Salvation | Book 1 | Salvation

by McNeil, Nick

  The underground bunker had been built from several shipping containers. Flexible foil dryer transition ducts ran across the ceiling of the bunker. Levi could only assume it was for some sort of ventilation. One of the inner walls was lined with maps, cutout newspapers, and red yarn connecting what appeared to be absolute nonsense. Only Mr. Cheltenham could have deciphered his own connections made using the red strings. In the middle of the nonsense was a computer. Two collapsible bunk beds lay mounted on another wall. Adjacent was a wall lined with various firearms, along with an air-filtration control panel. Attached to the final wall was a stove, sink, cabinets, as well as a door that had a restroom sign.

  In the middle of the bunker was a latched door. “What does that lead to?” Levi asked.

  “I said no questions, Mr. Jones!” Cheltenham scolded.

  Dinesh spun in circles, taking in all of his surroundings. “Do you live down here all year?”

  “I have a cabin above ground.” Mr. Cheltenham sat in a wheeled desk chair and slid over to his computer. “I abandoned it a week ago when a trusted colleague of mine warned me of a risk to our national security.” Mr. C began typing profusely.

  “I thought all the power went out?” Levi inquired. “How are you still using your computer?”

  “No questions, Mr. Jones.” A vein bulged above Mr. C’s eye. “But at least this is a fair one.” He spun in his chair and faced the boys. “Whoever did this wiped out what seems like the entire United States grid. We also have probable reason to believe this could be global. Luckily for me”—Cheltenham placed his hand on over his chest—“my bunker is and has always been off the grid. There is even a chance that an EMP wouldn’t reach my tech down here.”

  “EMP?” Dinesh stuttered.

  “EMP… electromagnetic pulse. Anyone who has played a video game in the last ten years knows what an EMP is.” Mr. C pressed his lips together and proceeded to massage his own temples. “In simple terms, an EMP is a short burst of electromagnetic energy. This can be radiated, electric, even a magnetic field or a conducted electrical current. It has the power to wipe out nearly everything electronic, even modern cars. Anything run on a computer of any type, essentially. But that isn’t what this is.” Cheltenham turned back toward his computer. “If you have a charge, all electronics still work. The only thing we don’t have is power.”

  “Okay, the power is out. Won’t the government just”—Dinesh shook his head—“turn it back on? I don’t see the major overall harm besides some food spoiling in people’s fridges.”

  “No power means nuclear reactors at power plants will go into meltdown, causing nuclear fallout in the surrounding areas.” Levi pushed his glasses up to be readjusted on his nose. “Commercial airlines will have no means of communication, causing countless crashes on the runways. Sewage plants will stop working, compromising all tap water.”

  “Okay, okay, I get it.” Dinesh leaned against the closest wall for support and wiped his forehead of the sweat beads forming.

  “I don’t think you do.” Mr. C rolled his chair close to Dinesh. “I don’t think the government has any idea what’s going on. I have reports that a terrorist group literally broadcasted a message before the power went out. If that’s true, then the government has absolutely no access to the power grid anymore.”

  “So when we hit the surface, it’s just going to be the apocalypse now.” Dinesh stood up straight and stopped leaning against the wall. “Nope.” He chuckled. “That’s so ridiculous. You two are always coming up with the lamest conspiracies.”

  “It won’t be chaos right away. In 2003, forty-five million people in the United States lost power, and people strutted home without a worry,” Levi replied. “It’ll take a few days for everything to settle in, especially since everyone’s electronics still work.”

  “Day two, the stress will start to settle in. People will begin running out of supplies,” Mr. C added. “Welcome to the Wild, Wild West. This is when the looting happens and people realize they must be armed or potentially robbed.”

  Levi spoke up. “Day three or four is when everyone realizes something major is happening. This is when folk will either bunker down or bug out.”

  Dinesh took his jacket off and tied it around his waist. “So we survive the first few days, and then all is good?” His voice cracked.

