The three helped with bags and boxes, loading them onto the back of the truck, while their guests climbed aboard one or the other of the RVs for the two hour trip to the mine.
Some of the new guests busied themselves with small talk. Some talked of what they expected to happen to the world after it went cold. Others were cautiously optimistic, hoping that they’d be able to return to their homes in just a few days.
In Hannah’s RV, two of the family dogs couldn’t get along and had to be separated. One, a german shepherd, had to be locked in the master bedroom in the back of the RV. The other was a chihuahua with an attitude. She figured she’d won the battle and strutted around the rest of the RV, demanded to be petted by everyone.
The three cats on board took refuge atop the cabinets in the RV’s kitchen, safe from both canines.
One topic that was off-limits by unwritten agreement, that no one talked about, was the loved ones being left behind.
Five miles south of San Angelo, Mark diverted the convoy by turning down a rarely-used gravel road. This was the same procedure the three had used when picking up the first batch of guests previously.
After driving three miles down this deserted road, Mark pulled over and came to a complete stop. Hannah pulled up behind him. Bryan stopped his truck about three hundred yards behind the RVs.
Bryan waited for five minutes to see if any cars pulled up behind them. They were very worried that one of the guests had leaked word of what they were doing, and that someone might try to follow them to the mine and force their way in.
Bryan readied his two weapons. If a car had come up behind him and tried to pass, Bryan would have pulled his truck across the road to block it, stepped out of his truck, and used his 9 mm Glock pistol to shoot out the vehicle’s tires.
If, on the other hand, the following vehicle saw the party stopped ahead and pulled over also, Bryan would have taken his AR-15, fired three shots into the vehicle’s radiator to disable it, then would have climbed back into his truck and proceeded on his way.
On this day, like the previous trip, there was no one following them. All breathed a sigh of relief. Stranding anyone miles from nowhere was a harsh tactic that they were willing to use if they had to, but no one wanted to do it. Luckily, no one let the word slip out, and their secret was safe.
The three vehicles proceeded to the mine without incident. Along the way, Hannah and Mark were finally able to share information with the passengers. And they had a thousand questions.
Hannah had taken it upon herself to prepare two binders for each of the RVs. Each binder was full of photos that showed the compound where they’d live after breakout, as well as photos of the mine. As they passed the binders around and looked over each other’s shoulders to see the photos, the passengers were introduced to their next two homes.
The mood was somber, of course. The rest of their journey was rather uneventful, except when a high pitched scream came from the lavatory in Mark’s RV.
Mark’s Aunt Nella had stepped into the lavatory to use the restroom, and had raised the lid to see the pavement of the highway flying past at sixty miles an hour through the empty hole at the bottom of the toilet. It startled her enough to cause her to scream at the sight.
She decided to wait until their arrival at the mine, and everyone else enjoyed a much-needed laugh at her expense.
Five miles away from their destination, Hannah used her cell phone to call the mine. She let it ring twice and then hung up.
Sarah immediately went to the security console and scanned the monitors, watching for the convoy. Once they were in sight, she watched for anyone who might be following. As in the previous operation, no one was.
As the group turned down the unmarked road that led to the mine, Sarah sent David to open the door for them. Then she made an announcement over the mine’s public address system.
“We have vehicles coming into the mine. Please watch out for them. Parents, please find your children and keep them far away from the vehicles.”
The convoy pulled into the mine and slowed to a crawl. Mark and Hannah pulled the two RVs back into their spots in Bay 3. Bryan parked the truck in the main corridor, where he was met with several men and dollies. He climbed onto the back of the truck and started handing luggage and boxes full of belongings to the men, who in turn stacked them neatly onto the dollies.
As each of the new arrivals stepped off of the RVs, they looked around in wonder at their new home. Most were sad and apprehensive. A few were joyful that they wouldn’t die a slow miserable death like most of their friends.
All of them hoped that this was just a temporary measure. That somehow the Chinese rocket wasn’t just a government ploy. They hoped and prayed that it was real, and that it really would blast Saris 7 away from its collision course. They didn’t want to be here. They wanted to be back in their homes, enjoying their lives, and not having to contemplate the end of the earth. The end of their friends. The end of everything they’d known.
Mark and Sarah understood everything they were feeling. They’d been dealing with the same things.
Mark asked for everyone’s attention.
“Everyone, please feel free to walk around and check out the mine. Mike, David and Bob will bring you your belongings as soon as they get them off the truck. If you’ll let them know what’s yours, they’ll put them in your RV for you.
“On the door of each RV, we’ve taped a piece of paper. The paper has the names of the people who will live in that RV while we’re in the mine.
“We tried to arrange everyone so that immediate families are as close together as possible. But nothing is set in concrete. Parents, if you’d rather not live next door to your children, feel free to exchange RVs with someone else.”
No one laughed at Mark’s joke. It was just too hard to cope with the stress everyone was feeling.
“We’ll give you an hour to get settled, and then Hannah will give a tour of the mine to anyone who is interested in going along. If you’d prefer to wander around and explore on your own, please be aware that the industrial part of the mine, past the chain link fence, is dangerous for small children. Our power station poses an electrocution hazard, and there are about twenty small swimming pools full of water in that area.
