“What if it’s a terrorist group, like they said on television?” asked Larry.
Mark stared up at the concrete sky and shook his head. “Don’t believe any of that. That stuff makes for great science fiction movies, but it isn’t real. Do you really believe that a terrorist group could lay its hands on two stealth subs, and sail them close enough to the United States to fire those missiles? That’s all bullshit.”
“Why would they report it if it wasn’t true?” asked Glick. “I don’t get it.”
“Because,” replied Mark, “the lie is easier to believe than the truth. And by lying about it, they have the wiggle room they need to explain it away. They couldn’t do that if they named the country responsible. Don’t you see, we’d have to retaliate.”
“We have a hundred thousand troops in Syria,” said Jumbo. “What about them? We damn well should retaliate. Nobody poisons our kids and gets away with it.”
“We’ll see about that,” said Mark.
Tina appeared at the corner of the house. Dressed in a robe over pajamas, she looked like a big kid. “Tiffany says there is something on television you should see, a special report or something.”
“We weren’t too loud, were we?” asked Larry.
Tina shook her head and pointed to the window. “I was in there with the kids and I didn’t even know you were out here.”
“That’s good to know,” said Jumbo. “Thanks. Guys, we should probably see what’s going on.”
“Or should we?” asked Glick, cryptically.
“I’m with you,” said Larry, “I think I’ve seen enough bad news for one day. I don’t know if I can take much more.”
“I’m staying out here,” said Glick. “You guys can give me the condensed version, later.”
“Same here,” agreed Larry. “I’m going to enjoy this beer.”
Jumbo rolled his eyes, but said nothing as he led the way up to the door. Tiffany met them in the living room. She had also changed into her pajamas, but into a pair that were far less conservative than those Tina was wearing. Mark wished she had the decency to put on a robe. A car commercial played on the big screen television, the sound down low. “Where are Larry and Glick?” Tiffany asked.
“They’ve seen enough bad news for one day,” said Jumbo. “What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing much, Russia just declared war on us; that’s all.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” said Jumbo, sinking down into the sofa.
“No Jumbo, I’m not. Now, do you want that drink?”
Jumbo looked at Mark for permission and Mark nodded. “Make that two,” said Mark. “I’ll have one of whatever he’s having. This could be a long night.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” said Tiffany. She joined them a moment later, carrying three drinks and smelling of fresh perfume. “What happens now?” she asked. “Do we just wait to be attacked?”
“I don’t think so,” said Mark. “Not just yet. Now we learn who our true friends are,” I’d be shocked if Israel and the United Kingdom don’t jump in on our side. I just wish they’d quit playing so many commercials. Look at this garbage. Do you really think anyone is planning a trip to North Dakota?”
Jumbo scrolled through the cable news channels, but all were taking station breaks. “They do this on purpose, ya know,” he said, sipping his drink. So, you don’t think Russia is planning to attack us?
“They might be, but they’re probably just testing the waters to see if China will back them.”
“And what if that happens?” asked Tiffany.
“That would complicate things. President Crabtree must have seen this coming, that’s why he reenacted the draft.”
“Finally,” said Jumbo, pointing to the television. “Let’s hear what they have to say.”
The news anchor sent them a curveball and reported on a massive cattle die-off in the Texas Panhandle. Hundreds of ranches were affected and cattle losses were in the tens of thousands. “It was just like someone had flipped a switch,” said a sad looking old man in a cowboy hat. “My entire herd just tipped over and they were dead before they hit the ground.”
They listened as the analysts tried to explain away what had happened, but their responses were weak and to Mark, they sounded almost scripted. Another die-off had occurred in Iowa, but this time it had been turkeys. The numbers were smaller, but the deaths had occurred in the same way. Mark felt a chill run down his spine. What the reporters and analysts were failing to do was link the two events together. Was this the beginning of the next great purge? Who better knew the effectiveness of such a tactic, than the Russians?”
Larry walked into the living room, holding his beer and his cell phone. “They lied,” he said. “It’s only eleven and my internet is gone.”
“Eastern Standard Time,” said Mark. “I’m surprised you could even get a signal down here.”
“I could if I stood by the door.”
The television screen blinked and the feed disappeared. A few seconds later, the screen was filled with a multicolored test pattern. Jumbo, who was still holding the remote control, began flipping through the channels. “What the hell is this?” he asked. “You have got to be kidding me.”
Mark turned to Larry. “Does your cellphone still work? Did you have phone service if you stood by the door?”
“Yeah, I still had two bars.”
“Go and check it again.”
“That’s it,” said Jumbo, tossing the remote control down onto the sofa. “I’m gonna get shit faced. Anyone care to join me?”
Tiffany nodded and as Larry walked out the door, she and Jumbo walked into the kitchen. Mark picked up the remote control and continued leafing through the channels. The same test pattern played on each channel. Larry walked in, shaking his head and pointing to his phone. “Nothing,” he said. “Anybody want to buy a paperweight?”
“No,” said Tiffany from the next room, “but Jumbo and I are making tequila slammers. Care to join us?”
Larry shrugged. “Why not,” he said, walking past Mark and toward the kitchen. “Make mine a double.”