  “This is not something we are all going to laugh off in a few days like some sort of meme.” Mr. Cheltenham stood up and looked Dinesh directly in the eye. “This isn’t something we are all going through together and will one day joke about. This is not a slight inconvenience for a few days.” Mr. C got so close, Dinesh could smell the french vanilla coffee he’d drunk earlier that morning. “There is no government control; there are no more rules; there won’t even be a way to let everyone know martial law has been implemented.” Cheltenham took a deep breath. “This, Dinesh, is the end of the world.”

  West Pines, Washington

  12:05 a.m.

  “Oh my god.” Levi’s mother shook her head. “This is not the end of the world.” The woman had wavy, long brown hair. Her fair skin complemented her pink lips and blue eyes.

  “Did you not listen to anything I said?” Levi tried to step in front of his mother as she proceeded to toss spoiled items out of the fridge. He stopped moving. “You know none of that is technically even bad yet, right?” Levi shook his head. “That’s not important. What is important is what we plan on doing.”

  “Is this like the time when you thought you saw a UFO?” Amelia interjected, sipping a glass of lemon water from a straw.

  “Okay, first of all, Washington has the most unidentified flying object sightings per capita, so I’m not the only one.” Levi turned back to look at his mother. “I swear this is nothing like that. We have actual evidence this time.”

  “So you admit you had no actual evidence last time,” Amelia followed up.

  Levi glared at his sister and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Seriously, if this is anything like other natural disasters,” he turned to his sister and emphasized, “that actually happened, such as in Louisiana and Texas”—his voice returned to a calm demeanor—“then we could have a major issue on our hands. Those places lost all power, and they saw looting, not just in businesses, but in their own homes. Fires will start, and no one is going to get a call to respond to it. Places will run out of gas. Anything you need will have to be purchased with cash that we already had to have withdrawn.”

  Amelia sighed. “I hate ever agreeing with him, but, Mom, I think Levi is right.” Her sarcastic tone quickly faded. “I heard a lot of people at school saying they heard a really weird broadcast this morning. That coupled with what Levi heard from the truckers—this is weird. No matter whether this is a big ol’ conspiracy or not.” Amelia waved her arms in the air. “This has still never happened. Not to mention, much less has happened, and we did witness extreme events in those areas.”

  Levi’s mother stopped rifling through the refrigerator and took a moment to herself. She looked at both of her children endearingly. “Okay.” She nodded. “We can’t do anything until your father arrives.”

  “What?” Both children doubted.

  “It was going to be a surprise.” Mrs. Jones chuckled. “He was supposed to land this morning around 6 a.m. I’m sure getting out of Seattle has been a nightmare.”

  “Dad is in Seattle?” Levi put his hands on top of his head, gripping his hair. “Major cities are literally graveyards in times like this.” He closed his eyes. “It’s okay though. 2003 New York, everyone walked home, happy-go-lucky. No one even knows something has happened. But”—he opened his eyes—“in a major city, people are way more likely to hear about the broadcast. Which would mean it could already be chaos right now.”

  Levi’s mother put her hands on his shoulders. “Levi, calm down. You are assuming the worst. We will wait for your father to arrive, and if he isn’t here by tomorrow morning, then we can follow your plan.” She gave him an unconvincing smile. �
�Like you said, nothing too bad should happen until day three anyways.”

  “I don’t agree, but I am okay with compromising.” Levi bit his lip. “But first thing tomorrow, we are going to Mr. C’s place.”

  “Levi Jones!” his mother shouted. “I thought I told you to stop hanging out with him. It’s weird that a grown man is befriending a teenage boy.”

  “I’m almost eighteen, and it’s because we are the only two people in town who agreed that what is actually happening was a realistic possibility of actually happening all along,” Levi pleaded.

  “Wow, excellent wording.” Amelia chuckled and went back to sipping her drink.

  “You know what I’m trying to say.” Levi lowered his voice. “We don’t have any supplies. You even said yourself that tomorrow morning we can follow my lead. My lead is to leave this place. We are the first city outside Seattle. The city is going to trickle down straight into our home, and we don’t have the means to bunker down and protect this place.”

  Mrs. Jones reluctantly nodded her head in agreement.

