General

Smoky Mountains
by
Jason Crow

Chapter 11 – Keeping busy
Day 3.

“Do you want a glass of water, Uncle Adam?” I heard Ellie ask from the kitchen.

“No. I’m fine. Thank you,” I responded.

After we both cried for over an hour, we comforted each other. We had a long talk together about everything that had happened. I felt SO guilty for letting Ryan go out there and not protecting him. I couldn’t think straight right after we realized he was dead. Ellie was amazing and talked to me constantly. She assured me that it wasn’t my fault. We didn’t know what was happening, and I did everything in my power to stop it. That just wasn’t enough.

After a few minutes, I realized she was probably right. Although the guilt didn’t go away. It kept lingering in the back of my head. Ellie, of course, was also devastated by her brother’s death. But eventually, we both agreed we needed to focus on the problems and mourn over Ryan later.

I was also still digesting the voice message her mother had sent me. It was sent over a day ago, and the ending disturbed me the most.

“Hi, Adam. It’s crazy out here! I’m locking myself in my hotel room. I’m really hoping that you, Ellie, and Ryan are safe. Please call me or app me! The Wi-Fi here is gone, but my phone still has service. Please, Adam! It’s… Oh no! Don…”

That was it. I tried calling her the minute I heard it and again when Ellie was on the toilet. I also sent her over a dozen messages, but no response. I was fearing the worst but couldn’t tell Ellie yet. Not now.

Ellie came back into the living room. I saw her eyes were still red and swollen as she sat down next to me on the couch. She cuddled up to me and sighed deeply. I put my arms around her, and we just sat there, lost in our thoughts.

“What do we do now, Uncle Adam?” Ellie eventually asked.

“I think we need to make a list of things we need to do. Just to make sure we don’t forget anything. How about that?”

“Okay. I guess,” she responded glumly. “What time is it?”

I checked my phone and noticed it was already six pm.

“It’s already six. How about we eat something first and make a list after dinner?”

“I’d like that.”

“Great. Shall we make dinner together?”

The next hour or so, we were busy in the kitchen. Ellie acted less sad, and we actually managed to create an excellent Italian-style spaghetti together. We ate it at the kitchen table, cleaned up together, and went to the living room.

“Okay. I think the first thing we need to do is to find out what is killing everyone. Is it the air, radiation, North Korea?”

Ellie giggled at that last option.

“I can check online if you want. I mean… We’ve got WiFi now”, Ellie offered and smiled weakly.

“Good idea. Even though I don’t think you’ll find much online, it’s worth the effort.”

“Why not?”

“Well… According to everything I saw online up until now, the world has probably gone to pieces. We don’t know that for sure yet, but let’s assume it has. The internet is designed to withstand catastrophic disasters, so its infrastructure will probably be up and running. But platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and such all use algorithms to present us the right news and information. That algorithm is probably way too confused to do anything now. With almost two billion people logging on each day, and maybe half of them posting stuff, the algorithm expects a certain quantity of data. I’d be amazed if Facebook is still available right now. They’ll probably have all sorts of automated procedures in place for these types of enormous drops in data traffic.”

Ellie looked at me, confused. She picked up her phone and unlocked it.

“The app still opens,” she said. But after a few moments laid her phone back down. “It’s still working, but the last addition is over ten hours old. So…”

“There are other ways to get intel. I like the idea of you checking online. I’ll try the TV and see if the regular channels work now. Then I’ll check if the news stations are still broadcasting. I don’t think so, but we’ll have to check. That way, we both work on our most important issue at hand. I think that’s a great start.”

“Great. So do I. What’s next?” Ellie asked, obviously eager to help.

“I need to find a way to contact Uncle Robert. I’m assuming he’s alright in that fortified army base. But I think the only thing we can do about that is wait. And I don’t like that at all. But when we get in touch, we’ll probably know right away what’s going on out there.”

“Maybe I can check the control room? No offense, but I think I’m better with that sort of stuff than you,” Ellie said, looking apologetic.

“Ha, ha! None taken!” I laughed. “But it’s a good idea, Ellie. You do that.”

“Maybe you can check the lab? That’s your cup of tea, isn’t it?”

“That’s an excellent plan, Ellie. Maybe there’s some lead in there about what’s going on. I know Uncle Robert always keeps detailed logs on his computer. So I must check that too.”

“Anything else?” Ellie asked, yawning loudly.

“Well. The most important thing is to gather intel and setup coms. I think we’ve got that covered. Maybe we need to check the crops room in case we’re here for a long time and need fresh food?”

“I guess you’re right. Put that on the list, and we’ll do that after the other stuff is done, okay?”

“Right. I think we’ve got it then. Maybe a cleaning schedule? You vacuum, and I clean the toilet?” I giggled.

Ellie started smiling, which reminded me how much I liked to see Ellie smile.

“We’ll manage. Remind me to set the temperature down when I find it on the control panel tomorrow. When we ask SHIVR, it seems it’s a temporary setting that only lasts an hour or so. Otherwise, we’ll keep walking around in our underwear,” Ellie said and kept smiling.

“Ellie? There is one more thing we need to talk about,” I said with pain in my heart.

“It’s about mom, isn’t it?”

“Well… Yes. I can’t reach her in any way. I tried calling and messaging her through her a lot of apps, but there’s been no reply.”

“Oh,” Ellie responded, not showing too many emotions.

“This doesn’t mean anything, Ellie!”I quickly added. “Maybe the cellphone network went down, her battery is dead, or stuff like that. I’m sure a big, international hotel like the one she stays in has contingency plans for such events. She’s probably in the shelter in the hotel.”

“I hope you’re right, Uncle Adam. She’s an independent woman and can take care of herself. Let’s hope for the best.”

That was a pretty mature reaction. I wondered how good or bad her relationship with her mother was. Or maybe she was just done crying for now.

