No one ever trekked up the hill to the bombed out ruins of the old armory building. A hundred years ago it had been converted to an art and military museum. It became the brick and ivy covered pride of this suburb. When the war started, it was an easy target for conventional bombs and artillery. It had been hit and scavenged so often there was nothing of use left. In fact the entire half of town near the armory was destroyed and had been abandoned. None of the services worked. Within a few miles there were still about 20,000 people eking out an existence. Most of those lived two miles away, by the lake, for water and firewood from the dead trees. For this area, the "war" had only lasted two weeks but recovery would take decades.
Eric had worked for the armory before the war in maintenance. He was the only person alive who knew about the underground facilities and the special genetically unaltered seed storage area. The government had built a 20,000 square foot bomb shelter and stocked it during the cold war of the 1960s. There had been talk of opening it to the public way back in 2012 as a museum exhibit but that didn't happen because of funding. The granite hill sight had been chosen because it had natural volcanic steam vents for power, heat and water. Luckily, Eric was deep underground on that horrible Tuesday afternoon. After the neutron bomb blast the few survivors worked months to bury the dead humans and animals. While the ground was still cooling, Eric began scavenging at night for non-perishable food stuffs to supplement the ancient c-rations and newer MREs stored in the shelter. He had been lucky after the grocery stores had been looted. He found three loaded trailers full of instant oatmeal packets, dry beans, powdered eggs, rice, powdered milk, jerky, canned peaches, sugar, coffee and spices. They must have been a relief shipment trying to come through the conventional scrimmages a couple of weeks after the short lasting radiation. The rigs were almost covered in debris below a no longer usable overpass. Over three months, working only at night, he moved everything to his fortress.
For another month, he organized his relatively comfortable world and wondered how much civilization existed outside this once affluent bedroom community. He had never been affluent. In fact, he was an often shunned near hermit. He had been an invisible, lowly blue collar worker in a beauty, social and wealth conscious world. Severe acne had left his face and neck badly scarred. He had dropped out of school to avoid the taunts of beautiful school mates. Today, he was lean, strong, healthy and still a virgin at twenty-eight.
The inside pockets of his scrounge coat were full of oatmeal packets when he went out one chilly fall morning. If he let anyone know of his stash and home, he would be raided and probably killed. Still he often doled out food to the most needy people, always saying it came from a church food bank. No one ever spoke of what they had in fear that it would be taken from them.
Back in high school, Eric had a crippling crush on Anna Hudson, one of the most beautiful and popular girls. His "Hellos" were usually ignored. One time, his gift of flowers was tossed on the ground and she laughed at him with her friends. Still he had fantasized about her at night and dreamed that she wanted him. Today, Anna and her nine year old daughter were out begging food and trying to trade now worthless jewelry for anything useful. They were the only survivors in their family. Both had some burn scars on their legs and were missing hair on the backs of their heads.
Old habits die hard. Anna turned away when Eric approached.
"Anna, you and your daughter look hungry. Maybe I can help a little."
That brought her around, "Could you? We haven't eaten in two days. Our house was one of those destroyed. Please help us, if you can."
"I only have a few packets of oatmeal."
"What do you want for them? Linda is so hungry. What do I have to do for them? All I have is some jewelry."
The vast majority of females traded sexual favors for food, safety and shelter now. Eric knew Anna was waiting for that to be suggested.
"Keep this a secret between us. I'll try to bring a couple of items every few days to help you."
Anna was so surprised by the kindness that she forgot to say, "Thank You." Even with the threat of rape, slavery and violence, she went out each day to search for food that had not been destroyed by the bomb or the violence.
In two days, Eric was back loaded with items to help Anna and Linda. They did not seem to be around but he heard a shriek from behind a wall and went to investigate. He was quite an imposing figure in his black oil coat, his four-foot long galvanized pipe walking stick and the big hunting knife on his belt. Amazingly, there were few guns in the hands of civilians. As he rounded the wall a big, fat, dirty man was standing over Anna with his putrid cock in one hand and his other hand on the back on Linda's neck.
"Suck it bitch or I'll snap the brat's neck like a twig."
Only Eric saw the steel pipe strike the back of the big man's head, but they all saw the blood and bone splatter and his body fall on top of Anna. Linda had never officially met Eric but she grabbed him around his waist and would not let go as Anna struggled to get free from the body's dead weight. Over the next hour, he calmed them and they led him to their make shift room inside a bombed out house. They had nothing but nervously offered him what they had. It was like Christmas for them when Eric opened his coat and began emptying out the pockets of things that they could not have hoped for. Linda ate some peaches and a spoon full of peanut butter and soon fell asleep holding onto one of Eric's feet.
