Final Dawn: Escape From Armageddon (21 page)

     If, on the other hand, the following vehicle saw the party stopped ahead and pulled over
also, Bryan would have taken his AR-15, fired three shots into the vehicle’s radiator to disable it, then would have climbed back into his truck and proceeded on his way.

     On this day, like the previous trip, there was no one following them. All breathed a sigh of relief. Stranding anyone miles from nowhere was a harsh tactic that they were wi
lling to use if they had to, but no one wanted to do it. Luckily, no one let the word slip out, and their secret was safe.

     The three vehicles proceeded to the mine without incident. Along the way, Hannah and Mark were finally able to share information with the passengers. And they had a thousand questions.

     Hannah had taken it upon herself to prepare two binders for each of the RVs. Each binder was full of photos that showed the compound where they’d live after breakout, as well as photos of the mine. As they passed the binders around and looked over each other’s shoulders to see the photos, the passengers were introduced to their next two homes.

     The m
ood was somber, of course. The rest of their journey was rather uneventful, except when a high pitched scream came from the lavatory in Mark’s RV.

     Mark’s Aunt Nella had stepped into the lavatory to use the
restroom, and had raised the lid to see the pavement of the highway flying past at sixty miles an hour through the empty hole at the bottom of the toilet. It startled her enough to cause her to scream at the sight.

     She decided to wait until their arrival at the mine, and everyone else
enjoyed a much-needed laugh at her expense.

     Five miles away from their destination, Hannah used her cell phone to call the mine. She let it ring twice and then hung up
.

     Sarah immediately went to the security console and scanned the monitors
, watching for the convoy. Once they were in sight, she watched for anyone who might be following. As in the previous operation, no one was.

     As the group turned down the unmarked road that led to the mine, Sarah sent David to open the door for them. Then she made an announcement over the mine’s public address system.

     “We have vehicles coming into the mine. Please watch out for them. Parents, please find your children and keep them far away from the vehicles.”

     The convoy pulled into the mine and slowed to a crawl. Mark and Hannah pulled the two RVs back into their spots in Bay 3.
Bryan parked the truck in the main corridor, where he was met with several men and dollies. He climbed onto the back of the truck and started handing luggage and boxes full of belongings to the men, who in turn stacked them neatly onto the dollies.

     As each of the new arrivals stepped off of the RVs, they looked around in wonder at their new home. Most were sad and apprehensive. A few were joyful that they wouldn’t die a slow miserable death like most of their friends.

     All of them hoped that this was just a temporary measure. That somehow the Chinese rocket wasn’t just a government ploy. They hoped and prayed that it was real, and that it really would blast Saris 7 away from its collision course. They didn’t want to be here. They wanted to be back in their homes, enjoying their lives, and not having to contemplate the end of the earth. The end of their friends. The end of everything they’d known.

     Mark and Sarah understood everything they were feeling. They’d been dealing with the same things.

     Mark asked for everyone’s attention.

     “Everyone, please feel free to walk around
and check out the mine. Mike, David and Bob will bring you your belongings as soon as they get them off the truck. If you’ll let them know what’s yours, they’ll put them in your RV for you.

     “On the door of each RV, we’ve taped a piece of paper. The paper has the names of the people who will live in that RV while we’re in the mine.

     “We tried to arrange everyone so that immediate families are as close together as possible. But nothing is set in concrete. Parents, if you’d rather not live next door to your children, feel free to exchange RVs with someone else.”

     No one laughed at Mark’s joke. It was just too hard to cope with the stress everyone was feeling.

     “We’ll give you an hour to get settled, and then Hannah will give a tour of the mine to anyone who is interested in going along. If you’d prefer to wander around and explore on your own, please be aware that the industrial part of the mine, past the chain link fence, is dangerous for small children. Our power station poses an electrocution hazard, and there are about twenty small swimming pools full of water in that area.

     “That bright yellow structure over there is our community la
vatory. Nothing fancy. It’s basically a high tech outhouse, with a few extra amenities.

     “You’ll notice that there is no running water in the community lavatory. But there are plenty of wet wipes you can use to clean your hands with.

     “You’re also free to use the toilets in your RVs, but please keep the lids closed when they’re not in use.”

     He turned to Hannah and asked her “Baby, did I forget anything?”

     Hannah added to the group “Even if you want to explore the mine yourself, please join me for the tour in an hour. I’ll provide you with some information you’ll need to know in order to make getting settled in easier. After the tour is over, we’d like for everyone to meet in the dining room in Bay 9. We’ll cover a lot of additional information at that time, and our kitchen staff will serve everyone a hot meal.”

     Mark’s mom, Phyllis, asked the group to join her in a prayer. They bowed their heads and prayed for God to watch over the ones left behind, and to bless them all with
a joyful repatriation after the group left the mine.

     Then she addressed the newcomers.

     “I’ve been here for almost a week now, and I felt a lot of guilt at first. But then I realized that I’m so blessed to be given a chance to watch my grandchildren grow up after all. And I’m so glad that we’re in this together. Let’s focus on the positive. I love you all.”

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     After everyone found their respective RVs and placed their belongings inside them, the newcomers joined Hannah for the mine tour. It was to be the same tour she gave to the first batch of arrivals a week before.

     “Let me start by welcoming you all. I know this isn’t
an ideal situation, nor is this the ideal place to call home for the next few years. But it is safe, and will be reasonably comfortable. And we’ll all survive.

