Chapter 3

I started with getting the information we would need to start over again. Not just for us here, but for the human race. I also took some things I had seen to heart and made a few other preparations around our home. Too many raiders had come too close to finding us or stopping us.

In my old friends bunker I had found a few things I had though too much but now knew he was right. I wired up a few night vision cameras around the place. It took me some time to hide them right but in the end you wouldn’t know they were there even if you were looking for them.

Shielded cable were strung out in as wide a perimeter as I could make them, and sensors were wired in giving us a higher knowledge of what was in the area if we decided to leave. I tried to think of any other ways to protect ourselves other than simply staying underground but I couldn’t. That left me to make some other final preparations.

I went through my information over and over again making sure I had given them everything I could to start things right. I gave them locations of the original thorium micro reactors, design blueprints for large and medium designs, and all kinds of places where they could find the needed parts. The names of people they could look for who would know how to put it all together if they had survived it all.

I gathered everything I had in hard copy since I wouldn’t need most of it anymore now that the prototypes were working so well. Bobbie helped me load things up and we prepared to head out. The trip was faster this time now that we had an idea of where to go and what to do.

We got to the bunker, set up the security, and then I learned someone had tried to find a way in. The door had stopped them but it made me a little more paranoid. There wasn’t much left really worth grabbing anymore, but after I filled the truck up I still made sure it was locked up tight.

We got to the base and the gates opened as we drove up. Dallas came out to see me and was a little disappointed not to see his daughter. I asked him for some help unloading some of my load and his men jumped right to it in hopes I would have some new goodies for them. I did but the main load I had taken to his office. When we got there I told him what I had for him and he looked at it all in awe.

“Hold on, this could help them get the lights back on?” I nodded. “Hell Dallas, if you got to some of the stuff on these lists you could make one yourself with just a little help. It’s not hard compared to the old nasty reactors, It’s just that with the way things are now you will have find parts because a lot of this can’t be made without power.”

He looked at everything and then at me. “How did you get all this?” I got skittish. “I knew a guy who had a bunker nearby. It’s where I got my trade goods and figured that you would use it better than I could.” He looked at me and smiled. He knew better but if anyone was listening then he could deny everything. “Do you mind telling me where it is? If there is more there I might need it.” I shook my head. “No, I might need it again someday. There isn’t much left there, but I may need a hole closer to the base someday. I hope you can understand.”

After we were packed up with trade goods Dallas told he wished I was smart enough to help him understand half the stuff I gave him, but that he would be sending it up the chain. In a quieter voice he told me to keep my head down once I got home, and not to come back unless he personally dropped a letter off for Ellen.

Bobbie and I headed home as carefully as we could. We didn’t run into anything and spent a day at the high cave to see if we were followed. The ladies were excited to see all the fresh goods we didn’t have for ourselves and we had a little party to celebrate it all. However from that day on we stayed inside and waited.

Then things started to change in our little corner of the world. There were suddenly patrols of Feds in our area. Both night and day groups could be seen in the distance and a few times right in our outer home. There were a few times letters were dropped in the box but Dallas wasn’t the one doing it so I didn’t take the bait. My sensors told me there would have been a welcoming party waiting for me if I had.

This did not bode well for us. If we had any plans to go out again this was a huge sign not to. They were looking for us, and they were looking hard. One day I saw Dallas walking with some men to the house. As he went over to the mailbox I could see him shaking his head a little bit and then he tapped the letter against his lips and shook his head again. I had a feeling he knew I was able to watch him and not to come for this letter. I wouldn’t have anyway because there were more than a few night time visitors out there waiting again.

Days in Eden pass differently than outside. Some days are shorter than others, other times longer. Day and night didn’t mean a lot to us, and neither did the seasons. We lived in a garden of perpetual summer. We still got visitors but never Dallas on his own again. The patrols slacked away but we never saw a resurgence of raiders.

One day we did get a new surprise though. On the edge of my view we saw a house go up. Trees were felled and a large group of people were working together to build a house. I thought it was interesting but thought nothing of it. Then one day the house alarm went off and I decided I didn’t care about it. The problem was after three days it hadn’t stopped so I checked. There on the camera was Dallas, but he wasn’t in uniform. He was sweeping out the house with a handmade broom and cleaning up the house. I looked over the tapes and found he had been cleaning the place since the first alarm went off.