“Let’s do that. What do you wanna do now? Watch a movie? Go to bed? Have a drink?” I laughed.

“I saw some books on the shelves over there. Maybe read some in bed?” Ellie asked shyly.

“Fine with me. I assume you’re sleeping in my room tonight?”

“You don’t mind, do you?”

“Of course not! And you’re not the only one that’s sad. I’m glad to have some company now too. But I’m taking a glass of whiskey with me.”

“Can I have one too? I’m afraid I can’t sleep, and maybe that’ll help me sleep,” Ellie asked with the same puppy eyes as Ryan did yesterday.

Damn! Yesterday… the day everything changed. Seems like an eternity ago.

“I guess one glass won’t hurt. I’ll go look for a book too, pour the whiskey and come to bed, okay?”

“Thanks, Uncle Adam,” Ellie said as she hugged me firmly.

As I walked into the bedroom, I noticed Ellie wasn’t there yet. I put her glass on the nightstand on her side of the bed. As I walked over to mine, I heard the toilet flush.

I crawled in and looked at Ellie doing the same. I held up my glass, and Ellie took the hint. She took her drink, and we toasted.

“To Ryan,” Ellie said, tearing up.

“To Ryan,” I said, swallowing that lump in my throat away.

“AAHHH,” we both said practically at the same time after our first gulp of whiskey.

“Damn! How can adults drink this shit?” Ellie asked, coughing loudly.

“In a few moments, you’ll feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Then you’ll know,” I laughed.

“Ohhh. You’re right!” Ellie said after a few moments.

A little later, we were sitting up against the headboard of the bed, reading. Eventually, I polished off my glass and poured myself another one. I glanced over at Ellie, and she smiled at me. I poured her a little bit too, figuring it wouldn’t hurt her too much to drink a little more than a full glass of whiskey.

After I finished my second glass, I looked at my phone and noticed it was almost ten. I looked over at Ellie, and she had closed her book already and was polishing off her glass.

“I’m tired. Let’s sleep, shall we?” I asked.

“I guess I can sleep now. So, yeah. Uhm… Uncle Adam?”

“What is it, Ellestar?”

“I… Uhm… I hate to wear clothes in bed. Do you mind if I… You know, take them off?”

This surprised me a lot, and I had to let that sink in for a moment. But that was a slight problem, though. I wasn’t thinking too clearly anymore because of the whiskey. I’ve always been a bit of a lightweight when it came to alcohol.

“You let Ryan sleep naked,” Ellie quickly added to her defense.

“You’re right, Ellie. But the deal I had with him was that I could be naked too and that we both kept our own ends of the bed.”

“Great! I can live with that,” she said, and I could see her hands moving under the sheet.

Moments later, her panties dropped on the floor, and she was fiddling with her top. She’d pulled up the bedsheet to hide her breasts from view, but that didn’t seem to work too well. I decided to give her some privacy, so I turned a bit on my side to face the wall and started taking off my boxers.

The movement beside me had stopped, so I turned back on my back and looked at Ellie. Obviously, her tank top had come off, but she modestly kept the sheet up, covering her breasts.

“Much nicer,” she said with a slight smile on her face.

“I agree. I hate wearing clothes to bed too,” I added.

“You know… In the last months or so, Ryan tried sneaking peeks at my naked body. Like when I came out of the shower and stuff. I didn’t let him, though,” she said softly, and I saw a tear forming in the corner of her eye.

I extended my arm and stroked her hair. Ellie took it as an invitation and nestled her head against my shoulder. It was against our agreement, but I figured to let her be in these difficult times. What harm could it do after all?

“After that little booger figured out it wouldn’t work, he started showing off his own nude body to me, hoping that would somehow work. He had a very nice body. Cute penis too,” Ellie smiled up at me. “Now I hate that I didn’t show him, you know,” she trailed off.

“Well… He was in a very curious phase of his sexual development,” I said, trying to sound scientific and mature.

“I guess you’re right,” Ellie responded, cuddling up even more.

“He asked me if I knew how to masturbate…”

Ellie pulled her head back and looked at me with a big smile.

“He did? Typical Ryan,” she laughed. “What did you say?”

“Well, considering he confided in me to help him, I decided to show him how it’s done. He just came out of the shower, and I… Well… You know…” I said, blushing, realizing the booze maybe made my tongue a bit too loose.

“You showed him. You didn’t just tell him how it’s done?” Ellie asked with a bit of unbelieve in her voice.

“Yeah… Well… He was naked. I was wearing only a bathrobe… So yeah. It was easier to just show him.”

“Wow,” Ellie giggled. “Knowing Ryan a little, he didn’t leave you alone after that, did he?”.

“You’ve got that right. Last night we did it again,” I said, immediately regretting saying it.

“What? In here?”

“Well… Where else?” I noticed I got hard from the memory of Ryan’s tight body.

“Oh boy. Well… He CAN be manipulative. So I guess it’s not that weird you did this.”

“I know I shouldn’t have. But he was curious, came to his gay Uncle about it, and got no one else to go to with it. Letting him find it out on his own was just not done, you know? Maybe he’d end up with some creep he found online,” I said, primarily to myself. “And you’re right. He did have a nice body and an adorable penis.”

“Well. Don’t be sorry. I think you did the right thing. Too bad for him he died a virgin, but at least he had an orgasm before he died.”

Ellie cuddled back against me and gave me a firm hug.

“I miss him,” she said softly but didn’t cry.

“I miss him too, Ellestar.”

“You’re the best Uncle in the world, you know that?”

Now it was my turn to be surprised.

“I don’t. Why’s that?”

“Well, you helped us out the best you could. We don’t have a dad. Our mom is probably gone, or at least out of the picture for a long period, and you take us in as if we were your own kids. And on top of all that, you taught an underage boy how to masturbate!”

We both started laughing at that. It was a way for us to release the tension of Ryan’s loss.

