“She’s been crying all day. I’m sorry, but I thought you should know that.”
“She should have stayed with me.”
Glick nodded his head and scratched the back of his neck. “Tell me something I don’t know,” he mumbled. “Anyhow, are we good?”
Mark stuck out his hand. “We’re good. Thank you.”
Glick smiled and shook Mark’s hand. “Women,” he moaned. “We’ll never figure them out.”
Mark laughed and watched Glick as he walked back toward his home. Anita stepped out, and after a look over her shoulder, she gave Mark a tentative wave. Mark waved back. A second later, Tina stepped out from behind her sister. She stared at Mark and slowly, she also raised her hand. Remembering what Glick had said, Mark fought the urge to step back into the house. Poncho stepped out to join him, just as he returned Tina’s wave. Even from this distance, Mark could see the surprise on Tina’s face at the sight of the dog. Suddenly, she put her hands over her mouth and she ran back into the house.
“Come on, Poncho,” said Mark, a satisfied smile on his face. “Our work here is done.”
Chapter 20
Mark turned on the television and sat down on the sofa. Poncho stretched out next to him, resting his head next to Mark’s leg. The stray dog then fell asleep. Mark watched in horror as the news went from bad to worse. The rioting had now spread to every state in the Union. National Guard units were refusing to step in and put down the riots. There were scattered reports that President Crabtree had asked the Russians for assistance. Down south, Texans were now fighting Mexican soldiers as they flooded across the unmanned border. Things seemed to be spiraling out of control.
Mark shut off the television and walked over to the telephone. The line was still dead. Poncho watched him from the sofa. Mark peered out the kitchen window. The neighbors were all outside, unaware or apathetic to their current situation. The children played on and around the swing-set, while the men worked on Jumbo’s garage. Tina and Anita sat in Anita’s backyard, but there was no sign of Tiffany.
Mark threw a frozen pizza into the oven and poured himself a Mason jar of iced tea. He knew that one way or another, his time above ground was growing short. While the pizza cooked, Mark set off on a final scavenger hunt. He filled a paper sack with odds and ends, hoping he hadn’t forgotten anything essential. When the pizza was finished, Mark cut it up and sat down to eat. Poncho sat next to the table, expectantly. Mark looked at him and smiled. “Okay,” he said, “but just one piece. You’re going to have to wait for it to cool down.”
Poncho looked at him with his mouth hanging open and Mark swore the stray was smiling at him. After they finished their dinner, Mark did up the dishes and he took his iced tea out to the front porch. Poncho followed and he went out in the yard. Mark was worried about Gadget. He wondered if he hadn’t been too hard on his friend. He thought about that and shook his head. No, this was his home and he wasn’t going to send Poncho away because of some stupid allergy. Gadget would have to tough it out.
Pink Floyd carried on the breeze from Jumbo’s garage, where the men stood around drinking beer. Larry held up his bottle to Mark, as if he were laughing in his face. Mark glared back and then he stepped off the porch and began to walk out back. He thought Gadget might be in his workshop and Mark headed in that direction. When he was twenty feet from the door, Gadget’s voice stopped him in his tracks. “Don’t come in here!” he shouted, breathlessly.
Mark raised his eyebrows and turned around. Suddenly, he didn’t want to know what was going on in the workshop. He walked back to the front yard. Poncho ran up to him, an old baseball in his mouth. He dropped it at Mark’s feet. Mark picked it up and for the next twenty minutes, the two played fetch.
Tiffany, dressed in a halter top and a pair of Daisy Dukes, emerged from the workshop. Her hair was a mess and her face was wet with sweat. She walked up to Mark with a self-confident grin. “That man is a tiger,” she whispered. “I just can’t get enough of him.”
“He loves you,” said Mark. “You’re playing with fire, Tiffany.”
“Oh poo,” she replied. “I’m not worried. Besides, everybody loves me. Well, except you.”
“You can’t say that I didn’t warn you.”
