by Jordan Rivet
Garrett led the way when they set off into the trees. Despite learning he had been keeping secrets for years, the others made a determined effort to treat him normally. This would be a bad time to disrupt the stability of the community. They couldn’t be vulnerable if strangers came calling.
They traveled alongside the river for a while before turning inland. It was a gorgeous day. Fall colors set the trees aflame, and white clouds billowed across the bright-blue sky. A slight nip in the air heralded the coming winter. Never had the world felt cleaner or smelled fresher than it did that morning.
Joanna’s spirits couldn’t help but lift a bit as they sauntered through the fiery autumn foliage. She stayed well back from Garrett, though. No need to push it.
Ruby fell in beside her as they left the river behind.
“Still moping?”
Joanna sighed. “I knew I could count on you to be sensitive.”
“It’s my specialty.”
“I’m fine. I’d rather not talk about it.”
“Suits me,” Ruby said. “I hate talking about feelings. The apocalypse hasn’t turned me sentimental.”
Joanna snorted, almost a laugh, and Ruby gave her a sly look.
They tramped on through the wilderness, leaves crackling under their feet. Ruby pointed out the markers the scouts used to find their way to the bunker—a large boulder here, an unusually gnarled tree there. Joanna paid close attention in case she ever came this way alone—and so she could focus on something other than yesterday’s revelations. Ruby seemed content to help Joanna distract herself, staying with her near the back of the party.
“You never told me how you ended up with Vincent,” Joanna said after they’d been walking for an hour or so.
Ruby grinned. “Came out of the blue, didn’t it?”
“Shocked me more than anything else that’s happened since I woke up,” Joanna lied.
“It started when we got out of cryosleep,” Ruby said. “Vin and I climbed the mineshaft together to make sure it was safe for everyone outside. You get to talking when you’re alone in the dark for so long. I guess we connected.” Ruby’s grin widened. “Plus we were so happy to reach the top alive we had to celebrate. No one had ever kissed me like he did at the top of that ladder.”
“And you were together after that?”
“Not right away. We had bigger things to worry about. Almost starved to death the first winter, and it has been one struggle after another ever since. That sort of thing connects you in a deep way.”
“And it connected Garrett and Chloe,” Joanna said.
“That’s right. Our training was intense, Jo, don’t get me wrong, but it was nothing compared to what we’ve been through together over the years. It was a summer fling compared to a lifetime.” She glanced at Joanna, edging away as if afraid she might throw a punch. “You know the two of you might not have lasted, right? He and Chloe are kind of a better match.”
Joanna considered this for a few minutes. Ruby had said similar things before, but last night’s news had helped the scales fall from Joanna’s eyes at last. The period in her life when she and Garrett were together had seemed fiercely momentous. He was both her first love and the person who had been her solace at the end of the world. But she was beginning to see how the others must view those events in light of their perceived longer lives. And she was beginning to see Garrett as a flawed human being instead of a beacon on a hill. Maybe time, proper, unfrozen time, really would ease the heartache.
Joanna’s steps became lighter as they passed through a thick grove of particularly vibrant trees, flame-red leaves still clinging to their branches. Little dips and ravines scarred the land in places. She didn’t recognize anything until they reached the second bunker exit, the mineshaft Ruby and Vincent had climbed together years ago. It looked undisturbed, as it had on her last visit. Enough time had passed to hide the evidence of their escape. Joanna paused to peek through the cracked concrete walls and detected a faint whiff of lingering gas.
They continued past a familiar fallen tree with clenched-fist roots and onward over the wild hills. When they reached the old mining complex, it was almost noon. The light shone harsh on the skeletal headframe. Joanna’s cozy little hobbit house looked like a campfire pit. The fire had been worse than she thought. The blaze had indeed spread to the shaft house, which was now a burned-out shell.
“Any idea how the fire started?” Ruby asked as they scrambled down into the valley and began picking through the rubble.
“I assumed it was the mysterious intruder who stole the rifles at first,” Joanna said, “but that was you guys. My latest theory is I accidentally left some wires and batteries connected and they overheated. I was trying to fix a radio to contact the other bunkers.”
“Interesting.” Ruby prodded the charred remains of a box of protein bars, wrinkling her nose. “Wonder what they would have said if you reached them.”
“They probably would have marched right here and stolen all my stuff.”
“I guess you got lucky, Murphy.”
Joanna laughed. “Imagine that.”
The group converged on the mineshaft to discuss how to get down into the bunker. Joanna’s ore skip system was damaged beyond repair, so they’d have to use the handmade ropes they’d brought along from the village. Joanna explained what they’d find below, already feeling as if she’d been away a year. Garrett took charge of the operation to clear the debris from the mineshaft entrance, moving aside burned beams with his own hands and digging through ash until his arms turned black.
When the way was clear, Garrett spoke to Joanna for the first time all day.
“Would you like to go first?” he said politely. “It’s your bunker.”
“Sure thing, Blue Leader.”