“Yeah, well… I can’t help you with that last part, you know? I’m gay, so don’t you ask me how it works with girls,” I laughed and kissed her on her head.

“Don’t worry, Uncle Adam. I’ve got it covered.”

“Thank god!” I said, overly exaggerating.

“Good night, Uncle Adam. I love you,” Ellie whispered as I felt her body relax under my arm.

“Night, Ellestar.”

End of Chapter eleven

Copyright 2021 – Jason Crow
All rights reserved

in conatur moveri

Smoky Mountains
by
Jason Crow

Chapter 8 – SHIVR
Day 3.

I don’t know what woke me, but when I opened my eyes, I felt relaxed. So it wasn’t a bad dream or a loud noise. It was really quiet down here, but I immediately knew where I was. I checked my watch, and it was a little past seven-thirty. Still early, but I might as well get up, I figured. I looked over at Ryan and he was still sound asleep. He was still lying on top of the sheets. One of his legs was straight, and the other one was pulled up and lay there in a bend. Both his arms were above his head, and this way, his whole body was on display. His soft penis was pointed toward his left hip. In the dim light of the room, he looked amazing!

I felt myself get hard, so I sat up and pulled up my boxers before I would get completely stiff. I heard some rumbling in Ellie’s bedroom and figured she was awake too. That’s when I noticed the soft beep. This is what must’ve woken me up. Now that I heard it clearly, I started focusing on it. It beeped every thirty seconds. It was soft and almost not noticeable, but definitely there. Behind me, Ryan began to move.

“Morning,” he grumbled. “What time is it?”

“Good morning. It’s around a quarter to eight. You can sleep some more if you like, but I’m getting up,” I said.

“Hmmm,” he responded and yawned loudly, obviously not fully awake yet.

I stood up and turned toward the door, trying not to focus on the sexy nude boy on the bed. I was making my move to get my shirt when the door opened.

“Good morning, boys,” Ellie cheerfully said.

I didn’t expect it and was a bit startled by her sudden appearance. She was basically dressed the same as yesterday. She was now wearing bright red panties instead of the blue, and her now white tank top seemed even shorter and tighter than the one she wore yesterday. And it was a tiny bit transparent because I could make out the shadow of areolas on her breasts when I checked out her hard nipples.

I expected Ryan to spring into action and quickly cover himself up, but he just lay there acting like there was no one else in the room. I could see Ellie checking him out, but she said nothing and acted as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“Don’t you know how to knock?” I felt obliged to ask.

“I heard you were up, so I guessed I could come in,” she said, avoiding the question.

“Did you sleep well?” I asked, deciding to drop it.

“Yeah… Well… I was a bit anxious about being alone in my room at first. I was on the verge of coming over when I started drifting off. And then it was morning all of a sudden. So, yeah. I guess it was okay. Did you guys sleep okay?”

“Yeah. I did. Ryan didn’t bother me at all, and it’s a comfy bed,” I smiled.

“I see he’s in his usual sleeping outfit,” she giggled.

“I asked Uncle Adam, and he was okay with it. We made a deal. As long as I would stay on my side of the bed, I was okay with him if he stayed on his side,” Ryan said and blushed the moment he realized what he said.

“A good thing I didn’t come in and spoil the sausage fest,” Ellie said and started laughing with Ryan joining her.

I was a bit stunned by how they acted, but seeing both of them laughing, I couldn’t help myself and joined the laughter. I was glad that both kids didn’t seem to be worried too much about our situation.

“Let’s get us some breakfast and see where that annoying beep is coming from.”

Ellie and I prepared breakfast and couldn’t help myself checking her out. Her body was just as lovely as Ryan’s, only female. She had nice, perky breasts, which were about a handful. Her butt was sweet and pretty much the same as Ryan’s. Her red panties accentuated her forms magnificently, and there was a tiny cameltoe at her front.

I reminded myself I was gay and that these were just kids. And my niece and nephew, for christ’s sake. But I just couldn’t help myself and kept checking her out. We silently ate breakfast together. Ryan figured it was wise to put his underwear back on, and because of the heat, I couldn’t blame him. It was just a pair of boxers. All three of us were still in our underwear.

“I’m going after the climate control again. We know it’s working because the bedrooms were cozy last night,” I said, a bit annoyed about the heat.

“I forgot to bring my asthma inhaler from the house. I left it in my room,” Ryan said as he started munching down his Rice Krispies. ”Can I go and get it later?”

“Uhm. I don’t know. Uncle Robert asked us to go down here,” I said, not sure if it was safe or not.

“But what if I get an asthma attack?”

I thought about it for a few seconds. He was right. He could get severe attacks under the right circumstances. But Robert…

“First, I want to make sure it’s safe to go outside. I’m not sure what’s going on out there. The moment it’s safe to go out, you can go.”

“Of course. Uhm… Where are the keys to the house?”

“I put them on the coffee table in the living room. You know the alarm code, right?”

“I do. I guess I’ll just have to wait then.”

“Want me to go with you?” Ellie asked.

“Nah. It’ll only be a few minutes. I can handle it.”

Ellie’s mood surprised me. Usually, she acted like a spoiled brat. But since she woke up after the first night at our place, she changed completely. I liked this version of Ellie a lot better than the previous one.

“What’s that light?” Ryan asked with his mouth full.

I looked over to where Ryan pointed and noticed a small red light blinking in an irregular pattern. I couldn’t place it. It wasn’t an alarm or something because it was too small for that, and it would’ve blinked more regularly.

“I don’t know,” I said.

“Is it an alarm?” Ryan asked.

“Nah. Don’t think so,” I said.

“A countdown, maybe?” Ryan tried.

“Hmm. Looks like morse-code,” Ellie said casually.

I let that sink in and looked at the light for a few moments. I figured Ellie was right.

“Huh. What do you know? I think you’re right!” Ryan said.

“Do any of you know morse-code?” I asked. “I know I don’t.”