Tiffany winked at Mark and she sashayed up the driveway in the direction of her own home. Mark watched her walk away, unaware that Tina was charging over from Anita’s backyard. Mark caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and he turned to face her. Tina’s face was cold and her eyes blazed. “Are you serious? I saw the way you were looking at her,” she hissed. “And you had to run out and get a dog, didn’t you? You know that was my dream, Mark. How could you do that to me?”
Poncho ran up and dropped the ball at Tina’s feet. Mark shook his head and laughed. “For starters,” he said, “Tiffany Lystrom could be the last woman on earth and I wouldn’t lay a finger on her. Besides, what do you care? You left me for the empty promises of an alcoholic. Look at him, Tina. He’s already drinking. Good luck with that. And for your information, I didn’t run out and get a dog. Poncho found me.”
Tina turned to look at Larry and sure enough, he had a beer in his hand. She twisted back around to stare at Mark. “How could I have been so stupid?” she asked. “I should have known the bastard was lying to me. Why didn’t you try to stop me?”
Mark closed his eyes and pressed his hand to his forehead. “Are you serious?” he asked. “Larry is your husband and you left me to go back to him. You have a family, I get that. Last night never should have happened.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You used me to get back at Larry. Why don’t you just admit it?”
“I did no such thing! Don’t go putting words into my mouth. You don’t know how I feel. If you did, you wouldn’t talk to me like this.”
“Oh really, and how do you feel?”
“I love you, Mark.”
“How can you even say that? You walked away from me. Do you think I’m some kind of toy? Do you think I don’t have feelings?”
“I’m so sorry, I made a stupid mistake. I never should have left here. Mark, you’re only the second man I’ve ever been with. I never should have gone back with Larry. I know that, now. Please, will you give me another chance?”
Poncho picked up the ball and began running around with it. Mark watched him, trying to think of what to say. He was confused. He wanted to tell her to take a hike; that she’d made her bed and she could damn well sleep in it. But then he looked into her deep brown eyes and he couldn’t find the words.
“Tina!” bellowed Larry. “Get the hell away from him!”
Tina’s eyes grew wide and her mouth hung open. “Mark, it’s now or never.”
“You hurt me,” whispered Mark. “How could I ever trust you, again?”
“Please, I swear to God that I’ll never hurt you again. Give me another chance.”
“Tina! Get your ass up to the house. Do you hear me?”
“Please, don’t make me go back to him.”
“Tina!”
Mark wanted nothing more than to give himself to Tina, but after being burned, Mark wasn’t about to jump back into the fire. “I can’t do this,” he said. “You shouldn’t have left me. I wish things were different. I’m sorry.”
Tina covered her eyes and began to sob. “No,” she cried, “no!”
Chapter 21
As darkness fell, they closed the blinds and curtains. Mark baked a pan of brownies while Gadget watched the news. He served the brownies with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The news had only grown worse over the day. The Doomsday Clock had been reset, and now read one minute ‘til midnight. The Pentagon and the White House were at war. President Crabtree was now attempting to fire his military leaders, citing insubordination. The Pentagon fired back by calling Crabtree a traitor. They refused to follow his orders and demanded that Congress step in and impeach the President. “Do you really think they’ll impeach Crabby?” asked
Gadget.
Mark swallowed a spoonful of ice cream and shrugged. “They should have impeached him last week. I don’t understand why Congress hasn’t stepped in.”
Gadget spoke with a mouthful of brownie. “Because they’re in on it,” he said. “The fix is in.”
“What do you mean?” asked Mark.
Gadget chewed slowly. “The country is broke. Our dollar isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. That’s what this is all about. This bullshit about us being in some kind of crisis, it’s just a ruse. This is the New World Order, man. They want a one world government and the only thing standing in their way is the United States military.”
Mark nodded and set his empty bowl down for Poncho to lick clean. “You’re probably right. All we can do is hope that they hold their ground.” He sighed and got up to bring his bowl to the sink. Just as he did, the living room went completely dark. Blindly, Mark reached over to the end table; after a quick search, he found the flashlight where he had left it. He got up and went over to the window. He saw that the power was out all over the cul de sac. “Here we go, again,” said Mark.
