Page 3 of His to Take

2

February 20, 2025

“I don’t thinkit’s a good idea, John. I really don’t.” Amanda Wolfson leaned back in the steel utility chair in the conference room and stared out at the rest of the bunker’s survivors. “We have at least another three years before the air even starts to clear a little bit. Sending one of us out there right now, well, it’s just not the smart thing to do.”

Ann tuned the others out and continued to draw in one of the notepads that they still had thousands of. She wished her phone’s battery hadn’t died for the millionth time since that sad day and doodled instead. Rex had noticed the sky seemed lighter when they all got up that morning and that discovery had set off the current debate.

They all sat around the long, rectangular table, one family on each side, and did what they always did in a time of crisis… they discussed their options. Or, the parents did anyway. Rex and Ann rarely had any input into what happened, even though they were now 20 and 21. Another thing that hadn’t changed was how much Ann loved Rex.

She cast glances at him as she doodled on her pad, hidden behind the long curtain of her hair. She hadn’t cut it since they’d come down to the bunker and it was now well past her waist. The perfect way to hide the fact that she looked at him often. For all that he noticed, she thought with a sour grimace aimed at the notepad.

She’d grown into a rather womanly figure, with breasts that would fill his hands and then some, and hips that would perfectly match with his. At least, they did in the hot dreams she had about him, the ones that had led to her closing her door at night, not long after they’d moved down to the bunker. Something she’d never done in her real home.

She was embarrassed by the dreams; afraid she might do… things or make sounds in her sleep that would alert the entire bunker to where her dreams had taken her. Usually into Rex’s arms, those strong arms he kept fit by spending a lot of time climbing around the bunker levels, using the weight machine, and running every single day. Ann wasn’t so avid about exercise, but she ran every day, just to keep in shape.

She’d long ago given up on the idea that they’d ever leave the bunker. She had become disillusioned by her talks with Amanda about reality and the truth of their situation . She did want to stay fit and attractive for Rex, however. One day, he might notice that she could be more than a little sister to him. After all these years, and his constant moodiness, she knew she was the one for him.

And she understood why he was so… gloomy. He’d been a state champion, even at 16, and had been on his way to a glorious university career and then on to the big leagues. Everybody in town had known it, and that had all been snatched from him on that day. The day all of their lives changed.

“Have you heard anything on the radio?” Stephan, Rex’s normally silent father, asked. He never had a lot to say, but when he did speak, he had a point to make. The red-headed man, with the Irish green eyes, was a writer and an academic who had taught literature at the university. He wasn’t much help in an apocalypse, but he was an intelligent man that liked to clean.

“I heard something from that family up in Vancouver. They said the sky is brighter there, too,” John replied, his voice tired. Ever since that day, his voice always seemed to be tired, Ann thought and glanced at him.

Her father was only 43, but he looked older. He had the burden of the entire bunker on his shoulders. They’d all offered to take over some of the roles he filled, but he didn’t want to burden anyone with the problems he took care of. He wasn’t the leader, as such, but he owned the place and felt responsible for all inside.

“What do you think it means?” Mary said from her place to the left of Ann’s father.

Ann sat on his other side, quiet as always. It had become habit and hadn’t changed over the years. Rex moved on his side of the table and she looked over at him.

His mother cut his hair the best she could, and it was cut close to his scalp. He was still as handsome as ever, the all-American boy with soft, smooth skin and eyes that made her burn. Even if he rarely looked at her.

She knew she was hopeless, but she was the only female his age in the bunker. Even if he suddenly got a case of the hots for Ann’s mother, she was taken. So, logic dictated that he would eventually have to show some interest in her. Right?

Not for the first time, she wished there were normal clothes in the bunker. All they had was a lifetime supply of dark blue coveralls that they all wore every single day. White, cotton socks covered each pair of feet, and they all had a pair of Nike running shoes or black, leather combat boots. There was nothing stylish or feminine in this hellhole, and Ann knew that for certain. She’d checked more than once.

“The wind might have changed,” Amanda spoke up after a quiet moment of contemplation. “Or the sun might have burned through the ozone layer. I’m not sure. Nothing like this has ever happened in recent memory.”

“So, it could be clearing?” Rex spoke up and leaned forward eagerly. His earbuds had popped out of his ears and dangled down his chest. Ann stared at them, envious that his phone still charged.

“It could be, yes, son. But we don’t know that. Or what the atmosphere is like now. The ventilation system and filters keep our air regulated, but up there? It could be totally different.”

“How can we find out?” Rex shot back, eager for answers now that he had hope.

He’d spent the last five years either down on the bottom level working out, or in his room, staring at the walls morosely. Ann had tried to cheer him up the first few months after they arrived at the bunker, had tried to get him involved with card games, or other things they could do together, but he’d just murmur a refusal and turn to his wall or go down to the lower level. She’d stopped trying after a while.

This was the most animated she’d seen him since his father had dragged him to their lawn after the first earthquake. He’d been bitching about having to get to his game, but his dad, quiet even then, had shaken him like an errant puppy and told him to be quiet.

“Well, one of us will have to go up. Take a sample that I can test in the mini-lab we have down here.” Amanda had kept the lab in working order since they’d come down.

None of them ever mentioned those times the Wolfsons lived up to their surnames and turned into wolves. They just lived their lives, helped each other out, and waited for whatever might come next. Ann often felt as if they were all on hold, waiting for the day they died, or for the day they could leave the bunker. She’d only ever wanted Rex’s attention, and to her, being in the bunker was the best place for that to happen. All she waited on was the day he’d notice that she was alive. Which meant she lived her life waiting, too.

“Which one?” Rex asked, his voice breathless now.

“You don’t think our old lives are up there waiting for us, do you?” Ann asked, suddenly. The idea had occurred to her, and when Rex glanced at her with an expression that screamed surprise, she knew that was exactly what he thought. “You’re joking, right?”

“What do you know? None of us know what really happened up there. We’ve only had your dad’s word for what’s going on in the world. Maybe he’s insane and keeping us all down here for his own sick pleasure. We don’t know, do we?” His voice, deeper than it was when they came down to the bunker, was strained now, almost hysterical.

“You can’t say things like that!” Ann’s mother shouted at Rex, but his mother was already there, smacking him on the back of the head.