Survivors

Chapter Fifteen: Warehouse in Plain Sight

When we reached base camp, I installed the power cord for the computers and we were able to connect to the Internet. Of course, the computers were like dinosaurs from the 1980s but we were able to use them just the same.

"Any news?" Ali asked as she came from her watch in the control.

"Nothing yet," Liora said as she checked through old databases.

I opened Internet Explorer and looked through Yahoo News. "Here's something interesting," Tyler, Ali, and Helayna came up to the back of my chair and Liora and Gigi leaned to look at my screen from my right and left, respectively. "Albany, Oahu, and Las Vegas, obviously, have been bombed. But only Albany out of the three had the whole shebang with chems and foot soldiers in addition to the earthquake." Everyone mostly nodded their heads in agreement or understanding.

"We need to check more hotels and casinos; there are possibly more survivors out there and we need to get them before the Communists do," Tyler declared.

"Good, then we have another thing useful to do," Gigi stated.

"All right, guys, why don't we check the Bellagio tomorrow and see what we can find?" I piped up.

"Sounds good," Ali agreed.

 Helayna left to go get some food out of the kitchen and came back with a tray of sandwhiches made from random food items we found in the MGM Grand. I picked a turkey on wheat, Liora had a turkey on white, Ali took a roast beef on sourdough, Tyler chose a ham and cheese, Gigi swiped a pastrami on rye, and Helayna picked pulled pork on rye. She took the tray over to the patrol room with the only sandwich left for Adrian.

I checked my e-mail for a message I knew would never come: the one from my parents asking me where the hell I was and why the school never contacted them. They were probably dead from the chems straight away. Especially in PV, they would have no way to escape. All I received in the time that we had left Mary Star was a daily post by Yahoo and an update from TheOneRing.net and YouTube. I sorted them then checked TORn for anything interesting. All I saw that was interesting was an article about how the current world disaster was similar to the War of the Ring and that we were waiting for our own Fellowship and the destruction of the Communist leader, our Sauron. It was well-written and it reflected our own situation quite well.

I soon became bored and I decided to look through all the databases on the Dino, as I had come to calling them. Nothing interesting. There was only some files about the people that had lived here before. As that was the only important document, I opened it and tried to see how they lived here and what exactly the base was used for. Our Base Camp used to be weapon storage for Advanced Military Personnel and the scientists who created huge war machines that could create a genocide. Base Camp then became one of the highest priorities on my list.

With my new knowledge, I left the Dino and journeyed to the great hallway. I went to the equipment room; nothing of any value there in terms of weapons. I looked through all the other rooms adjoining the hallway. I opened the broom cupboard. Nothing other than mops, brooms, mop buckets, sweeper pans, chemical cleansers, and old rags. The room had to be here. I opened the broom cupboard back up. My eyes panned each corner until I could find something. Just to my luck, I found I crack in the wall. I placed my hands on it and tried pushing it toward the opposite end of the wall. The concealable sliding door opened with some effort due to rust and rot as all things do.

I stepped inside the room only to find that it was quite large. Leave it to the military's most brilliant minds to store something so valuable in the least valuable storage compartment; hiding in plain sight. Brilliant. I slid my hand across the wall. My fingers felt a light switch and I flicked it on. The room was covered in industrial warehouse lighting. I couldn't believe how large the room was. From wall to wall, weapons were lined up. Everything from shotguns to bazookas, real versions of those blasters from Star Wars! It was amazing! We needed to use these things. If we were to use them, the Commies wouldn't stand a chance against us and we could live at peace for the rest of our lives.

I ran out of the broom cupboard to the entryway. "Guys, you need to come with me: NOW!" A few sighs, grunts, and eye rolls here and there but they all came just the same. I led them to the broom cupboard and I received a few giggles and snorts (probably from Gigi) until I opened the latch in the back. I turned on the warehouse lights and let everyone inside.

"Wow."

"What the hell?!"

"Bloody hell!" And the rest were speechless. Everyone took a look around the room in awe.

"So what are we taking?" Ali asked.

"I think we should keep the small stuff on us but make it inconspicuous that way it won't seem like we have guns when we actually do," Liora suggested.

"We can't take everything; give everyone a small amount. We can't risk being compromised," I said. A few looks of disbelief. "I mean that we can't just carry everything in this room in our pockets! We need to keep it to handheld items and easily concealable tools."

"I'll ask again, then: what are we taking?"

"Everyone needs a gun, a knife, some rope, and grenades. You can pick one more item in addition but it has to be easily concealable," I declared.

We milled about the warehouse and took various items. In the end this was our spread:

I took one of the Star Wars blaster replicas, an extra sharp jackknife, and a recurve bow with a matching set of arrows (luckily for me, the bow and arrows were made of wood: just my style!). Ali chose twin pistols, a Bird's Eye paring knife, and an axe. Liora claimed a machine gun, a YoshiBlade, and a collapsible scythe. Tyler took a sniper rifle, a miniature dagger, and a katana. Gigi chose a plasma ray, pocketknife fingernail attachments, and a flamethrower. Helayna picked out a deconstructable miniature rocket launcher, butcher knife, and gloves that transform electrical power in order to harm one's opponent on contact. Adrian (when he finished his shift) chose a blitz gun with terrific shotgun spray, a serrated blade, and a gun that shot ice at its target. Everyone, however, received ten feet of sturdy, nylon rope, and a substantial amount of hand grenades. I thought we were well-equipped.

Finally, we were ready for the fight.