He would sit outside the house in the afternoon and relax, eating food he had cooked in the fire he kept outside. It was looking like he was moving in. That idea was firmed up when a wagon pulled up to the house loaded with all kinds of things and of all people Jane hopped down and together they unloaded the wagon.

I decided it was time to sneak out and see what was up. He said not to come out till he came for me and this was as close to that as I had seen. I talked to the girls about it and they were curious as well. So one I had checked everything out, and I knew he would be alone, I slipped out of the mine entrance and headed for the house.

I came around the corner of the house to see a large bore rifle in my face. “Holy shit Dave, make some noise, I damn near shot your head off.” Then I was wrapped in a bear hug. “Boy when you don’t want to be found you really don’t want to be found. The feds were everywhere, looked everywhere to find you, and it was like you didn’t even exist.”

He set me down and had a huge smile on his face. “Hey where the hell do you live? I mean you all can stay in there if you need to, but things have changed in the last three years.” He looked around and smiled. “I can’t believe it’s only been three years. Dave do you know what you did? All that stuff you had, all the plans and all, it changed the world.”

I grabbed his huge shoulders and got his attention. “Dallas, is it safe for the girls to come out?” He gave me a sober look. “Yes it is. The raider gangs were wiped out when the feds were looking for you. The Feds aren’t looking for you anymore. You can come out if you want.” I smiled and went in the house. “Hey I’m sorry to move in like I did, I just wanted to be here if you ever came back.”

I knew the girls were watching so I went in the front room and told them to open up. I then went to the garage door and waited for the click. I reached behind the panel and hit the button. Ellen came running out and Dallas lifted her off the ground in his arms. The other girls came out right behind her.

The girls were glad to just see someone else. I asked if he had had dinner yet, and since I knew he hadn’t, we invited him in. Of course we locked the door behind us. He was stunned when he walked into the house and his eyes never stopped moving around.

Over the years the girls had taken it upon themselves to decorate the bare walls. There were pictures they had printed out and hung. Here and there the twins had shown their artistic bent and painted rather beautiful murals. But it was almost laughable to see him staring at the TV that was currently playing bugs bunny.

He looked around the house and just kept gawking. “So this is where you’ve all been all these years. Inside the hill behind your house.” He began to look around but stopped. “Is it ok to look around?” Ellen looked at me and I nodded. I knew I didn’t have to tell her not to go to Eden. They walked around the house and when he rejoined us he looked around in awe. “Dave I never knew. I never even had any idea what you were up to up here. It’s like standing in a house before the fall. It’s warm, well lit, and you literally have everything. I mean how the hell do you have TV?”

We all sat down and began to talk. He told us how he had gone all the way to Colorado with the information and they had actually interrogated him for a week. He hadn’t known I was a former scientist but they had found out. They went over everything and had started right away on following some of the plans he had taken.

It seemed the Feds needed something to make people’s lives better because the people were starting not to care about the government anymore. They figured if it was doing nothing but keeping the army going they could begin to police themselves. Citizen armies were beginning to pop up and they needed something to bring the people back to their sides.

Offering to bring back power, bring back all the things we had gotten used to, and the ability to rebuild and they would be able to control that again. “Dave, I don’t know if you saved the world or just started the cycle over again, but I know the dark ages won’t be so dark this time.” The Feds looked hard for me and the girls. They brought in more troops and while looking for us they also wiped out all the raiders in the process.

This made the whole area safer and people began to move into the area faster. More people meant more production of goods. The old base was now a small city with its own government and was doing well enough on its own. Dallas left the army and so had Jane. She lived in town and acted as a police officer with her girlfriend. The population was getting big enough they were petitioning for a generator.

When we sat down to eat he was impressed at how well we ate. For us it was just the same old thing, fish and veggies. Of course the girls had found a few hundred different ways to cook fish over the years and the spices and herbs helped a lot. But Dallas was just sitting there savoring each bite. “You know, after the first freeze killed off all the local lakes I never thought I would get to eat this good again.”

Uh oh. Didn’t know that bout the fish. He looked at my face and smiled. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone. Dave things aren’t so desperate anymore. Ok there are still people around who would love to pick your brains for more, but they looked up a lot of the people you mentioned and some were still alive. The science council has helped take the heat off of you.”

