The Bunker 2 (musc)
by Jaypat
Roy pushed the big metal door in the underground bunker open and peered inside. “Whoa! You guys have got to see this,” he said, stepping through.
I followed after him, and stopped. It wasn’t so much of a room that I found myself in but a cavern. The walls were all rough hewn rock, but the floor was smooth and flat. And positioned all around it was the strangest looking equipment I’d ever seen. Metal had been molded and bent and twisted into the strangest shapes. If it didn’t have a definite utilitarian look to it, I might almost mistake it for modern art. There were giant donut shapes ten feet across and tubes and cones and cylinders, all made from something that looked like a combination between metal and smooth, opaque glass. And they were arraigned in various positions all through out the room, on the floors, on the ceiling, everywhere. It was kind of eerie.
Suddenly the lights flickered and there was a loud electronic BUZZ! It seemed to come from every corner of the chamber simultaneously. Roy and I looked at each other and shouted, “FUCK!” and we bolted from the room.
“Did something happen in there?” asked Jasper as we rushed panting through the door.
“No,” said Roy, catching his breath. “Why do you ask?”
“It said it was warming up the equipment. From what I can see on here, that’s some kind of a test chamber. I wonder what they were testing.”
“Maybe it’s a new sound system,” said Roy.
“Let’s run it through the sequence and see what it does,” said Jasper.
“You think that’s smart?” I said. “What if it’s some kind of a bomb?”
“I don’t think so,” he said. “I’m going to start it.” And before I could object any more jasper hit a few keys. The door swung shut and we could see a countdown start up on the screen.”
“I’ll open the viewing port.” He hit a couple of more keys and the shutters on the window opened up and we could see into the strange cavern like room. Jasper came over and joined us at the window. “Weird,” he said. And we stood there silently while the counter ticked down. When it reached zero the word, commit, started flashing on the screen, but inside the room, it looked like nothing had changed.
We stood there for another five minutes or so, until Roy said, “Shouldn’t something have happened by now?”
Jasper nodded and went back to the monitor. He hit another couple of keys but nothing changed. “I can’t seem to shut the program down,” he said. “It looks like it’s frozen.”
“Well, after a quarter of a century, can you really be surprised?” I said.
“Let me see if I can open the door,” said Jasper. One again he punched some keys and the door swung open. He walked over to it and stepped through. I tentatively followed after him.
“You sure this is safe?” I asked.
“I don’t think anything’s working,” said Jasper. “Whatever this stuff is, time hasn’t been good to it.”
Roy followed us in and just started looking at all the weird objects.
“So how come you can turn this stuff on, but you don’t know what it does,” I asked.
“It was fairly simple to get the software running, but most of the documentation is encrypted,” he said. “If I were home, it wouldn’t be a problem. Hell, for technology this old, I could probably download the de-encryption software free off the internet. But not here.”
“What’s this,” asked Roy holding up a cable. The end of it had something that looked suspiciously like a plug.
“I don’t know,” said Jasper. “It might be some kind of a control cable.”
“Oh,” said Roy looking at another cable lying on the floor. “Here’s another one.” He picked it up and looked at the two cable ends. “I think they go together.” And before anyone could say anything, Roy joined the two ends and they snapped together with a click.
Suddenly the door slammed shut. The electronic buzz was back, only this time it was building, along with a strange crackling noise like high tension wires. I ran to the door, but forget it. It was locked tight.
“Unplug the cable!” shouted Jasper, barely making himself heard over the building noise. Roy was yanking away at it, but the problem was clear even before he said it, “They’re stuck!”
Jasper ran over to help Roy, but before he could get to him, there was a sudden CRACK, like a lightening strike, a blast of white, searing pain and then darkness.
When I came to it was dark, so dark it took me a minute to figure out if my eyes were open or closed. I tried to move but that was a bad idea. I had the mother of all headaches, a pounding thrumming between my ears. It was so terrible it made me want to vomit. I’d had a hell of a hang over the day after my 20th birthday. It was bad, but not this bad.
“Jasper?” I croaked. “Roy?”
I heard an answering groan, and working through the pain, I crawled over toward it, groping in the dark as I went. After a couple of minutes, I felt a foot. I wasn’t sure whose.
“Oh man, are we still alive?” asked Roy.