“How about you, Mark?” asked Tiffany.
“I’m fine,” he said, looking at his nearly untouched drink that sat on the coffee table. “Thank you.”
Glick walked inside, unsteady on his feet and mumbling about the end of the world. “I’m going to bed,” he stammered. “I hope I see you tomorrow.”
Mark nodded and watched as Glick wobbled his way down to the hallway. As frightened as he was, Mark found himself growing tired. The adrenaline was wearing off and there was nothing more they could do. He walked into the kitchen and announced that he was going to sleep on the sofa. Tiffany found him a sleeping bag and an extra pillow and drunkenly, she attempted to tuck him into bed. “You going to sleep in your clothes?” she asked.
“Yes, I am,” replied Mark. “Good night.”
“Suit yourself. Good night, Mark.”
Sleep did not come easily. The three in the kitchen grew louder with each passing drink. Mark couldn’t help but listen in on their conversation, which grew increasingly dark and mixed with profanities. Despite being the largest of the group, Jumbo had little tolerance when it came to alcohol. Jumbo’s liver was no longer processing the alcohol as it had in the past. He began slurring his words and was soon talking incoherently. Mark heard Larry help Jumbo stumble into his bedroom. Moments later, Mark drifted off into a heavy sleep.
Mark felt a hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see Tina standing above him. Once again, she was dressed in her robe and her eyes were puffy from sleep. “Where the hell is Larry?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Mark said, honestly.
“You don’t think he would have walked back up to our house?”
Mark sat up. “God, I sure hope not. We don’t know what’s going on out there.”
“It’s three O’clock in the morning. Where the hell is he?”
Mark shrugged and watched as Tina walked to the door
. A dark thought crept into his brain as Tina stepped outside. He got to his feet and followed her. The outside was faintly illuminated in pale blue light. Mark followed Tina to the door that led to the stairwell. She paused there and then she began marching around the side of the shelter. Mark knew where she was heading and he prayed they were both wrong in their assumption. Tina stopped outside the gate to the hot tub. She then slid the lock and flung open the door. Mark stepped behind her and his heart fell.
“Are you serious?” roared Tina.
Larry and Tiffany were locked together in a moment of passion. Clothes were strewn around the outside of the hot tub and there was just enough steam and bubbles to blur the sad truth. Tina darted to the side of the tub and began lashing out with her fingernails. Up until she did that, Tiffany had not moved a muscle. Larry shoved her off of him and tried to defend himself from Tina’s attack. “It’s not what it looks like,” he said, stupidly.
“The hell it isn’t,” growled Tina. “How could you?”
Tiffany casually climbed out of the hot tub, naked and dripping water. “Maybe if you took care of your own man,” she muttered, “I wouldn’t have to.”
Tina stood up and charged Tiffany. Mark thought about stepping in to stop her, but something told him to stand back. Tina wound up her right fist and smashed it into Tiffany’s left cheek. Drunk and unprepared for the blow, Tiffany fell back into the fence. “You bitch,” she screamed. She then tried to attack Tina, but Mark stepped in between the women. “Get out of my way,” she shouted. “Nobody hits me and gets away with it!”
“Put your clothes on,” said Mark. “You’ve caused enough trouble for one night.”
“Tina,” said Larry, from behind Mark. “Nothing happened.” The next sound Mark heard was a distinctive slapping sound. Two others followed.
“You rotten bastard,” hissed Tina. “Our kids are sleeping not twenty feet away. How could you do this to us?”
“I could answer that for you,” said Tiffany, as she tugged her nightie over her head.
“That’s enough out of you,” said Mark.
“Go to hell, Tonto!”
Mark narrowed his eyes and resisted the urge to lash out at Tiffany, but just barely. There was no remorse in her words, in fact, she seemed proud of what she had done. She scooped up her skimpy underwear and a moment later, she was gone. “I passed out in the hot tub,” said Larry. “I didn’t know what was happening.”
“You’re a damn liar,” replied Tina, who began to sob. “I heard you in there. You knew exactly what was happening.”
Mark turned and was thankful to see that Larry had put on his underwear. Angry claw-marks were raked across his face and neck. He stood with slumped shoulders; the weight of what he had done seemed to be crushing him. “I’m so sorry, baby,” he said. “Please forgive me.”
“How can I do that?” she cried. “Don’t you see? I can’t stay here; not now, not ever. I’m going home. You’re going to have to explain this to the kids when they wake up. Good luck with that, asshole.”
Larry rushed over to Tina and put his large hands on her small shoulders. Tina reacted as if they were the hands of a monster. She twisted away. “Don’t do this,” he whispered. “For the love of God, baby, don’t do this.”
Tina began to run and stumbling, Larry raced after her. Mark raced after the both of them and he stopped Larry as he tried to catch his grieving wife. “I will go with her,” Mark said. “You go to your children and pray to your God that they forgive you.”
“You two can’t go up there,” stammered Larry. “We don’t know what’s up there.”
“I know what’s down here,” said Tina, throwing open the door. “Don’t you dare try to follow me.”
“I would rather die up there than spend another night down here,” said Mark. “I won’t be a part of this.”
