A NEW DAWN
by G. H. Lorimer, Jr.
Copyright 1990
It was dark.
* * *
Blackness surrounded me. It was so dark
that it seemed I could see the black swirling and washing over me. It was thick
and heavy, as though I could feel it. Was I alive? I wasn't sure. I could see
absolutely nothing, and hear absolutely nothing.
Wait a minute.
I could hear myself think, rather loudly
at that. It was so quiet that I found myself thinking in whispers. I must be
alive! I listened for my heartbeat. Yes! I can hear it! And my breathing too. I
even heard a ringing in my ears that I didn't know I had.
Sniff. I could smell the slight mustiness
of this place. My body feels stiff and held down. I felt the weight of the dark
lift off as I raised my arm and reached out to find the bed, my consciousness
arising. I found, however, my carpeted concrete floor. How did I get down here?
Having a fantastic urge to stretch and yawn, I sat up. Yes, I am definitely
alive, as evidenced by my stiffness.
My senses were coming back. The air was
cool and comfortable, and my back was sore. I still could not see my hand in
front of my face though. Maybe I was blind! Radiation could do that, but I
didn't have any other symptoms.
Apparently I've been unconscious, for how
long I don't know. I need a light. I reached out for my bed but I couldn't find
it. What's this on the floor? A book, and there's others around it. And the
shelf! What happened in here? I start rummaging on my hands and knees.
Everything is a mess! Books, papers, trinkets, my blanket. The bed must be here
somewhere. It can be quite difficult to identify things with zero light. Aha! a
candle. Now for a lighter. Hey, a flashlight! I clicked it on but nothing
happened. Oh no, maybe I really am blind! I can't give up, maybe the batteries
are dead. A can? I must be near the food storage. Yes, at last. A lighter! Well,
here it goes.
Flick.
I wasn't blind, but I might be now. The
flame was so bright, I had to close my eyes. I managed to light the candle found
a place to put it. After I let my eyes adjust I could see that the place was in
shambles.
It must have been the shockwave. I didn't
know how it would affect this place, being underground. I hope the quake didn't
break any of my radiation shielding. I'd better check.
Rummaging through the mess I found my
Geiger counter. Sitting over by my candle, I take a reading.
Normal.
Thank God! What a relief. Hopefully my
food supply will not be contaminated. I need my lights. I hope my batteries are
still good. Finding my light switch I clicked it on. Ah, good. Not at full power
but definitely good light. My system still works. Now I can really see the mess.
My book shelves toppled over, my dresser on it's face, things knocked off of my
tables and counters, cans and prepackaged food all over the floor in the storage
room.
I might just as well start straightening
up. Some of the cans have broken open, but most were in good shape. As I was
picking up I found myself getting extremely hungry. A good sign I suppose. I'll
eat later, the place is a mess.
* * *
That's better. All in place. It took me
quite a while, but I don't know how long for sure because when I looked at my
watch, I found it broken. So much for shock-resistant. I wish I knew what time
it was, or even what day. I can't see if it's day or night outside, it's kind of
difficult when you're two hundred feet down. I wonder what it even looks like up
there. With a shudder I decided that it was time eat and hit the sack. I am
feeling pretty tired, but famished first.
I'd better check to make sure. I grabbed
my Geiger counter and ran it all over my food stores.
Normal. No problem. I can feast! I
decided to try a packet of corned beet and green beans. They were part of my
newest shipment of military surplus foods that I got last week. Last week? Well,
sometime, How handy these are, precooked and vacuum sealed hot. All you do is
warm them up from any heat source, a bed of coals, engine block, boiling water,
and you have a warm meal.
I probably shouldn't use my hot plate, my
batteries read too low. I guess it's under the arm for heat.
I sure am glad that I built this place
last year. I couldn't have done it if I hadn't won the lottery, though. I
invested some of my winnings, and the rest of it went into building and stocking
this shelter.
I remember when I first started. Some of
my neighbors thought that I was crazy. "Why would anybody buy and bury two
underground gas station storage tanks? Why was he storing water and gas without
any pumps on the surface? They gave up on me when they saw the digging and
workers underground, the steel shipments (one inch thick vault steel to line the
block structure on all sides, top, and bottom, and the four inch thick lead
lining)! I chuckled at the thought of how I pulled that one off! All of the
compressed air and oxygen tanks were the next items to send them nuts.
One of my neighbors was interested
though, and I showed him the layout. I had the main living area, which contained
my bed and furniture, radio, television, vcr, tapes (audio and visual), and all
of my other personal needs. Adjacent to that is my storage and access room. All
of the food is stored here, enough to feed me for a long time. I also keep my
tools and other maintenance items stored here. Also connected to this room are
my plumbing, septic needs, and four lead lined iron vault doors.
The first door goes into an area from
which I can service the electric water pump connected to my water tank. The
tank, as well as the service room, is shielded just as all the shelter is.
The second door goes into my fresh air
room, where my circulatory system and compressed air tanks (about eight hundred
and seventy three of them) are stored.
The third door enters my generator and
battery room, and I have access to the fuel tank from this room. The generator
runs from the fuel, and I have my choice of using outside air or bottled air
from the adjacent room. All of my controls for starting and running the
generator are on the wall next to the door so that I don't have to open the door
to run the system.
The fourth and final door is the only
door on this wall that locks, and it's my only access to and from the shelter.
It opens into a stairway which has another door like this one midway up, and the
stairway continues to a final door, like the first two, mounted in the rec room
part of my house's basement. The stairway is lined and shielded just like the
rest of the shelter. All of the doors have a Geiger counter mounted on them, so
that I can see if there is any radiation danger in any of the rooms, as well as
both of the stair sections, and in my house.