“Kind of,” I said, feeling my head throb. “Where’s Jasper?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “He was right next to me, but I don’t even know where I am.”
“We’ve got to find him,” I said, suddenly getting very scared. If anything had happened to Jasper, I didn’t know what I’d do. But I needn’t have worried. A couple of more minutes of groping and we found him.
“You know it’s just possible this equipment is unstable,” he said, as my hand found his shoulder.
“Jesus, Jasper, you should have said something. You had me scared out of my wits,” I said.
“I was just thinking,” he said.
“Well, stop it,” I said. “We need to get out of here.”
“That’s what I was thinking about,” he said. “I think I left my flashlight by the monitor.”
“Well, that’s fucking fantastic,” said Roy. “Where the hell is the monitor?”
It took us a half hour of groping in the dark to find the door. The angels must have been smiling on us because the door was ajar. Jasper said the door opening and closing must have been programmed into the sequence. I didn’t really give a crap as long as we could get out of there.
Once we were oriented, finding the monitor and the flashlight was relatively easy. Roy shined the light around the room. The lights, the computer, everything seemed dead.
“We must have popped a breaker,” I said.
“We popped something,” said Roy. “Can we just get out of here? I feel like shit.”
“Can you smell that?” asked Jasper. “Something shorted.”
“I think we should go,” I said.
“Sure,” said Jasper. “As long as Bobby and company are gone.”
“They have to be gone by now,” said Roy.
“How do you know?” asked Japer. “Let me see your watches, mine stopped.”
We held out our wrists and Jasper shined the light on them, but they had stopped, too.
“We might have been out ten minutes or ten hours. There’s no way to tell.”
“There’s one way,” I said. “Go up and look.”
We slowly climbed the steep steps up to the surface. Of course, there was always the possibility that when we unbarred and opened the door, they might be out there waiting for us. And even after we opened the door, we still couldn’t be sure because it was dark; night had fallen. But there was no sound either; I couldn’t hear a single dirt bike.
“Holy shit!” shouted Roy. “How long were we in there?” When we had entered the bunker it had still been late morning, about eleven or so.”
“I don’t know,” said Jasper, but this probably explains where the lights went. Solar power isn’t very effective at night.” He shown the flashlight around a little more, and we saw his jeep. “At least they never found this place,” he said.
“How do you know?” I asked.
“My jeep is still in once piece,” he said. That made sense.
“Well, come on; let’s go,” said Roy hopping into the back. “This place is seriously creeping me out.”
“Sure,” said Jasper, “we’ll get going, just as soon as you change the tire.”
“Oh fuck! I forgot,” shouted Roy. “Hey, wait a minute. Why am I changing the tire?”
“I don’t know,” said Jasper. “You just seem the most motivated.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Come on, Roy,” I said. “We’ll help.”
As it turned out Roy and I did most of the work while Jasper held the flashlight. Changing a tire by flashlight is no picnic, especially when you feel like crap, but we got it done.
Then we had a half hour discussion on weather or not we should turn on the headlights. Driving across the desert blind wouldn’t be very smart, but if we turned on the headlights and any one of Bobby’s crew was watching for us, we’d be pretty much screwed. In the end we decided to wait until dawn. The clock in the jeep was working fine, so we knew we had about an hour to kill. We climbed into the jeep, sat down, and believe it or not, fell asleep. By the time we woke up, it was well past dawn. None of us was really feeling any better for our sleep, so we were all a little groggy as Jasper steered us out through the cave and back out among the hills. Thanks to the GPS we were able to find our way to the road without much trouble, and there was no sign of Bobby Bishop and his boys at all. Still, Jasper chose a different spot in the fence to exit through in case anyone was watching the place we came in. We had to cut another hole, but what are you going to do?
Our first stop was a diner. We were still about an hour outside of town and we were all really dehydrated and despite our nausea each of us felt we could eat. I looked down at the menu and didn’t really feel like deciding, so when the server arrived, I just ordered steak and eggs, the Thursday morning special.
“Honey, I’m sorry,” she said. “We don’t serve that today. Why don’t you try this?” And she pointed to ham and eggs, the Monday special.
I wasn’t in the mood to argue so I just said, “Sure, that’ll be fine.” But Jasper leapt out of his seat and ran out of the diner. He was back in a second with a newspaper. He threw it on the table in front of us and said, “Check that out.”