“In class last week, we had an assignment about communication through the ages. I downloaded an app back then to include some morse in my paper. Give me a sec.”

Ellie opened her phone, and I took a pencil and a piece of paper. A few minutes later, we had:

NNEL999CHECKCHA

“Uhm…” Ryan said, looking at what I wrote down.

“It spells Check Channel 999,” I said, suddenly seeing the correct sequence.

We went to the living room, flipped on the TV, and switched to channel 999. On TV a woman appeared, who started talking to us. It was an explanatory video about the systems that were available in the shelter. There was an advanced video surveillance system with both inside and outside cameras. An advanced climate control system reused the air. It wasn’t directly connected to the outside world in case of a gas or nuclear event. The advanced communication system could also use morse-code, satellite, internet data, and every other protocol known to men. This was all available from the control room.

“Just say ‘Assist me SHIVR,’” the woman on the TV said, “and the system will listen and respond to your requests.”

SHIVR appeared to be the SHelter Interactive Voice Response system. A variation on Alexa, Assistant, and SIRI.

“If your voice was added to the list of people that can control the shelter, you’d be able to operate everything down here with your voice,” the woman on TV continued.

I guessed Robert fixed this part, but I needed to check it out. I decided to finish this video before I tried. Right now, the floorplan was showing, and it was apparent we were now living in only thirty to forty percent of this facility. There was a control room, an extensive laboratory, and a crops room where fresh vegetables could be grown. This was all really impressive stuff.

“This concludes this informational video. If you still have questions, feel free to ask SHIVR. You can rewatch this instruction at any time by switching to this channel.”

We were now looking at a field of wavy grass that could’ve come straight from the commercial for a funeral insurance company. I switched off the TV and looked at the kids.

“Well?” Ellie said.

“Well, what?” I asked.

“Don’t you wanna test SHIVR?” Ryan chipped in.

“Assist me, SHIVR,” I said and considering the anticipation on both their faces not a moment too soon.

“Hello, Adam. How can I help you?” a warm woman’s voice said that appeared to come out of nowhere.

“Uhm. Turn off the lights?” I asked.

The moment I said it, we were in complete darkness.

“There you go,” the voice said. “Anything else?”

“Turn them back on, please,” I said, and a moment later, we were able to look at each other again.

“No problem.”

“Am I on the list of people that can operate everything?”

“Yes, Adam, you are. Dr. Wilkes made sure you are.”

“Great! And the people that are with me?”

“They are allowed to operate all the basic functions, such as the lights, temperature, kitchen, that sort of stuff. If you want, I can print the entire list of options.”

“No. Thank you. We’ll figure this out. Can you show me the control room, please?” I asked.

“Of course, Adam. I’ll open the door, and you just have to follow the lights.”

I heard a door open in the distance and saw a few lights burn brighter in the hallway.

“Well. Let’s check it out, shall we?” I said, getting up from the couch.

We walked over to the control room, which was behind a hidden door in the hallway. If you didn’t know it was there, you couldn’t see it. It was pretty well hidden, I had to admit. Once we were in the room, we saw a wall with screens to our left with a big control panel in front of it, almost like a direction room for a big TV show you see on TV sometimes.

On the monitors, the entire outside was visible. I never saw cameras when I was in our forest, so they were pretty well hidden.

“Wow,” Ryan and Ellie said almost simultaneously as they watched the screens.

There was a big center screen with smaller monitors around it. The lower half of the monitors was reserved for inside footage. Every room, including the bedrooms, had a camera. Only the bathroom didn’t have one for obvious reasons. I looked at the control panel, and there were like a gazillion buttons, switches, sliders, and all sorts of other stuff I needed to figure out.

“Doesn’t seem like anything is going on outside,” Ryan said.

He was right. There was no wild animal or a horde of zombies walking around. The only noticeable thing was the green circles around text lines next to the top left monitor. The texts were ‘Outside Air quality,’ ‘Outside Radiation Level,’ ‘Outside Noise Level,’ and a few others like these.

“I guess you’re right,” I responded.

“Why is that button red?” Ellie asked and pointed to the control panel.

There was a label, ‘Coms,’ and the button below it was indeed red. Before I could react, Ryan pressed it, and it turned green. We were silent for a few moments, but nothing seemed to happen. Until I heard a familiar ping beside me.

“Yay! Wifi!!” Ellie chirped. “And no code on it!”

“I’ll go and get my inhaler first. Is that okay?” Ryan asked. “You can watch me on the monitors, so you’ll know I’m fine.”

“Okay, sport. But be real quick, okay? We still don’t know exactly what’s going on outside.”

“I will. Be right back.”

“Assist me, SHIVR,” I said and asked her to set the temperature at a comfortable level of seventy-one degrees.

I got up to get my phone from the bedroom, and the moment I opened the door, Ryan walked out wearing his clothes.

“Do you know how the elevator and the airlock works?”

“Of course. I’m already eleven, you know?” he answered and acted as if he was offended by my question.

I took my phone and walked back to the control room. The moment I walked back into the room, I could see Ryan enter the airlock. I joined the wireless network and sat on the chair in front of the panel. I looked over at Ellie, who was completely engrossed in her phone. I did notice she had a worried look on her face.

A few moments after my phone was connected, a tsunami of beeps and buzzes from new messages was launched. In the corner of my eye, I could see Ryan going up in the elevator. I’d received a lot of Facebook messages and even more WhatsApp messages. And I missed thirty-five voice calls.

“STOP!!!” Ellie suddenly screamed beside me.

“Whoah! What’s with you?” I asked.

“There is something terribly wrong outside!” She glanced at the monitor where Ryan was just exiting the elevator.

Ellie got up, ran into the hallway and toward the airlock.

“RYAN!!!!” She screamed.

But because of the airlock, he couldn’t hear her. I ran after her and grabbed her by the shoulders.

“What is it, Ellie?” and I could see the tears in her eyes.

