But the Children Survived (14 page)

Mark looked at the satellite dish.  It was huge and had U.S.A. written all over it.  As he looked up, he noticed that it, too, was high above the woods.  From what Mark could decipher from this vantage point, the wind machines and satellite dish were viewable only from an airplane.  They would have been totally invisible from the road.  If Wilmer had owned this land too, then he
could
have kept this all a secret. 

Mark turned around and headed back to the facility.  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a body lying just to the right of the Satellite dish.  He walked over to it.  The body had on shorts and a polo shirt. 

The polo shirt had a logo on it that said “Wilmer Biosphere” and the name “Jasper” written underneath it.  The guy must have been out here working on the lines when the poison hit him.  Mark backed away and again headed toward the facility. 

He followed his broken twig trail until he was out of the woods.  When he reached the front hatchway, he pushed the button and the lid slowly rose.  As Mark climbed back in, he took one more look around the compound.  Then he lowered himself in and pushed the button to close the lid.

When he got to the bottom of the stairs, he noticed Gerald going into his lab.  He ducked to the side hoping to remain hidden.  He waited but didn’t hear the doors sliding open.  No one would want to touch him anyway, not without the decontamination shower.  He peeked around the wall and didn’t see Gerald.  Then he pushed the button to open the doors.  This chamber was the decontamination chamber. 

Mark turned on the showers.  He figured he would have to go in clothes and all, so he plunged into the stream.  He knew they were on a timer so he just stood there until the shower turned off automatically.  He peaked out the door and still saw no one. 

The doors were timed to open after so many minutes of the shower turning off, so Mark had to stand there and drip dry.  When the doors opened, he slowly entered the next chamber and waited for the doors behind him to close.  Then he pushed the button for the next set of doors.  He was about to go through when he looked up and saw Gerald glaring down at him. 

"Don’t you dare move,” said Gerald.  “SIMON!” 

Gerald was yelling for Simon to come and help “handle” this boy.  In the meantime, Mark and Gerald stood watching each other.  Mark figured he could outrun this old man, but if Gerald caught him he wasn’t so sure he could win the fight.  So he stood and waited for Simon. 

Simon came down the hallway from one of the labs.  He didn’t seem to be in any hurry. 

"What’s up Gerry?”  He asked. 

"I found this boy coming out of the decon chamber.  He’s soaking wet.” 

"You been outside, kid?”  Simon asked Mark.

"Yeah.  That’s why I took a shower, moron.”  Simon suppressed a smile because when Mark said ‘moron’ he was looking at Gerald.

"See Gerry, he took a shower.  Everything is fine.  Now, can I go back to my game?”  Simon was addicted to the computer’s solitaire game and could play only when he had a day off.  Gerald was wasting precious playing time with this bullshit.

"Simon, we can’t have these kids coming and going as they please.  He has to be punished.  We have to make an example of him.”  Gerald was a nice shade of red by this time. 

"Look Gerry, I ain’t their father so I don’t have to punish them.  I’m their indulgent uncle who visits on weekends and takes them to the boardwalk.  If the kid took a shower, then there’s no harm done.  You want to keep them in, install a lock.  Now, don’t bother me with this shit again.”  Simon headed back to his game. 

At that moment Christie entered the hallway from the city.

"What’s going on here?” she asked.

"This boy went outside.”  Gerald was trying hard not to smack Mark’s face. 

"Well, it looks like he took a shower, so what’s the harm?”

"What is wrong with you people?  What if they all want to go cavorting outside, bringing their germs and contaminants back inside?  Don’t any of you have a brain in your heads?”

"Oh Gerald, shut up.  Mark is the first one to even try to go outside.  We’ll just have to activate the lock on the doors to this hallway and that should solve the problem.  The locks are there, I just have to have Andrew create the security codes.  Come on, Mark, let’s get you into some dry clothes.”

"He doesn’t leave this hallway.  Do you hear me?”  Gerald moved to the hallway doors.  Christie stood and thought for a moment.  She then turned to the right and entered Gerald’s lab.  Gerald looked anxiously at the door of his lab.  When Christie emerged, she had a headshot of a Guernsey cow in her hand. 