I looked at it. There had been a fire in Phoenix. “So what?” I said.
“The date,” he said. “Check the date.”
I did. Holy crap, this had to be a mistake. It said it was Monday. But yesterday had been Wednesday. This couldn’t be right.
“We’ve been gone for five days,” said Jasper, “five whole days.” I suddenly looked at Jasper, I mean really looked at him. His beard was a little heavy, too heavy for just overnight. I felt my face; so was mine. Oh my God, it was true.
“We’re so screwed,” I said. Disappearing over night would have been difficult enough to explain, but being gone for five days… “What are we going to tell people? We sure as hell can’t tell ’em the truth.”
“No,” said Jasper. “You know they’re going to think the worst no matter what we say. It might be best to go back just long enough to get our stuff and then leave town.”
That almost sounded like the best idea. The last year had been very hard for us in Patch of Grass. For me it started the morning after we saved Roy. When I got home, my dad was waiting for me. “We need to have a little talk,” he said. I wasn’t completely sure what this was about, but I had a suspicion it had to do with last night.
“It’s time you gave some serious thought to your future,” he said. “People around here are saying some mighty hurtful things about you.”
“I can’t help what people say,” I said.
“Yes, you can,” he said, “probably more than you know. I spent the afternoon talking with Pastor Roberts about you. And we both agreed you need to become more involved in the community, volunteer some time down at the church, stop spending so much time with Jasper and maybe date a girl or two. You’re a good looking young man. No reason why you should have any trouble in that department.”
I started to get a little angry. “What business is it of yours or Pastor Roberts how I spend my time?”
“Look, son,” he said, “If you want to spend your life among these people, its high time you started learning how to live with them. They don’t know you like I do. You’re a good person and eventually they’ll see that, but you’ve got to give them a chance.”
So that was it. Play straight and true until they learned to love me and would forgive my little fault. I didn’t much like what my dad was saying but I knew he meant well and I could tell I’d already caused him some trouble—although he’d never say anything to me about it.
The next day, I paid a visit to Pastor Roberts. It was partly to honor my father’s request and partly because I thought volunteering some time at the church was a good idea anyway, but of course I had another reason too. We weren’t going to be able to get Roy settled in Patch of Grass without some help from someone in authority. After all, Roy was still a minor and I knew there had to be all kinds of complications involved in that.
Pastor Roberts was basically a good man and I’d known him all my life. I still went to church practically every Sunday, so I was no stranger to him either. He was happy to see me and said so. There was plenty to do at the church and I spent the morning sweeping and dusting the sanctuary. When I was done, I knocked on his study door.
“All done, lad?” he asked.
I nodded. “Pastor, I have something I need to talk to you about.” And then I told him about Roy. I didn’t hold anything back. There were times for discretion but this wasn’t one of them. I knew if I wanted the Pastor’s help, I’d have to be very clear on exactly who and what Roy was.
When I was finished, he leaned back in his chair folded his hands and sighed. “It’s such a shame,” he said. “So young.” Then he looked me in the eye. “This is a great responsibility you’re taking on,” he said, “the welfare of another human being, especially one with such a tragic history. I want you to know starting out, that it’s possible he can’t be saved.”
“What are you talking about,” I said. “Of course he can be saved.”
“I’m not saying we won’t try,” said the Pastor, “but sometimes the damage is too severe.”
“But you’ll help?” I said.
“Yes,” he nodded. “To start, the boy must be brought here. He can’t stay with your friend, Jasper. As good intentioned as he might be, it would raise too many uncomfortable questions.” Then he folded his fingers and leaned back in his chair. “Speaking of uncomfortable questions, I hope you understand that I must ask you one. I have to know that your motives are truly altruistic, that there isn’t any other reason why you want this boy around.”
I was struck momentarily dumb. Obviously he thought I might want Roy for my own personal sex slave. My first reaction was anger. How dare he even suggest such a thing? Then there was a kind of shock and embarrassment. The Pastor knew about my orientation, but he didn’t come right out and say it. He was talking around it, just as my dad had done. I guess I should expect this kind of thing from now on, a sort of uncomfortable acknowledgement of a rather distasteful truth. Which brought me back to the question the Pastor had asked. I could tell he hadn’t liked asking it, and at the same moment, I understood that it was necessary that he did.
“No,” I said. “No other reason.”