“People are dying, Uncle Adam! I looked at a lot of videos online. Everybody who is outside starts to scream, and then they fall to the ground. DEAD!” she said between sobs and started crying her eyes out.

“I need to get him,” I said and opened the door to the airlock.

“NO! You can’t! Then you’ll die too! Look!”

Ellie showed me her phone. A video of a guy walking over to someone that just fell to the ground was playing. After a few seconds, the guy did the same. And another guy. This was starting to freak me out.

“Oh my god!” I said. “Quick! Back to the control room. Maybe there are some speakers outside, so we can call out to Ryan.”

We ran back, and both frantically started looking on the control panel. In the meantime, we could see Ryan running toward the house.

“Assist me, SHIVR. Is there a way to contact Ryan outside?”

“One moment, please,” the voice said. “Okay. You can talk into the microphone, and everybody in the forest and on the lawn can hear you.”

“RYAN! GET BACK!!!” Ellie screamed into the microphone, not wasting any time.

I could see Ryan stop running on the monitor. He hesitated a second and turned around.

“QUICK!!” Ellie said, a little less panicked now.

To our great relief, Ryan sprinted back toward the elevator. I glanced over at Ellie, who looked at me with a hopeful face, despite the tears rolling down her cheeks. I was feeling confident he’d make it back to the elevator. When I thought he was safe, Ryan stopped and started screaming from the top of his lungs, just like the people in the videos. A second later, he dropped to the ground and stopped moving.

“Oh no,” I whispered, feeling my stomach turn.

“NO!!!” Ellie screamed and threw herself at me.

“I have to check on him,” I said to no one in particular.

“You can’t! Please don’t!” Ellie cried.

“But…” I couldn’t say much more and started crying too, knowing Ellie was right.

Ryan had died.

End of Chapter eight

Copyright 2021 – Jason Crow
All rights reserved

Did I just kill off this cute package of joy and happiness? I’m sorry guys! I hated to do this, but in my opinion the story needed this. Just keep on reading and maybe it makes sense then.

moriendum est

Smoky Mountains
by
Jason Crow

Chapter 6 – Shelter
Day 2.

“What are they talking about, Uncle Adam?” Ellie asked with a worried look on her face.

“I don’t know. I assume it’s got something to do with the President’s speech.”

“Ah. Okay. I missed that. It was about that hole in Brazil, right?”

“Yeah. It didn’t look too good, according to Uncle Robert,” I said as I kept glancing at the office where Robert and Colonel Parker were talking.

“Here you go, Uncle Adam,” Ryan said as he set a mug of coffee in front of me.

“Thanks, sport! That’s very kind of you!” I smiled and tousled his hair.

“We’re not going to the movies anymore, are we?” Ryan asked.

“I’m afraid not. I’m sorry,” I said, looking at his disappointed face.

We were currently sitting at our kitchen counter and were looking at CNN on the television. Ellie was fixed on her phone and didn’t seem interested anymore. There wasn’t any real news, but the big hole kept everyone busy. That much was clear. Ryan practically never left my side this morning and was now looking at the TV with me. He did look bored.

“Why don’t you go to your room and play with your new toy?” I asked and winked at him.

His face lit up, and he looked at me with a wicked grin on his face. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then he winked back and got up from his stool. As he made his way to the door, the office door opened, and Robert walked out, looking concerned. Ryan immediately turned around and sat back at the counter, looking expectantly at Robert.

“Can you please help me pack my bags, Adam?” he asked. “It seems I’m needed at the army base, and I’ll probably be gone for a few days.”

The look on his face told a completely different story. I’ve never seen him this worried before. It scared the shit out of me, that’s for sure. We walked to our bedroom, and I noticed that Colonel Parker followed us. I looked at Robert to check if I could see what he thought of that, and he just nodded and walked on. This wasn’t the first time Robert was approached by the army, and all the previous times, it was pretty much the same. He couldn’t talk about it, and I just had to accept the fact this happened.

“Can you hand me the weekend bag, please, Adam?” Robert asked as he opened the closet.

“What’s wrong, honey?” I said, handing him the bag.

“I’m not allowed to tell you what this is all about. You know how it goes in my job with confidentiality,” he said and twisted his head and rolled his eyes to point out the colonel was listening.

“I do. I shouldn’t have asked, but I’m a bit worried. Any idea how long you’ll be gone?” I said, but with my eyes and my mouth, I made it clear to him I was worried sick about the situation.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back before you know it. Do you think I should take my winter coat with me?”

Robert asked me this while holding out his coat in front of him. This blocked the view from the hallway. He pointed to his jacket’s collar behind his coat with a very intense look on his face. I didn’t know for sure but considering this was the oldest coat he had and the fact that he put on such a show made me think there was something hidden in there.

“Nah. I don’t think so. Maybe your other coat will be better,” I responded as casually as I could.

“I think you’re right,” Robert said and hung his coat back inside the closet.

“Are you almost done, Dr. Wilkes?” Colonel Parker asked.

“Yeah. We’re done,” Robert said as he zipped up the weekend bag.

We walked out of the bedroom and back to the kitchen. Both Ryan and Ellie were looking anxious at Robert.

“I’ll be gone for a few days, kids. Uncle Adam will stay here and look after you. Please behave, you two,” Robert said, and I could see some tears welling up in his eyes.

Ryan and Ellie came over to hug him.

“Are you going with the chopper?” Ryan asked curiously, not having a clue about how tight the situation was.

“Yeah, Ryan, I am,” Robert laughed and kissed Ryan on his forehead.

“I wish I could come too,” Ryan said.

“Next time, kiddo. I promise,” Robert said and walked to the chopper behind Colonel Parker.

“Get to the choppah,” I heard Ryan say behind me with a thick Arnold Schwarzenegger accent.

That caused all three of us to chuckle. As we approached the chopper, Robert stopped and turned around. He looked me in my eyes and gave me a tight hug.

