The Shelter: The Aftermath

by Ira Tabankin

  “Yes, those were my orders, I didn’t say I was following them. I’ve been giving weapons and training to the people we’ve assisted.”

  There’s a general sigh of relief. “Okay, let’s go meet the rest of the community.”

  Chapter 15

  El Chapo smiles reading the reports his army sends back. The number of people trying the low-cost drugs is larger than he expected. He has to send additional cocaine north to fill the demand. After the low-cost sample of drugs, the price is slowly increased forcing those without jobs to steal to pay for their new habit. The crime rate surges, people fight each other for anything of value which they can trade for the cocaine which took their fears away, replacing them with the feelings of joy and strength. People went from depression to intense happiness. El Chapo laughs to his son,

  “I told you, no matter how poor they are now, the Yankee’s will always find money or something of value for good quality drugs. They don't know what happened to them, they don’t understand that their once great country fell apart because it can’t pay its debts. I’m doing them a favor by providing them with a distraction. Soon, I’ll run America from my home and nobody will be able to stop me. They don't have the will or the power to stop me.”

  “Si, Papa, soon you will be El Jefe of all of the Americas. What’s next?”

  “I always wanted to visit Europe.”

  “Si, that sounds like fun, I can’t wait to sample the French women.”

  “Son, you will have your choice very soon. Our drugs will enable us to rule the world. We take the pain away from the people. For a short time we make them feel better, that’s all they have left. Today, America, tomorrow, Europe.”

  “Papa, what about Africa?”

  “There’s nothing there I want. It’s a waste of resource.”

  “What about the diamonds in South Africa?”

  “Let others dig them, we’ll take them in payment for our drugs.”

  Nodding his son smiles thinking his father is the smartest man in the world.

  @@@@@

  Lacy spent hours holding Jay’s hand speaking quietly to him about their past. She’s hoping he hears her and comes around. Fred stayed behind when the captain stopped at the medical facility. He knocks on the door frame.

  “Lacy, are you okay?”

  “Fred, I’m as fine as I can be.”

  “Have you considered trying to see if he responds to his granddaughters again? It worked once, why not a second time?”

  “Fred, won’t they be traumatized by seeing him like this?”

  “Tell them what they’re going to see. Tell them he’s just sick. They are going to help their papa, Jay, get better. They’ve seen the fighting and death, I think they’re stronger than you think. I think they’ll be able to accept seeing Jay as he is.”

  “I don’t know, I worry about the effect on them.”

  “Lacy, you trusted me once, trust me one more time.”

  @@@@@

  Captain Black asks, “What’s on the back side of the shelter?”

  “You might get the chance to see the rest of the shelter if things go well. I hope you understand that no outsiders will be allowed to see everything in the shelter.”

  “Like your emergency exit that’s hidden over the next hill or your false entrance?”

  John turns around to look into the Captain’s eyes, “How do you know that?”

  “Ground penetrating radar creates a 3D map of what’s underground. We were able to map the shelter. I know the rear section is a different design than the front, we know where your air and power come from. We know you have a very unique roof that’s designed to survive explosions. My experts were very complimentary of your design. I’m not your enemy, I’m here as a representative of the government.”

  “That phrase could make you our enemy.”

  “Let me rephrase it, I represent the people I’ve sworn an oath to protect.”

  John adds, “And to follow the orders of the Commander in Chief and the officers appointed over you.”

  “I am what you could call an Oath Keeper. I ignored the order to disarm the people, in fact, I’ve supplied rifles, training, and ammo to many of the people we’ve met. I refuse to follow what I consider to be illegal orders.”

  John shakes his head, “And they’ve left you in the field?”

  Captain Black laughs, “They have much larger fish to fry than me. I’m sure you’re aware of our issues with China and the currency exchange isn’t going well. Which leads me to ask what are you doing about exchanging your currency?”

  Tony replies, “Captain, we have an agreement with the local bank branch general manager, when he has sufficient currency, he’ll arrange to exchange our currency.”

  “I don’t think I want to know any details of private deals you’ve made. Shall we go in to address the group?”

  “Good idea, everyone is waiting for you.”

  Tony enters the cafeteria saying, “May I have your attention? Let’s all settle down, US Army Captain Black is here and has requested to address us.”

  Everyone takes a seat, most are leaning towards the door to see the Captain entering. He smiles and waves to everyone as he enters the cafeteria.

  Captain Black waves to everyone, he nods his head to the applause, he’s surprised to see over thirty people jammed into the cafeteria, most are armed with what looks like the same M4s his troops are carrying. Thank God, at least it looks like they know how to handle them. None of their fingers are on the trigger. They were trained on how to use the rifles. I’d hate to see the effect of all of those rifles firing inside a concrete room. I see at least four shotguns and an Uzi, no sign of a Thompson. Anyone trying to capture this shelter would get slaughtered trying to capture this place. The halls make turns providing cover for the defenders. Whoever laid it out knew what they were doing. His thoughts are interrupted by Tony asking,

  “Would you like a cup of coffee?”

