Stefan's jaw dropped. "You think you can get the lights on here?"
It had been years since he'd seen electrical lights or flushed a toilet. Things like that just didn't exist anymore. It was candlelight, torches, and the odd kerosene lamp to light things up and outhouses and the great outdoors for everything else.
"Well, I'm not an electrician or a plumber, but this place was built to be self-sustaining, which is why everyone wanted to come here so badly. The generators in the lower levels still work. They're just not hooked up to anything because the mechs took most of the wires. Same with the plumbing. The basic water filtration system is still in place, but there's no connection to the bathrooms."
Sawyer started walking, pointing things out here and there as they headed down the large passageway. "This level of the complex is what was on the public tour. The really interesting stuff is a couple of levels below us."
Roark's eyebrow arched. "Interesting how?"
"There's two entire levels down there that were set up as a long-term bunker for over a hundred people. There are food stores of MREs and other nonperishable foods, including can goods, which kind of surprised me until I remembered cans are made of tin. There are also four underground water reservoirs."
"That's pretty amazing that it's all still standing," Stefan said.
"I'm pretty sure the mechs sucked out any iron in the water, but they didn't need the actual water, so they left it. Some of the other stuff, like the gym equipment, was just left. It had no iron in it."
"There's a gym?" Dahl asked.
"Yeah, it's really weird. Some rooms were totally untouched while others were pretty much gutted. The gym was left untouched as was the chapel, individual quarters, and such, but the infirmary was ripped apart."
"So, why are you showing all of this to us?" Roark asked. "You could survive down here for years."
Stefan swallowed tightly when Sawyer turned to look at him.
"Because I'm tired of just surviving." Sawyer gave Stefan a small smile that was filled with hope. "I want to live again."
Chapter Nine
Sawyer felt a sense of pride at the awe on Stefan's face as he showed him around, pointing out the things he'd done and what still needed to be done. He'd put in a lot of work to clean up the complex and make it livable.
He had no idea when he started that Stefan and the others would be here with him. His intent had been to find a place where he'd be safe from mechs and humans alike. Now, he was sharing it with the man who'd held his heart for several years.
That felt good.
It also felt a little scary. While he'd seen Stefan a time or two out in the field—always from afar —he never actually thought he'd see him again up close or talk to him. He certainly never dreamed he'd be able to hold him again.
"This is pretty impressive, Sawyer," Roark said. "You've done a lot with this place."
"I've had a lot of time on my hands," Sawyer replied. "I've noticed that there have been less mech patrols as of late, so there wasn't all that much to do. That's why I started hitting the cryogenic facilities."
"I have noticed that we're not running into mechs quite as often," Roark remarked. "I just don't know why."
"Could they have moved to other areas of the country?" Stefan asked. "We stick pretty much to the West Coast and Rocky Mountain areas. Who knows what's going on in other parts of the country, or the world for that matter."
"We need to know," Roark said. "It would also help if we had more intel coming our direction. The few stragglers we get every now and then don't seem to know a lot about what is going on either."
Dahl had a frown creasing his forehead as he stepped forward. "You thinking about planning a trip back east, Commander?"
"Maybe," Roark said. "I'd have to clear it with headquarters first, but it's a thought."
"If we headed for that settlement in Virginia," Frankie said, "we could stop and see my brother. My dad said that's where my brother Matty is at."
"This would be a fact-finding trip, Frankie, not a family reunion."
Frankie's eyes narrowed. "Unless you have a specific destination in mind, one settlement is as good as another, isn't it?"
Sawyer couldn't fault Frankie's logic, but he couldn't fault Roark's either. They were both kind of right. "We've been all the way to the East Coast before, Roark. Do you think things could have changed that much since we were there last?"
"Anything is possible," Roark replied. "Command hasn't had any news from back east in a few months. Hell, for all we know it slid off into the Atlantic Ocean."