“Remember our first date,” he whispered in my ear as I hugged him back tightly.

We broke our hug as the chopper’s blades started spinning faster and faster, indicating it was about to leave. We gave each other a firm kiss and one last hug. I had not a clue what he meant by our first date but figured I’d find out soon.

“I love you, Adam,” Robert said, looking me in my eyes. “Take good care of yourself and the kids.”

“I love you too. Do the best you can out there, and don’t worry about us.”

And that was it. He teared up, which made me tear up too, and he turned around to get in the chopper. With a loud roar and a lot of wind, which caused me to quickly walk back to the kids, the helicopter took off. We saw Robert sitting by the window with his headphones on, waving at us. We waved back, and the moment the chopper was out of sight, we walked back into the house.

“So… What do we do now, Uncle Adam,” Ellie asked.

“Well. I need to figure out what’s going on first. You can watch some Netflix or something if you like. The moment I know what’s going on, we’ll talk about it. Okay?”

“Okay. I guess,” was Ellie’s blasé reply.

“I’ll be in my office if you need me,” I said to them and walked off.

“I’m going to my room,” Ryan quickly said and practically ran to his room.

I couldn’t suppress a giggle at this. It was clear what he was up to. Good for him! I opened the closet in our room, took Robert’s old winter coat, and went to my office. I laid the coat down on my desk and started feeling around the collar. I didn’t feel anything special at first, but I felt a hard piece of… well, something after a few tries. I took my scissors and started peeling away parts of the collar. It took me a while, but eventually, I held what looked like a small USB thumb drive in my hand.

I booted my laptop and plugged in the thumb drive. The explorer window opened, and there were about a thousand folders on it. All folders had a four-digit number. I opened a few, but they were all empty. I remembered Robert’s mention of our first date, which was on a beautiful September day, about eight years ago. The twenty-second, to be exact. So I searched for the folder named 0922, but that didn’t exist. The European way, maybe? But 2209 didn’t exist either. But then I remembered we talked a lot about the year 1999. Robert’s mom died that year, which had hit him hard. I lost my brother that year, which caused both of us to lead a very reckless and promiscuous lifestyle. The second half of that year was pretty much a blur, with new year’s eve as a culmination of it all. We both pretty much hit rock-bottom the following January. Not the usual small talk for a first date, but it did create some sort of bond between us in a powerful way.

So I opened the 1999 folder on the stick, and in it was a .docx document and a .mp4 movie clip. I opened the movie file, and immediately there was a prompt asking for a four-digit pin-code. I entered 0922, and the file opened. I saw Robert sitting behind his desk, looking into the camera. He held a PharmaCorp pen in hand, which must mean this was dated no longer than three years ago. Three years ago, the company Robert worked for merged with the bigger PharmaCorp company. Thanks to this merger, Robert made a big promotion. He was given Ben’s job. Ben was the original owner, and he would retire a year after the merger. After this switch, Robert basically ran the original company under the PharmaCorp wings.

“Hi, Adam. When you see this, this means something dramatic has happened or is about to happen. Listen very carefully, because what I’m about to say can save your life and put me in jail if the government finds out. When you watch this, it also means that I’m not able to help you, Maybe I’m dead, and you’re crying your eyes out right now. I don’t know, but please, Adam. Listen to what I’m about to say.”

Okay. This is interesting. Why did he record this stuff?

“About three years ago, right after the merger, we signed a contract with the government. This resulted in close collaboration with a shady branch of the military. We created all sorts of helpful vaccines and enhancers for them. You know, stronger muscles, better focus, no flu. That sort of stuff. This means I’m a potential target for some of the foreign intelligence agencies. Again, I don’t know what happened, but maybe this can give you a bit of background to what happened. Of course, I’m not allowed to talk about this, so please destroy this thumb drive as soon as you can. After a few years in this job, it became clear to me that maybe I needed to create some safe haven for us to go to in case of an emergency. Ben, the founder of PharmaCorp, thought about this too when he built this house. He once told me about all the bells and whistles of this house, which you’ll soon learn about too. Ben was my mentor from the moment I started here, and he liked me a lot. That’s the reason why he left me this house. I wasn’t allowed to tell you this either, but it’s ours. It isn’t provided by PharmaCorp. I inherited it.”

I could see him tearing up when he talked about Ben. He’d always been close to him, and he was devastated for weeks after Ben’s death.

“Anyway,” Robert continued after drinking some water. “Ben was a prepper with a lot of money. Because of all the stuff he saw working so closely with the military, he wanted to make sure he’d live in case of a global catastrophe. At the back of our lawn, near the start of the forest, there’s an entry to an underground shelter. And don’t worry about feeling cramped. It’s bigger than our house, and it’s completely self-containing. The power for the shelter is generated by the solar panels and the wind turbines outside. There is also a separate system for air freshening. Even in the event of an atomic bomb, the air is still breathable. Some of Its tech comes straight from SpaceX. The entire facility can run almost four hundred years without the need of anybody going in or out of it. The simple fact that you’re currently watching this means that you need to get in there as soon as possible!”

Robert looked sternly into the camera, and I could sense the urgency in his voice and body.

“In the same folder as this video, there is a Word document. In it is the entrance procedure. It isn’t complicated, but you need to make sure you do everything in the right order, and you’re good to go. The password of this file is your birthday. That’s it. Please gather some clothes and get the hell over there. Please! And Adam?”

I felt the need to answer him, despite the fact that I was watching a recording.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever see you again. But I want you to know that I love you with all my heart. I never loved anyone as much as you! You made me whole, Adam. And I’ll never forget that. Remember this. Take care, honey!”

A tear formed in the corner of his eye as he clicked off the camera. I don’t know how long ago he recorded this, but according to the date of the .mp4 file, it was over a year ago. Did he know something already back then, or was this just a coincidence? I opened the Word file, entered my birthday, and scrolled through it. It was only one page long and described how to get in. It also stated that the detailed operating procedures were located inside the shelter. After I remembered the codes and procedure, I slid the thumb drive into my pocket.