Garrett’s lips quirked in a faint smile. He looped a rope around an iron crossbeam that had been exposed when the shaft house walls crumbled and secured a sling around Joanna’s waist, his hands brushing her sides as he checked the knots. Joanna wished the ash would disguise his scent a little better. She knew Garrett hadn’t tried hard enough to find her. She had seen the way he shielded Chloe from Blake with his own body. They were well and truly over. But his touch stirred feelings that couldn’t be so easily reasoned away.
Garrett let you down, she reminded herself. He’s not perfect, and he’s not for you.
But when Garrett declared the knots secure, she trusted his word. Despite everything, she knew she’d be safe when he lowered her back into the earth.
“Give us a shout when you reach the bottom,” Ruby said, handing Joanna a flashlight as she dangled her feet over the edge of the mineshaft.
“Will do. If it takes a while, don’t panic.” She swung out over the abyss.
The descent into the bunker didn’t take nearly as long as she remembered. She floated through the darkness, a comet zipping through space. I knew this would be easier with a team.
A thick layer of soot coated the large rock wedged in the mineshaft. She perched on top of it and untied herself then shook the rope and shouted back up the mineshaft to let them know she had made it. As soon as the rope disappeared into the darkness above, she slipped past the rock and climbed through the lift cage into the control room.
A click of the flashlight revealed ashy dust swirling beneath her feet. Burning debris had fallen into the bunker during the fire on the surface, but the flames hadn’t spread into the facility or further damaged the computer consoles and communication equipment. Maybe Chloe could fix them after all.
The exit chamber looked just as Joanna had left it. None of the lights worked, but the ceiling hadn’t collapsed further. She hoped that meant the cavern was finally stable.
Before long, Blake descended into the mine, carrying a second flashlight. He entered the exit chamber, coughing and brushing soot from his beard.
“Now this is a blast from the past.” He flopped down onto one of the couches, a puff of dust rising around him. “We did a lot of work to get
this place ready, remember?”
“Like it was yesterday.” Joanna brushed debris off the couch and sat beside him. “It wasn’t nearly as much fun to wake up here without you all.”
“How did you survive, anyway?” Blake asked. “You weren’t closest to the door. Tank 188, right?”
“Yep. The roof came down in a big slab that protected my tank. Chunks of stone fell from the ceiling around me and smashed most of the neighboring tanks. It blocked off the whole back of the bunker.” She gestured at the door to the cryo chamber with her light. “The tanks closer to the exit lost power.”
“So it was pure dumb luck?”
“I prefer to think it was Murphy’s Law.”
Blake chuckled. But as he looked at the closed door across from their couch, he grew somber. “They’re still in there?”
“The bodies? Yes.”
“Did you see Troy?”
Joanna fiddled with the frayed fabric on the arm of the couch. “What was left of him.”
Blake nodded. “We didn’t know each other for very long, but we were close.”
“Tell me about it.”
Joanna studied Blake, looking for hints of the fit young soldier he had been. Wrinkles spread from his eyes, and his beard made him look even older than he was. She imagined his father must have looked like this when he set out for the training school, hoping to spend his final days with his son.
“Can I ask you something?” she said.
“Shoot.”
“This other bunker cohort . . . do you think they’d let me join them if I approached peacefully?”
Blake’s bushy eyebrows drew together. “You’re thinking of leaving?”
“I don’t know . . . it’s just with Garrett and Chloe . . .”
“Oh. Oh! Holy shit, Joanna, I forgot all about you two. That must seem like it just happened to you.”
Joanna gave a dry laugh. “Let’s just say it has been a little awkward since I turned up.”
“I get it,” Blake said. “I mean I don’t get anything, but I understand why you’re thinking about splitting.” He combed his beard thoughtfully. “I say you’re better off without him, though.”
“What do you mean?”
“Garrett is a protector. I’ve had my problems with the guy, but he likes to look after people—and Chloe needs looking after, especially when she gets caught up in her projects.” He brandished his flashlight. “Heck, when she was fixing these up she forgot to eat unless Garrett reminded her. But you? I reckon you’re a person who can stand alone.”
Joanna stared at him, wondering when in the last two hundred years he got so perceptive. Blake’s weathered cheeks reddened under her scrutiny.
A scraping sound from the control room indicated another person had made it to the bottom of the mineshaft.
“So about the other bunker community?” Joanna prompted. “Would they attack me if I tried to approach them?”
“Maybe. Hmm.” Blake drew a thick finger down the scar on the side of his face. “We didn’t exactly look non-threatening. They woke up to a bunch of old mountain men with clubs and knives. For all they knew, we were crazy preppers who’d somehow survived without BRP. But if you go out there, sweet young thing like you . . .”
“I might have a chance.”
He lifted his broad shoulders. “Are you sure you want to do that, though?”
“Do what?” Garrett walked into the exit chamber, brushing soot out of his hair, and looked at Blake suspiciously.
“Bring out the bodies,” Joanna said quickly. She shot Blake a look, warning him not to say anything. “They’re still in there. I thought we might give them a proper burial.”
“That’s a possibility.” Garrett shined his light around the exit chamber, illuminating the rocks that had fallen from the ceiling. “I don’t mean to be insensitive, but they’re already buried. We should focus on the most important tasks first.”