“That bright yellow structure over there is our community lavatory. Nothing fancy. It’s basically a high tech outhouse, with a few extra amenities.
“You’ll notice that there is no running water in the community lavatory. But there are plenty of wet wipes you can use to clean your hands with.
“You’re also free to use the toilets in your RVs, but please keep the lids closed when they’re not in use.”
He turned to Hannah and asked her “Baby, did I forget anything?”
Hannah added to the group “Even if you want to explore the mine yourself, please join me for the tour in an hour. I’ll provide you with some information you’ll need to know in order to make getting settled in easier. After the tour is over, we’d like for everyone to meet in the dining room in Bay 9. We’ll cover a lot of additional information at that time, and our kitchen staff will serve everyone a hot meal.”
Mark’s mom, Phyllis, asked the group to join her in a prayer. They bowed their heads and prayed for God to watch over the ones left behind, and to bless them all with a joyful repatriation after the group left the mine.
Then she addressed the newcomers.
“I’ve been here for almost a week now, and I felt a lot of guilt at first. But then I realized that I’m so blessed to be given a chance to watch my grandchildren grow up after all. And I’m so glad that we’re in this together. Let’s focus on the positive. I love you all.”
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After everyone found their respective RVs and placed their belongings inside them, the newcomers joined Hannah for the mine tour. It was to be the same tour she gave to the first batch of arrivals a week before.
“Let me start by welcoming you all. I know this isn’t an ideal situat
ion, nor is this the ideal place to call home for the next few years. But it is safe, and will be reasonably comfortable. And we’ll all survive.
“If you’ll all follow me, we’ll walk through bay by bay, and I’ll tell you some things you will need to know. Feel free to interrupt and ask questions at any time.”
She noticed that Joe Kenney’s mother Helen, and David’s father Cy, had found the motorized wheelchairs parked outside their respective RVs, and asked if they had any questions about their operation. Neither did, so Hannah proceeded, and spoke to the group as they passed by Bay 5.
“What you see now is a big pile of multi-colored plastic. These are the pieces for a very large piece of playground equipment. The guys never got around to building it, and will be doing that once the mine is sealed. I’m sure they would welcome the help if any of you want to assist them.
“Moving on to Bay 6, you’ll notice we have four buildings. The first one, the one Karen painted a big red cross on, will be our clinic. Debbie, who is a certified EMT, has agreed to be our camp medic. She will be in the clinic every morning from 8 until noon. She’ll be on call at all other times. Basically, any time you need her, send somebody to find her and she’ll come running.
“I am a certified midwife. If any of you get pregnant while you’re here, I’ll go through the whole thing with you, and I’ll deliver your child.”
Mike had to ask “But who’ll deliver yours?”
Hannah expected the question. “I’ve already asked Sarah and Sami, and they will both help me. I’ll talk them through the process.
“The second building, with the big molar painted on it, is David’s dentist office. He can do everything except braces. He’ll work by appointment only, so tell him if you need any work done.
“The third building, with Kermit the frog, is our one-room schoolhouse for grades K through 6.
“The fourth building, with the large magnifying glass, is for grades 7 through 12.
“Next up is our game room, as you can see. We’ve stocked it with over 200 various video games on four different systems. If you brought your own games with you, we should have a system to play them on. Also, pinball, foosball, pool and ping pong. Eventually there will be a miniature golf course in the back.
“Any questions so far?”
There were none.
“Wow, I must be pretty good at this. Please follow me to Bay 8. This is the lounge and TV room. The large TV will pretty much stay on all day to whatever station everybody wants to watch.
“Mark has set up an internal cable system with 30 channels. All channels will be pre-recorded, of course, but there is a wide variety, so everybody should like something.”
She picked up a copy of the list of channels and read some of them to the group.
“For example, Channel 1 will be your program guide. Channel 2 will be NBC, Channel 3 will be CBS, Channel 4 will be ABC. Channel 5 will be the all-western channel, Channel 6 will be all soap operas, Channel 7 will be all football.
“And so on and so forth. Each RV has been equipped with two televisions, and a copy of this guide has been placed next to each TV.
“Behind the couches and easy chairs you’ll see several private rooms, for viewing movies or playing video games. These are primarily meant for persons who want to watch something that isn’t rated for everyone. It’s also a nice place to go if you want a quiet place to read or take a nap.
“The shelves contain 1200 DVDs and over 800 books. We’ve tried to find a good selection so that there’s something for everyone. Please feel free to borrow them and take them back to your RVs if you like.
“Moving on now, this is Bay 9. The front part of the bay, as you can probably tell from all the tables and chairs, is the dining room. Back in the back, behind the serving line, is the kitchen. This is where we’ll be meeting in…”
She checked the large clock on the front of the bay.
“… thirty eight minutes for lunch and more information. We have been lucky enough to have four volunteers who are making up our kitchen staff and cooking all of our meals for us. They’re still looking for two more bodies, so if any of you are interested, please see Phyllis Snyder later.