  “I will look around the house and grab what I can. But hopefully we can convince Mr. C to lend us some supplies so we can at least survive for a few days on our own,” Levi continued. “Call him whatever you want, but right now he is technically in the safest part of town.”

  Seattle, Washington

  8:25 p.m.

  The Sea-Tac airstrip was covered in flames and destroyed airplanes. Chunks of metal from various aircraft were mangled together, and the runway was littered with corpses. The sheer number of embers floating in the air gave the illusion that it was raining fire. Men and women alike were screaming as they held the stumps of their missing limbs. Others blared as they struggled to break free from large objects crushing them.

  A pile of debris started to come alive as a man began to crawl out from under a sheet of metal leaning against a pile of suitcases. A well-groomed man with black, but graying hair emerged from the rubble. Blood poured down his face from the gash on his forehead. The man wiped the blood off his face, revealing a light sprinkle of freckles on his cheekbones and nose. He touched the cut on his forehead and then looked at the blood on his fingers. The man looked out over the airport. He looked handsome, yet menacing.

  “Help me!” A woman stuck under an airplane wheel grabbed the pant leg of the man. He looked at her and, with much hesitation, kicked his leg free. “Please,” the woman begged. “Abe, please.” The man continued to walk away. He looked back, but not for long before continuing to march forward. “Abraham, please!”

  2

  DAY 2

  West Pines, Washington

  6:10 a.m.

  Before the crack of dawn, and before anyone awoke, Levi made his way down to the basement. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. Like most nights, Levi had not slept. At the bottom of the basement in the lower drawer of a filing cabinet was a small gun safe. Levi, key already in hand, opened the safe. Before opening it, he pondered back on the time his father had given him the key. He remembered the promise he’d made to always look after his mother and sister. Levi opened the case and pulled out a Beretta 92FS. The gun was still clean from after the time he and Dinesh had gone out shooting earlier that summer. Levi slid the magazine out—the gun was fully loaded. He quickly checked to make sure the safety was on and then placed the firearm between the small of his back and the waistband of his pants. He rifled around the filing cabinet in search for more rounds, but before he found any, he heard footsteps upstairs. Levi didn’t want his mother and sister knowing he was concealing a gun, so he scurried upstairs before either of them noticed where he was.

  West Pines, Washington

  6:45 a.m.

  The Jones family hiked across the street and into the misty woodlands. Levi wore a hiking backpack, as did his mother. Amelia carried the same backpack she used for school. The fog from the day before had cleared out, and the air smelled of fresh morning dew. The sky was clear, and the sunlight encouraged the last flowers of summer to open their petals.

  “So when Cheltenham says he isn’t going to help us, what’s your game plan?” Amelia leaned over and playfully bumped her brother. The entire family had on jeans and hiking boots.

  Levi rolled his eyes. “I don’t know. We can blackmail him or something.”

  “Ha, with what?” Amelia giggled.

  “We can say we will tell everyone where he is and that he has a ton of supplies or something.” Levi shrugged.

  “Simple, but it could work.” Amelia tightened the knot of the windbreaker tied around her waist.

  “Are we getting close?” Mrs. Jones spoke for the first time all morning. Her eyes looked as though she hadn’t slept most of the night.

  “Yeah, it’s just up here.” Levi jogged ahead, pushed a few leaves and branches to the side, and revealed Mr. C’s bunker to his mother and sister.

  Amelia punched her brother in the arm. “Not bad, Levi.”

  “Levi!” a voice echoed between the forest trees. “Levi!” Dinesh ran out from behind a tree nearby. His mother, father, and little brother were right behind him. “What are you doing here?” Dinesh shook his head. “Obviously you’re here for the same reason I am.”

  Dinesh and Levi spoke at the same time. “To get supplies,” Levi stated.

  “Rendezvous!” Dinesh shouted.

  Levi looked his best friend in the eye and reiterated, “To get supplies.”

  “Right, of course.” Dinesh nervously laughed.

  “Hey, Di-nuts!” an obnoxious voice hollered. A muscled young man with blond hair and a letterman jacket stepped over a few plants and stood between Dinesh and Levi. “What brought you two butt buddies out here?”