  “You have real coffee?”

  “Of course we do, just ask if there’s anything else you need.”

  “I think I’m supposed to be asking you that.”

  Tony stands on a bench saying, “Let’s settle down and listen to the Captain.”

  “Tony, thank you very much. I want to thank you for allowing me to visit with you. I know I’m the first person to be invited to see the inside of your shelter. I’m very moved by your sign of faith you’ve placed in me. I’m sure you watched us capture the surviving Russians who attacked you. I’m not sure if you know we also have Sheriff Grover under house arrest.”

  Randy yells out, “Keep the SOB, just don’t keep him in my house, he’ll steal the wallpaper off the walls.”

  Everyone laughs at Randy’s joke.

  Captain Black smiles responding, “No, he’s being kept in the large castle.”

  Randy stands to say, “Oh shit, you put him in Jay’s house? I hope you counted the cinder blocks because he’s bound to steal those or the paint off the walls.”

  “I understand you don’t have much respect for the law.”

  Fred responds, “We respect the law, it’s the crook in the uniform we don’t respect.”

  “I’ll make sure my troops keep him under guard. We can discuss what to do with him afterward.”

  Todd throws the captain a 5.56 round, “I’ll donate this to the cause.”

  Captain Black catches the round. He laughs, flipping it back to Todd. “I have more than enough if that’s what it comes to. Let’s discuss why I’m here and what the future holds.”

  The room falls silent, everyone leans forward to listen to the Captain.

  @@@@@

  I don’t want to be a vegetable. I can’t live this way. I never thought I’d take my own life. I don’t know how to even do that in this condition. Dad, why didn’t you warn me? Why did you let me return to a dead body? Why? This is worse than dying. What did I do to deserve this? Please, isn’t there something you can do?

  “Jay, what are you goin
g to do now? You’ve seen Lacy, I know you feel her pain. You feel her suffering, you have a decision to make. You alone can decide which path to take. If you choose correctly, you’ll lift the weight off of Lacy’s heart. You will be able to provide her with peace and the ability to move on. Or you can watch as her life is filled with pain and suffering. Do you want to spend years lying here helpless watching your family suffer every day? Do you want to be the cause of their suffering? Do you want to multiply your guilt? Do you want everyone you love to suffer? I know you don’t want them to suffer. You lay here without being able to communicate, you’ll go mad, your mind will begin to die, you’ll lay here in pain and won’t even be able to tell anyone. Are you happy you returned? I told you, you could have everything, and you chose this. I’m going to enjoy watching you suffer. I’m going to return visiting you, watching you suffer and fall deeper into madness. Do you want out? Do you want to release your family from years of suffering? All you have to do is will yourself to reach out and take my hand. I’ll take care of everything else, the weight will be lifted from you. You won’t have to listen to their suffering. Just touch my hand and we’ll be on our way.”

  “Jay, DON’T touch his hand. I told you to swim to the light. As much as it pains me to say it, your brother was always selfish, you don’t want to follow him. I told you, follow the light, listen to Black, he is the outside help you’re looking for. You need to wake up. You need to will your body to respond. You will feel pain, you will feel sufferings like nothing you’ve never felt before. You can will your body to respond. You can change. You can do it. The strength is inside of you. Listen to your soul and do the right thing.”

  “Dad, I can’t. I can’t move. I can’t go on this way. I can’t make Lacy suffer like this for years.”

  “Yes, you can. Listen to me! You can do anything. Your mind is strong. You can will your finger to move, you can force your finger to move. Just do it.”

  I’m confused listening to the two voices. I need time to review which way is better for my family. How can I force my body to move? I’ve tried and I can’t move anything. I’m paralyzed. How can my father know what’s inside of me?

  “Jay, I can hear your thoughts. You can’t hide anything from me. You always had issues listening to me. You have this one chance to will yourself to wake. Listen to me. Your brother is correct, if you don’t do this now, you will slip into madness, you will go insane, your family will suffer for years. You have one chance. Do it. Open your eyes and move your damn finger!”

  “Dad…”

  “Shut the fuck up and do it. NOW, move your damn index finger! Do it or I’m leaving and won’t return. No matter how much you beg and cry, if you don’t do this now, I won’t be back.”

  “I’ll try.”

  “There’s no trying. There’s no getting tired this time. You have to force yourself to do it and do it before it gets too late.”

  I’m about to try when I feel a warm tear fall on my right hand. I feel a small face rest on my arm. There are tears on my hand and arm. I hear my name being called, wait, I can feel something. If I can feel a tear, then I should be able to move. It must be one of my granddaughters, I can’t let her see me this way. It will scar her for life. I have to protect her. I can do this, I can move my finger. I’ll focus all of my will to move my finger.

