The Oblivious

Chapter Six: Discovery

        They had been in the bunker for almost a month, and today they were going to step back outside.  It had been the most productive month of their lives.  Patrice had learned to speak German and was working on how to read and write.  Rufus weighed himself on the scale in the pantry and had lost 20 pounds.  Vivian didn’t finish the Bible but read the entire New Testament, as was the case for most of the kids reading their parents’ Bibles.  As for Nathan, he knew the Bible inside out.  Even though Uncle Harken wasn’t there, his journals guided him in what he needed to know.  It was time for all of them to step back into the world.

        For the past week they had been busy getting ready for their exit by making themselves protective clothing.  Besides the volcanic ash shredding their lungs, there also was a danger of stepping in high temperature heat pockets.  Layers of ash made for excellent insulation and random ash piles had the potential of still burning at 400ºF in the center.  They sewed together two heavy jumpsuits made from the extra blankets and some durable scraps of fabric.  Nathan refused to put anyone else at risk, so he volunteered to go out first.  Peter said that he was going with him, and Nathan knew better than to argue with his older brother.  They fashioned goggles from clear plastic spoons, and they took some of the air filters and made masks out of them.  They pulled the hoods from their sweatshirts over their heads and cinched them down with the strings, so that no skin was exposed.  With the help of the others, they donned their padded suits like astronauts.  In reality, they looked like walking quilts cut in the shape of giant ginger bread men.  The hope was that they would be padded enough to protect themselves from whatever they might encounter.  They doused the suits with water and then waddled through the antechamber.  Peter waited for the door to seal behind them.  He put his hands on the latch to unlock the door leading outside.  Before he opened it, he asked, “What are we gonna find out there, Nathan?”

        Nathan shouted through his mask, in a muffled voice, “Souls that are waiting to be saved.”

        Peter opened the door and a small gust of air blew into the chamber.  Nathan looked down at the foot of the door and saw a pile of ash with bones protruding out of it.  Peter immediately began stomping on the brittle bones, pulverizing them into dust.  Nathan pushed his brother off the pile and yelled, “What are you doing?!”

        They scuffled with each other for a minute.  The commotion caused a human skull to roll out of the ash pile and land inside the chamber.  Peter yelled back at Nathan, “We can’t let the others see this.  It’ll mess them up.” Jesse’s skull laid on its side and stared back at them, reminding them how they left him out there to die.

        “It’s not your job to protect people from the truth,” said Nathan.  “It’s the lies that hurt us.  The truth sets us free.  Give those kids more credit than that.  They’re stronger than you think.”

        Nathan let go of his brother, and then they dusted off the remains of Jesse’s body from their suits.  They continued on and marched back to the cabins.  The landscape looked like a back-drop of a low budget science fiction movie.  It looked less like their home planet and more like the surface of the Moon.  The few trees left standing were naked and bare.  The cabins and cars were covered in hundreds of pounds of gray powdered ash.  The scene was semi-familiar, like a faux White Christmas.  Two feet of gray ash covered the ground.  Everything remained completely still and completely silent.  No winds blew through, there were no birds chirping, and none of the trees had any leaves to rustle.  The feeling was eerie.  Peter described it best, “It feels like death out here.”

        Peter stopped to inspect the cars.  Some were toppled over and the others had the back end blown out.  Nathan approached Uncle Nick’s cabin.  He stepped onto the first porch step, and it immediately collapsed underneath him and he fell backwards.  Peter heard the steps break and watched Nathan fall.  Peter saw the cabin shaking and ran to his brother screaming, “RUN!  IT’S COMING DOWN!  RUN!”