or been injured by the cold so far.”
Larry butted in before Linda could reply. “I was a medic in the military. I can look after the team. I served as a corpsman for four years before I became an engineer. It’s fine.”
I realized that I really needed to get to know my coworkers better. I hardly knew any of them. I nodded, and turned back to Linda. “Besides, if we encounter anybody, we’ll send them up here where it’s safe and warm. I don’t think we will, but all the better that you’re here if we do.”
Linda glared at me, then at Larry. “Fine, but I’m not happy about it. You all better come back in one piece.”
Of course, that’s when Tracy decided she needed to join in. She quietly stated, “I would like to join the group. I feel it is something that God is directing me to do.”
“Uh... sure, Tracy. You know it’s going to be an extremely tough hike, right?” I looked her over.
Tracy was a petite, mousy woman. She didn’t have well defined muscles or a lot of bulk. She was actually pretty bland, from her mouse brown hair and dim brown eyes to her carefully tasteless charcoal pantsuit.
She even had the Minnesota accent. The ensemble was completed with a pair of gray flats without visible socks. I gave her a questioning look.
“So, you know it’s actually so far below freezing that people can die in a short time, right?”
“Oh yes. But the Lord God has directed me to follow you, and has said I will be protected.”
“Right...” I said, dragging it out. I didn’t say it for dramatic effect, it was because I couldn’t wrap my head around religion in this setting. “If you think you can keep up, you’re welcome to join us. Like I said before, it’s going to be rough.”
She nodded, evidently thinking she was ready for anything that would come at us. I thought differently, but maybe she would prove me wrong.
“Alright folks, that makes five of us. Let’s gather a few things and get ready for the trek.”
Geno, Hillary, Larry and Tracy all nodded. Tracy’s head stayed bowed, with her mouth barely moving. I dismissed it and moved on.
We dug into the supply room for the heavy winter gear. It fit well enough, though Larry was uncomfortable in the tight fitting garments. Tracy was on the opposite end of the spectrum, with baggy clothes hanging off of her petite frame. After dressing we continued to search, but ultimately found little of use. There were plenty of office supplies, paper and pens, spare parts for computers and the like.
There was nothing for long hikes, no backpacks, and very little water. We each took a single bottle, noting that there were only a few hundred bottles in total.
We did find a few concessions, such as battery powered lanterns. None were good for exploring, because they had no shielding for the user. We ended up finding a box of flashlights with dedicated batteries. We each took one for the trip.
As we gathered at the office door, shivering in the cold of the uncontained office, Jessie approached us. She was as stoic as ever, despite being in the same clothes as us and having even less body fat to stave off the cold. She looked at each of us in turn, as we held the unnatural silence.
“Thank you, all of you, for volunteering for this. This is potentially a deadly trip, though I obviously hope otherwise. Dante, you lead wisely. Larry, don’t let him be an idiot. Geno, you’re the rock of the group. Keep them grounded. Hillary, you’re the only one who can keep the Dwarf in line.” They both smiled at the comment, though Geno adopted a well-mannered scowl. “Tracy, please watch over them. I know you to be sensible.”
We all nodded in turn, ready to leave on the trip. Then Tracy spoke up.
“I would like to pray for the group.” I paused, gauging the reactions of everybody else. It seemed I wasn’t alone, since everybody stopped and turned. I looked back at Jessie, but she shrugged.
“Dear Lord,” began Tracy. I rolled my eyes, though I was careful to do it away from Tracy’s downturned gaze. Then I saw Jessie looking at me disapprovingly.
I schooled myself and controlled my reactions. Tracy continued, “Though you have brought about the end-times, we honor Your wisdom. Please let us see as you do, to be wise in our actions. We wish to please you with our efforts, in bringing a better life to those that depend on us. Please guide us with Your hand, give us Your wisdom for what to seek, and your insight for where we need to look. Protect us in Your divine sight. We wish to honor you in our efforts. In Your name, Amen.”
We all bowed our heads, mumbling some sort of affirmation. Tracy’s overtly religious nature was a surprise to me, though it was rapidly becoming obvious that it wasn’t surprising just to me.
Jessie saved us, “Thank you, Tracy. I hope that will be helpful.” She met my eyes, and was clearly trying to communicate telepathically. Whatever the message was, I missed it.
“Alright folks, head out,” I said as I looked around.
When my eyes met Geno’s, he lit up.
“I’ve got this,” he said in his characteristic drawl. He confidently led the group through the office door into the Elevator lobby. He happily stomped over to the buttons and mashed one with his beefy hand. He stood for a moment, then mashed it again.
“What the—by the great—FUCK” he started. He mashed the button again, expecting the button to light up.
I saw a flare of annoyance from Tracy, though the others looked pretty entertained. Every little bit of light counted in the new world of eternal darkness.
“Geno—”
“Blast it, I know!” he shouted, suddenly red. He was probably flushed from the cold air. It was obviously below freezing, though I didn't think it was below zero. Guy should have put on a beanie.
He walked quickly over to the fire stairs and roughly shoved the door open. The cold air was starting to settle in, getting to know my bones well. I wasn’t overly concerned, because we had a full seventy flights to climb down, then back up.
The trip was going to be awful. At least I had good people to take it with.
10
June 14, 2033
Seattle, Washington, USA
70th floor, Illeni Building
-34°F
0820 Hours
A yip sounded from the stairs as Geno shoved the door open. “What?”
Hillary rushed past Geno into the stairwell and found what we all expected the least, a tiny golden retriever puppy that had evidently been huddled near the door.
“Geno, you fucking ape! You just about killed this little baby!” Hillary was in a swatting mood, ready to hit Geno for anything and everything. I had seen it before, and it was always mildly hilarious.
“Hills, I didn’t know he was there!”
“Outta my way, you Dwarf. You think you would be more aware of small creatures.”
Darkness Trilogy (Book 1): Winds of Darkness Page 5
