Authors: Julie Cooper Brown
“No, thank you. We would’ve died in that room within the next week if you had not shown up,” Dr. Richards said as he held his hand out for a shake. Jack eyed it for a moment before taking it in a firm grip. He just wanted to be sure that he saw no blood before shaking it.
“We’ll figure out how to close these doors for good. I don’t know about you,” he then said to no one in particular. “But I’m ready for a shot.”
“How are we going to lock up this room? We can’t just close the doors and expect the children not to try to explore it.” Pat asked Dr. Richards.
“That’s easy,” he replied. “I will set the timer for one minute. It will seal on its own. So, out you go. I’ll be right behind you.” Dr. Richards entered the security room as the rest of them filed out into the corridor. With a few key commands, he set the time lock and ran out to join them, shutting the doors behind him. They all remained there for that one minute, to make sure that lock would engage. After hearing the tell-tale click of the mechanism and pulling on the handles to be absolutely sure, they continued down the hall.
“Dr. Richards, how long have you been trapped in that room with no food or water?” Jack asked as he eyed the men. They were both emaciated; he was surprised they had the strength to walk.
“We had been in there for a little over a month. There were a few snacks and waters hidden in a drawer when we first became trapped. We managed to make them last until maybe four days ago. I’m very hungry, but I am not sure which I’d rather have first; food or a bath.”
“Well, I’ll settle it for you. There are several unoccupied rooms. I will go and prepare you a meal while the two of you clean up.”
“Thank you. But I must tell you that if you insist on preparing us a meal, at this point, we should start out with soup or something of a soft textured nature. What little we had was not enough to maintain our systems. If we were to eat a heavy meal, then we could suffer from several different illnesses caused by the re-feeding of our bodies. I won’t go into the explanations of them, but please keep it light.”
“I will keep that in mind, Dr. Richards.” Jack assured him.
“Please, call me Doug.”
“Okay, Doug. I’ll whip up a pot of soup and then you two can get some rest, on an actual bed.”
“Oh, I have my own room already. It is connected to my office. I am not sure where Montgomery is going to sleep,” Doug said as he looked to the man for an answer.
“Why are you looking at me? I am obviously going to choose the most private room which is the furthest away from all of you. Since I am the new President-” he began but Kate interrupted him.
“You are not President nor are you vice President. There is no one left to preside over.”
“Excuse me, young lady. Who are you to take my status from me?”
“I am Kate Roland and I did not, as you say, take your status from you. I am informing you that the chem-bombs have been launched and everyone above should be dead right now. The only people left are us.”
“Well, I have to see it to believe it. I will go and check.” Montgomery stormed ahead of the group and Kate told him, “It’s no good. You can’t get out, we can’t get out. There is a time lock on the hatch and it won’t open for another year.”
“You
cannot
hold me hostage here!” Montgomery screamed at her and Kate rolled her eyes, dropped her head and looked as if she were about to pounce on him. Pat thought it a good idea to speak up. “We are not holding you hostage, Mr. Mason. It’s a safety precaution set by the creator of the solution, Dr. O’Dey. Frankly, I am thankful for it.” Pat told him while coming to a stop at the end of the residence hall. “Now, I have to check on the children. Kate has told me that they were frightened by the commotion. Afterwards, I am going to take my shower and get some much needed rest. Goodnight, Gentlemen.”
“Pat, wait. I’m going with you. It’s been nice meeting you, Dr. Richards but I am exhausted. We can play catch up tomorrow. There is a lot that you still don’t know. And Mr. Mason, it was a pleasure to save your life without thanks. Goodnight all.” Kate and Pat turned down the hall towards their rooms. The men said their pleasantries as well as Jack headed off to the kitchen to make soup for the starving men as Montgomery left to find a more private room and Dr. Richards headed towards his own rooms for a shower. When Pat opened the door to their room, she heard the children gasp.
“Hey, it’s me. Everything is okay, now. She spoke to them softly as she pulled the covers off of their heads and their frightened expressions saddened her. Both of their eyes were wide with fear, and they sat clinging to each other, both had been crying. Ethan quickly wiped his tears away and pretended to be a brave boy. But that was exactly what he was, a sweet vulnerable, brave little boy. Although he was afraid, he had his arms wrapped protectively around Angel. She hugged them and as soon as she let go, Kate moved in to hug them too, and wished them goodnight. She assured Angel that she would see her in the morning, and left to go back to her own bed. Feeling at ease at last, Pat tucked them each into their own beds and proceeded to the bathroom so she could have the nice, hot shower she had been waiting on.
Chapter Thirty Eight
“Why can’t I have a sandwich of some sort? Do I really have to eat this tasteless bowl of soup? Really. You would think I would be fed better than this.” Montgomery said to Dr. Richards as he forcefully pushed the bowl away from him, causing the soup to slosh over the rim and onto the table.
“You can’t fill your stomach with harsh foods, Montgomery. Certain complications will arise and you will be get very ill. I would explain the reasons to you, but you’re not worth the waste of my breath if I were to do so. You’re lucky that you are even alive at all.
I
would not have saved you from your Cassie.” Montgomery squirmed in his chair. “The woman saved your life. And for that, you aren’t even grateful enough to thank her, just as you’re not grateful that even have a meal in front of you and a bed to sleep in.”
“What business is it of yours to question me and my direction of thanks? I would have escaped from her regardless! I was heading for the door anyway. Why, I was half way there before she shot!” Of all the things to say, he was discounting her rescue and Dr. Richards wasn’t going to let that go.