“Sure, of course.” Joanna got to her feet. “So, where are these secret weapons buried?”
Garrett led the way to the locker room and into the maze of metal boxes. Blake raised an eyebrow when they passed his, 708, which Joanna had broken open months ago.
“I borrowed your jacket,” she said sheepishly. “And your canteen.”
At the back of the locker room was a group of lockers labeled 1001-1004. There had only been a thousand people in the bunker.
“Help me move this,” Garrett said, grabbing the frame holding the four extra lockers.
“I wondered about those,” Joanna said. “Figured they were spares.”
While Joanna held up her light, Garrett and Blake shoved the lockers aside, revealing a doorway in the wall. A cascade of dust and rocks poured out. An old ladder rose into blackness beyond the doorway.
“The weapons were stored in tunnels above the main cryo chamber,” Garrett said. “There’s not much room in there. I’d better go in first.”
“Not so fast,” Blake said. “Think you can hide evidence in there? We don’t know what else you got up to with your BRP buddies.”
Garrett’s mouth tightened. “I’m not leaving you alone with a bunch of guns after what you pulled yesterday.”
“I’ll go,” Joanna said. “Sheesh, do you two have to fight about everything?”
Before the men could object, she brushed past Garrett and climbed onto the ladder. Hopefully they’d both have all their limbs and eyeballs when she returned.
This ladder was much shorter than the last one, so it felt like no time at all before she was pushing aside the remnants of a trap door and climbing into a dark cave. She coughed, stirring what little air remained in the musty space, and shined her light through the drifting dust. The tunnels Garrett described had collapsed, opening a yawning cavern. The walls of the cavity looked unstable, and Joanna couldn’t tell how far away the ceiling was. Most of the rubble had cascaded into the cryo chamber below.
Large metal boxes scattered across the cave, as if a room full of coffins had been shaken with great force. Many of the boxes had broken open, and guns and bullets in a myriad of sizes lay jumbled amongst the rocks and dirt. The mangled weapons glinted dangerously in the flashlight beam.
Joanna couldn’t tell whether weapons exploding in this chamber had caused the cave-in below, but she saw nothing to contradict Garrett’s theory. Judging by the extensive damage, Colonel Waters’s arsenal might well be unusable. They’d have a hard time defending themselves if the other bunkers were even half as well armed as Blake had implied.
She heard a clattering noise from below and paused to listen, hoping Blake and Garrett hadn’t gotten into a fight. But no other sounds followed. A few more of their companions must have made it down the mineshaft by now. Perhaps they were starting to open up the lockers.
Joanna pulled a few smaller guns out of the rubble and slung them over her shoulder to show the others. With a final glance at the ruined weapons cache, she clambered back down the ladder to report what she’d found.
“Good news and bad news, guys,” she called. “The cave is big, so you’ll both fit up there. Unfortunately, I don’t think the ordnance will be much good.”
She popped back out of the hidden doorway as she spoke—and froze.
Garrett and Blake were kneeling on the ground, faces grim. A group of complete strangers stood over them, pressing guns against their temples.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“Easy there,” said the young man holding a gun to Garrett’s head. “No sudden movements.” He was handsome in a dangerous sort of way, with longish black hair, high cheekbones, and almond-shaped eyes suggesting Asian heritage. He wore jeans and a brown leather jacket that looked as fresh as if they’d just come out of a locker.
“Who are you?” Joanna said.
“We’ll talk after you put down those weapons,” the stranger said. “No one will get hurt unless you cause trouble.”
Joanna complied. She doubted these guns would work without a good cleaning, and she didn’t int
end to start a shooting match down here.
As soon as the weapons clattered to the floor, the young man nodded at two of his companions, and they pushed past Joanna to climb up to the hidden cave. Two others remained in addition to the leader, a man and a woman. The man, who was built like a linebacker, gathered up Joanna’s guns and nodded for her to kneel with the others. The woman kept her weapon trained on Blake.
Joanna focused on the leader. He was looking around the locker room with an easy confidence that said he knew he was in control. She estimated he was twenty-three or twenty-four, exactly within the age range of a BRP denizen. His companions were all just as young.
“So,” Joanna said to break the silence, “what did I miss?”
“The bastards followed me,” Blake said.
“I’ll kill you for leading them here,” Garrett said through clenched teeth.
Joanna winced. Garrett leapt to violence so quickly these days.
“We couldn’t let rogue tribesmen with guns put our people in danger,” said the young leader. He kept his weapon pointed at Garrett’s temple, maintaining his relaxed air. “I still can’t figure out how you all got here, though.”
“This is definitely a BRP bunker, Levi,” said the woman. Not much older than Joanna, she had a trim figure, close-cropped brown hair, and a bracelet tattoo on her wrist. She nudged Blake with her gun. “But these two are so . . . old. The ones we saw with this guy before were too.”
“We thought we could be following the descendant of a comet survivor,” said Levi. He sounded disappointed. “Looks like only bunker people made it after all—unless you killed them already.”
“No, we’re from BRP, but we’ve been awake for eighteen years.” Garrett’s eyes flickered to Joanna. “Well, most of us.”
