lay there breathing in deep breaths for a second.
“Crazy son-of-a-bitch, huh?”
She sat up to lean against part of the bridge. “You might want to watch your language; there are children present.”
Ian looked up at the ‘people’ that had rescued him and was met with the stair from five smooth faced Boy Scouts.
CHAPTER 12
Grace, Anna and the Tiller family spent the rest of the day and the night in the bunker. Mr. Tiller had heard the reports about the drone attacks from Dukes and had also heard ‘chatter’ about another nuke going off in the US somewhere. Out of a sense of protection against the unknown, he had shut his family and the girls in the bunker until he thought it was safe to surface.
Mrs. Tiller had a worried look about her the entire time. Joshua’s younger brother was out of town on a trip; they had not heard from him since everything went south. Once they shut the doors, there was a sense of finality about his whereabouts. Mrs. Tiller sobbed quietly for a few hours until it was time to check on Anna’s bandages. The task took her mind off of the potential loss of her son.
< >
“What’s his name?” Anna asked.
“Adam,” Violet responded. “He was named after my father.”
“How old is he?” Anna continued to ask questions in order to help distract the distraught mother.
“He turned sixteen on Halloween last year,” she said.
“I don’t know anyone with a birthday on Halloween,” Anna said. She was distracting herself from the loss of her parents as much as she was distracting Violet.
“Up stairs,” Violet started.
“Yes.”
“You said that your parents are both doctors?” She was careful not to ask the question in the past tense.
Anna nodded. “My Dad is a general surgeon and my Mom is a cardiologist.”
“Wow! And you’re the only child?”
“Yes ma’am,” Anna felt the emotion of loss pushing at the backs of her eyes.
“Do you have a knack for medicine?” Violet asked. “Like your parents?”
Anna thought about that for a minute.
Grace was listening quietly to the conversation. She had known Anna for along time, and she was always a better student at biology and science than Grace. Anna had been fighting against her parents to go into a pre-med major once she went to college next fall, but Grace knew that Anna was only pushing back the way teenagers do.
Anna looked at the lady; she had come to an important realization during the short conversation.
“Yes, ma’am, I do have a knack for medicine. I was thinking about becoming a pediatrician,” Anna surprised Grace by responding the way she did.
“I think that is a very noble profession…the care of our children,” Violet said, suddenly proud of the girl. “I used to work in an ER. I can teach you what I know, if you like?” Violet offered kindly.
< >
Now, 8 hours later, Graced flipped on the two-way radio again, but it was no use, the metal and concrete walls of the 1950’era bunker were too thick to penetrate, she was only wasting the batteries. She had thought through everything that she had ever learned from her parents, and ‘changing the plan’ wasn’t one of those things.
“What does that even mean…changing the plan?” She asked Anna. “I don’t know what to do.”
“What if it’s not safe at your house anymore,” Anna offered. She was sleeping on the bottom bunk of a pair of beds that the Tillers had put there for their boys and any ‘friends’ that might be here when they had to close the bunker door.
“Then I should go to her and help,” Grace shot back.
“She obviously doesn’t want that,” Joshua said, interjecting himself into the conversation. He was sitting on his own bunk, three feet away from the girls.
Grace was conflicted with Joshua. Under normal circumstances, she might have passed him off as a country redneck farmer. But there was something different about him. He
“Crazy son-of-a-bitch, huh?”
She sat up to lean against part of the bridge. “You might want to watch your language; there are children present.”
Ian looked up at the ‘people’ that had rescued him and was met with the stair from five smooth faced Boy Scouts.
CHAPTER 12
Grace, Anna and the Tiller family spent the rest of the day and the night in the bunker. Mr. Tiller had heard the reports about the drone attacks from Dukes and had also heard ‘chatter’ about another nuke going off in the US somewhere. Out of a sense of protection against the unknown, he had shut his family and the girls in the bunker until he thought it was safe to surface.
Mrs. Tiller had a worried look about her the entire time. Joshua’s younger brother was out of town on a trip; they had not heard from him since everything went south. Once they shut the doors, there was a sense of finality about his whereabouts. Mrs. Tiller sobbed quietly for a few hours until it was time to check on Anna’s bandages. The task took her mind off of the potential loss of her son.
< >
“What’s his name?” Anna asked.
“Adam,” Violet responded. “He was named after my father.”
“How old is he?” Anna continued to ask questions in order to help distract the distraught mother.
“He turned sixteen on Halloween last year,” she said.
“I don’t know anyone with a birthday on Halloween,” Anna said. She was distracting herself from the loss of her parents as much as she was distracting Violet.
“Up stairs,” Violet started.
“Yes.”
“You said that your parents are both doctors?” She was careful not to ask the question in the past tense.
Anna nodded. “My Dad is a general surgeon and my Mom is a cardiologist.”
“Wow! And you’re the only child?”
“Yes ma’am,” Anna felt the emotion of loss pushing at the backs of her eyes.
“Do you have a knack for medicine?” Violet asked. “Like your parents?”
Anna thought about that for a minute.
Grace was listening quietly to the conversation. She had known Anna for along time, and she was always a better student at biology and science than Grace. Anna had been fighting against her parents to go into a pre-med major once she went to college next fall, but Grace knew that Anna was only pushing back the way teenagers do.
Anna looked at the lady; she had come to an important realization during the short conversation.
“Yes, ma’am, I do have a knack for medicine. I was thinking about becoming a pediatrician,” Anna surprised Grace by responding the way she did.
“I think that is a very noble profession…the care of our children,” Violet said, suddenly proud of the girl. “I used to work in an ER. I can teach you what I know, if you like?” Violet offered kindly.
< >
Now, 8 hours later, Graced flipped on the two-way radio again, but it was no use, the metal and concrete walls of the 1950’era bunker were too thick to penetrate, she was only wasting the batteries. She had thought through everything that she had ever learned from her parents, and ‘changing the plan’ wasn’t one of those things.
“What does that even mean…changing the plan?” She asked Anna. “I don’t know what to do.”
“What if it’s not safe at your house anymore,” Anna offered. She was sleeping on the bottom bunk of a pair of beds that the Tillers had put there for their boys and any ‘friends’ that might be here when they had to close the bunker door.
“Then I should go to her and help,” Grace shot back.
“She obviously doesn’t want that,” Joshua said, interjecting himself into the conversation. He was sitting on his own bunk, three feet away from the girls.
Grace was conflicted with Joshua. Under normal circumstances, she might have passed him off as a country redneck farmer. But there was something different about him. He
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