by Amber Garr
My mom giggled, literally giggled, and she shared a knowing look with Mary. Our mothers had been planning our wedding for years, and any action that let them think Zach and I would actually follow that path was a reason for them to celebrate. Little did they know that they were getting their hopes up for nothing.
“Okay?” Zach asked me like I’d missed something he said.
“Yeah, fine,” I answered, clearing my throat.
“Well, we only have a few hours before Sampson and I will help go get the supplies—”
“I want to come,” Zach interrupted, but his dad shook his head.
“No. Not this time.”
And when Zach went to protest, it was me who nudged him quiet. “They’ll be plenty of opportunities to help later.”
Zach rolled his eyes. “Fine.” He dropped his hand to my lower back and edged us toward the cot in the corner. “You want the wall?” he asked with a devilish grin.
“No way,” I said and he laughed.
“Why not?”
“Too…,” I shivered with the thought, “…too claustrophobic.” Someone from a nearby cot shushed us and I suddenly didn’t feel like sleeping. This room was filled with too many strangers.
Zach climbed onto the green cot and flicked the blanket open. “Come on,” he said, holding it up high enough for me to climb under.
I slid my shoes off and nestled up against him. At first we faced each other, but quickly realized how small the space was and needed to make other arrangements.
“Turn around,” Zach said.
“You turn around.”
“Vee, stop it. Turn around so we can spoon.”
“Spoon?”
“Yes. I know you know what that is, now stop being a brat.” Another shush echoed throughout the room. “See? You’re making too much noise. Now turn around.”
“Fine,” I grumbled, rolling onto my side to face the empty space and the annoying shusher hidden in the darkness.
As soon as I settled, Zach flung his arm across my waist and tucked his hand under my stomach. “That’s better,” he whispered into my ear, sending heat to my face and several other places.
“Do you have to touch me so much?” I asked.
His chest bounced with laughter and he squeezed me even tighter. “Yes.” I felt his lips press against the back of my head. “Night, Vee.”
“Stop calling me that,” I said, trying to calm the butterflies dancing in my stomach. Zach’s body warmed every part of me and even though I didn’t think I could, I fell asleep again.
Only this time I was sure that I had a smile permanently etched on my face.
When the entire world goes to shit around you, the first thing on your mind shouldn’t be sex. But with the way Vee’s body fit perfectly against mine, her warmth caressing every place we touched, I couldn’t help it.
Even when I heard our parents wake a few hours after we’d settled in, or sensed the curious stares of someone watching us, I refused to move. It felt too good. Too familiar. And since almost everything that had been my life was now gone, I couldn’t let go of her.
“Zach?” Vee wiggled slightly, sending my thoughts to dangerous places. “Is that what I think it is?”
A small chuckle covered the twinge of embarrassment. “What do you mean?” I teased.
Vee shifted closer to the wall, her hips inching further away. “Seriously?” she said in mock disgust. “What’s wrong with you?” When she turned her head to look at me, I noticed the amused eyes.
“I’m a man, Vee. What can I say?”
“Does this happen all of the time, or just when I’m next to you?”
Definitely when you’re here. “Pretty much every morning.” I wrapped my hand around her hip bone and pulled her back against me. The small gasp that escaped her pursed lips encouraged me further. “Don’t you remember your health class? Or do I need to give you an anatomy lesson?” I tickled her side, loving every inch that rubbed against me.
“How can you stand walking around with that thing poking out every morning?” she asked as she tried to slap my hand away.
“It’s what makes me a man, Vee.”
She sat up in the cot and pushed my shoulders deeper into the fabric. “You are not a—”
Vee’s smile disappeared the second she looked out beyond our little world. I followed her gaze and sucked in a surprised breath when I saw what caught her attention.
“Time to get up.” A guy, not much older than us, stood three inches from our bed with a shovel in one hand and a pick axe in the other. If his dirty overalls and greasy hair weren’t enough to freak us out, his weapons of choice certainly did the job.
Vee flung her legs over me and stood, her hand almost brushing against my not-so-happy man parts. “Who are you,” she asked through a scowl. Her crossed arms and cocked hip clearly sent a signal to the intruder.
“I’m Dan, and you both have to get up and help.” Even from my spot on the cot, I smelled his coffee breath that lurched out from in between stained teeth.
“Help with what?” Vee snapped.
Dan looked at her—really looked at her, and something boiled inside of me. But Vee never flinched. “He needs to help dig and you need to help the women upstairs.”
Vee’s hands dropped and clenched into fists. “The women upstairs?” I had no doubt she’d caught the condescending tone in Dan’s statement, and I felt a small bit a fear for him. “Where are we? Back in 1947?”
Vee had stepped forward, but Dan appeared unfazed. So I jumped to my feet and pulled on a long-sleeved shirt. I let my hand purposely reach between the two of them just in case one wanted to start a real pissing match. I wasn’t actually sure who would win. “Okay, Dan. What’s the deal?”
After a few seconds of an award-winning stare off, Dan finally turned his attention to me. He was much shorter than I’d thought, but the breath smelled even worse this close. “You need to help dig out the cellar, and she needs to go can with the ladies.”