I gathered some clothes, towels, shower and shaving stuff and threw it all in a duffle bag. I dropped the bag on my bed and quickly walked over to Ryan’s room to do the same with his stuff. I knocked on his door.

“Ryan?” I asked and heard some ruffling.

The door opened, and before me stood Ryan in all his glory. He was as naked as the day he was born, and his erection was proudly sticking out.

“Hi,” he giggled. “I was playing with my new toy. Wanna join me?”

As tempted as I was, besides the fact that my dick was telling me to join him, I declined.

“Sorry, sport. You need to get dressed. Now. And we need to make you an overnight bag,” I said as I entered his room.

“Why’s that?” Ryan asked, not making a move to get dressed or cover himself.

“Uncle Robert made it clear that we need to leave the house,” I said as I threw some of Ryan’s clothes into his suitcase.

I looked over at Ryan and couldn’t help but notice his softening dick. I tried to ignore it and looked into his eyes.

“Look, sport. Uncle Robert believes that maybe something bad is about to happen. Apparently, we have some sort of fallout shelter in our yard, and we’re going there now. We’ll talk about this when we’re in there, okay?”

“Okay. If you say so,” he said and suddenly seemed scared.

“I don’t think anything will happen, okay? I’m sure it’s just a precaution,” I said, kneeling in front of him and hugging him.

I couldn’t help myself and let my hands rest on his naked butt for a minute. I felt him relax in my arms as we hugged. I kissed him on his forehead and broke the hug. I got up and left the room.

“Get dressed, okay?” I said, looking over my shoulder.

“Sure. Be done in a sec,” Ryan said as he gathered his clothes.

“ELLIE!” I yelled.

“WHAT!?” Ellie shouted back from the kitchen.

“Can you get over here, please?”

A few moments later, Ellie came around the corner and glanced at her brother. I looked too and saw he’d just pulled up his underwear. I don’t know what she thought, but she didn’t let on anything. I talked her through the same stuff as I did with Ryan. Before we knew it, we all had our bags and were wearing our coats. I made sure all the lights were off, and as we left the front door, I enabled the alarm. We walked over to the spot I memorized and looked for that particular branch.

“Are you sure this is the right spot?” Ellie asked.

“I am. Let me see,” I responded, desperately looking for the branch.

The moment I found it, I twisted it in a series of back and forward motions. After this was done, there was a loud click, and a piece of the tree opened up. Inside there was a keypad with a small display above it. I entered the eight-digit number and pressed the pound key. The ground started shaking a bit, and next to the tree, the ground came up slowly. We each looked at each other as this elevator-like cube came out of the earth. It reminded me of something I saw on Westworld.

After a few moments, the elevator was completely up, and the door opened to the inside. There was enough room in it for the three of us, so after I closed the panel on the tree, we stepped inside. There were two buttons inside. I pressed the ‘zero’ button because the ‘one’ button was currently illuminated. The door closed, and down we went.

End of Chapter six

Copyright 2021 – Jason Crow
All rights reserved

principium audaciae sub terra

Smoky Mountains
by
Jason Crow

Chapter 3 – Shopping

Day 1.
Location: Asheville, NC
Date: November 14th, somewhere in the near future.

My dad turned off the television and had a worried look on his face.

“Well. I think he’s hiding something, Mia. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be holding a speech,” my dad said and looked at me. “Where’s your brother?”

“He just came home from his job at Uncle Tyrell and is in the shower now, I guess.”

“JOEL!!” my dad shouted.

“What?” came the reply from down the hall.

“Get your ass over here!”

A few moments later, my twin-brother came walking into our small living room. He was still wet and had wrapped a towel around his waist and was holding it to make sure it wouldn’t drop. I couldn’t help and notice how his muscles had grown over the past few months. He had a completely hairless chest, with a barely visible, but undeniable there, six-pack. Even though he was my brother, I liked it a lot.

“What is it, dad?” Joel asked, looking a bit annoyed but too scared to go against our dad.

“Get dressed. We need to stock up our groceries. I’m afraid that in a day or two, we’ll have some full-blown riots on our hands,” he said and polished off his can of beer.

“Okay, dad. I’ll be right back,” Joel said and went to his room.

“You’re coming with us,” he said, looking at me.

He burped loudly and crushed his can. Outside I heard a woman scream and a car drive away with screeching tires. After our mom died of breast cancer almost three years ago, we had to move out here to this shitty home in an even shittier neighborhood here in Asheville. We were in the middle of the Blue Ridge mountains in North Carolina, but other than some lovely scenery, it sucked ass. Big time! Last month alone, there were eight registered overdoses and three deadly shootings in our neighborhood. Whoopy fuck!

Our house wasn’t much better either. It was a small, one-story place, with two bedrooms. Our dad always fell asleep in his chair, which meant Joel and I had our separate bedrooms. A few times a month, our dad decided he needed to sleep in a real bed, which meant Joel had to sleep in my room because my room was slightly bigger than his. We’d blow up the air mattress we had, and Joel would sleep on that mattress.

Despite my efforts, our house was dirty. The walls were a mess, and a piece of wallpaper hung down in almost every room. The tiles in the bathroom were dirty, and no matter how much I scrubbed, they stayed dirty. Dad threw our old washing machine on our front lawn almost a year ago because of some broken part, and it hadn’t moved since. Now I had to do our laundry in town, which was a ten-minute walk.

Our dad had gotten hurt on his job. And because of that, he got his disability compensation. We were on food stamps, which was embarrassing. Joel mowed some lawns in the better part of town, but almost everything he made with it was confiscated by our dad. Recently Joel started at our Uncle Tyrell’s place. He ran an outdoor sports store with all sorts of outdoor camping stuff and knives, guns, and more of that stuff. He earned more working there than with mowing lawns, and the store was closer by, but he kept mowing lawns anyway because he didn’t want to disappoint his customers.

