Callahan looked to us and I pushed him forward. This was his mission. Slowly, he crept toward the button. He stared at it for a long time before inhaling deeply and swinging his hand down.
The room lit up in flashing red lights and all the screens went black. Sirens blared and we all winced at the harsh volume.
“Type in the code!” Gary screamed.
“What is it?” Callahan screamed back.
Eleanor ran forward and typed in the numbers on the panel.
112018.
The sirens stopped. The flashing lights stopped and the screens returned to normal.
“Did it work?” Callahan asked, looking up at the TVs.
Gary walked over to them. “Oh yes. I’m sure by the time you get back to your home, you’ll see the effects of what you’ve just done. Good and bad.”
We were escorted out, back down into Mercury Mile, and with a curt wave, Gary swung the door closed and we were shrouded in darkness again. There was silence, and then Boone, of all people, broke it with a booming laugh.
“We did it. We fucking did it.”
Chapter 73 - Riot
Never let them forget who the fuck you are.
One month later.
Gary had said by the time we returned to Heathen Heights we’d see the effects of opening every single bunker and he was right. When we popped out of the tunnels a few weeks later, we were surrounded by soldiers holding guns to our faces.
We were cleared, and walked to town to get our bikes. The center of town was bustling with people talking over each other. I scanned the crowd.
Clean cut, undamaged clothes, scarless faces and all their limbs intact: these were bunker people, all without gas masks. A group of women in their Young Lady uniforms all huddled together with their Daddies confirmed it. I recognized most of them from months before; when I was waiting to talk to Callahan.
“Maybe we should lay a little low,” I mentioned to Cal. He nodded and we hurried over to Sketchy Shit to hide. Boogie greeted us with surprise and a sympathetic scowl.
“Every single bunker all over the country was opened a few weeks ago. It’s been chaos ever since, trying to find housing and work for all of them.”
“Why are they all still in the center of town?” Boone asked.
“Today the military was coming in to start shipping them off. Although after all of this, I’d be hesitant to trust them myself. You should have been here for their reactions to not needing those radiation suits. It was chaos.” He shrugged, and slapped his large hands on the glass counter.
“But, I will say, I think this was a good thing. For you two anyways.” He pointed to Cal and Eleanor.
“Us?” Eleanor frowned.
He nodded.
“Right before the world fucking exploded with bunker refugees, soldiers had already come to town. They were looking for you two - they had photos, names, and large guns. They were offering good money to get you back.”
I looked at Cal. He seemed to pale. “Did you tell them anything?”
Boogie smirked. “And risk losing my apprentice? Hardly. A good artist is much harder to come by than a few coins. No one in town ratted you out, but now it really doesn’t matter. What can they do? It’s not like anyone is going back to the bunkers.”
We’d wondered that, as we traveled home. Would some choose to stay underground, even after being offered the freedom? I was sure some would. The fear of the unknown would keep them down from exploring what life could be up here.
“Oh, thank you Boogie!” Eleanor gushed.
“Anytime, Eleanor. Now, why don’t you guys go back to Heathen Heights, get settled, and then come back in say, three days? With so many new people, I’ll need the help.”