“I don’t think it’s coming back on,” said Gadget. “Not until this thing is settled. Do you think we should go out to the shelter?”
Mark was already lighting a candle. “We could,” he said. “I guess that’s up to you.”
“Nah,” said Gadget. “We might as well just turn in. I’ll get on the radio in the morning and check things out. I don’t think anything will happen tonight, at least, not way out here.”
Mark nodded his head. “That sounds like a good plan to me,” he said. “We shouldn’t have much to worry about, as long as Mitch and Clyde don’t decide to pay us a visit.”
“Let ‘em try,” said Gadget, taking the flashlight from Mark. “I hope they do.”
Mark propped one of the kitchen chairs up against the peppered door. “This ought to help,” he said. He then led the way up the stairs and he was surprised to see Poncho follow Gadget into his bedroom. “Do you want him in my room?” he asked.
Gadget stood at his doorway and he aimed the beam of light into his room. He then laughed. “Look at him,” he said. “He’s in my bed.”
“I’ll get him.”
“No, he’s alright. We’ll be fine.”
“Good night,” said Mark, feeling somewhat disappointed.
“Good night,” said Gadget. “See ya in the morning.”
There were no surprise attacks that night. Mark was the first to crawl out of bed. He found Poncho waiting for him in the hallway. He trundled down the stairs and waited for Mark by the door. “Good boy,” whispered Mark. He removed the chair and opened the door. Poncho dashed out into the pale morning light. The air was still, warm, and slightly humid. From far away, thunder rumbled; at least, Mark hoped it was thunder. He waited for Poncho to finish his business, and then the two of them went into the kitchen. Mark fed Poncho a breakfast of lukewarm brats, which he cut into quarter-shaped pieces. He then went to the back bedroom and found his little camp stove. Half an hour later, Mark was enjoying a cup of strong coffee.
Gadget slept for another hour. He was dressed in yesterday’s clothes and wore the .380 tucked into his belt. He rubbed his eyes and went straight for the coffee pot. “How did you sleep?” asked Mark.
Gadget closed his eyes. “Like this,” he said.
“Smartass.”
“Did we have any visitors?”
“Not as far as I could tell. That doesn’t mean they’re not out there.”
“I hope Tiffany is out there. I can’t get her out of my head.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think Jumbo is going to let her out of his sight; not anymore, not after what happened.”
“She’s an adult. She can do whatever she chooses to do. You know what I think? I think she’ll be back today. You wait and see.”
Mark sipped his coffee and said nothing. He walked over to the kitchen window and studied the empty houses. He had been keeping an eye on them, but there had been no sign of life. To the west, the sky was black and ominous. “Storm coming,” he said.
“I was talking about Tiffany.”
So was Mark, but he didn’t want Gadget to know that. “I think they’re all buttoned up, down in their shelter. We might not see any of them for a long time.”
“I can still talk to her. I gave Tiffany a radio; it’s just a handheld, but her and I will be able to talk on it,” Gadget walked over to join Mark. He sipped his coffee and peered out the window. “I suppose I should get down to the bunker. Maybe she’s been trying to get in touch with me.”
“I hope you’ll try to get a handle on what’s going on out there, first,” said Mark. “For all we know, the Russians have landed.”
Gadget rolled his eyes and walked over to the door. He looked down at Poncho. “You wanna come with me, buddy?” he asked. Poncho remained at Mark’s feet. “Traitor,” grumbled Gadget, and then he was out the door.
Mark picked up his hunting rifle and he and Poncho walked out to the porch. Memories of yesterday came flooding back. Knowing he had done the right thing hadn’t made it any easier. The easy thing to do was to take Tina back, but he would have lost his self-respect in the process. No woman alive was worth losing that over. He wished she had never left him to go back to Larry, but she had. There was no getting around that.
Chain lightning lit up the western sky, followed by a round of bowling alley thunder. Mark could taste the electricity in the air. Poncho looked up at him. “What should we do?” Mark asked. “I’m not ready to go down to the shelter.”