  “Ah, Chad, how great of you to join us.” Dinesh glanced at Levi and then back at the young man in the letterman.

  “How many times do I have to tell you, Di-nuts”—the blond jock pointed his finger in Dinesh’s face—“my name is Oliver!”

  “Oliver is just so unfitting.” Dinesh yawned. “What are you doing out here anyhow?”

  “I think we should be asking you the same question.” A tall, burly man with a thick white beard placed his hand on Oliver’s shoulder. “You all seemed to know where you were going, so we followed you right on over.” The older gentleman made a walking signal with his fingers.

  “It’s just a coincidence, really.” Levi spoke up. “We were both just passing by.”

  Oliver’s dad leaned over to look behind Levi. “Now, what is that?” Oliver and his father strutted over to Mr. C’s bunker. “What do we have here?” Oliver’s father clapped his hands together.

  Dinesh and his family stood behind their father, Amar. “Look, we just came to look for some supplies. We really aren’t looking for trouble.”

  “This works out perfectly.” Oliver slapped his thigh. “We came here to look for some supplies too.” Oliver tilted over and placed his boot on the top of the bunker door. “And I have a feeling there may be some supplies down here.”

  “There are, but they aren’t ours to share,” Amar explained.

  Levi lowered his eyebrows. “Why are you telling them anything?” He looked over at Oliver and his father. “I think you two should just keep moving, and we can all go along with our day.” Levi gulped.

  “I don’t think you understand.” Oliver’s dad shook his head and laughed quietly to himself. “You are getting robbed right now.” He pulled back his left jacket flap, revealing the grip and rear sight of his pistol.

  “Sir, please. We don’t even know the man who lives here. We can leave right now.” Amar placed his hands in front of himself and took a step forward.

  Oliver quickly whipped out his pistol. “Not another step, buckaroo.” He directed his aim at Amar.

  Mrs. Jones grabbed both of her children and jumped in front of them.

  Dinesh’s mom screamed, grabbed both of her boys, and held them tight.

  “We don’t even know how to get in,” Mrs. Jones cried.

  Oli
ver’s father turned and pointed his gun directly at Mrs. Jones. Levi could see the man was holding a Glock 15. Levi pushed his mother to the side just enough for him to place himself in front of her. As he switched places with his mother, he reached back and drew his Beretta, flipping the safety mid-draw. “Back the hell down,” Levi screamed hard enough that the back of his throat nearly bled.

  Oliver’s father’s eyes grew wide, and his hand started to shake. Oliver stepped behind his father like a scared puppy.

  “This doesn’t have to escalate any further,” Amar pleaded.

  Startled, Oliver’s father rapidly turned and opened fire on Amar and his family. Birds fled from the branches of nearby trees. The gunshots echoed through the forest, causing wild deer in the distance to flee. Several shots were fired. Dinesh hit the ground as his mother and brother screamed and trembled in fear. Dinesh tried to scurry away but couldn’t find the coordination to do anything more than flail in place. Amar cried in agony, clenching a bullet wound in his chest. Blood oozed through his fingers and dribbled down his abdomen.

  “I still have fourteen rounds,” Levi asserted, his trigger hand steady. “Ten summers and three winters with the Washington Junior Shooters Club—test me.”

  Mrs. Jones screeched in distress. She shook and her legs gave out, making her hit the ground. Amelia maintained her composure and comforted their mother.

  Oliver’s father turned and looked at his son, who lay on the ground behind him, lifeless. A bullet round rested between Oliver’s eyes. Blood poured out from the back of his skull, running across the rocks and branches on the ground like spilled water. Tears filled the eyes of Oliver’s father. He spun with his aim in the direction of Levi. “You son of a b—”

  Levi opened fire, placing two bullets into the abdomen of the enraged man. Oliver’s father dropped his pistol on the leaf-cluttered landscape and fell to his knees. He locked eyes with Levi and took his last breath before collapsing face-first onto the soil. Levi dropped his backpack onto the ground and placed his pistol inside the outer pocket, not wanting to burn his skin from concealing it in his pants. He turned to his mother and sister. “Are you two okay?”