The Shelter

CHAPTER TWO: Conflicts Arise

CHAPTER TWO: Conflicts Arise

We crossed through an alleyway and came out at the garage entrance to Macy’s. She led me down to the lower parking floor where she stopped to look around. Satisfied that no one was about, she pointed to the old rusted sign, ‘Bomb Shelter’. “Hurry, we mustn’t be seen.”

A small red light was blinking on a heavy metal door. Electricity! These people have electricity!

She turned and faced a small camera mounted on the ceiling and waved her arms. The small red light turned green and I heard the click of an inner lock—the door opened. “Quickly now, hurry.”

We rushed through the door into darkness and as the hatch closed behind us. The bolts slammed home again and a light came on. I heard the hum of machinery all around me.

“It is safe now. Come with me, I will introduce you to the others.”

There was a metal ladder on the right, and she climbed down. I hesitated, sniffing the air—it was fresh and clean. Slowly I followed her down the ladder.

It came out into a wide tunnel, dimly lit with recessed lights that glowed an eerie orange. The tunnel stopped at a large circular door. She pushed an intercom button on the wall. “Let me in—I’ve brought a friend.” The door clicked and clanged as several large locking bolts shot home. There was a hiss of pressurized air, and then the door opened.

Two men and a teenage boy immediately surrounded me. They all carried shotguns and they were all pointed in my direction.

“It’s okay!” pleaded the girl. “He saved my life.”

“He’s not getting in until he hands over all his weapons,” the eldest of the men said.

“No. I will never disarm. I have lived too long above ground to know that an unarmed man is nothing more than dinner for the Crazies.”

“Dad,” the girl pleaded again as she lowered the barrel of his gun. “Please—he saved my life. We owe him...I owe him.”

Reluctantly the men lowered their firearms. “If you’re wrong about him, Katie, you will have killed us all.”

“I saw him takeout seven Crazies in less than a minute. They had captured me and held me down…oh, Dad, it was horrible.” She broke down and her father put his arm around her and held her to him. I saw that she wore a silver heart on a silver chain, it lay warmly against her heavy breasts.

“Easy, honey, Daddy’s here now. It’ll be all right. Did they hurt you?”

She wiped at her nose, “No, but they were about to, when this guy pops out of nowhere and chopped ‘em to pieces. He saved my life.”

The man studied me up and down for a moment, noticing all the armament I carried.

“I want to thank you for saving my little girl.”

“No problem. I hate Crazies. I sure you would have done the same for me.” I offered my hand and the man took it and shook it hard. “My names Ray—Ray Daniels. Who are you people and how’d you get control of this bomb shelter?”

“I’ll tell you about it later, Ray. I’m Ben Travis, by the way, and this here is Kyle Walters and his son Mack.” Ray shook their hands.

“Boy, am I glad you’re here,” Mack said. “Now we can go out there and kick some Crazy butt.”

“Now, Mack, that’s enough of that,” his father, scolded. “We’re just fine right where we’re at. We got enough food and water to survive for almost three years. To go outside now would be like signing our death warrant.”

“I know, Dad, but you went out there!”

“And got bit by a damn Crazy for my troubles too. Staying down here is for your own protection, Mack! I wish you’d realize that!”

"You got bit?" I asked curiosly.

"Yeah...luckily it wasn't that bad though. But this kid thinks we should go up there and take the whole damn town back. I'm beginning to think I raised me an idiot."

“Okay, Dad, jeez, don’t have a cow. This way, Mr. Daniels, I'll introduce you to everybody.”

Mack led the way, and Katie latched onto my arm and escorted me to the back of the shelter. Their fathers followed quietly whispering to each other.

The tunnel opened up into a huge circular room that looked as if it could house hundreds. Row upon row of cots lined the concrete walls, and a large area had been cleared away to make a family room of sorts where six children played cards at a metal table and two women worked in a kitchen adjacent to the tunnel.

A kitchen! They even have a kitchen!

The kids jumped up and surrounded me with curious looks.

“This is Ray Daniels,” Mack annouced proudly. “He’s like a samurai warrior and hunts Crazies.”

“Oooo,” they sighed together, definitely impressed.

“These two here are my little sisters, Margaret and Roxanne—they’re twins. This is Randy, Jan, and Julie Travis. The little runt in the back is Toby—you already know Katie.”

“Lemme see! Lemme see!” Toby pushed his way through the wall of children like a cat. “I’m Toby!” he yelled up at me.

“So, I’ve heard,” I said smiling. “And you can call me, Ray.”

“Okay, Ray!” he shouted giving me the thumbs up.

Another small boy stepped forward. “Don’t mind him, he’s just my stupid brother—I’m Randy, is that a real sword?”

“It sure is, Randy. It’s a Japanese Katana blade—maybe I can teach you how to use it some time.”

“Wow! Really?”

“All right you guys, back off,” Katie laughed. “Give the man some room.”

Ben walked over with his wife, Kyle and his wife followed slowly behind them. I could see Mr. and Mrs. Walters arguing. It was plan to see that Kyle Walters was not happy about me being there.

“Mr. Daniels,” Ben said happily, “I want you to meet the love of my life.”

“Oh, Ben, please…you’re embarrassing me.”

“This is Melissa,” he said, putting his arm around her waist. “If it hadn’t been for her quick thinking we’d all be dead right now. She got us down here safe and sound.”

“It wasn’t such a big deal, Mr. Daniels…”

“Please, call me Ray.”

“Well, Ray, we had just come out of the movie theater with the Walters family here, when we heard the sirens screaming. The ground rumbled and shook, and I thought it was an earthquake or something.”

“Yeah, but you had a plan,” Ben injected.

“I remembered the bomb shelter sign right by where we had parked. The sky changed and the wind blew like crazy—we ran for the shelter.”

“When we got inside, Kyle Walters locked the door,” Ben added. “We’ve been here ever since.”

“You’re some of the lucky ones,” Ray said sadly. “You don’t want to know what’s been happening out there—the things I’ve seen.” I smiled at the kids not wanting to frighten them. “You’re all blessed. Most people forgot the public bomb shelters still existed.”

“Thank you for saying so, Mr. Daniels,” Kyle Walters cut in. “That’s what I’ve been telling them all along. We are blessed, and to leave this shelter would be like spitting in God’s face.”

“Now, Kyle, don’t you go getting started again,” said his wife. “Hello, my name is Rose—Rose Walters.”

“Nice to meet ya, Mrs. Walters,” I said shaking her hand.

“You’re not going to shut me up this time, Rose,” Kyle said angrily. “We don’t know anything about this guy. He could be infected or something. Remember, we’ve got just enough rations to keep us alive and we don’t NEED any outsiders.” The last remark was made directly at me as Kyle bave me an ugly look.

I met his gaze. This man is dangerous and deserves watching, I thought. I had seen his kind before—they cared about nothing but their own and would kill to protect it - even if it meant sacrificing everyone else. The Travis family had no idea who they had holed-up with—Kyle Walters was dangerous and would betray them at the drop of a hat.