     “If you’ll all follow me, we’ll walk through bay by bay, and I’ll tell you some things you will need to know. Feel free to interrupt and ask questions
at any time.”

     She noticed that Joe
Kenney’s mother Helen, and David’s father Cy, had found the motorized wheelchairs parked outside their respective RVs, and asked if they had any questions about their operation. Neither did, so Hannah proceeded, and spoke to the group as they passed by Bay 5.

     “What you see now is a big pile of multi-colored plastic. These are the pieces for a very large piece of playground equipment. The guys never got around to building it, and will be doing that once the mine is sealed. I’m sure they would welcome the help if any of you want to assist them.

     “Moving on to Bay 6, you’ll notice we have four buildings. The first one, the one Karen painted a big red cross on, will be our clinic. Debbie, who is a certified EMT, has agreed to be our camp medic. She will be in the clinic every morning from 8 until noon. She’ll be on call at all other times. Basically, any time you need her, send somebody to find her and she’ll come running.

     “I am a certified midwife. If any of you get pregnant while you’re here, I’ll go through the whole thing with you, and I’ll deliver your child.”

     Mike had to ask “But who’ll deliver yours?”

     Hannah expected the question. “I’ve already asked Sarah and Sami, and they will both help me. I’ll talk them through the process.

     “The second building, with the big molar painted on it, is David’s dentist office. He can do everything except braces. He’ll work by appointment only, so tell him if you need any work done.

    
“The third building, with Kermit the frog, is our one-room schoolhouse for grades K through 6.

     “The fourth building, with the large magnifying glass, is for grades 7 through 12.

     “Next up is our game room, as you can see. We’ve stocked it with over 200 various video games on four different systems. If you brought your own games with you, we should have a system to play them on. Also, pinball, foosball, pool and ping pong. Eventually there will be a miniature golf course in the back.

     “Any questions so far?”

     There were none.  

     “
Wow, I must be pretty good at this. Please follow me to Bay 8. This is the lounge and TV room. The large TV will pretty much stay on all day to whatever station everybody wants to watch.

     “Mark has set up
an internal cable system with 30 channels. All channels will be pre-recorded, of course, but there is a wide variety, so everybody should like something.”

     She picked up
a copy of the list of channels and read some of them to the group.

     “For example, Channel 1 will be your program guide. Channel 2 will be NBC, Channel 3 will be CBS, Channel 4 will be ABC. Channel 5 will be the all-western channel, Channel 6 will be all soap operas, Channel 7 will be all football.

     “And so on and so forth. Each RV has been equipped with two televisions, and a copy of this guide has been placed next to each TV.

     “Behind the couches and easy chairs
you’ll see several private rooms, for viewing movies or playing video games. These are primarily meant for persons who want to watch something that isn’t rated for everyone. It’s also a nice place to go if you want a quiet place to read or take a nap.

     “The shelves contain 1200 DVDs and over 800 books. We’ve tried to find a good sel
ection so that there’s something for everyone. Please feel free to borrow them and take them back to your RVs if you like.

     “Moving on now, this is Bay 9. The front part of the bay, as you can probably tell from all the tables and chairs, is the dining room. Back in the back, behind the serving line, is the kitchen. This is where we’ll be meeting in…”

     She checked the large clock on the front of the bay.

     “… thirty eight minutes for
lunch and more information. We have been lucky enough to have four volunteers who are making up our kitchen staff and cooking all of our meals for us. They’re still looking for two more bodies, so if any of you are interested, please see Phyllis Snyder later.

     “Next up is our water treatment facility. I’m not sure exactly how it’s done, but I do know that the water you wash your bodies and clothes
with this week will be recycled and treated, and will be the same water you’ll wash your bodies and clothes with next week too. Mark tells me it’ll be recycled the same way all big cities do it, only on a smaller scale. And he assures me that each time, it’ll be clean and safe enough to drink.

     “On the right side of the bay, you’ll notice a bank of washing machines. There are no dryers, because dryers use way too much electricity and will eat up too much of our diesel fuel. So we’ll dry our laundry on the old fashioned clotheslines at the back of the bay.

     “Here we have Bay 11, our very own Walmart. Sarah painted the signs. Aren’t they lovely? Hopefully the shelves are stocked well enough to get us by. They may not have every single thing you want, but they should have everything you need. Take whatever you need, but please be courteous and leave some for others as well.

     “This is Bay 12, and if you’re thinking ‘wow, that looks like a greenhouse,’ you’re absolutely right.

     “Those lights directly above the green house are very powerful solar lights, made to simulate sunshine. We’ve got over a hundred types of fruits and vegetables in there. Its purpose isn’t to feed everyone, but rather to grow a new season of fresh seeds each year, which will be replanted to make more new seeds the following year. That way, when we break out, we’ll have good seeds that will grow, instead of seeds that are years old and will be worthless.

     “Karen is the one with the green thumb, and she assures me that she’ll be able to get her seeds and still provide everyone a fresh strawberry or peach occasionally. They’ll be rare treats that we’ll come to cherish.
And when we get out of here, the seeds will guarantee our continued survival.

     You can’t see them from here, but behind the greenhouse are four very large freshwater aquariums. Karen is also farmi
ng catfish, perch, and crawdads, which we’ll use to stock a pond when we leave the mine.

     “This is Bay 13, our gym and basketball court. It pretty much needs no explanation. Feel free to use all of the workout equipment, but parents, please make sure the little ones have supervision.