Poncho walked over and sat facing the door. Raindrops began falling and Mark began to laugh. He stepped over to the door and opened it. Poncho trotted inside and he went straight for the sofa. Mark had no sooner closed the door when the sky opened up. He went to the kitchen window and watched as the rain fell in sheets. The wind suddenly picked up, howling in the eaves, making the trees dance. Mark had always enjoyed watching storms. He poured himself another cup of coffee as Poncho buried himself in Mark’s blanket. A blue bolt of lightning crashed behind Jumbo’s house, out in the woods. Thunder boomed, rattling the windows. Mark hoped that Gadget had enough sense to shut down the radio. God only knew what would happen if lightning struck the new antenna, while he was talking at the other end of it.
The rain fell in buckets, blotting out the other houses. A small lake was forming in the front yard. Occasional bursts of lightning flashed, followed by powerful cracks of thunder. Slowly, the storm rolled to the east. The rain fell for another hour, but cracks of blue sky appeared in the blackness and the rain slowly ground to a halt. Mark stepped outside and surveyed the damage. Larry’s big oak tree had fallen, cracked off at the base of the trunk, taking the corner of Jumbo’s house along with it. Mark could now see into Jumbo’s living room and kitchen. Mark chuckled at the sight of it.
Gadget appeared about fifteen minutes later. He stood and stared at the damaged house. “Holy shit,” he said, whistling. “I don’t think Jumbo is going to like that.”
Mark shook his head. “Nope,” he said.
“I tried calling Tiffany, but she must not have had her radio turned on.”
“Tiffany usually sleeps until noon.”
“”Well, can you blame her? How would you like to be married to an asshole like Jumbo?”
“I wouldn’t like it, not at all.”
Gadget gave Mark a long look. “Things are bad, man. I talked to a guy in California, for about ten minutes, just before the storm hit. There was some kind of battle out in the Pacific Ocean. The way he described it, the Chinese attacked one of our aircraft carrier groups. Both sides took some heavy losses.”
“Oh shit.”
“Apparently, President Crabtree had given them the green light to sail on into Pearl Harbor. I guess he forgot to tell the Navy.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“We could have ICBM’s flying, any time now. I think the time has come to get in
to the bunker. I’m going to go and round up my stuff.”
Mark sighed, still staring at the gaping hole in Jumbo’s house. “I suppose I should do the same thing.”
“Don’t leave anything up here that you’re worried about losing. We might not see daylight again for a long time.”
Mark was about to reply, when he spotted movement in the woods. He reached for his holster, but saw that it was only Jumbo. Mark covered his mouth as he watched Jumbo stagger up to his ruined home. He was dressed in swimming trunks and a pair of muddy flip-flops; his hair was a tangled mess. Almost comically, Jumbo spread his arms up to the sky and sunk to his knees. “What a shame,” Mark whispered.
“Breaks my heart,” said Gadget, who was smiling.
Jumbo was back on his feet. He ignored the two men and began wading through the branches to reach his front door. Finally, he gave up and he ran around to the garage. A moment later, Mark could see him standing inside his living room. Another flash of movement caught his eye. Glick was jogging over to join them, his head swiveling to take in the damage. Unlike Jumbo, Glick looked rested and refreshed. He was dressed in a Charlie Sheen shirt over tan shorts. “I see karma stopped by for a visit,” he said, scratching his unshaven face, “couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”
“How did it go, last night?” asked Mark.
Glick laughed, bitterly. “Well, it’s still last night for some of us. Jumbo hasn’t gone to bed, yet. I’m not sure what time Tiffany called it a night, but it was late. Our generator is toast. You should see it; I’m pretty sure it got struck by lightning. Somehow, we ended up with six inches of water in the shelter. Jumbo was too cheap to put a drain in the floor. I don’t know how we’re ever going to get it out of there. Other than that, everything is great.”
Mark hung his head and bit his tongue. Gadget scratched the top of his bald head. “Our Navy got into a bad scrap with the Chinese, this morning. Planes were shot down and ships were sunk. No, I wouldn’t say everything is great.”
Bunkers Page 18
