the street. Including one at the far end of the street that was already a blazing inferno.
“Mom?” Roxie asked.
Kathy hesitated. Normally she would be right there helping. But she had her children to think of, especially with Jay away. “No,” she said softly. “The plan calls for battening down the hatches, as your father put it. Since there is a fire nearby we’ll turn on the sprinklers and then get back in the shelter.”
The elaborate sprinkler controls were in the basement where the water line from the well entered. All the controls were labeled. Usually, all one had to do was turn on one valve to feed the automatic underground yard sprinkler system. But Kathy had discovered there were sprinkler systems for the roof and all the outside walls.
It took only a minute to read the labels and figure out what needed to be turned on. “I’ll go check to make sure it’s working,” Kathy said.
“But Mom…”
“Stay here!” Kathy went back up the stairs. She was back in less than a minute. “They’re working. Hopefully the batteries will last long enough to prevent the house from catching fire if the fire spreads from the one burning now.”
The two went back into the shelter. Rex was standing by the door and closed it as soon as the two were inside. “We’re okay,” Roxie said. “The Hamilton house is burning, but we turned on the house sprinklers along with the yard sprinklers.”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot about those,” Rex said. “Good thinking, you guys.”
“You should be off your feet, Rex,” Kathy said, going into Mom mode automatically, despite the events unfolding.
“Okay, Mom,” Rex said, knowing there wasn’t any choice but to do it. He went to one of the four bunks and laid down on one of the lower bunks. Kathy pulled the pillows from two others and propped his foot up on it.
Roxie was going through the huge medical bag that was part of the shelter supplies. “We’ve got cold packs, Mom,” she said. “But should we save them and go out and get ice from the freezer in the basement?”
Rex said, “The ice in the freezer.”
His mother countermanded him. “No. We’re safe in here. We’re staying in here until we know it’s safe outside. If we start going out for every little thing it will become a habit. Jay’s plan calls for only going outside if the shelter is compromised. And then we will use the emergency exit. Speaking of which, where is it? Do either of you know?”
Rex started to get up, but his mother shot him a warning look and he eased back down. “I do, Mom,” Roxie said. She handed Kathy one of the ice packs from the first-aid kit and went over to where the air filter system was installed.
She pointed to a panel beside the large pipe that fed fresh air to the shelter. There were two ladder steps below it, and a handrail from waist height to the panel.
“Just remove this and crawl along the culvert. There’s a chamber at the far end you can stand up in and work to drop the top cover and then push through the grass to get out. We never used it because Dad wanted it left completely undisturbed so it would be secret.”
“I went down it once just to check it out,” Rex said. “It’s easy. Hard on the knees, though.”
“Hopefully we won’t have to use it,” Kathy said.
“With the shutters closed and the external house sprinklers going, there shouldn’t be much danger,” Rex said.
Kathy had reached for one of the binders and was reading quickly while Rex spoke. “I think… Yes, we should start checking the radiation, and log in the peak reading so we can calculate the time we need to stay in the shelter.”
“On the communications desk, Mom,” Rex said.
Roxie joined her mother and the two studied the CD V-717 radiation survey meter. The pickup probe was outside the house. “We need to put a battery in, according to the plan,” Kathy said.
“In the
“Mom?” Roxie asked.
Kathy hesitated. Normally she would be right there helping. But she had her children to think of, especially with Jay away. “No,” she said softly. “The plan calls for battening down the hatches, as your father put it. Since there is a fire nearby we’ll turn on the sprinklers and then get back in the shelter.”
The elaborate sprinkler controls were in the basement where the water line from the well entered. All the controls were labeled. Usually, all one had to do was turn on one valve to feed the automatic underground yard sprinkler system. But Kathy had discovered there were sprinkler systems for the roof and all the outside walls.
It took only a minute to read the labels and figure out what needed to be turned on. “I’ll go check to make sure it’s working,” Kathy said.
“But Mom…”
“Stay here!” Kathy went back up the stairs. She was back in less than a minute. “They’re working. Hopefully the batteries will last long enough to prevent the house from catching fire if the fire spreads from the one burning now.”
The two went back into the shelter. Rex was standing by the door and closed it as soon as the two were inside. “We’re okay,” Roxie said. “The Hamilton house is burning, but we turned on the house sprinklers along with the yard sprinklers.”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot about those,” Rex said. “Good thinking, you guys.”
“You should be off your feet, Rex,” Kathy said, going into Mom mode automatically, despite the events unfolding.
“Okay, Mom,” Rex said, knowing there wasn’t any choice but to do it. He went to one of the four bunks and laid down on one of the lower bunks. Kathy pulled the pillows from two others and propped his foot up on it.
Roxie was going through the huge medical bag that was part of the shelter supplies. “We’ve got cold packs, Mom,” she said. “But should we save them and go out and get ice from the freezer in the basement?”
Rex said, “The ice in the freezer.”
His mother countermanded him. “No. We’re safe in here. We’re staying in here until we know it’s safe outside. If we start going out for every little thing it will become a habit. Jay’s plan calls for only going outside if the shelter is compromised. And then we will use the emergency exit. Speaking of which, where is it? Do either of you know?”
Rex started to get up, but his mother shot him a warning look and he eased back down. “I do, Mom,” Roxie said. She handed Kathy one of the ice packs from the first-aid kit and went over to where the air filter system was installed.
She pointed to a panel beside the large pipe that fed fresh air to the shelter. There were two ladder steps below it, and a handrail from waist height to the panel.
“Just remove this and crawl along the culvert. There’s a chamber at the far end you can stand up in and work to drop the top cover and then push through the grass to get out. We never used it because Dad wanted it left completely undisturbed so it would be secret.”
“I went down it once just to check it out,” Rex said. “It’s easy. Hard on the knees, though.”
“Hopefully we won’t have to use it,” Kathy said.
“With the shutters closed and the external house sprinklers going, there shouldn’t be much danger,” Rex said.
Kathy had reached for one of the binders and was reading quickly while Rex spoke. “I think… Yes, we should start checking the radiation, and log in the peak reading so we can calculate the time we need to stay in the shelter.”
“On the communications desk, Mom,” Rex said.
Roxie joined her mother and the two studied the CD V-717 radiation survey meter. The pickup probe was outside the house. “We need to put a battery in, according to the plan,” Kathy said.
“In the
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