There were offices with carefully mothballed manual typewriters, sealed canisters of replacement ribbons and bottles of ink. There were airtight boxes with paper and envelopes and manila folders, straight out of the 1950s. There were light bulbs and extension cords and fans and swivel chairs and a whole huge room full of shelves stocked with automotive parts in tinfoil and cellophane packing. There were cans of bearing grease and motor oil and differential oil and paint and ammonia and everything else imaginable. Daniel wondered how much money they could get for some of this stuff online. He knew one source of income they had if nothing else.

Much of it was unusable after all this time, but some was pristine, like the day it was made. He looked at a perfect, shiny set of hubcaps for the 1948 Ford Super Deluxe sitting on its flattened tires in the big cavern. The car itself had 257 miles on the odometer. It would probably fetch a year’s pay at an auction. This place was a museum and a goldmine.

Later on, Zeke showed them stacks of mint gold and silver coins in a vault, placed there to ensure the occupants had money if paper currency collapsed. There were also bundles of uncirculated US bills from the 1940s, which would fetch more than face value to collectors, at least twenty million dollars.

From this Daniel realized why Zeke hid that file. He was as honest and patriotic as the next man but who wouldn’t be tempted by twenty million in ready cash and all these toys? And it was all unknown, a victimless crime, a treasure trove just waiting half a century for someone to put it to use. He felt slightly guilty, but there were far more important considerations.

 

 

-17-

Daniel and the rest spent the next day moving in and trying to get the basics working in the bunker. Months of effort stretched in front of them if they were to live here long term.

They found a residence level, with over a hundred individual rooms. There were open bays that could house many more people in less comfort. Elise and Daniel took rooms well away from each other. Daniel didn’t trust the emotions born of those first intense moments, and he figured Elise didn’t either, so he would give it time, but they did spend a lot of time together, talking around their feelings, spiraling closer.

Struggling with not letting their physical desires for each other take over, Daniel realized more and more how much they were slaves to their own biology. There was an old saw about “if you don’t control your passions, your passions control you.” Daniel resolved to remain his own master, no matter what the Eden Plague did to him. He wasn’t about to jump in the sack with someone too soon. He’d done enough of that when he was younger. Besides, he couldn’t be sure it wasn’t just because of the Plague...and did he really want to risk her getting pregnant?

They – the two of them, and the rest – ate almost every meal together in a cafeteria with a kitchen attached. Right now food preparation consisted of dumping cans into saucepans and heating up the contents.

After a few days Zeke called a meeting for dinnertime, and they gathered there at one long table. He talked on his feet, pacing up and down, while everyone ate. “We have electricity, food, heat, air, and supplies. We need to discuss our next move.”

“What ‘we,’ Kemo Sabe?” Larry quipped.

Laughter from the older people. Elise and Vinny looked confused.

“I’ll explain later,” Daniel told her. Probably had barely even heard of the Lone Ranger.

“Seriously. What are we going to do?” Zeke said.

A long silence. A raised hand.

“Yes, Roger?”

“We need to set up a lab again. We need equipment. An electron microscope. DNA sequencers. Computers.”

“Noted. You three scientists draw up a wish list.”

“We need to set up the satellite dish, get comms up. We need internet, preferably tap into a landline somewhere,” said Vinny.

“Ditto. Make a list. You’ll be on the shopping team.”

Daniel crossed his arms. “Aren’t we getting ahead of ourselves? These are details. We need to discuss the bigger questions.”

“Such as?”

“Identity. Policy. Strategy. Structure. What are we? Are we just a bunch of outlaws? Are we an A-team? A township? Does everyone start bringing their families in here? Or do some of you who can, go back to a normal life and keep this knowledge to yourself? Because any one of us could blow the whole thing wide open, and get everyone buried deep in government black.”

Zeke blew air past his lips. “All right, good questions. Anyone?”

Elise said, “I think I speak for all of the former INS employees when I say we want to stay here for now and resume our research. This involves the fate of humanity. I don’t trust Jenkins or the government to handle it right. As long as this doesn’t turn into some kind of freaky cult, I don’t care much what the policy and strategy is. Not right now.”

Skull spoke. “We need to agree on some ROE, though. Rules of Engagement. Such as, no one they are looking for can leave the bunker unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“He’s right,” Daniel said. “That means me and the INS people stay. And, nobody tells anyone else about the situation without everyone’s agreement.”

“Everyone? That’s cumbersome,” Zeke said.

Daniel responded, “Okay, then majority agreement? Right. I’ll start first. My dad lives a couple of hours from here. He has his own plane and some land. They will probably be watching him because of me, but we can agree in advance that he can be told and he will eventually come in, but only when we are sure it’s safe.”

Nods all around.

“And I know Zeke is waiting to say what he wants, so I’ll say it for him. His family. Wife and two kids. The longer we wait, the more likely they will connect him to me and the harder it will be to get them here. Zeke?”

“Yeah. What DJ said. I want them brought here. And my mom. She’s in a home with Alzheimer’s. She doesn’t even know me anymore. I don’t mean to sound cold-blooded but we might as well try the Eden Plague on her. She’s just in God’s waiting room right now anyway. It would be worth whatever side effects if her mind was restored, even for a couple of years.”

“Everyone okay with that?” Daniel asked.

Vinny said, “Why don’t we just all agree that any immediate family that will be brought here, and we trust, can come in. But don’t tell anyone that’s going to stay on the outside.”

“See, there’s policy. Agreed?” Daniel asked. Everyone did. “Is there anyone that plans to go back to their life and forget about all this?” Daniel looked in Skull, Spooky and Vinny’s direction. They were the big question marks.

“No way,” says Vinny. “This is the coolest thing since forever. I always wanted to live outside the law and hack into anything I wanted. My family is Uncle Tran’s, so I’m just speaking for myself.”

There were nods and quiet mumbles of approbation. Everyone looked at Spooky, expectantly.

“I cannot bring my own family. Too many friends, brothers, uncles, cousins, my people. Unless they all come. So I go back. I am the man on the outside. Maybe there is a time I will bring my people in. Or send in some of them. Agree?” Spooky looked around anxiously, an unusual emotion for him to show. Everyone nodded.

Zeke said, “Done. Skull?”

Skull sat impassively, his arms crossed like Daniel’s. “I have to think about it,” he said. Stares turned his direction, some hostile.

Daniel didn’t want the man to be driven away. He had to keep peace. “Just as long as you don’t give up our secrets, I’m okay with that,” he said.

The rest of the group followed his lead, accepting. Skull’s expression might have thawed a trifle.

Larry spoke up. “Well, I’m infected, so I ain’t goin’ back to live. But I’d like to go back home for a while, see who might be good candidates. And I got my eye on a honey but it ain’t a done deal yet. I got a sister and she got kids, and then there’s my mom and dad. All right?”