  Robert yells in my head, “Don’t, why torture yourself. Stop, why hurt yourself? Just touch my hand with your mind and I’ll take all of your pain away.”

  “Robert, why do you want him? The two of you were never close.”

  “His loss will weaken this community which has far-reaching effects, taking him now helps us in our master plan. I never thought I’d say this, but, I want him to be with me.”

  “No you don’t, you only want whatever reward you get for taking him. I’m not going to allow you take him. Watch, you’ll see him move his finger.”

  “No, he won’t.”

  “Look who’s with him, he loves his family, the youngest one will provide him the strength he needs to move his finger.”

  “What good will moving his finger do?”

  “It’ll tell the doctor all he needs to know to help Jay take the next step.”

  Am I dreaming again? Is all of this a bad dream? Should I just try to change the dream? Maybe I’ll wake to find all of this was nothing but a dream. I’ll wake to the smell of coffee. Who the hell ever heard of dead people talking to them? This has to be a dream. I must be in bed next to Lacy. Maybe my granddaughters are trying to wake me for breakfast.

  “Jay, wake the fuck up. This isn’t a dream, now do it, force your finger to move.”

  “Grandma, I think Papa Jay moved his finger.”

  “What?! Tell me what you felt.”

  “I was holding his finger and kissing it, I felt it move, I felt it try to close around my finger.”

  “Doctor Basco! Come quickly!”

  Chapter 16

  Bianca held her Papa Jay’s hand, she stroked it and silently cried asking her grandfather to wake up. She squeezed her grandfather’s finger praying that he would wake up. “Papa, you’ve been sleeping too much, Mommy and I want you to wake up. Please Papa, please wake up.”

  Bianca feels her papa’s finger move, she turns to her mother, “Mom, Papa moved his finger. He’s waking up. I’m helping Papa wake up.”

  “Bianca, I too want Papa to wake up, but he can’t yet. Grandma Lacy hoped you could wake him, but I don’t think it's working. We’ll have to think of something else.”

  “Mom, I’m telling you, his finger moved.”

  “Let me see, which finger so you think moved?”

  “Mom, his number one finger, look, I’ll squeeze it and he’ll move it.”

  Shelly takes her father’s hand into her own, she lightly squeezes his hand, his finger tightens on her hand.

  “Lacy! Mom! He moved his finger!”

  Lacy rushes back into the room, “Shelly, what do you mean he moved his finger?”

  “Mom, Bianca squeezed his finger, he squeezed back, I did the same thing and he did it again. Try it.”

  Lacy sits next to her love, “Jay, I know you’re in there. I hope you can hear me. I’m going to squeeze your finger, squeeze back to tell me you hear me. Honey, here I go.”

  “Doctor Basco! He moved his finger!”

  “Shelly, go to the cafeteria and get the doctor, tell him Jay moved.”

  Shelly runs to the cafeteria where Captain Black has started addressing the community, she rushes in calling, “Doctor Basco!”

  Tony and Captain Black look at Shelly, Tony asks, “Shelly, what’s wrong?” Fearing that Jay had passed.

  “Tony, Jay moved!”

  Tony looked at Captain Black, “Captain, can you please have a cup a coffee while I check this out?”

  “Go, I understand. What I have to say can wait.”

  Most of the cafeteria follows Tony and Doctor Basco to the medical facility. Doctors Basco reaches the room turning to say, “Everyone, please wait outside of the room, let me see what’s going on.”

  Doctor Basco looks at Lacy,

  “Doctor, he moved his finger.”

  “Can you show me?”

  “Bianca, squeeze Papa’s finger again.”

  “Doctor, did you see?”

  “Yes, this is a very good sign. I want to run a few tests and increase the medicine in his IV, we can see if a higher dose will bring him around.”

  “He was here, he communicated by blinking.”

  “Yes, he did. But then, he slipped back into a coma. We’re going to bring him back. I need you all to stand just outside so I have the room I need to work.”

  Doctor Basco increases the amount of Amantadine, which helped bring Jay back to life. Fifteen minutes after increasing the dosage Jay open his eyes in shock. Jay tried to talk, but couldn’t. Doctor Basco leaned over Jay, “Wait, don’t panic. You can’t speak because there’s a tube down your throat. I’m going to slowly remove it. Try to keep your mout
h open and try not to move.”

  Slowly the tube is removed from Jay’s throat. Jay croaks, “Water.”

  Doctor holds a small squeeze bottle of water, “Jay, listen to me. I want you to sip, just sip the water. Give it a little time. Try to relax. I’m going to run some tests. Can you move your right hand?”

  Jay looks Doctor Basco with pleading eyes. “Jay, slowly, just try to move you right hand.”

  Jay’s right-hand squeezes the doctor’s hand. “Very good, let’s try the left.” Again the hand squeezed. “Jay, let’s try to lift your right leg.”