He sat back and smiled at us all. Later we were sitting on the couch and getting comfortable when the alarm went off. He looked at me in alarm and I just held my hand up. He followed me to my room and I brought up the cameras outside the house. It looked like two women, it was too dark to see faces, were coming. “That’s Jane and her girlfriend. I forgot they were going to be coming.” I took Dallas to the front door and let him out.

The funny thing was the way Dallas went to meet them and try not to look like he was trying to find the cameras. They all came in and talked about what was going on in town. Jane seemed down and asked Dallas if he had heard anything from me or about me and he smiled. “Oh yeah, I just heard from them. Mary is doing great and she misses you.”

I looked over at Mary and she was just looking at her sister. I took her hand and we headed to see her sister. When we came out and Jane saw her sister she took her in her arms and they cried again. Dallas looked at me with a big smile and nodded. Not that I needed his approval, but he knew what was going on better than I did. I tilted my head and he nodded again.

“Hey ladies, I know Dallas is trying to make this a nice place but how we go over to my place and get comfortable.” Jane and her girlfriend Maggie looked at me and we all headed to the bunker. The two ladies were just as shocked as Dallas had been to find so many comforts and such a feel of the old world.

Mary and Ellen sat with Jane and she kept looking at how close they were. They were both adults now and they never tried to hide that they loved each other at home so they didn’t in front of Jane. Dallas and I moved to the kitchen and sat at the table there while everyone enjoyed the evening.

“Dave, I can’t thank you enough for what you did for me. I know if the others could be here now they would say the same thing. I left you my little girl and now she is a grown and beautiful woman. The biggest thing is how happy they all are. Over the years I watched the world destroy so many lives, so many families. But these girls still have that joy that was stolen from so many.”

He sniffed a few times. “They are happy here with you Dave. I thought that there would have been problems here, that there would have been conflicts between them. You know cliques and such but it’s more like they are all sisters. They really do love each other.” He looked at me. “How the heck did you do it?” I shook my head. “We survived. We knew our lives depended on each other and took that to mean respecting each other and working together in everything we do.”

“So, were Jane and her friend going to stay with you tonight?” He nodded. “To tell you the truth we were all going to move into your house. There is enough room for three there to live comfortably. Finding a place to live, to stake out a farm isn’t easy. The farther you go out the more risks there are, but people are still settling out here.”

“Jane had talked to me about it, but she knew that just the two of them setting up out here wouldn’t be easy. I told them if they didn’t mind having an old man living with them, at least until I could build my own place, then I would help them get it going.” He looked at Maggie sitting there and talking to Mora. “Now I guess you will need to have it back though.”

I shook my head. “Well if the three of you don’t mind sharing neither do I. Mary will like having Jane around and I know Ellen will feel the same. Also if you don’t mind me restricting some of the development of the area then we can all happily stay here together.”

He looked at me. “Why restrictions? Is there something going on around that we need to know about?” I nodded. “I have a sensor field set up in the area. It gives us a warning system in case people are in the area. I also have cameras set up out there to monitor the area as well. Also there is an old mine entrance down the way. It’s been sealed up since back in the forties and something tells me it should stay that way.” He nodded the whole time. “Sounds fair to me. I mean we are living here with you, so we will gladly work with you.”

Mora went to her room since it was getting late for us. Dallas said he was going to go set up his bed but Jane and Maggie seemed to want to keep talking. I headed into the storage room and for the first time in years locked up Eden. If anyone was staying here I wanted to make sure there wasn’t any wandering around.

I headed to bed and the twins came in. “We let Jane and Maggie sleep in our bed.” They said as they cuddled up with me.

I woke up to the sound of voices, and not happy ones. I got dressed fast and went out find out what was going on. Mora was standing in the kitchen and looking almost deadly. Maggie and Jane were looking just as defensive but not so much with Jane.

“What’s going on out here?” I asked and Maggie turned to look at me. “Thank goodness an adult is here. Would you please tell Mora to calm down? She has been going off at me just because I went to see if there was anything to eat this morning.”

I went over to Mora. “What was she doing?” I asked. Mora looked at me and in an instant knew from the tone of my voice I had no question who I would really listen to. “I got up to start cooking. When I went into the store room I found Maggie trying to get into the generator room.” I turned to Jane. “Why did you let your friend betray our trust?”