"You put that back this instant!” Gerald screamed at her.

"I will hand it to you as we walk out that door.” 

Christie put her arm around Mark and headed toward Gerald.  She could see his eyes going from side to side.  His anxiety was peaking.  When they reached the door, Gerald grabbed the picture out of her hand and headed for his lab.  Christie smiled at Mark, and they both walked out of the hallway onto the porch overlooking the city. 

"Was that a picture of a cow?”  Mark asked. 

"Yup,” said Christie.  “That was Martha.” 

They walked down the stairs and into the city.  Mark had missed breakfast, and as Mindy was meeting the chickens in the animal room, Mark and Christie were eating a late brunch and discussing the glories of the outside world.

Chapter 17

When Jacob Wilmer hired Martin Prevost to design his biosphere, he told him he had to have an area for himself and his wife that would replicate their Rumson, New Jersey, home.  Their Dutch colonial house sat on a small incline, with a large sloping yard on the right and absolutely flat land on the left.  The house had been built into the incline, creating this odd effect. 

Over the years, rooms had been haphazardly added to the house making it hard for the uninitiated to navigate the huge residence, so Martin Prevost spent many days in the Wilmer home sketching rooms and furniture. With his sketchbook filled, he believed he had all he needed to reconstruct the Wilmer residence. 

Preovst received fabric swatches and carpet samples from homes the original designer.  The designer had kept them “just in case.”  This is the type of service Jacob and Emily Wilmer were used to receiving when they were footing the bill. 

Jacob accompanied Martin to Palm Harbor, Florida, to show him the land he’d purchased to create his underground city.  The land he had acquired was huge, several hundred acres of flat land with good drainage and acres of woodland.

Together they plotted the position of the underground areas that were to be built – three laboratories, four hospital rooms, a “city” with a main street, cafeteria, library, and store, a mile long and mile wide growing field, a mile long and one half mile wide animal room, housing for the scientists and other experts, and 200 tiny houses, one for each member of his extended family. There would also be the aforementioned living quarters for Jacob and Emily.  Jacob reiterated the importance of the residence replicating his home.  Emily had insisted upon this.

When Jacob first mentioned his dream of living underground to avoid nuclear fallout, Emily thought he was joking.  Their life in New Jersey was everything an elderly matron could hope for.  She was a member of several committees; she belonged to a garden club and attended several charity balls a year. 

Emily had no desire to leave her comfortable home and her beautiful sloping gardens to take up residence in a hole in the ground in Florida.  It took many months and a promise of the replication of her home to get Emily to agree to Jacob’s folly. 

So as he and Martin walked the grounds of the Wilmer 21st Century Biosphere, he chose the section just left of the “field” to build his home.  He told Martin that he would need a special room for Emily, a room where she could go and feel as though she were outside surrounded by nature and her garden.  He just didn’t know how he could do this if the whole residence was underground.  Did Martin have any ideas?

"Well, we could build a virtual reality room.”  And so, Jacob Wilmer’s underground home had a room with a view of his New Jersey garden, or rather, a room that was his New Jersey garden, where his Emily could sit and enjoy a simulated breeze while watering some beautiful hot house plants.

*****

Andrew took Mindy and the girls to the back of the building.  Mindy thought they were going to the field, but Andrew turned right and led them to a door Mindy hadn’t noticed before.  It was hidden behind some potted plants.

Andrew had to get the key for this door from the labs.  He turned around and asked the girls if they were ready to enter this amazing room.  The girls all jumped up and down and yelled “YES!”  He unlocked the door and bade them enter with his hand outstretched toward the room. 

The girls were not impressed.  What they walked into was an ordinary looking living room.  The furniture was nice, but not what they had expected.  Andrew could see their disappointment.

"Ladies, do not look so forlorn.  This is but the beginning of our journey.  Follow me and you will not be disappointed.” 