“Did you see that she was smiling, Montgomery?” He asked as Montgomery dropped his head and stared at the floor. “I hope that you did. Do you know why she was smiling?” he continued.
“Shut up.” Montgomery said in a small voice.
“She was smiling because she was going to get her revenge,” he pointed out.
“Shut Up.” Montgomery raised the volume of his voice.
“Did you see it? Oh, I know you did. I hope you see it, night after night, every time you close your eyes. Dead as a doornail, Montgomery.
But she knew
! She knew
exactly
what you did to her. Now, do you think that’s possible, Montgomery?” Dr. Richards raised the volume of his voice as well and Montgomery stood, put his hands over his ears and began shouting, “
SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UUUUUP!”
But Dr. Richards refused to relent. He rose from his chair as well and leaned across the table to grab Montgomery’s hands and pulled them away from his ears. He found himself nose to nose with Montgomery yet again and was growing tired of this. He’d dig deep and maybe he wouldn’t have to hear any more of his bitching.
“Oh yes, Montgomery. Somewhere in that dead brain of hers, she knew that you had fed her to the others! While she clung to you for protection! She was coming for you! The whole time she stared at
you
through the window! You fucking piece of shit! I despise you,” he was gritting his teeth and speaking to Montgomery in a hiss. “You’re a crying, whining fucking coward and you are going to thank that woman for saving your life. God knows you didn’t deserve it. You’re going to thank Jack, though drained and exhausted as well, put off his own comfort to prepare for us, this delicious pot of soup that you refuse to eat and you are going to thank Pat for pressing him to come to check the area! Without them Montgomery, we would have died in there.” Montgomery stared at him with wild eyes and his body shook violently. Dr. Richards looked down at Montgomery’s knees and saw that they were about to buckle underneath him. He shoved a little as he let go and Montgomery dropped into the chair.
Satisfied that he had aroused enough fear into him, Dr. Richards had one last thing to say before ending his rant. “You are going to do these things or I will tell the rest of them what you did to Cassie. The love of your life, as I once heard you call her. In fact, I’m leaning toward telling them anyway, so they know what kind of person they are dealing with in case of an emergency. Now, you can either eat the soup or stuff your face with so much shit that your guts explode. I really don’t give a fuck, because
I
am going to enjoy my meal.” He sat down, resumed eating his soup and mumbled under his breath, “I’ve never cursed so much in my life.” Soon after, Montgomery silently ate his soup as well.
The next morning, everyone met in the dining room for breakfast. Kate and Pat had gotten up early, found bags of powdered egg and decided that it would be good to start a schedule and initiate a quest towards something that resembled a normal life. A note was left in the ‘living room’ stating that they had made pancakes and scrambled eggs and were waiting for everyone’s arrival.
Breakfast turned out great, everyone showing up within a few moments of each other. Ethan said a blessing over the meal and before they could dig into their plates, Montgomery stood and apologized for his lack of recognition of their deeds and expressed regret at not having acknowledged them as of yet but would like to do so now, if they would allow. His apologies were graciously accepted and it was discussed that they were going to explore the compound after their meal. Dr. Richards seemed to know it best and he would be their guide. Montgomery informed them that he would not to join; he would be going back to his room to rest. It wasn’t questioned on the fact that he had nearly starved to death and didn’t have the strength to follow without becoming fatigued within a few moments.
Dr. Richards skipped the formalities on the rooms that they were already familiar with and went through a door leading to the south wing, which housed the laundry room, maintenance office along with the room the generator was housed in and several other room that were used for fuel storage. They located the housing room for the water filtration system. These things they needed to know in case something needed repaired.
The tour took thirty minutes and upon the conclusion, Dr. Richards, feeling that he may have pushed it a bit far, retired to his room as well. The others split off in different areas of the compound. Jack went back to the living area and took up residence at the bar; Kate had planned on a small workout, so she made a beeline towards the gym. Pat took the children back to the recreation room and after removing that ghastly game Ethan had been playing, left them to find solace in a hot bath. As it stood, all was well and they planned for the year ahead.
Chapter Thirty Nine
Needless to say, throughout the course of the year; friendships and intimate relationships were formed between them. Jack and Kate had become an item. She convinced him to shave his beard and he convinced her to wear her hair down, though she caught herself winding it back up into a bun every so often, which he would walk by and take down. Their relationship was a good one, though they had told each other the basics of their lives and nothing more. They had left those lives behind and revisiting them only caused pain.
Pat remained the motherly figure and minded the children more than any of them, by choice. Of course the others helped watch over them, but being on lock down in a confined place, there really wasn’t much trouble that they could get into. Kate often helped her with the common duties of a household and homeschooling for the children. The men took care of any mechanical problems that arose. So any free time she had, she would read another book from the library shelf, and every once in a while, have a secret rendezvous with Dr. Richards.
Montgomery was at first distant and joined them only for meals or an occasional movie night. He remained estranged for the first half of the year and becoming quite lonely; he began to socialize with them and earned their trust. Even Dr. Richards, being very angry with him, decided that he could never forget what he had done, but would try to forgive him and welcomed him back into his good graces. Angel was the only one who still kept a good distance from him, and always hid behind someone when they were in the same room together.
Dr. Richards ended up falling deeply in love with Pat, but kept it to himself. He wasn’t sure why they were trying to keep their relationship a secret, but it sure upped the heat factor for them. There have been no illnesses to treat and was grateful, for his inventory was strictly basic. Of course he had mild antibiotics and non-narcotic pain relievers, but nothing that could handle a serious illness. With the lack of something else to do, he began looking into the facts and trying to determine the causes for the different initial effects of the infection.