“Next up is our water treatment facility. I’m not sure exactly how it’s done, but I do know that the water you wash your bodies and clothes with this week will be recycled and treated, and will be the same water you’ll wash your bodies and clothes with next week too. Mark tells me it’ll be recycled the same way all big cities do it, only on a smaller scale. And he assures me that each time, it’ll be clean and safe enough to drink.
“On the right side of the bay, you’ll notice a bank of washing machines. There are no dryers, because dryers use way too much electricity and will eat up too much of our diesel fuel. So we’ll dry our laundry on the old fashioned clotheslines at the back of the bay.
“Here we have Bay 11, our very own Walmart. Sarah painted the signs. Aren’t they lovely? Hopefully the shelves are stocked well enough to get us by. They may not have every single thing you want, but they should have everything you need. Take whatever you need, but please be courteous and leave some for others as well.
“This is Bay 12, and if you’re thinking ‘wow, that looks like a greenhouse,’ you’re absolutely right.
“Those lights directly above the green house are very powerful solar lights, made to simulate sunshine. We’ve got over a hundred types of fruits and vegetables in there. Its purpose isn’t to feed everyone, but rather to grow a new season of fresh seeds each year, which will be replanted to make more new seeds the following year. That way, when we break out, we’ll have good seeds that will grow, instead of seeds that are years old and will be worthless.
“Karen is the one with the green thumb, and she assures me that she’ll be able to get her seeds and still provide everyone a fresh strawberry or peach occasionally. They’ll be rare treats that we’ll come to cherish. And when we get out of here, the seeds will guarantee our continued survival.
You can’t see them from here, but behind the greenhouse are four very large freshwater aquariums. Karen is also farming catfish, perch, and crawdads, which we’ll use to stock a pond when we leave the mine.
“This is Bay 13, our gym and basketball court. It pretty much needs no explanation. Feel free to use all of the workout equipment, but parents, please make sure the little ones have supervision.
They came upon the chain link fence. Just behind it was the canvas smell barrier that hung from ceiling to floor.
“We’re getting ready to enter the industrial area. As you can see, the gate to this fence is not locked. That’s because many of our workers go in and out of the area throughout the day. Some of you will too, as you volunteer to help in the various areas.
“The fence has several purposes. First of all, it is intended to keep the pets and children out of this area. Please stress to your little ones that they are not to go past this point unless they’re with an adult.
“Also, it’s to serve as a reminder that this area is dangerous. If you’re not working in one of the areas behind this fence, you should stay out.
She smiled. “As for the big canvas tarp and its purpose? I’m not going to tell you. But you’ll know as soon as we walk through it.
Sure enough, as the group walked through the canvas barrier, some of the more sensitive noses turned up. They were greeted by the very distinct smells of livestock and their droppings, mixed with the aroma of diesel fuel and the exhaust from one of the diesel generators, which Bryan had fired up and tested earlier in the day.
“Here in Bay 14 is our power plant. It is extremely dangerous in there. Please stay out unless you’re with Bryan, helping him do something. We certainly don’t want anyone being electrocuted. This is the only bay in the whole mine where we have a locked gate.
“This is Bay 15, and as you can see, it contains our water storage. Each of those huge tanks contains 5,000 gallons of water. I know you can’t even see the end of the rows, so I�
��ll save you the trouble of trying to count them. There are 140 of them. That’s a lot of water, but it’ll take that much to keep us alive for several years.
“All of the swimming pools that you see full of water are not for swimming. They’re for water also. Just as added insurance we’re going to keep collecting water from our city faucet as long as the city water station is still operating. Or until we run out of things to fill.
“Bay 16 holds all of our cattle, pig and chicken feed. You’ll find three different brands of dog food and three different brands of cat food on the shelves in our Walmart. This is where the main supply is stored. If the Walmart is out of your favorite brand, let Sarah know and she’ll come and get some from here to restock it.
“They came to the livestock bay. “This is Bay 17. All of the cows are friendly, so if your little ones want to go and pet them, that’s fine. Please don’t let them get too attached to these animals though.”
The adults in the group understood why, but didn’t say anything.
“Nearing the end now, this is Bay 18. As you can see, it has everything we need to process meat for the kitchen. And since we have little ones present, I won’t elaborate beyond that.
“Bay 19 is our dump. You’ll notice as you get settled in that all of our trash cans are marked either ‘paper’ or ‘non-paper.’ We’re separating our garbage in this manner in case we ever run low on diesel fuel, and have to start burning our garbage as fuel. Hopefully it’ll never come to that, but it’s an added precaution we’re taking. Just in case.
“Bay 20. The reason we have a fence in this area is because of the diesel fuel in those tanks. When they work in this area, the guys wear special booties and coveralls that minimize the static electricity and lessen the chance of fires. Please, please, don’t ever go into this area unless you’re working with Mark or Bryan and they explain all the procedures to you.
“The last bay I want to show you is Bay 21. As you can see, there are a variety of vehicles parked here. These will be very carefully maintained while we’re here, and driven around this part of the mine on a regular basis, so that they still work when we break out. These are the vehicles we’ll use to farm our crops and gather supplies once we leave the mine.
Final Dawn: Escape From Armageddon Page 15
