Deep Freeze: Protocol One, Book 2 (Protocol One Saga) (4 page)

I was happy for the visual distraction. The right side of my bottom lip bled from biting it. No one told me anything. On top of that, the space station sent new photos. It wasn’t good. Before we sent out Anna and Tony, the gray cloud formation lingered between Minnesota and Northern Ohio. Had it taken the predicted course, it would have moved right on by us.

But it didn’t. It swept down and stalled. The massive storm front moved across our area. But that wasn’t the worst of it. The pretty picture of the earth wearing a snow beanie, quickly changed when the space station said they were watching massive cloud formations.

While I am not familiar with the terms, basically the arctic air was moving down and mixing with some sort of warm air, causing the cloud to produce more snow.

It could miss us and stay north.

For that we had to wait, wait to see what it did. The snow was already a hinder in getting Anna and Tony. But it did show signs of slowing down.

Tom and Skyler returned, they had trouble with the weather as well. Tom was anxious and wanted to go straight to Pittsburgh to find Tony. I wanted him to go, but Gil put the brakes on that.

“For as much as I want them back here, I can’t afford to lose two more people,” Gil stated. “We have what? Almost a foot of snow. Yes, we can make it there, but if the new storm hits, what are we getting, Peter?”

“They said about three feet maybe more.”

“You’ll get stranded too,” Gil said with a point to Tom. “They have supplies, they’ll be fine.”

“You say ‘they’,” Tom argued. “We don’t know where Tony is.  We haven’t heard from Anna in hours. I can make it there before the storm hits.”

“Let me give it some thought. You won’t get there tonight before nightfall anyhow. If the storm hasn’t arrived by morning, maybe you can go out and try to beat it.”

Tom thanked him. I didn’t understand why. Why did we need Gil’s permission?  Gil operated under the guise that he made all decisions in the best interest of everyone. Had Anna not been out there with Tony, I would have assumed he just wanted Tony gone. But Anna was out there and that just tossed a wrench into my theory.

Then after more lip biting, the visual distraction appeared in the monitor.

Gwen.

Was she still, all these hours later, trying to clean herself? Her hair was a mess, matted and wild. It made me laugh.

She took a seat in the dining area and kept looking at her watch. What was she waiting for? Her fingers tapped on the table and she appeared irritated.

“You can leave if you want,” Tom said. “I got this.”

“Yeah, but you’re gonna need rest if you go out,” I said. “Say, what do you think she’s up to?”

“Gwen? Who knows?”

“Here comes Nelly,” I pointed. “They’re talking. “ I watched Gwen’s lips move and I interpreted. “Gwen just said, ‘I bit my thigh.’

“What?” Tom laughed.

“Yeah, and Nelly said, ‘Fur wart’”

“You are the worst lip reader I have ever known.”

I shook my head. “No, I’m sure that’s what she said. Oh,” I laughed. “Gwen just told her, ‘Canada uses wings.’”

“Oh my God.”

“Why is Nelly flipping her off? Oh, here comes Gil.”

“Why don’t you go down there and grab a drink or snack, then you can really find out what is being said.”

“You know what?” I stood. “That is a good idea. Need anything?”

“No thanks.”

I myself needed a break from the safe room. I was there all day waiting for news. I was divided between hopeful and gloomy. The gloom came when Melissa radioed that Joie, Tony’s daughter wanted to know when he was getting back, a normal question for a five year old. It was something I didn’t want to answer over the radio. Melissa came to the safe room and I told her.

Her exhale of worry carried out. Joie was in her care and she said it would stay that way if need be, at least until Anna, Tony or both returned. Melissa already had her hands full. She and her grandmother were caretakers for the baby found on the way to the bunker and the displaced kids that came in during what I like to call the fury.

The time period when temperatures soared. Had I not been working the radio so much, I probably would have taken Joie. She liked me. She and I were pals, at least I thought so.

Nelly and I crossed paths on the walkway that crossed between Pods A and B.

She looked irritated and was mumbling to herself.

“Don’t ask,” she said, holding up her hand.

“I don’t need to.”

“Oh, yeah, you are the watcher.”

“Yeah, I didn’t have the sound up, but I know whatever it was, it pissed you off.”

“She thinks we’re all her servants, her and I are gonna go round and round. I need a smoke.”

“Hey, Nel, you’re running low. You smoke now, that will be one less you’ll have when you run out in … two weeks.”

“Is that all I have left?” she asked.

“Twenty-nine cigarettes, that’s it.”

“Fuck.”

“Sorry.”

“I’ll steal a couple puffs from my evening smoke. What about bourbon, we good on that.”

“Yep, plenty.”

“That’ll do.”

She moved by me toward the main section or Pod as we started calling them. I whistled thinking about how bad Gwen had to be to cause Nelly to dig into her stash. Nelly typically had it together.

As I approached the dining area door, I could hear Gwen’s mouth. Her words were rushed and laced with anger. It was hard to make out what exactly she was saying, but it wasn’t pleasantries.