The stairwell was illuminated in bright light and barefoot, Tina’s feet slapped their way up to the top of the stairs. “Tell her how sorry I am,” pleaded Larry. “Will you do that for me?”
Mark started after Tina and was surprised to hear the door behind him, closed and the locks thrown. That told Mark all he needed to know about Larry. Tina stopped and turned around and then she began to wail. Pitifully, the sound echoed inside the concrete stairwell. Tina climbed the remaining steps to the outside door and frantically, she began throwing open the locks. Panting, she stopped and turned to face Mark. “Last chance,” she said. “I’m going to open the door.”
“You couldn’t drag me back down there with a team of horses,” said Mark. “Go ahead and open it.”
Tina wiped tears from her eyes and nodded. She then pushed on the heavy door and slowly, it opened up to the outside world.
Chapter 13
They stood in the blackness for a long moment, waiting for their eyes to adjust to the starlight. “What does radiation smell like?” asked Tina.
“There is no smell,” replied Mark.
“If we survive this, I’m going to divorce that dirty son of a bitch.”
“I have some iced tea at my house. Would you like to come over?”
Tina quietly considered this. “Yes, I would,” she said. “I don’t want to be alone. Thank you, Mark.”
“No need to thank me. I don’t want to be alone, either.”
Slowly, they made their way over to the road and they walked out of the woods. The air was cool and the night was still. When they reached the edge of the woods, Mark paused and stared up at the black shadows of the cul de sec. “What happened to our yard lights?” asked Tina.
“The power must be out,” said Mark.
“Well, that’s just great. Can this night get any worse?”
“Let’s hope not. Come on, I have plenty of candles and there should still be ice cubes in the freezer.”
They walked up to Mark’s house and he led Tina in through the front door. The old house was completely dark. “Stay here,” he said. “Let me dig up those candles,” walking with his hands out in front of him, Mark made his way into the kitchen. He found the box of stick matches where Josie had always kept them, on top of the gas stove. He quietly thanked her as he struck one up. He found a candle on the window ledge and he lit the wick. Tina appeared a moment later, looking small and frail in the candlelight. Mark found four more candles and he placed them strategically around the kitchen and living room. “There,” he said. “That should work.”
“That’s much better,” said Tina. “What do you suppose happened to the power?”
Mark shrugged. “No way of knowing. President Crabtree might have ordered a blackout. That would be the best case scenario.”
“And the worst case?”
“We don’t want to think about that,” replied Mark, as he dropped ice cubes into two Mason jars. “We have to remain positive.”
Tina laughed at that and once again, her big brown eyes welled with tears. “If you can put a positive spin on anything that happened today, I’d love to hear it. Today was the worst day of my life.”
Mark poured the iced tea into the jars and he carried them over to the kitchen table and sat down. “I know a thing or two about bad days. You might want to think about that and put things in perspective.”
“Oh my God,” said Tina. “I’m sorry, Mark. I wasn’t thinking.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about. I just wanted to remind you that things can always be worse. We still have our health and that is something that can never be taken for granted.”
Tina wiped the tears from her eyes and hefted her Mason jar; it looked huge in her small hand. “To our health,” she said.
Mark touched his jar to hers. “And to a long life,” he added.
They both drank and Tina’s eyes wandered around the kitchen. “What are we going to do?” she asked. “I’m tired of living my life as if the world is about to end. I want to live.”
“I was just thinking the same thing. Tomorrow, I am going to adopt a dog. I have been wanting one for a long time. It
gets lonely over here.”
“A dog, that’s a great idea. I want to adopt one, too. Will you take me along with you?”
Mark smiled and nodded his head. The conversation remained light for several more minutes. Tina spoke of places she wished to visit while Mark talked about improvements he wanted to make to his home. They sipped their iced tea as the battery operated clock on the kitchen wall kept time.
“Why do you suppose he did it?” asked Tina.
“What do you mean?”
“Larry, that stinking rat; why do you think got into the hot tub with that pig, Tiffany?”
“I can’t answer that. All I can say is that people do odd things when they think they’re about to die. He was drunk, too.”
“Don’t make excuses for him, please.”
“I’m not making excuses for him. You asked me a question and I gave you my thoughts on it.”
“I know, I’m sorry, I just can’t believe he did that. Not with me and the kids sleeping just a few feet away. I think that’s what hurts the most. Oh my God, what if one of our kids had walked in on them?”
“How is he going to explain those scratches on his face to them?”
“Oh, he’ll think of something. Did you hear him? Oh, it isn’t what it looks like. Does he think I was born yesterday? Now I have to wonder if that was the first time. I don’t know; I hope it was, but I have a hard time believing that.”
“Don’t assume anything. That’s the worst thing you can do. Outside of what just happened, what kind of a husband is Larry? Is he a good father?”
Tina sat and thought about that. She sipped her iced tea. “I don’t know,” she said. “He spends more time over at Jumbo’s than he does at home with our kids. He’s a good provider, but he doesn’t ever want to spend time alone with me. He’s always on the go. No, I don’t think this was the first time. I suppose I should have read the signs.”
Bunkers Page 10