“Good,” he said. “Then bring the boy by this evening and we’ll start the ball rolling. I can make him a ward of the church, but first his family will have to be contacted. We have to do this right. And we’ll need to get him back into school. I’m going to rely on you to break that news to him. He probably won’t like it. They never do.”
And the Pastor was right. Roy didn’t like it. In fact, he was talking about spending just enough time in Patch of Grass to recover from his injuries and then heading off to Vegas to try his luck there. And suddenly I understood what the Pastor had meant when he said we might not be able to save him.
Jasper and I spent most of the afternoon trying to convince Roy to stay in Patch of Grass at least until he graduated from High School. It might not be much here, but he had friends and people willing to look after him. He finally agreed to give it a week and see how it went.
True to my word, I dropped Roy off at the Pastor’s that evening. His wife, Jeanie, was truly shocked at his condition, all puffed up and bruised. She fussed over him continuously. At first he looked a little uncomfortable with the fuss she was making over him, but by the time I left, I think he was starting to enjoy it.
And there was also a little surprise waiting for me at the Pastor’s, Esther Quigley. Esther was my age and apparently had spent the day with Jeanie visiting shut-ins. The Pastor asked if I wouldn’t mind taking Esther home. Subtlety was not his strong point.
Esther was a truly nice person. I’d known her all my life, grown up with her, and now I knew I was expected to date her. It was during that drive to Esther’s house, while we made small talk, that I made my decision. In a couple of years, when Jasper left Patch of Grass, I would be going with him.
I didn’t ask Esther out, during that drive, but I knew I very well might in the next few days, just to keep people happy. After I dropped her off, I headed straight for Jasper’s. Things were going to have to change. It’s not like we had to stop seeing each other, we just needed to be much more careful about it.
When I told Jasper that I intended to leave with him, he was delighted. He told me he knew eventually I’d reach that decision. He just didn’t know how long it would take me. In the mean time, we had to pick random meeting spots and times. It was pretty clear we needed to arrive and leave separately, letting as few people as possible see us together. It all looked great on paper. There were just a couple of things we didn’t reckon on: Bobby Bishop and Roy.
We didn’t know it at the time, but thanks to the fact that we’d beaten up two of his buddies, Bobby Bishop had decided to target us, and he was a lot smarter than any beer doused red neck had a right to be.
And Roy… Well, I didn’t get back to the Pastors’ again for the rest of the week. Dad kept me pretty busy at the store, and I finally asked Esther out to the movies. There were also one or two illicit rendezvous with Jasper. When I finally did make it over there, I had a shock. The Pastor called Roy down, telling him he had a visitor, and when the kid entered the room I almost let out an audible gasp.
Roy was beautiful.
The bruises had faded and all the swelling was gone and what was left was a face angels would be jealous of. He had a strong chin, high cheek bones and eyes so blue they’d shame the Caribbean. Add in a slightly unruly head of light brown hair and holy crap, this kid shouldn’t be going to Vegas, he should be going to LA to become a model. Abercrombie and Fitch would have snapped him up in a second. However rough his life had been, it was obvious he hadn’t starved. He had broad shoulders and a toned athletic build. He had nice pecs and a six pack; that much was clear even through his t shirt. And his biceps were just large enough to pull his short sleeves tight around them. And now, all healed and cleaned up, he was the picture of health. He looked at me and smiled and I almost went weak in the knees.
“Well, hey, Roy, how are you feeling?” I managed to sound cheerful and normal, even though my hormones had just gone into overdrive.
“Ok, I guess,” he said. Had his voice always sounded so deep and rich?
“You start school, yet?” I asked, struggling like hell to keep my voice steady.
“Next week,” he said, not sounding at all enthusiastic. “I should be a junior, but I missed a year so they’re putting me in with the sophomores.”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “Graduation will be here before you know it.”
“I guess,” he said shrugging. Man, did this conversation sound as stilted as it felt?
“Well, you’ll have to stop by the store sometime and tell me how you like it.”
“The store?”
The Pastor filled him in on our family enterprise. “Yeah, sure, ok,” he said. He actually sounded cheerful at the thought.
Then I made an excuse and fled the house. I broke the speed limit getting home, raced to the shower where, just a few minutes later, I exploded with the best orgasm I’d had in months.
Roy was going to be a problem.