Nelly had made her homemade pudding cups for the kids. The aroma of warm chocolate flowed to me earlier that day, so I knew she made them. In fact, anything she cooked, I could smell in the safe room if the door was open.

I walked into the dining level pretending I was none the wiser, even though everyone knew I was the eyes and ears of the bunker. The kitchen portion was first, then the area where everyone ate. I likened it to an upgraded college cafeteria.

Pudding. Pudding. Fridge
. I thought of my snack search.

“I don’t understand what his issue is,” Gwen said.

“Why is this my problem?” Gil asked.

“Are you not the leader here?”

Yes. There they are. Pudding. Wow. They look good.

“Not over matters like this,” Gil said. “These are up to the individual division leaders.”

Gwen laughed. “And you trust the mechanical division to a man named Duke.”

“Actually, yes.”

I wonder if Nelly made that whipped topping. Here is this … no, that’s butter.

“Gilbert, please, this is important.

“Gwen, it isn’t.”

Yes! Got it. Wow, this is awesome.

“He is being a dictator,” Gwen stated.

Funny,
I thought as I closed the fridge.
Everyone has that thought about Gil. A dictator. Wait. One more thing. I wonder if there are any cold ones.
I opened the fridge again.

“He has rules,” Gil stated. “And the rules make sense.”

“But he took my hot air dryer and straightener.”

“You weren’t following the rules. He asked you not to use them. They are unnecessary,” Gil argued.

Ah, yes.
I grabbed one.
Cold, too, this will be really good.
I closed the fridge again and opened the drawer for a spoon.

“Look at my hair, Gil, are you gonna say they are unnecessary.”

I didn’t mean to, it slipped. I laughed and after I did, I noticed both Gwen and Gil stared at me.

Mouth hovering my pudding, I shrugged. “I was gonna compliment you on the look,” I said to Gwen.

“Peter,” Gil pointed. “Aren’t those for the kids?”

“Yes and no. Nelly gives me permission.”

“For the drink boxes, too?” Gil asked.

“Um, yeah, Joie hates them. I get her share and this is cold. So good.” I set down my pudding to insert the tiny straw.

“Oh my God,” Gwen lifted her eyes in a snubbing manner. “The caliber of people in this place. And you wonder why I want to do my hair, Gil. It adds civility”

“I second that motion,” I lifted my spoon. “Something needs done with that hair.”

“Peter,” Gil warned softly.

“I was just saying. Maybe Gwen should do a ponytail?”

She huffed at me. “Why don’t you go back to being Big Brother and suck a juice box.”

“Ouch. Man. Why are you here if you hate it so much?” I asked.

“Because of my husband.”

Pudding and drink box in hand, I laughed in sarcasm. “Is that why you have a separate room?”

“Peter can you just leave?” Gil asked. “I’ll deal with you later.”

“Thank you,” Gwen said to him.

I didn’t reply.
Deal with me later. That was insulting. Please
.  I just walked out. I got my curiosity satisfied and heard what Gwen was talking about. Nothing important. In fact since she arrived she talked about nothing important.

Something just struck me as odd with her being at the bunker. She made a grand entrance with an entourage. Gwen came from a high end bunker to us. Maybe she did come for Gil. Maybe she only wanted to persuade him to leave. Whatever the case, it was worth looking into. Possibly try to find out why she was at Protocol One, because it just didn’t sit right.

In the meantime, diversion was over. I returned to the safe room and it didn’t take long until the humor from Gwen’s expense faded and I was watching the radio, waiting impatiently for Anna to get back to us. It had been too long. I needed to hear that she was alright, and also that Tony was, too.

Despite the open invitation and warm environment, I declined to stay at the submarine. I had to get back to the starting point, in case Tony returned. Both Gail and Larry understood, and did say that the area was safe. Although Tony vanishing just after the Humvee was stolen didn’t do much to reiterate those sentiments.

It was still snowing, though it did let up a little. The waning sun was a white dot in the darkening sky, trying its hardest to peek through the clouds before it set for the night.

My footprints were partially covered, not all. The casino wasn’t far from the sub and with how quiet it was I assured Larry and Gail, I’d blast my air horn if I needed anything. They offered me items like food and such, but I didn’t need them, nor did I want to take what they had to survive. I knew what we packed was plenty and would get me through the night and longer.

I made my way back to the casino, and instead of entering through the main entrance, I went back to where I left the bag. There was still some light left, and I needed what remained when I went through the bags.

As soon as I stepped in, I searched out the lantern. It was battery operated, yet would give me a wider range of light. After I found that, lit it, I radioed Protocol One.

It was a bleak check in. I was fine, Tony was still missing, but I also notified Peter that I happened upon good people who would help me.

Gil was in the radio room and said, “There are no good people anymore, Anna, I thought by now you would know this.”