Our mom was black, and our dad is white. They always had struggles with that, even in these modern times. We didn’t feel like we belonged to any of the groups in school. We weren’t black, and we weren’t white either. To us, this wasn’t too much of an issue anymore, but we just didn’t fit in.

Our dad slowly became what people these days would call trailer trash. He didn’t hurt or molest us, but he never won a ‘dad of the year’ Award either. He just wasn’t a nice person.

Thank god Joel and I get along fine. For as long as I could remember, Joel looked after me. He said that was because he was the oldest and because he was a man. I gave him that, even though he was only a few minutes older than me. We never fought, and he pulled me out of a tight spot a few times already, so he really was my protector. He always hid some of his lawn-mowing money from our dad to pay our phone bill. That way, we were still connected to the world, without the need to ask our dad. I loved my brother for that, and in return, I did all the household chores.

We turned fourteen two weeks before. Dad gave us both a hug, a kiss on our forehead, and a can of beer to celebrate it. That was it. We hid the beer in the closet in my room, so he would think we drank it. We were both not too fond of drinking beer yet. I guess we didn’t want to end up like him.

Our dad’s view of stocking up groceries was… unique. We couldn’t afford to go out and shop for a month’s supply or two, so he had worked out a system. It wasn’t the first time we’d go shopping like this either. He had a system of finding the right supermarket he needed. He had a few outfits from delivery companies, and he knew which company supplied which store.

He’d drive us to the back of the store, where we had to wait around the corner. He’d park his car out of view and would walk up to the back entrance acting as if he belonged there. He’d grab some boxes, put them on the trolley, and walk away as if it was the most normal thing in the world. He’d quickly drop the boxes with us, so we could put them in the car. He’d go for a second or third run and stop when they got suspicious.

He only got caught once, but he talked his way out of it and returned the stuff from his last run. He knew better than to do it in our neighborhood, so most of the time, we drove for almost an hour to find the right stores. This time was no different, and it was almost dark before we got home. Joel and I carried everything inside and put the stuff away while our dad sat in his chair and opened another can of beer. During the ride home, he drank three already, and by the time Joel and I were done, he polished off four more and was shouting at some lame game show on the TV.

“I fucking hate this, you know?” Joel whispered to me as I was putting the last cans of beans in the cupboard.

“What?” I whispered back.

“Stealing food. It’s just not right.”

“I know. But what can we do about it?”

“JOEL!” our dad slurred.

“What is it, dad?” Joel replied with a scared look on his face.

“I’m sleeping in your bed tonight.” He said, stood up, and stumbled toward Joel’s room.

“Okay, dad. Good night.” Joel said and immediately looked relieved.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” our dad mumbled and slammed the door shut behind him.

“Phew!” I said to Joel. “We won’t be hearing anything from him until the morning.”

“Thank god! I’m going to blow up the air mattress,” Joel said and walked over to my room.

I started heating some beans, so Joel and I would have something to eat. After we were done, we planted ourselves in front of the TV and ate our healthy dinner. After about an hour, I saw Joel yawning.

“Let’s go to bed, shall we?” I said to my brother.

“Good plan. I’m tired,” Joel said, stood up, and stretched.

I placed the dishes in the kitchen sink, and Joel put all the bolts and locks on the door to make sure there wouldn’t be some junkie entering our house during the night. Joel was already in my room and taking off his shirt as I walked in.

“Fuck!” Joel said out of the blue.

“What is it?”

“The air mattress. I think there’s a hole in it. Fuck!”

I got on my knees to check if maybe he forgot the plug or something. But when all that checked out, I had to agree with my brother.

“I guess you’re right, Joel.”

“That’s a night on the floor then. Damnit.” Joel said.

“Don’t be silly! You don’t sleep on the floor. If you promise not to steal the blankets, you can sleep with me,” I said, and I saw his frown fade away before my eyes.

“I promise. We spent nine months in the same womb, so I guess that we can work out sleeping in one bed together too,” he smiled at me.

I kept glancing at his chest. I noticed it for the first time this afternoon, but my brother sure had a nice body. Heck, he was a handsome boy, period! This realization came suddenly and unexpectedly, but I couldn’t deny it. I still don’t know why I didn’t see it earlier.

I turned my back to Joel, unbuttoned my pants, and stepped out of them. I put on my loose-fitting sweat shorts and lifted my shirt.

”Nice bra, sis,” I heard him say.

I looked at him over my shoulder and saw him smiling at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that he was already in his usual sleeping outfit. He had dropped his pants and was looking at me in just his boxers. I couldn’t see his entire body this way, so I quickly unclasped my bra, took it off, and put on my tank top.

I turned around and pretended to look mad at Joel. I tried looking at his body and the bulge in his boxers without being too obvious about it. The glance confirmed my previous opinion. He was a very attractive boy with a fine-looking body.

”Just kidding,” he said, a bit apologetic.

”Nice boxers,” I said, giggling, and Joel started laughing too.

We both put our phones in the chargers, and I crawled in first. I held the blankets up so Joel could get in and clicked off the light. It was a bit cramped with two people in my bed, but I turned on my side and faced Joel. He got the idea and extended his arm, so I could cuddle up against him.

”This is nice,” he said.

”Yeah. I like it too,” I said. ”I think I can sleep like this,” and couldn’t hold back a yawn.

”Goodnight,” Joel softly said.

I couldn’t remember the last time my brother and I slept in the same bed together. My hand was lying on his chest, and I could feel his heart beating. I let my hand drift down a bit to see if I could feel his abs. The moment I felt the top of his abs, I let my hand rest there.

Copyright 2021 – Jason Crow
All rights reserved

ante omnia recta animi

P.S. The boy in the picture above this story was my inspiration for Joel. Just so you know.