Twisting Topeka (13 page)

“
Was it worth surviving, if
no one else lives?” Alicia asked over breakfast.

“
People are
alive.”

“
But they’re
dying.”

“
Not all of them. Those who
were far enough from the jet stream or have shelters like ours are
fine. The real challenge is moving food and medical supplies. Once
things stabilize and it’s safe to go outside, we’ll establish
supply chains again.”

“
But how do we bring order
to all the unrest going on out there?”

“
That’s in the hands of the
military and first responders. All we have to worry about is
keeping ourselves safe.”

She pointed across the room to the
monitors, which showed images of cities on fire after militants
exploded car bombs. “With so many of the world leaders either dead
or underground, who’s going to lead those of us who are
left?”

“
There’s talk of forming a
world government along the lines of Star Trek’s Federation of
Planets.”

“
How would that work
differently than the United Nations?”

He gave her a good humored grin. “We
could watch some Star Trek movies and find out while we go back to
bed and make love.”

“
Not funny.”

“
Okay, so maybe we’ll wait
until after dinner.” He took her hand and kissed the backs of her
fingers. “Dad’s asked me to help him birth calves. I’ll see you
tonight.”

Before leaving their pod, he checked
on Noah, who slept after his morning feeding. He loved watching his
son. The time he spent with Alicia and Noah helped him ground his
thoughts from all the techno jargon that went through his mind
while working with the computers.

“
I thought you were headed
to work.”

“
I’m just procrastinating
with the ones I love.”

Two deep passionate kisses later, he
managed to leave. He walked to the library and posted his daily
report. On his way to the stream corridor, he waved to his mom who
monitored the preschoolers while they petted bunnies and lambs in
the park.

He stopped on the landing to look down
on this underground ark. The population count now numbered 453 with
the birth of another baby last night. The carbon monoxide filtering
system along with oxygen production from the plants provided enough
breathable air for a maximum of 800 people and animals. For the
contingency they wound up living below ground longer than two
years, his dad and the other engineers continued to work on options
for filtering in outside air.

His dad met him at the pasture door.
“You’re late.”

“
I was comforting Alicia.
She’s worried about whether all this was worth it.”

“
She’s not adjusting well
to living down here; is she, son?”

“
I talked to her folks. Her
dad said she suffered from claustrophobia when she was a
kid.”

His dad opened the door to the calving
shed. “We’re halfway around the world from ground zero, so our
radiation levels are much lower than in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
The others and I doubt we’ll have to stay down here more than a
year.”

“
Even so, I’m wondering if
I should take Alicia to a safe zone. But if I do that, there won’t
be anyone here who can run the monitoring equipment I’ve set
up.”

“
You’ve got a hard decision
to make, son. Just remember what I said before: Taking care of
family is a no brainer.”

Thirteen Months
Later

The ground shook. Ken awoke and rushed
into his pod’s living chamber. He switched on the shortwave radio
and listened to reports of nuclear bombs exploding all over the
world. The closest one hit Fort Riley. It took time, but he managed
to connect to a satellite network capable of giving him the ability
to assess the damage.

“
What’s going on?” Alicia
asked, holding Noah’s hand as he toddled along beside
her.

“
Militants took over
several nuclear missile silos and are attacking military targets.
The American and Russian military are counterattacking and they
believe they’ve killed those involved. At the moment, there are
still three missiles in route to targets, but our fighter jets are
intercepting to take them down.”

“
How bad is the
damage?”

“
Bad.” Ken brought up
grainy satellite images showing areas affected by nuclear
radiation. “This will prolong our need to live
underground.”

“
But just last week you
said we’d be able to start spending short periods of time
outside.”

“
These nuclear attacks have
set us back. We’re pretty much starting all over again.”

“
Is there anywhere safe we
can go outside?”

The maps showed radioactive hotspots
on every continent with the highest concentrations around major
military bases and shelters where world leaders lived. “A few.” He
took her hand as he pointed out the safe zones in remote areas of
the United States. “We’ll survive, but we’ll have to stay down here
longer.”

She yanked her hand away. “I can’t
live like this forever, Ken!”

He stood up and took her into his
arms. “Shh! I know it’s hard. I miss being on the outside too. All
any of us can do is take each day and make the best of
it.”

She let go of Noah’s hand and backed
away. “You make the best of it. I’m going outside.”

“
Don’t!”

“
I’m sorry! I can’t hide in
this hole while people outside are dying.”

She ran into the bedroom.

He lifted Noah into his playpen and
followed her.

Her suitcase was open on the bed and
she hurriedly shoved clothes into it.

“
At least wait a few days
to make sure it’s safe to travel.”

“
I’m going now!”

She forced the suitcase closed and
headed toward the infirmary where she could use the elevator. Ken
carried Noah and followed while he continued trying to persuade her
not to leave.

“
Are you sure you want to
risk your baby’s life?” Dr. Wilson asked.

“
Noah’s staying with his
father.”

“
I meant the child you’re
carrying now.”

A spark of hope filled Ken. He walked
closer to her and took her hands in his. “Please stay, Alicia. Do
it for our children.”

She sank to the floor and sobbed. The
doctor gave her a fetus safe sedative and led her to a patient
room.

“
When did she take a
pregnancy test?” Ken asked.