I did. But Larry and Gail weren’t in the bad category. After assuring them I was fine and I’d check in first thing in the morning, I powered down the radio and began planning my night.

The multitudes of bags were packed with a lot of items. I didn’t want to waste time going through everything, so I took what I knew I needed and placed it in one bag. It was probably more than I had to take, but once I settled, I didn’t want to have to go back to the bags.

I did, however, move the bags more inside the casino and away from the doors.

First thing was warmth. The Arctic Armor kept me cozy, but I needed it for outside. I didn’t want my body temperature to adjust to wearing it.

Having been a waitress, my mind went to the kitchen. I doubted a city code allowed independent gas lines, but I was certain there was more than likely a grill.

My explorations of the casino resulted in a lot of finds and I didn’t even look too hard.

The bars were not ransacked and there was a cigarette machine, a big one with ridiculously high priced cigarettes, It was still intact, glass blackened, yet unbroken.

My thoughts went to Nelly and how she was running low on her stash. I would make it a point to grab her a few packs if they hadn’t burned out from the heat wave. More than likely they’d be stale, but would Nelly care once she ran out?

There were three restaurants. One of them was more of a fast food type place, the other was encased in glass and locked up, but the third was wide open and not far from the main entrance.

I slipped into the kitchen, and as I thought, there was a Grill. I turned the control on the huge propane tank, heard the hiss and nearly lit it, but stopped. If I ended up stranded, I would need that propane. So I thought of another option.

A small space with a little heat would go a long way, but I didn’t want to sink too far into the casino. Instead, I decided I would make an indoor camp right near the front main doors. I grabbed a rack from the convection oven, a cake pan, and a soup kettle, and a long meat fork to use as my fire poker.

I brought the kitchen items and the rest of my stuff to the open area of the main entrance. Thinking back to when Jackson was a kid, and all the fast forts we made, using chairs from the casino floor, I made a partial tent right by the far right doors, draping a Mylar blanket over them. I didn’t unroll my sleeping bag all the way, I doubted I’d sleep fully.

The floor was marble which worked in my favor. I placed the oven rack on the floor, the cake pan upside down on it and the kettle rested on the cake pan. For ventilation, I’d prop open the door.

I had the means to ‘light’ a fire, but I needed the means to keep it going.

The security guard podium.

In a world where everyone searched for items to burn, the overturned podium was overlooked. I knocked on it and it was solid and plywood. Good enough.

I had grabbed the small hatchet from our gear and used that to break some of it down. Not a lot, chopping that podium wasn’t as easy as I thought. It took more strength than I had, and hoped what I did salvage was enough. A few pieces of wood. When I wasn’t so physically worn and mentally exhausted, I’d attack that podium again. I took what I had to my door camp and would burn one piece at a time. It was cold in the casino, but I was sure what I had in mind would provide enough heat.

I still needed something to get the wood to catch. Lantern in my hand, I spotted the slot machine closest to me. It wasn’t a video slot; it was an older reel one. Even though it was not lit up, I could still see the reels. Ironically, some lucky person hit triple sevens before the world ended. Stepping closer to it, I saw the words, ‘insert money or ticket here’ and immediately I thought ‘paper’. Paper burned.

Using the hatchet, I attacked that slot machine until it opened. Sure enough, not only was there a stack of blank vouchers into here, but bills as well.

I could get my fire started.

That slot machine ended up not only being lucky for the last person that played, it but it paid out for me as well.

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I opted for vodka figuring it had the least likelihood of being ruined by the drastic change in temperatures. It tasted fine, but then again, I was tired.

It had gotten dark and before I settled for the night, whether it was smart or not, I stepped outside into the open, and using the flare gun, I shot off a flare.

It rose high into the clouded sky, painting the clouds a burning pink. I needed to send a signal to Tony. Maybe he’d see it and know I was waiting on him. Knowing Tony he’d yell at me for using the wrong colors. He told me what each color meant, but it escaped me at that moment.

My soup kettle fire burned nicely and bright enough that I didn’t need the lantern. The smoke flowed out the propped open door. To me, like the flare, the orange glow was another beacon that perhaps Tony would see.

Arctic Armor removed, I wrapped the sleeping roll around me, sipped on the vodka while nibbling on a ration bar. My body felt as if it weighted five hundred pounds. My legs were achy, my head hurt, and my mind raced. Eventually I’d doze off, that couldn’t be helped. However, I doubted I’d slip into that shut down sleep that my body needed. I couldn’t. My mind raced with far too many thoughts.

I thought of Joie. She was so young, and even though she was smart for her age, she wouldn’t understand. She had to wonder where we were, where her father was.

Her sixth birthday was in less than a month, yet, her father, the only family member she had in the world was missing. How could I return without him? What would I tell her?

Never finding Tony was not an option. Not in my mind or in my heart. He was out there, I knew it. He was alive, I sensed it.

And as I sat by the fire, digging into my best instincts, I knew Tony was also in trouble.

I felt it.