The End of Refuge, page 17
“Nothing, my ass,” Scott said, slapping the table. “If it weren’t for you, we’d all be drowning and dead right now.”
“Stop it, Scott!” Linda scolded. Avery was jealous that Scott had such an easy time getting Linda’s attention and he wasn’t even on her radar. “Why do you have to go around hitting everything?”
“Sorry, it’s just my nature,” he said, giving her a wink. Linda scoffed and pushed away her tray before getting up and storming off.
“What was that all about?” Avery asked.
“Apparently I’m not nearly as smooth as I thought,” Scott said.
“Did you do something to make her so mad?” Scott and Wanda both had an uncomfortable face. They must have known something Avery didn’t.
“Tell me, Avery,” Wanda said, breaking the tension. “What was this heroic act Paul was talking about?”
“Oh, right,” Avery said, glancing at the door Linda had left through. She was long gone. “I was mopping in the residences last night when I noticed the floor was wet ahead of me where I hadn’t mopped yet…” Avery continued to tell Wanda about the leak, the Captain’s reaction, and the new wall.
By that evening, all the residents at Refuge were aware a major leak had happened, and no one felt nearly as safe as they had in their safe haven.
Scott and Avery both got along with Paul really well, but Avery was also relieved when Paul went to bed a couple hours before he and Scott did. Paul seemed to have endless energy and talked all the time, and Avery required a certain amount of quiet. Scott spent most evenings with Linda at her bunk, but after their little fight that morning, Scott was giving her some space.
“You got the hot-for-teacher thing going on, buddy?” Scott asked. There wasn’t much to do in their bunk, so Avery was studying his calculus textbook for fun.
“No,” Avery answered. “Wanda is like ten years older than I am.”
“She’s still cute.”
“I see her as more of a big sister,” Avery clarified. “What’s going on with Linda? Did you do something to piss her off?” He secretly hoped so, still believing he had a chance at winning her heart.
“I guess I did piss her off.” Scott started drumming his fingers on the side table.
“How?” Avery finally asked when it became apparent Scott was not going to continue on his own.
“She said that they had all kinds of provisions in the medical wing including tampons and lubricant and stuff, but also a boatload of birth control pills. I asked if they had condoms, and when she said no, I told her she should grab a few packs of those pills so we could enjoy ourselves while we’re here.”
“So she’s mad you pulled a move on her?” Avery asked.
“No,” Scott said. “I guess she already had taken some pills, but they just take a while to become effective, and I suggested we could do something else until they kicked in.”
“She’s pissed because you asked for a blow job?”
“Oh, god no, we’ve already done that. She’s pissed because I suggested a little backdoor play. I mean, she was the one who mentioned they had all that lubricant. I thought that’s what she meant.”
“Oh,” Avery said.
“Hey, don’t dismiss it until you try it.”
“You like it?” Avery asked, a little shocked.
“I don’t know, I didn’t get to try.” Scott winked. He got up from the sofa and walked toward his bedroom door, pausing before going in. “Why do you keep asking me about Linda? You don’t have a secret thing for her, do you?”
“No,” Avery answered, probably too quickly. “She’s just such a good friend. I was worried when she got all upset.”
“Sure,” Scott said as he closed the bedroom door behind him.
Time continued to drag on as everyone went about their routines at Refuge waiting for news. Scott and Linda continued spending more and more time together, so Avery guessed they made up after their initial fight. They did make a pretty attractive couple, and Avery had to admit Scott was probably better suited for Linda than himself. Avery spent a lot of his free time with Paul, helping him with homework or playing card games together.
Avery was glad that he could spend half of his day in the room they used as a school getting to know Wanda. She was an interesting individual and her work ethic really inspired Avery. Wanda also seemed to enjoy having his company. She was used to teaching undergraduates who weren’t much older than Avery, and teaching the younger kids, though there were only eight of them, was trying on her patience.
Heather didn’t socialize with the rest of the group too much other than sleeping in the same bunk as the other two women. She had met some guy who was working in the kitchen and she spent most of her time with him.
Sometimes Avery found himself wondering what had happened to his father and his best friend, Michael. He wondered if they even knew he and Scott were safely hidden underground. Had they heard about the shelter, and did they know it rested at the bottom of the ocean? Did anyone know they were still alive down here? If the residents at Refuge didn’t know anything from the surface, Avery concluded that no one on the surface would know anything about them.
Once they had been trapped in Refuge for five weeks, the unrest reached a boiling point. Captain Clark decided to address everyone in another briefing, congregating everyone to the center after dinner Monday evening. Instead of using the podium, he stood at the front of the room, which was already waiting in silence for him to speak. Avery sat in an armchair with his history textbook open in his lap. Paul bounced up and down on the sofa next to Wanda. At least Paul was trying to be quiet in the hushed room.
“Good evening everyone,” Clark began. “I’ve held this briefing not because I have new information, but because there has been a general unrest, and I wanted to address that. I really appreciate everyone pitching in with their work duty, and so far, life in SS14 has been running smoothly. But, I know you all don’t want to hear about life on SS14. We all want to know what is happening in the situation between the United States and North Korea, but more importantly, when we will be rescued from the bottom of the ocean.” There was a general murmur of consent before Clark continued.