“That is so sexist,” Vee grumbled but my hand on her shoulder stopped her protests.
“Can you check on my mom?” I asked.
Vee glared at me and then at Dan. I knew she wanted to punch him. But instead she just snatched her sweater off the cot and sighed. “Fine.” In pure Vee attitude, she bumped Dan’s shoulder a little too hard as she stomped past us and left through the metal door on the other side of the room.
“What’s her deal?” Dan asked as though we were pals.
“That’s just Vee.”
“Well, she’s kind of a bitch.”
In an instant, I had Dan shoved up against the wall, my fingers digging into his throat. “Not cool, man,” I pushed through my gritted teeth. “You don’t treat a lady like that.”
Dan gave me a look, one that I was sure would get him killed at some point. Probably by the women upstairs. He had no instinct for survival. “Whatever,” he huffed. “Here, you can shovel.”
Dan slammed the wooden handle into my side just a little too hard. But I let it go, knowing that my parents would be irate if I started a fight on our first day at this cabin-compound.
I grabbed the tool and dropped my grip on Dan’s throat. He adjusted his shirt and then walked out the same door, expecting me to follow. Jumping into my shoes, I hustled out behind him, curious about what my new job for the day would be.
But after we turned a few corners and entered an underground maze, I started to worry. Was this a trick? Was Dan luring me back here and to kill me so everyone could survive on my flesh? Would they execute all of us? At one point, I had to laugh. The sheer number of absurd thoughts zipping through my brain would make anyone chuckle. Even Dan. Well, maybe Dan.
As we rounded a more open space, I saw the first sign of other human life. A guy with a wheelbarrow pushed his way past us without saying a word. Not even a grunt escaped his lips as he hauled a load of rock out to…well, I don’t know where he was going exactly
.
“What are we doing?” I asked Dan who stomped through the dirt path ahead of me.
Without looking back, he said, “Expanding the bunker.”
“Why?”
Dan never replied and instead tossed a glare over his shoulder. I had a feeling he was a man of few words. Or he just preferred to communicate in dirty looks.
The sharp screech of metal slamming into rock let me know we’d reached the end of the line. In a hollowed out room, battery operated spotlights sat strategically around the space to provide enough light to at least function. As I stood, taking in my surroundings, another older man pushed a wheelbarrow around us. His wasn’t quite as full as the last one, but at least he nodded in my direction when he shuffled by. The other five guys, none of them much older than their mid-twenties, cut away at the rock in the small space. No one stopped when Dan and I arrived.
“You shovel my debris,” Dan commanded. In the dimly lit cave-room, his teeth looked even more rotten.
“Not until you tell me exactly what we’re doing,” I said.
Dan twisted toward me and flung the pick axe over his shoulder. “Seriously?” I nodded and he sighed. “We need more space.” His eyes wandered over the ever-expanding room. “We might be here for a while.”
Dan’s eyes lit up in excitement at the same time my bones chilled. I supposed the reality of the situation still hadn’t quite settled into my psyche yet. I also didn’t like the idea of being stuck here in this “safe house” for years to come. Especially not with these people who barely spoke.
“Start shoveling.” Dan pointed to a pile of rock rubble in the middle of the cleared space.
Head still a little groggy from the lack of sleep, I sucked it up and begin shoveling. It didn’t take long to fill the only empty wheelbarrow in the room, and just as I was about to carry it outside, the first guy came back and pushed me away. “This is my job,” he grumbled, and practically jogged out of the space.
“Okay,” I mumbled to myself. What was up with these people?
Several hours later, I stopped trying to figure it out. Every time I’d tried to start a conversation, I’d been awarded with glares and grunts. Only the older man even bothered to look me in the eye. But the way he cowered around the others like an abused dog, didn’t sit right with me. By the time Melanie came into the cave to tell us that dinner was ready, I couldn’t wait to see some familiar faces. Even Melanie’s perpetual scowl and greasy black hair was a relief.
Covered in dust and with blisters threatening to burst on my hands, I really wanted a warm shower. But we weren’t home anymore and those kinds of comforts had been lost in just a twenty-four hour period. A part of me, one I would never show in public, wanted to sit in a dark corner and mourn. So much for the football playoffs, or graduation, or college. I wondered what happened to my friend Mario. I even wondered what happened to Kayla. My sister was somewhere in Boston, if Boston even still existed. Would I ever see her again? Were any of the big cities still functioning? Were we stuck living in these kinds of places the rest of our lives? Was it even worth it?
“This way.” Dan’s hand grabbed my sleeve and pulled me to the left, where I’d been trying to turn down another rock pathway to the right. I hadn’t even noticed where I was going, but now curiosity raced through me.
“What’s down that way?” I asked.
Dan raised his brows as though I’d just said the most ridiculous thing ever. He huffed and shook his head. “You will never know.”
Really? Tempted to knock him to the ground, I tried to think of three reasons why I shouldn’t kick in his smart mouth. Anger usually didn’t possess me this much, and I smiled when I wondered if Vee’s fiery personality seeped into mine this morning. And thinking of Vee helped me calm my boiling blood long enough to get through the last few segments of the underground tunnels.
