Ravaged Land - A Post-Apocalyptic Novel (3 page)

Camera four was my least favorite. It was the camera that I assumed was pointed at the shelter, or more accurately, the ground above the shelter. It was the worst of all three because it showed the ground above us wasn’t actually ground, it was a large pond. We appeared to be at least four feet under the water by my guess. Not only were we already trapped underground, but now we were also trapped under a small body of water, and the rain didn’t appear as though it had any intention of letting up anytime soon.

Sienna plunged her face into her brother’s shoulder and sobbed. He almost looked as if he could do the same.

Ryan quickly flipped the switch. “OK, so who wants to see the place?” He hopped up on his feet with half a grin. He seemed proud of this shelter, or perhaps he was just good at hiding how terrified he was from the rest of us, for our sake.

* * *

He started the tour, “as you know, this is the living room… couch, chairs, DVD player, books and games.” The room was about the size of your average living room, spacious enough considering. It was a long rectangle with a big, fluffy couch against the wall opposite the TV. There were two chairs also pointed towards the TV, and two wooden chairs, one on each side of the bookshelf which rested against the short wall. On each end of the couch was a cheap looking end-table holding matching lamps. The lighting wasn’t great, but I wasn’t going to complain.

“There is a generator that powers most everything, and most things have backup batteries,” he said when he noticed me staring at the lamps. “We should conserve power when possible of course, but we’ll be OK for a good while. Next room!”

He led us to the perfectly square kitchen which had a small dining table with four chairs. There were two stools pushed up to the counter so seating wouldn’t be an issue. On the counter there was an impossibly small microwave, matching fridge and freezer and tons of cupboards. Ryan walked over to them and opened them displaying the assortment of goods they held. The shelves were fully stocked as I imagined the fridge and freezer probably were too. He opened a door at the back of the kitchen and we all took turns peeking in. It was another room, almost the size of the kitchen stocked top to bottom with anything you could possibly need, kitchen-wise or otherwise. It was a kitchen-sized general store.

There were small doors scattered about the entrance and living room. Ryan didn’t open them but I assumed they were closets and storage areas, probably stocked with things one might need in an end of the world type situation.

Next there was a little hallway that ran between the living space and the kitchen space which I had to assume led to the bedrooms. “Door on the left here is the bathroom, sorry one toilet and one shower,” he said grimacing, “and these are the bedrooms.” He stretched his arms out as if he were presenting the top prize on a game show.

There were only two bedrooms. We walked into the first room which was fairly large and looked incredibly cozy. It had two full sized beds pushed against opposite walls made up with clean sheets, or so I assumed, and a large, plush comforter. One with a pink and white dot design was calling my name, even though I had no idea how I could even consider sleeping right now. My body was craving it, but my mind was still high on adrenaline. I needed rest, but with my thoughts going every which way I didn’t know how I would be able to actually settle down enough for sleep.

There was a nightstand beside each bed and a closet on each side. In the middle was a stiff curtain divider you could pull out for a privacy wall.

The second room was even bigger than the last but it too only had two full sized beds. I wasn’t the only one thinking about the math, Sienna was fidgeting next to me and I could tell she was nervous about the sleeping arrangements. Ryan walked over to the closet and pulled out a cot, “and with the couch in the living room, that’s six,” he said glancing at Sienna hoping she’d be satisfied. “Ros and Sienna can have the other room, you guys can figure out who gets what in here and I’ll take the couch.” He glanced around looking at each one of us, and then crossed his arms, “well, that concludes the tour, so with that, I guess everyone should just go ahead and make yourselves at home. Please.”

“Anyone know what time it is?” Seth wondered with a yawn.

“I don’t know how anyone will be able to sleep!” Owen said seemingly surprised by Seth’s yawn, “I still want to know what the hell is going on!”

I nodded in agreement but I knew we weren’t going to know, at least not tonight.

Ryan pointed to a clock on the nightstand, “I think that’s probably accurate even though the generator hadn’t been on in some time, the clocks have backup batteries.”

According to the clock it was 9 p.m. The running from the storm, getting in the shelter and the tour all took approximately six hours. It had all passed by in what felt like minutes. We’d missed dinner, but no one asked about it and I didn’t even feel the slightest bit hungry. I just wanted this night to pass so we could hopefully find out tomorrow what the damage was and how we were going to get out of here. I wanted a little space from everything and everyone so I could mentally process what just happened and if it was a dream, make myself wake up.

“Oh, there are supplies in the bathroom, like toothbrushes and toothpaste, deodorant, towels, and all that stuff, if there is anything else you might need check the pantry in the kitchen. At the end of the hall is the laundry but we should limit using that as much as possible since all the running water is on the same line here. Full loads only, please.”

“What about clothes?” Sienna asked picking at her fingernails. “You know, like a change of clothes or something to sleep in? I don’t want to wear the same thing every day.” She let just a little of her inner diva start to emerge.

“Right. Well, there should be some things in the closets, but it’d be my mom’s or sister’s things so I don’t know if you’ll find anything,” Ryan said with a frown. “You are more than welcome to use anything you find though.” I guess that was a problem with the stocking up of the shelter, they hadn’t anticipated helping anyone other than the family, but why would they have even considered that? “My mom’s things would be in this closet and my sister’s in the other room.”

“Let’s see what we can find,” I said putting my hand lightly on Sienna’s shoulder as I guided her out of the room. She didn’t protest or shrug me off, so we got a little space from the others. I wanted to be alone but since that wasn’t likely to happen, I figured being with Sienna was almost as good as being alone. After all, we were about to be roommates, I might as well try to be her friend. We entered our new room, “Which bed do you want?” I asked not really caring all that much but secretly hoping a little for the bed with the pink comforter. Both beds looked inviting, my body desired to lie down even if my brain was a bee hive of thoughts, but it didn’t matter, so why not let her choose? The other bed had a comforter striped with various shades of blue, the pink one must have been intended for Ryan’s sister and the blue one was his. He was giving up his bed for us.