“I wish I could tell you. Unfortunately, we have no way of communicating with the outside. We had a radio with a large above ground antenna, but now we are underwater and so is that antenna. Radio waves don’t transmit through water. There wasn’t really a contingency made for our current situation, so we have to kind of play this by ear.
“There is a form of communication used by submarines which are called low-frequency transmissions, or LFT. We have been trying to send out messages this way but have yet to get a response. We’re going to keep trying. Something will work.
“Unfortunately, that’s all I have for now. As soon as I have any information, I will hold another briefing and keep everyone informed. Thank you for your time.”
Captain Clark quickly left the center once he finished talking. Avery wanted to ask him more about the LFT and maybe other methods of communication underwater but guessed it would have to wait.
Paul went to bed early and Scott didn’t return to the bunk, so Avery sat alone in his bunk living area trying to distract himself by reading a calculus textbook. It wasn’t working as well as it normally did. He heard a tapping on the door, and when he opened it he saw Wanda. Even though everyone was now wearing the same scrubs every day, Wanda had her personal clothing of a green fluffy sweater on over her scrubs. Avery thought she looked like a stuffed animal in it. He motioned for her to come in and she sat down with him on the sofa.
“I wasn’t expecting you, but am glad to have some company other than Sir Isaac Newton,” Avery said motioning at his textbook.
“It would suck to be alone after getting the confirmation that we are basically alone,” Wanda said. “I couldn’t handle being alone. That, and Scott is visiting Linda and they are being… loud.”
“What about Heather?” Avery asked.
“She doesn’t spend much time at the bunk. I think she practically lives with John.”
Avery didn’t know the name of the man in the kitchen whom Heather had been getting close to but could guess that was who Wanda was referring to.
“What did you think of the briefing?” Avery asked.
“Kind of scary really.”
“Paul still views this whole thing as a camping adventure,” Wanda observed. “Maybe someone has been slipping Xanax in everyone’s morning coffee.”
“I wouldn’t mind if that were the case,” Avery said. “I certainly am one to benefit from it.” He paused, summoning the courage to open up. “My mom died right before the evacuation order. I’m almost glad reality stopped and we’re trapped down here.”
“I’m sorry,” Wanda said putting a hand on his shoulder. Avery looked down and felt a couple hot tears escape his eyes before wiping his cheeks and flashing her a weak smile.
“Thanks,” he said before turning his head back down to stare at his hands which were clenched in his lap.
Wanda removed her hand from his shoulder and stood up. “I should return to my bunk and try to get some sleep.”
“Okay,” Avery said, glancing up to watch her leave. “Good night.”
“Good night,” she said before she slipped out the door.
17
Paul was the one who came up with the brilliant idea. It was so simple, naturally, only a child would come up with it. Captain Clark had been sending encoded messages via LFT seeking help from the United States Navy, but a more basic approach was what they needed. Upon Paul’s suggestion, they switched their transmission from complex sound waves to the utterly simple SOS signal in Morse code. Speakers were set up to play the distress call ‘“dit dit dit dot dot dot dit dit dit” on repeat for up to twenty-four hours. By hour four, they got a message back, similarly in Morse code, simply saying, “Will send help.” The next day, Captain Clark was able to give another briefing.
“Do you think my idea worked?” Paul asked Scott, who was now able to walk around without the aid of crutches, only a visible scar along his hairline left as evidence of their wreck.
“I believe that’s what we’re going to learn in today’s briefing, little man,” Scott said, sitting next to Linda where she had been saving a seat for him.
Avery and Wanda were sitting together on the next sofa, and Paul yelled, “Make room for me!” before jumping and landing on the sofa between them. They scooted over a little to make more room for him, and he yelled an appreciative, “Thank you!”
“What was your idea, Paul?” Linda asked.
“More code!” Paul answered, excitedly bouncing in his seat.
“Morse code,” Wanda corrected. “To send out an SOS.”
“Oh,” Linda said. “I hope it worked.”
“I’m sure it did,” Avery responded. He was going to start an explanation of Morse code for Linda’s benefit since he knew all the details about the code’s history, but Captain Clark walked into the center and everyone immediately became quiet.
“Hello Ladies and Gentleman of Refuge,” he began, this time standing again at a podium. Everyone had taken to calling SS14 by this new name, and Captain Clark using it now made it official. “We have all been surviving in our shelter underwater for six weeks and one day. With the amazingly simple plan developed by our own Paul Rodman, we have been able to establish communication with the United States Navy.” Clark paused as the residents all cheered at this news.
As they quieted back down, he began again. “The Navy confirmed that two nuclear missiles were fired at the Norfolk Naval Base. Washington D.C. was also hit. The evacuation was successful, as there were only five casualties. The bombs were small, and radiation has already returned to a safe level in both places. There was no further aggression from North Korea, and their dictator and the President of the United States have reached a peace agreement.