I guess that's about as warm as this
stuff is going to get. I opened the package as though I hadn't eaten for months.
Mmmm... this is pretty good. In no time at all I had it devoured.
I need a drink. I guess I'd better check
the water. I go up and looked at the Geiger counter on the 'water' door.
Looks normal. Good. I figured I'd better
check them all. The 'air' room is good too. A little pang of fear hit me when I
saw the counter on the 'generator' door.
Damn! The quake must have broken open the
area. I hope that I didn't lose my fuel. The fuel gage shows full. Battery power
is at three eights of a charge.
I turned the system on, pulled the choke
and hit the start switch. The generator fired right up, and ran well as I backed
the choke off. I switched it to the outside air intake. Because of the radiation
flooding the room, I guess I'll never know if my air intake radiation filter
would have worked.
The gauges show that all is in order and
that the batteries are charging. It should only take a couple hours for them to
charge. In the mean time, the lights are burning brightly, and I checked my
entrance door.
The counter shows normal. Well, at least
the first stair section is still protected. I don't feel like going up and check
the second section right now.
Yawn! Boy I am tired. I think I'm just
going to hit it. I crawled onto my bed and pulled my blanket up. Staring at my
radio I decided that I just don't want to find out right now.
* * *
I woke with a start. I must have been
dreaming, but I can't remember what about. It was at this point that I
remembered where I was: in my shelter, and not my home.
I feel like I've had a good night's
sleep. Night? I really don't know what time or day it is. Or even how long I
slept. I have a clock down here, but it wasn't on when I came in.
I got up and stretched, and then went
over to check the generator. The batteries show a full charge, so I must have
slept for at least four hours. I switched the unit to self-cycle, and in about
ten seconds it decided to shut itself down.
After I opened a can of peaches, I felt
that I needed some music, so I put on an album.
I couldn't take it anymore! I had to
know. I set down my half finished breakfast and knelt in front of the stereo.
Putting the tuner at one end of the band I switched it from tape to F.M..
Static. I scanned the dial. Not a single
blurb; just static. I had a definite uneasy feeling as I switched to A.M..
Again, only static. Wasn't there anyone
left? I switched over to short wave one. Wow! There's something there. I backed
up as I tried to tune in whatever it was. It was weak and hard to get.
All it is was a steady low hum underneath
a continual beep-beep-beep-beep. Probably just a satellite transmitting to no
one. This is getting me nowhere. I shut off the radio and clicked on the
television.
The screen showed an excellent tone of
static. I flipped the channels, UHF and VHF. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
I just kind of slumped back as the
realization of what had happened really started to hit me. I started weeping and
fell into disbelief. Then I was shocked and angry! I cursed the bombs and the
governments. And then I felt the loss of millions of innocent people, and
perhaps mankind altogether.
The world suddenly felt very large and
empty. Am I alone? I don't know if I can handle that. I always planned on
survival, but I never thought that I'd have to face it.
* * *
I found myself on the floor. I don't
really know if I slept or not. The TV was still on, showing me ceaseless static.
I pulled myself to my feet, and was feeling extreme anxiety. I have to know, I
have to see. There has got to be somebody else out there. "That's it",
I decided. I have to go out.
I changed my clothes. I threw on my six
pocket pants and an old sweatshirt. What was the weather like out there? I have
no way of knowing.
Grabbing my combat harness I headed into
storage to fill my canteen.
After sheathing my knife I holstered my
nine millimeter and grabbed a handful of thirty round clips, readying one in my
rifle. After throwing a bottle of matches and radiation sickness pills in my
pocket I headed for the door.
With no hesitation I went through the
first door and proceeded up the stairs. The lights worked well and I could see
clearly.
The Geiger counter on door two showed
above normal radiation, but not much. So much for that. Opening the second door
I found a dark passage, even after trying the light switch. The light leaking in
from the first half lit the stairway enough for now, and up I went.
When I reached the third door I had to
use my lighter to see the counter.
Massive radiation. Even higher than
predicted for this area by three times. I shouldn't go out there. I don't have a
radiation suit (I couldn't find one last year), but I have to see. I have to
find someone! I gulped hard and began to unlock the door. Opening it I felt a
warm rush come over me. It was also dark, and I saw why. My house was nothing
but rubble, completely blocking my entrance. Most of it was burned cinders and
ash.
I swallowed a couple of pills and decided
now or never. Diving right into it I started digging and clearing, the rubble
just falling down the stairs as I threw it. The farther I got the more I ran
into, and I became frantic.
With the blind terror of what a trapped
animal would feel I dug and dug. It must have been hours. I cut and burned
myself without realizing it. I was tiring but I couldn't stop. I had to get out!
At last an opening! In one last rush of
panic, I was out! It was dark. It must have been nighttime, but it was
definitely warm. I felt dizzy and weak. Landing on the hard dark ground I
collapsed with exhaustion.
* * *
A warm wind was blowing in my face as I
stirred to consciousness. I need a drink. Sitting up I reached for my canteen. I
gulped a drink and saw that my nose was bleeding. The water didn't settle well
with me but It sure tasted good.
I felt dizzy as I scanned the horizon.
The area looked like an open plain, with mounds of rubble spotting the acres and
acres of the Maple Forest Housing Community. The land was flat and a brownish
gray.
The atmosphere was dusty with heavy dirt
clouds and smoke from countless fires. It must have been morning because there
was a heavy concentration of an orange-ish light illuminating the clouds on the
east horizon, much like a new dawn.
I felt nauseous and turned my head down
to vomit. I felt weak, feverish, dizzy, and I was bleeding. And then I suddenly
realized that I didn't have much longer.
* * *
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