“I’ll take the pink one,” she said looking away from me.

That meant I’d be taking Ryan’s bed. He was giving up his bed for me. That selfless act didn’t make me feel so great. I didn’t want to be the one to take his bed from him. I would have taken the couch but I knew Sienna wouldn’t be comfortable sharing the room with Ryan.

“OK. Let’s check out the closet.”

I opened the door and I could feel Sienna’s eyes peering around me attempting to get a glimpse of our future wardrobe. I pulled the string that clicked the overhead light bulb on in the small walk-in closet. It was filled with girl’s clothes. The other closet by my bed likely was filled with Ryan’s clothes which I’m sure he will want access to, but he hadn’t said anything about it. His sister’s clothes were close to my size, but they were a little big for Sienna, so unfortunately she had little choice. I found a nightgown which I handed to her because I figured the size difference would be less noticeable in gown form. For myself, I found a plain gray T-shirt and some yoga pants with pink zebra trim. They were not my style at all, but it was a change of clothes and for that I was thankful. We’d all have to make do when it came to certain things. Owen wasn’t as small as Ryan, he was bigger and more muscular, athletic. And Seth was a little overweight, neither of them very likely to fit into Ryan’s things, so they’d probably have to wear his dad’s clothes and they likely wouldn’t complain about it. We didn’t know how long we’d be down here, it could be until someone came looking for us, or the water drained away. Our choices in most matters were pretty limited. Maybe tomorrow Sienna and I could go through Ryan’s mom’s things, perhaps she had items that would work, and it would give us something to do to pass the time.

I started to change hoping that it would help Sienna feel more comfortable with me, I didn’t want to close the room divider afraid she’d take it the wrong way. Flipping the fluffy blankets over I crawled inside the soft bed not bothering to turn out the lights. I was so exhausted I felt like I was melting into the mattress.

“What do we do now?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” I said my face twisted, “Do you want to go get a book?”

“No, I think…” she paused for a yawn, “I think I’m actually tired.”

“Yeah.” I copied her by letting out a yawn against my will, “somehow, I am too.” I glanced through half-closed eyes at the clock on the nightstand next to my bed. It was closing in on 10:00 p.m., only about two hours earlier than I usually go to bed, but today wasn’t a normal day by any stretch of the imagination. Today was a lot different. That’s the last thought I remembered having before I drifted off into a dreamland where things hadn’t changed. The storms hadn’t raged and destroyed everything in its path. We weren’t trapped underground, or under water. I was at home and I was happy. Yes, today had been a lot different.

Chapter three.

I woke abruptly. I wasn’t sure what had caused me to jolt up in bed. I was sitting upright and wide-eyed, almost frozen, and for a split second, absolute terror washed over me. My bones filled with a chill I didn’t understand and my eyes didn’t recognize my surroundings. I was about to scream for help when it came flooding back all at once, like a movie on fast forward. I gradually peeled myself off of the bed as if I had been glued to the mattress. I glanced at Sienna. She was out cold wrapped in her new pink bed with a little smile on her cute rounded face. She must have been dreaming of another day and some other place to look so serene. The light in our room was still on, we had both drifted to sleep so quickly neither of us had bothered to turn it off.

I tip-toed my way to the bathroom. It was so quiet in the shelter I was sure everyone must be sleeping and I didn’t want to wake anyone up. We all needed our rest after yesterday, but of course I was wide awake. I must have had an awful nightmare, worse than the one I was living in to wake me up so suddenly, but I couldn’t remember it. What could I have been dreaming about that was worse than what I had just gone through?

I couldn’t help but notice how sterile everything felt down here, so much cement and metal and any surface that was painted was a dull green or a dreary gray color. There was nothing welcoming about the place, no wallpaper, or bright colors and anything that could have been built using real wood was made of cheap particle board instead. The bathroom door was open, so I slipped in, locking it behind me. I hadn’t brushed my teeth or anything before falling asleep. I would have to worry about finding toiletry supplies tomorrow. I was way too tired, and I didn’t feel like searching alone in the middle of the night.

As I stepped out of the bathroom, I heard the muffled fuzz of the radio coming from the living room. I walked around the corner to see Ryan with his back to me, slowly twisting the dial, searching for something, any sign of life, news or information of any kind. He had the TV displaying the outside cameras, but it was too dark to make much of anything out. Any lighting structures they may have set up were blown away, probably several states over by now. The camera that showed us under water was completely black so I knew we were still trapped. I sighed.

Ryan turned around sharply.

“Sorry, I heard the radio,” I explained. I was hoping he wouldn’t think I was snooping, although I guess I kind of was, but that hadn’t been what I intended.

“Right,” he said turning back to the radio, “sorry, if it was too loud?” He turned quickly meeting my eyes.

“Oh, no… no, not that, it’s fine, I just happened to wake up. Have you heard anything?” I asked walking closer with my arms crossed in front of myself, feeling self-conscious about my, err, his sister’s clothing being on my body.

“Not really.”

“Yeah, I’m not surprised I guess.”

“Me either.”

He turned back to his dial and started slowly turning it once again, and for a split second I was sure I heard something. “Wait! What was that? Go back a little… here let me,” I said reaching over into his personal space forgetting all about boundaries as I spun the dial backwards until I heard it again. It was a voice, but I was having trouble making it out. I shook my head as if that would somehow help it come in clearer. I turned the dial a little left and a little right until I could get it in as clear as possible.