Jane blanched as she looked at me and then glared at Maggie. I turned from her and headed into the house. All I did was call out for Dallas and he came fast from the tone of my voice. We went back into the house and even though she still had an angry look on her face Maggie wasn’t pulling it off as well as she had been. “Dallas, what do you know about her?” I asked pointing my thumb at her.

Dallas looked at her and his eyes narrowed. “She was a good soldier, never pushed her way up but didn’t slack either.” He looked hard at her and then at me. “What happened?” I looked at him. “Mora found her trying to get into the generator room. I keep it locked so the power doesn’t get messed with.” Dallas looked at her with cold eyes. “Well?”

I saw a slight slip in her mask. She rolled her eyes and tried to look frustrated. “Sir, I was in the storage room looking for something to eat. I saw the other door and figured it might lead to another storage room. She walked in as I was trying the door, that’s all.” He nodded and gave her a shadow of a smile.

“That sounds reasonable to me.” he walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, then he looked in the cupboards. “Yep, there is a ton of food in here. Not like you had a reason to be in the storage room in the first place.” He turned back to her and shocked the hell out of all of us. His hand came out of nowhere, contacted with the side of her face, and sent her to the floor. His eyes snapped to Jane who hadn’t moved a muscle, but her eyes were a little colder. The thing is, she was looking at her girlfriend with them.

Maggie rolled over and looked up at him. “Now, how about you start from the beginning? Though this time you might want to tell me the full story. If I think you’re lying to me, you won’t be leaving this bunker alive.” The meaning of his words sank in quickly and the girls all slowly headed to their rooms, though Mora stayed.

“Jane, you have to tell them...” then she saw the look in her girlfriends eyes. She knew instantly she would get no support from her. Her shoulders slumped. “I wanted to find out how he did it. How he and the others were able to survive so long down here. They have power and don’t tell me those frozen veggies are five years old. This place is a treasure trove, filled with food and comforts. People haven’t lived like this for years. I had to know how he pulled it off.”

Dallas face slipped into an almost sad expression. He looked at Jane and she smiled at him. He nodded to Maggie and gave her a rueful smile. “Well did you think to ask him? I’m sure he would be glad to tell you everything.” He looked at me and something told me I should do it. Not a threat but a message of import.

“Sure follow me.” I turned and looked at Mora. “Sweetie, please stay up here, we’ll be right back.” She looked a little hurt and then the truth came to her and she simply nodded. I headed to the store room and unlocked it. I knew this was dangerous to let the others know, but it was also the place to take care of business.

I opened the door and the breeze came through, of plants, and moist earth. We went through and down the stairs. When they walked into Eden even the business at hand disappeared for a moment. It was noon down here so the whole place was brightly lit. Things had grown since I started this and the girls had worked hard to make it look more natural. It really looked much more like a botanical garden now than it used to.

“You could feed so many with all of this. People would pay a fortune for so much food.” Dallas stood behind Maggie and she never knew what happened. All you heard was a loud snap and the sound of her body falling to the floor. I heard Jane sob once. “I’m sorry I brought her here Dave. I risked the lives of your family, and my sister. I can’t take that kind of thing back.” Jane said as she looked at the park.

I saw Dallas moving towards Jane and I stepped over. I looked at him and he tried to move around me. “Well Jane, you couldn’t have known. I don’t blame you for her.” I took her hand and she looked at me with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I can’t tell you how sorry I am Jane. This is why I haven’t let anyone in here after I locked it down, I knew it was dangerous.”

She looked at me. “But my sister?” I shrugged. “Mary was worth the risk. I knew it the moment I saw her and haven’t regretted it since.” She looked at Dallas and then me. She seemed to resign herself to the same fate as Maggie. “No one can know about this. I can’t risk Mary.” I stopped Dallas as he moved forwards. “Then don’t. You’re family here Jane. Not just a visitor, family. You understood why we had to do this. You didn’t try to fight it, and you had an idea what was at stake. That proved to me you stood behind your family first.”

Jane smiled at me and then threw her arms around me. I held her and then hugged her back. “I hope you still want to stay with us here. It will be a lot of hard work, but I think you will like the results.” She stepped back and smiled at me. “Now, go upstairs and sit with your sister. I’m sure she’s nervous.” She nodded and I took her hand. “And tell Mora that Dallas and I will be back later.”