The sun had already set by the time we emerged from the depths of Crazy Land, but the pinks in the sky provided a welcoming backdrop. I immediately spotted Vee setting plates of food on the oversized picnic table, and it took every ounce of self-control not to go running to her. She looked at me and made a silly face, and I smiled in relief. Finally, something familiar. Then I spotted our mothers, pouring drinks into plastic cups and bustling around the outside dining area like they were entertaining friends.
“Are they back from the supply run yet?” I asked Dan who’d stopped beside me.
“Probably,” he grunted and then walked away.
Vee waved me over to the edge of the stone patio, glancing around nervously and wiping her hands on the full-sized apron that hung from her neck. By the time I reached her, another ten people had emerged from the shadows and were now starting to take their seats at the table. “Nice look, Suzy Homemaker,” I said with a smile.
Vee shook her head. “Don’t even start.”
I laughed as she grabbed my arm and pulled me around the corner of the cabin where we had some semblance of privacy. “This place is ridiculous,” she spat as soon as we were clear of prying eyes.
“What happened?” I asked, even though I completely agreed with her.
“These people are weird.” She shuddered and wrapped her arms in front of her. “I feel like I’ve stepped into a cult where no one is allowed to speak and the women are expected to obey at all times.”
When I shrugged, Vee punched me in the arm. “It’s a government facility, Vee. Not a private doomsday house.”
“So they say,” she grumbled.
“What do you mean?”
“Nina said—”
“Who’s Nina?” I asked.
Vee glared at me. “Someone who would actually answer my questions.” She glanced back toward the rear of the cabin where everyone was getting ready to enjoy a meal. My stomach growled. “Nina said that only the same three or four people go on the supply runs and she thinks their uniforms are fake.”
“Vee, you’re not making any sense.”
“Zach, these people are crazy and we need to get out of here.”
“Didn’t our Dads go on a run today?” I asked, placing my hands on her shoulders to calm her down.
“Yes, I think so.”
“So we should talk to them tonight and see what they think. There’s no need to panic yet.” Although as I said those words to comfort Vee, I knew I had the same doubts racing through my head.
These people were strange.
“Zach and Vee,” my mom peeked her head around the corner. “Come and eat. Everyone’s waiting.”
I waved at her and nodded. “They’re waiting for us?” Vee asked. “I’m telling you that is not normal.”
“Is anything ever going to be normal again, Vee?”
Her shoulders slumped at the same time reality crashed back into the present. No, nothing would ever be normal for us again. I looked at her face, painted with fear and disappointment. But at least we had each other. Bending forward, I kissed her forehead and hugged her tight. When her arms wrapped around my back, I wished we could just disappear.
“Are you coming?” my mother asked, once again searching for us.
Vee stepped away from me and wiped at her eyes. “Let’s go join the circus,” she mumbled.
“The circus would be a much cooler place,” I teased. “This is more like a convent.”
Vee burst into laughter and my smile helped cover the nervousness that fluttered inside. It wasn’t until I saw my father’s face that I felt a little better. All of the men were already sitting at the table, and he waved me over. The women were gathered off to the side, waiting for me to join the group.
“Jesus,” Vee whispered to me just before she walked over to the rest of the female companions.
I couldn’t have said it any better. But once I sat, a silent signal encouraged the women to do the same, and they nestled down in between each of us. Everyone dug into their meals like they hadn’t eaten for weeks. And after a day filled with shoveling rock and minimal
nourishment, even the steamed kale tasted like a delicacy. Although we shared a million looks, no one in our families spoke. Just like the silence that enveloped the rest of the table, we cut, chewed, and swallowed without making much noise.
After we’d finished eating, the women cleared the table, and the men disappeared somewhere into the darkness, I just wanted to crawl into bed with Vee. But before we ventured downstairs, my dad pulled all of us aside.
“So how did it go today?” he asked everyone.
At once, we all started shouting our opinions in a hushed whisper. As though we knew someone might be listening, we acted like it were a crime to speak out loud. Vee, Valerie, and my mom ripped their aprons off and threw them on the ground. I complained about the eerie silence and secret passageways buried deep below us. Sampson simply tried to comfort his wife and daughter.
“This place is insane, David,” my mom said. “How did you even know about it?”
“A friend told me,” my dad said looking at all of us in concern. “It’s not very well known because it can’t accommodate too many people. But at least we can have a roof over our heads until we figure out the next steps.”
My mom nodded, as did Sampson. But Vee and I didn’t have the same trust in the situation. “There is something off here,” Vee said and I agreed.
“Well how was the supply run?” Valerie asked her husband.
Sampson and my dad shared a look that couldn’t be explained. “We got what we needed for a while,” he said.
“Well, can we get our own supplies and get out of here?” I asked.
“Not yet, Zach.” My dad placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. “We need to figure some things out first,” he said, nodding toward Sampson.
“What are you two planning?” Vee asked.
Her dad smiled. “Nothing yet. But we know this isn’t a long-term solution. However, it wouldn’t serve us well to act irrational at this point.” He glanced at all of us one by one. “We need to bide our time.”
