Chapter 2- Excursion
Journal Entry, May 7, 2030-
After the first twenty-four hours, I was relieved to see that Hanford hadn't been nuked. I knew this must be the case because we were still alive. If Hanford had been nuked, the fallout would've been devastating for hundreds, if not thousands, of miles. However, I still hadn't heard from Eleanor or Theresa, which worried me. Of course, we weren't in an area covered by any cell service, and the bunker was practically a faraday cage. The only antenna was for the radio, and that was still static.
We were outside four days later when we witnessed the sky lighting up high in the atmosphere. It was an explosion. A nuke, I think. We ran back into the compound, but nothing happened after that. Every day, I turned on the radio, hoping to hear a voice, hoping to hear some sort of news, but there was nothing. Only static.
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Journal Entry, May 13, 2030-
A few days later, a week had passed since D-day, and still, Eleanor and the girls hadn't shown up. I consoled myself by saying that at least I knew the approximate location of where they were and who they were with, as long as they survived. The problem, as I saw it, was that there was no cell service where my compound was, and there was only one service in Kahlotus. Landlines weren't even out in my particular direction. We were truly isolated, and that was great! That was exactly what I wanted if my family had been here with me. However, they were not. So, now I would have to drive back to Highway 395 to find a cell tower and hope that it worked.
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Journal Entry, May 20, 2030-
It took me another week after the EMP to decide that we had to see if we could get any cell service. However, the day I was going to announce our excursion, I was awakened to the bunker shaking like a mad animal trying to dislodge a colony of fleas. It was as if an earthquake were happening.
Picking myself up off the floor, I ran for the garage. I found Esmeralda and Fernanda stumbling about and screaming as they ran naked from the bathroom. Nathan and Marisol were nowhere to be seen. Most likely, they were still in their room, sleeping. Well, maybe not sleeping.
Taking Esmeralda and Fernanda by their hands, and despite their nudity, I led them to the garage and outside, where I found smoke filled the air to the point where the sun was nothing more than a small, red, dim glow in the sky. I didn't hear Nathan and Marisol come stumbling up behind us as I was busy looking around and listening. I couldn't see them, but I heard hundreds of aircraft. Helicopters and airplanes of all sizes. There was no gunfire above us. That came later, several miles away downriver, but the sound carried so that we heard the battle as if it were right in front of us.
We felt hundreds, if not thousands, of bombs detonating as they impacted their targets. Turning around, I immediately guided Esmeralda and Fernanda back under the cover of our bunker while I left Nathan and Marisol clutching each other and looking out at the haze as they listened to the horror that was happening all around us.
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Journal Entry, June 6, 2030-
Two more weeks passed during which the bunker was shaken repeatedly by explosions in the surrounding areas. The only thing I could think of that was nearby and worth any strategic value was the dam. However, why were they still fighting over it after having bombed it? I had no idea. And, whatever the reason was, I never found out.
The bunker, however, I am proud to say, held together perfectly, other than a few cracked seams in the sheetrock here and there, and a small plumbing repair in the bathrooms after the initial bombing started. At night, just after sundown, I inspected the small retractable windmill generators, the carefully hidden solar panels, and the batteries. During the day, my time was filled with taking stock of the foodstuffs and checking the water pump, reservoirs, and plumbing. Everyone else, Nathan, Esmeralda, Fernanda, and Marisol, fell into the rhythm of everyday life.
Nathan followed me around the bunker as I educated him on what everything was, what it did, and how to fix it. Esmeralda governed her girls. She took turns teaching them her cooking techniques and maintaining the cleanliness of the domicile. With there being just five of us, there wasn't much to do. Still, I never heard one complaint from them about the work. It was a great and mighty difference from the complaining I heard from Eleanor and my children about their chores.
As the weeks passed by, I knew Eleanor knew where the bunker was. If she had returned to Kennewick somehow, I knew that she knew how to come here. However, it didn't stop me from thinking about leaving to find her every day. I thought about it, but when I went outside, I could still hear the thump and rumble of artillery shelling and understood it was still too dangerous to leave.
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Journal Entry, July 1, 2030-
After two months, I reluctantly admitted that I may never see Eleanor or my daughters ever again. That night, I cried at the dinner table while Fernanda and Esmeralda stood beside me and comforted me. Simultaneously, during that time, a few weeks after taking refuge in the bunker, Nathan and Marisol's relationship progressed to the point where they were a couple, sleeping together and having sex despite the circumstances. So, no one was surprised when Marisol announced that she was pregnant. A couple of weeks after the announcement, Nathan came to me while I was making my rounds.
"Dad," He mumbled.