“This shelter was built with an airlock at the entrance in case we needed more supplies delivered before a safe exit could be made. Some of our people in technology maintenance have been able to modify this airlock to pump out seawater, so it can still be used for this purpose of receiving supplies.”
“We have already received a package which the navy dropped into the airlock yesterday at twenty-two hundred. It contained a plan for releasing the residents of Refuge.” An even bigger cheer erupted at this news, people jumping up out of their seats to holler their support of finally being able to get out.
Avery leaned forward in rapt attention when Clark started talking about the plan to extract the residents from Refuge. At this point, Perry powered up a projector from the back of the center and images were displayed on the wall to further illustrate Clark’s speaking points.
“Currently, there does not exist a vessel which would be able to submerge to our current depth, dock onto the pressure lock, load passengers, and return to the surface. However, such a vessel is being designed right now.” Clark clicked a small device in his hand and computer rendered images of a funny little submarine came on the projector. “This is Submarine Savior. It holds a crew of two along with up to twelve passengers. It has been designed to submerge off an aircraft carrier, board twelve people to rescue, resurface, deliver those passengers to the carrier safely, and repeat until everyone has been evacuated. The design is complete, and the Navy is currently making a working prototype. Construction is projected to take about three months. After that, there will be a month of safety testing before Submarine Savior can be used to evacuate everyone from Refuge.”
“I will keep you all updated on the progress of the Submarine Savior project. In the meantime, we will need additional supplies to get everyone through the next four or more months until Submarine Savior is ready. We will receive weekly shipments on Monday evenings to help replenish supplies. I have been able to send a roster of all the people here on Refuge back to the Navy, so I’m hoping that the list will be made public so our loved ones will know we are all safe and sound and alive.”
A general murmur of approval continued as Clark finished the briefing and opened the floor for questions.
“It’s actually happening; we’re going to get out of here,” Wanda whispered to Paul and Avery.
“Oh course we are,” Paul said, a huge grin covering his face. “I knew my idea would work!”
Many evenings now, Wanda would visit Avery at his bunk after Paul was asleep and Scott had snuck out to see Linda. They would talk about everything from their past lives to the future when they would all get out of the shelter.
“Do you think Submarine Savior will work?” Avery asked.
Wanda was in his kitchen heating water for some tea, a provision that had been sent in bulk in the most recent shipment of supplies. She watched the kettle, afraid of letting it whistle too long and the sound waking Paul. “I don’t know. I certainly hope it does,” she said.
“I don’t know how the navy plans to board people through the pressure lock. I mean, we saw it when we first came down here. It didn’t look that big.”
Wanda lifted the kettle as the first hiss of a whistle escaped. She poured hot water into the two waiting mugs and turned off the hotplate before returning to the living area with the two cups of tea. She sat down next to Avery handing him a cup. “I imagine they’ll design it in a way to fit the opening of the pressure lock somehow.”
Avery set down his mug and glanced at Wanda making eye contact. “I’ve got this gut feeling,” he said, “that this submarine isn’t going to work.”
Wanda brought the mug to her mouth, but hesitated, setting it down on the side table without taking a sip. “I’ve got the same feeling too. I’m just not ready to start giving up hope. Not yet.”
“I mean, when I talked to Captain Clark, he said that the survivor list was never made public. That alone tells me that the navy is pretty sure this submarine trick isn’t going to work out.”
Wanda took a sip of tea and set it back down. “It’s too early to give up hope, Avery. Let’s wait until Submarine Savior is a bust before we resign to living the rest of our lives here. And even if that is the case, at least we’re able to receive supplies. You’ll be able to live your life.”
Avery furrowed his brow. He was still young and had his entire life ahead of him. Of course, he wanted to live, but under what circumstances? “Live my life?” he spat. “Live the rest of my life here? In this prison?” he said, raising his voice a little.
Wanda put a hand on his shoulder hoping to calm him down. “This isn’t a prison, Avery. We’re all able to work and live out our lives. We’re no longer completely isolated from the world. You will still be able to fall in love and have your heart broken and be the man you are meant to be, even if that all happens within these walls.”
“I feel like part of the human condition is having a family, being able to pass the world down to our children. If we’re truly stuck down here, there’s no way people will want to start a family.” he gestured around him at the small living area.
“Hold on, Avery. Please calm down,” Wanda said in the same stern voice she reserved for naughty children at school. She rubbed her hand on his back in an attempt to soothe him. “Just take a second. Drink some tea.” Avery grabbed his mug and brought it to his lips. The mug was still hot in his hands, and he had to force himself to take a slow sip so he wouldn’t burn himself. When he set the mug back down, Wanda continued, “First of all, let’s not entertain too many hypotheticals right now. Let’s focus on Submarine Savior and hope for the best. Second, you’re only seventeen Avery. You’re too young to think about having babies.”
“You’re not,” he pointed out, but in a much more subdued tone.
“Back to my first point,” she said, holding up a finger. “No more hypotheticals. Let’s talk about something else.”
After sitting in silence for a while, Avery said, “My birthday is this month.”
“Really?” she said. “We should do something and celebrate!”