“
It’s standard procedure
during a female physical, which she took late yesterday afternoon
after complaining about feeling fatigued.”

Ken absorbed the news of his wife’s
depression, which Dr. Wilson said stemmed from missing the
endorphins one absorbs from natural sunlight. When he told Wilson
about her childhood experience with claustrophobia, the doctor
agreed it contributed to her depression.

He returned to monitoring information
received from his world contacts. Collecting and disseminating the
data via shortwave radio to survivors who didn’t have computer
capabilities kept him busy until Alicia returned to their pod that
evening.

“
What do you want for
supper? I’ll cook.”

“
Nothing. I just want to go
to bed.” She entered the bedroom and shut the door.

He checked on Noah before following
her into the bedroom. She already lay in bed, curled in a fetal
position. He sat on the bed. “I’m sorry.”

“
For what?”

“
If I hadn’t gotten you
pregnant again, you’d be outside headed for some the
sunlight.”

“
I don’t want to talk about
it. Please leave.”

As he left the room, he turned on the
intercom to listen in on her. He opened the book Dr. Wilson loaned
him about depression and spent most of the night reading while
monitoring the state of the outside world.

At six in the morning, the phone rang.
He awoke, lifted his head up off the desk, and picked up the
receiver. “Hello?”

“
Sir. It’s the south
entrance.”

“
Yes.”

“
Your wife just
left.”

“
Why didn’t you stop
her?”

“
She had a gun and said if
we tried to stop her, she’d shoot herself.”

Ken fired up his monitors and zoomed
an exterior security camera in on her. She wore a protective suit
and climbed into a farm truck with a suitcase.

He used the GPS locator to track her
progress as she drove north. Occasionally, he managed to locate her
on satellite. Each time she stopped for gas or let other survivors
climb in the back of the truck he tried to call, but she didn’t
pick up. With a good idea of where she headed, he made inquiries
and found her lodging. Not until she reached a cold zone in South
Dakota that he texted her about did she stop and call
him.

“
Is this the right
place?”

“
Yes. The owner’s son
served with Dad.”

“
You should come join
me.”

“
As much as I want to, I
have to stay.” He looked at the statistics building up on his
computer. He didn’t dare tell her the world population was down to
a fourth of what it was before the nuclear accident. “I’ll call you
every night. Let me know if you need anything.”

She hung up and entered the bed and
breakfast outside of Keystone.

Ken grabbed a marker and stood up. He
wrote Alicia’s name over the dove flying back with an olive branch
in the painting of Noah and his ark on the wall above his desk. He
prayed she would return someday, but deep down, he knew it was up
to him to follow her once he trained someone how to run the
satellite monitoring system.

Shake, Rattle and
Roll

Roxanna Namey

April 24, 1867 – 2
p.m.

“
I’m so glad the fashion is
for fewer crinolines this year,” Effie thought as she scrutinized
her appearance in the full-length framed mirror. “I hope John likes
my new dress.”

She put on the plainer of the two
jackets she had ordered from the seamstress to coordinate with the
mauve skirt. This one had long pagoda sleeves with a high neckline
trimmed by tatting she had made herself. She leaned in to get a
good look, being a little nearsighted and too vain to wear glasses
except when reading.

She checked the center part in her
hair. Her long, slim fingers smoothed the texture to the nape of
her neck where her low bun was coiled, making sure every hair was
in place. Satisfied, she reached for the matching hat, adjusted it,
then tied the wide ribbons securely under her cleft
chin.

She stepped outside into the sunshine
and turned towards downtown to meet John outside Constitution Hall
on South Kansas Avenue. Her step was light as she nearly danced
down the street in anticipation of meeting “her John”.

Effie crossed the street, being
careful to keep her skirt as clean as possible. She spied John
waiting down the block and raised her hand in recognition. Effie’s
pace increased in anticipation of their lunch date.

Wham!

Effie found herself lying on the
sidewalk. The ground shook violently.

Whoosh!

Flames shot out the door of the
building next to her. She tried to regain her feet, but could not
do so because of the stiff crinolines under her voluminous
skirt.

The shaking increased in intensity.
Effie now lay prone in the middle of the street. She instinctively
reached for her hat as she got tossed around.

Fire erupted all around her. She felt
heat on her face. Effie had just time to note the sound of
screaming around her. Trails of flame crossed the street rapidly
and kissed the hem of her skirt, setting it on fire.

She heard more screaming, not
realizing it was her own loud cries. The street surface moved in
waves, like a rough sea. Buildings were crumbling. Bricks, glass
and timber fell helter-skelter.

Suddenly the earth split directly
under Effie, creating a gaping grin along Kansas Avenue. She fell
like Alice in Wonderland down the rabbit hole, disappearing into
the fiery pit waiting to receive her body below.

April 24, 2017 – 2
p.m.

A tomato red compact car pulled
alongside a sign beside the entrance to one of the driver’s planned
scenic destinations. Ratchel was on her way to the state capital in
Dodge City. The young, strawberry-haired driver checked her
appearance in the rearview mirror and then pressed a button on the
door. The window made a small whirring sound as it lowered so she
could read the sign without glare:

Welcome to Sunflower
Canyon National Park

Formed as the result of a catastrophic
earthquake

Which occurred at 2:22 p.m. on April
24, 1867

Black Blizzard

Vernon Neff