Anna looked lovingly at her daughter and said, "She is sleeping so peacefully. I think she likes you."
"She likes the feelings of strength, safety and security. Bribing her with a few treats did not hurt either."
"Is that what this is, a bribe?"
"No, Anna, I'm sorry that was the wrong word. I do not expect anything in return. I only want to help. Her smile was payment enough."
Anna totally broke down. The floodgates opened and the pent up fears and worries pushed her into a sobbing ball on the floor. This was a common sight but he still cared about this once beautiful woman. His compassion was tempered with the thought that someday conditions would improve and she would reject him and call him names again. He had to be careful and not drop his guard. Anna too had cried herself to sleep. Probably, every night she slept lightly, if at all, to protect herself and Linda. Now, feeling safe, she slept soundly.
Eric guarded over them until late into the night when Anna awoke. She was surprised that he was still there, had not stolen Linda or done some other horrible thing. Her mind was swirling, life could be so much easier, if he could protect them and help gather food. She could cook and work and offer her body. Maybe he was not as good as he seemed. Maybe he had nothing and would hurt Linda. Anna knew she could not protect herself and her daughter for much longer.
When Eric stood saying he had to go, Anna stood also. They were close in the small room. She sensed that he was clean and it made her feel even more dirty. She reached out and hugged him, saying, "Thank you for saving us this afternoon. Thank you for all that you brought us. Thank you for letting us feel safe for a little while."
He did not answer. His mind was spinning too as he returned her hug. It was dark and the moment overtook them both. She rose up on her toes and kissed him; her thoughts struggled to pretend life was like it used to be. Eric used her chin, tilted her head and returned her kiss gently, allowing himself to pretend she had chosen him and cared.
As he left, he said, "I'll try to come back in a couple of days."
She saw his scarred face in the moonlight, "That will be so nice of you. Thank you again for what you have already done." He reached out and stroked the side of her beautiful soft cheek lovingly. She could see his teary eyes as he turned and disappeared into the darkness.
As he walked home, he could feel the chill of the coming fall. He wanted to help Linda and Anna but he could not risk, divulging his secrets. There was a back way into the tunnels. It was covered with dirt and dead grass. It was in the area where the outside material storage had been for the armory. All that was still there, was dirt, broken rock and stacks of World War II Marston Mats that were welded together six wide. They were going to be an eight foot wide walkway through old military equipment. Just another idea that never got off the ground because of no funding. If he could make a comfortable house out of the mats over the back entrance into the tunnels, he could let Anna and Linda stay with him and be warm through the winter.
Early the next morning, Eric began to dig a two foot deep trench, twenty foot long in parallel lines out from where he knew the hidden door was and sixteen feet out at the ends. Over the next few weeks, he visited Anne and Linda and worked night and day on his "house." He raised panels of the Marston Mats to drop into the trenches so the exposed part was eight foot high. He built spacers, covered the outside of the mats, covered a second mat and raised it on its side so he had a double wall that could be filled with dirt, debris and anything available. He found some single wide mats under the welded ones, built a center supporting wall and used tilting "A" frames and make-shift pulleys to put a ceiling on the structure. He tore a steel security door out of the Armory and installed it complete with a sliding bolt lock that could slip into place on the inside or the outside and be padlocked securely. He ran an old culvert section to vent warm air from the Armory's basement and created a locked hidden door that opened into the Armory. The first snowflakes were early, he wasn't quite ready but he still invited Linda and Anne to visit him. Anne did not seem to mind his face anymore.
His house was Spartan but Anne could see the possibilities and Linda was so delighted with the house's warmth.
"I built this hoping you and Linda would live with me as a family. I'll gather some furniture and make it more livable. I can provide food for all of us. It is not much to look at but it is warm and safe."
Anne was hesitant because of the "family" reference. Eric was offering a lot but was hinting that he expected sex and companionship from her. Since the bomb, she had sold herself for a lot less but for all her life, she had thought of Eric as being beneath her, not of the right class and not beautiful. Her pause and thoughtfulness knifed through him.
"Well it was only an idea. Let's get you two back home safely before the night really settles in and the storm hits."
