Background
The world is practically destroyed. Survivors in Yosemite are under attack and trying to find a way to fight back.
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Previously, The compound was shaken by an attack that though easily repelled cost a lot of lives. Upon returning to the compound Johnny was fired at by someone in the compound which turned out to be Carlos. Christine determinded that the so called dream team was somehow exerting influence over people and had to be stopped. In a confrontation they were subdued. It left everyone confused as to what was going on. We join the story now as Johnny and Christine go off by themselves to discuss the situation.
Christine spoke the moment we were alone, "I think that we are beginning to learn that there may not be a world that is anything like the world we once knew. I understand the people stranded here and the people forced north by the rising water being attracted to this compound. From what we've been able to see from Half-Dome, there isn't anything else like it. But, Johnny, that doesn't explain why the rest of the world would care. They have bombers and power. Why don't they wipe us out? They don't want to damage the land, that's why."
"I've been thinking the same thing. That whole food drop scenario. Why go to all that trouble? Why not just drop a few hundred bombs? You're right, the land. It has to be the land. I keep thinking about that bunker. We've got to see what is in there and where it goes. I read about bunkers from World War Two in China that went for miles like whole cities. There's no telling what is there. We've already seen tons of supplies. We need to get in there and explore and see what we have there."
Damn. We still didn't know anything. But, it didn't look like this was any kind of peaceful oasis.
May as well let a friend off the hook. I saw Carlos over by a housing structure under construction and strolled that way. "How's that shoulder? Don't you know not to tell your lady she's fat?"
A look of relief came over him. He smiled, "I always seem to learn things the hard way, Johnny. Sorry about what happened. It was the damnedest thing. Like I was convinced that you were there to threaten the compound. It wasn't even you in my mind. Just threat, that word, over and over. Hard to explain. I felt like I had to protect the compound. I know that makes no sense. It doesn't to me."
"Hey, don't sweat it. We all got a taste of it. Powerful stuff. We got em under guard now. Christine will fry their brain if they try anything. I'm glad you're okay. Jen was beside herself. Talk about a lover's quarrel." We both shared a little laugh. I doubt his was any more genuine than mine was.
I found Christine talking to Linda and Nikolai. Perfect.
"What did you do in the Russian army, Nikolai?" I needed someone I could trust that might know something about what we might find in that bunker.
"Communications. Too bad those men didn't have any wires or micro-chips in their heads. I could have reprogrammed them. I studied at Cal-Tech right here in this state. I tried to establish some communications in the field, but the signals were too weak. The atmosphere is charged and unstable. The satellites should still be there. But, who do we transmit to? I don't know. But, these dreams that you say you receive must come from the satellites. There is no other way unless they are nearby. Well, nothing here to work with." He looked like a marathon runner locked in a closet.
I felt like Nikolai should know about the bunker. A glance at Christine gave me her answer. "We have something to show you that might help. Linda, grab Annie. Tell the others we're going on a double date to the malt shop." I looked at Christine again, "Do you sense anything?"
"No. Those fools are quiet as church mice. They're just pawns, Johnny. I spent some time with them a little while ago. They're straight U.S. military. Whatever it is in our brains that receives those transmissions is stimulated by the transmissions. It heightens it. I'm aware of it already. It all blends together for me. You are already part of my past, Johnny. I remember you from dreams I had as a little girl just like the stealth bombers. I dream about the same people all the time. They grew up with me like family. Now you are there too as a part of them. But, you are there in the past too. I remember you. It's crazy."
I had a vague understanding of what she meant. I had seen her wake up in the morning as though she had been gone for a very long time. For all intents and purposes, she had. Her dreams were in real time. It took a little while to orient herself to current time when she awakened. Very complex, but I understood more or less. "These guys though, it seemed like they were trying to eliminate us."
"They had no idea what they're doing. They were tuning into the feelings of Tom and Carlos and some of the soldiers. That feeling that they should be running the show. It's a mistake. They don't know what they're doing really. They're just amplifying the feelings. And projecting them. Carlos and Tom do think they should be in charge, so they were receptive. Nikolai doesn't think that way so he isn't. Turner? I guess he's undecided. Us? We are on the same page. Anyway, I've had an awareness of this all my life. You? You have it, but you call it luck or instinct. But, you are in tune with it. Linda, Nikolai, Annie and Jen and even Rhonda are in tune with us. Well, all of this is just talk. We can't do anything with it here, but give each other headaches. We need some high tech equipment. We need to get inside that bunker and see what we have. We're just treading water here."
The five of us headed towards Half-Dome. No one paid any attention to us. As far as they were concerned the compound was home and Half-Dome was the wilderness. That worked out well to my way of thinking.
The sight of Christine caused an immediate stiffening of Nick and Mark's joints upon seeing us approach. Christine began laughing and the rest of us joined her, including Nikolai who didn't even know why. That didn't ease the tension for the two soldiers.
"At ease, soldiers!" My military voice had improved. They went into a formal at ease stance. "No, guys, I mean at ease. Relax. We're here to check out that bunker and we need your help. We need to know everything you know. There's an attack coming and we need to be ready. Where's the communications center in there?"
Nick looked a little less nervous, "Sir…"
"Look, call me Johnny. I'm not in the military. I've got some news for you. There is no military as far as we can tell. There doesn't even seem to be a country. Right now there is this group of people here in Yosemite trying to survive. That's it. So, Johnny will do."
"Yeah, okay, Johnny. Look, that's one of the reason's we got stuck here. No power. The communications are out, everything is out. There's no juice. As far as what's in there, we'll show you what we know, but we're low security. We're just here to keep an eye on the place. We're just glorified caretakers. This place isn't used in the winter. We haven't even seen most of what is in here. It's all locked up and off limits. We have access to food, basic communications and our quarters. We inventoried and made sure that the food stores were in order and checked dates on medical supplies. We ordered things that expired and that is about the size of it. We were to be relieved a month ago. But, who knows. We've heard nothing since all of this happened."
"Okay, Nick. Appreciate it. Let's go do a little breaking and entering."
Once inside we could see that the portion of the bunker that Nick and Mark had access to wasn't of great value to us, at least as far as finding and defeating our enemy. The food, clothing, tools and survival aids were a great plus to be sure, but not what we were looking for.
"Well, let's bust some doors down." I could see that Mark, especially, feared some kind of retribution. "Look, Mark, we have a platoon of both Russian and American soldiers at the compound. There is no one to cause you any grief. Get over it and give us a hand. Okay?"
The size of the bunker turned out to be astonishing.