The little band headed for the next room on Andrew’s agenda.  They walked to a small hallway with a door on the right and a door on the left.  Andrew stopped at the door on the right.  He opened it and the girls filed in. 

They were at the top of what looked like a large movie theater, seating for 225.  The girls ooed and ahhed as they gazed at the elaborately appointed theater.  It was a mini movie palace with a working organ in the corner and curtains that opened and closed.  It had a stage for putting on plays.  Jacob had thought of everything.

"Ladies, we must press on.  The best is yet to come.” 

The girls followed Andrew to the room on the right.  This door led to the special room that Jacob had created for Emily.  There was a switch outside the door that Andrew flicked on.  Then he opened the door and the girls entered.

The virtual reality room was amazing.  When inside the room, you had the feeling that you were standing outside in a garden.  There was no smell, of course, as they hadn’t brought in any real flowers yet.  There were no simulated bug or bird sounds yet either.  But the flowers looked real, as did the sky.  It surrounded the girls, and Maria Elena began to cry. 

"What’s wrong?”  Mindy asked. 

"I miss my family.  I miss the outdoors.  I want to go home.”

 Maria Elena tried to find the door, but it was camouflaged.  Andrew helped her and got the door open.  She ran from the room and Mindy followed her.  They ended up in the living room, where Maria Elena fell onto the large over-stuffed sofa with Mindy right behind her. 

Mindy put her arms around Maria Elena and let her cry on her shoulder.  Andrew came in and saw the girls together.  He quietly went back to the virtual room to check on Katie and Alyssa.

Andrew told the girls to follow him and they left the virtual room and flicked off the switch.  Andrew led them to the kitchen, where they marveled at the huge double ovens and refrigerator.  Alyssa noticed a big panel on the floor of the kitchen and asked Andrew what it was. 

“It’s the basement.  I haven’t been down there in ages.  Let’s take a look.”

Andrew pulled the panel up from the floor and laid it against the wall.  He flicked on the light switch and descended the stairs.  The girls were watching him go.  When Andrew got to the bottom of the stairs, he looked around.  He then looked up at the two little heads staring down at him and waved for them to follow. 

When the girls got to the bottom of the stairs, they saw row upon row of supermarket-sized freezer units.  They heard Andrew say, “That son of a bitch” under his breath. 

Andrew then asked the girls to each take a side and count the units as they walked down the aisles.  Katie went right and Alyssa went left.  When they got to the ends, Andrew asked them, “How many?”

"I counted 10.”  Alyssa said.

"I counted 10.”  Katie said. 

Andrew called the girls back. 

"You’ve gotta see it, Andrew.  The food is unbelievable.  There’s one with nothing but cakes!”  The usually reserved Katie was overwhelmed by the sight of all that real food. 

Andrew walked by the first two units.  The first rows were different kinds of meats including beef, pork and fowl.  The chickens in the chicken coops must have just been for laying eggs.  There were bags and bags of frozen vegetables to have until the fields were producing regularly. There were birthday cakes frozen in anticipation of family celebrations.  It was the birthday cakes that made Alyssa break down.  She began to cry.

"I don’t even know what day it is.  I missed my birthday.” 

"It was my birthday, too, Lyssie,” said Katie as tears rolled down her face.

"I’m sorry girls.  If I’d known it would upset you, I wouldn’t have brought you here.” 

Like most men who don’t know what to do when a girl cries, Andrew did what most men do to relieve the tension in the air.  He started tickling the girl’s sides.  The girls started to giggle between the tears. 

"Come on, I think we better go see how the other girls are doing.” 

Andrew let the girls go up the stairs first.  When they got to the living room, Mindy still had one arm around Maria Elena. 

"We found a whole basement full of real food!”  Alyssa yelled. 

"Yeah, it looks really good. There are birthday cakes too,” Katie said as she walked over to Maria Elena’s other side.  She sat down and put her arm around her too. 

"Girls, it’s time to leave.  Everybody up.”  Andrew opened the door and let the girls leave before following them.  He closed the door and made sure it was locked.