Amber
I never thought I’d say this, but the Dugway bunker in Utah was luxury compared to the setup in Anchorage. Again, we were in the middle of nowhere, which was good. The door looked like a tornado shelter, and there was enough tree cover to hide it from scouting planes. But unfortunately, the inside felt claustrophobic. Rooms were smaller and fewer. Ceilings lower. People . . . more numerous.
We walked into the main room to find soldiers smashed around tables, some standing or sitting on the ground. And what I noticed first was that they were almost all men, all with desperation and hunger in their eyes. When Colonel Latham led us into the room, sardine style, everyone stopped what they’re doing and turned to us. Their eyes immediately found me, Shavontae, and the handful of other women we came with. The virile atmosphere was chilling.
Less than a year ago, these young soldiers and officers probably had wives and girlfriends at home, or they were going out and meeting women, or men, anytime they wanted. Now they were stuck underground, fighting for their lives, with no hope of a relationship or sexual release anytime soon.
Rylen took my hand and I squeezed my fingers between his, holding tight.
Judging by the Colonel’s lack of a speech, everyone here was expecting us. He led us next to a small wing with offices filled with tech equipment. I looked for medical stuff, but didn’t see any. He took us next to another large room, this one filled with cots, sleeping bags, and ratty blankets filling three quarters of the room.
“This is the men’s quarters,” Colonel Latham said. “It’s a tight squeeze, but we’ll make it work.”
Wow. I realized at that moment just how spoiled we’d been with the attached hotel.
Top spoke up too, looking around at us. “We came prepared with sleeping bags in the planes, and as many rations as we could spare. They’re being brought over on another convoy now.”
I was thankful he’d been ready, but wished I’d thought to carry a bag with me wherever I went with my own essentials and medical stuff. This sucked.
The next doorway made me crinkle my nose at the smell of human waste. We passed a line of men waiting.
“This is our only restroom. The bunker was created during the Cold War, and was never meant to sustain this many people. The plumbing is hit or miss, so if it’s yellow, let it mellow. In other words, don’t bother flushing urine. Always wash your hands, but keep it extremely brief. As for showering, each person gets a five-minute shower allowance every three days.”
Ugh, so many bodies crammed this close with questionable sanitation was not a good thing. I knew they were doing the best they could, but I hoped we wouldn’t have to stay here long. If any kind of infection hit, it could be catastrophic.
As we moved past, we took turns glancing in at the four stalls and two wall urinals.
“Damn,” Texas Harry muttered. “This is gonna fuck up my shitting routine.”
Several of the guys laughed.
“Y’all nasty,” Shavontae said.
“Like you don’t shit, princess?” Tex joked.
“That’s right, I don’t,” Shavontae shot back, and everyone laughed again.
Colonel Latham glanced back at us with his eyebrows drawn, like he hadn’t heard laughter in a long time and wondered what could be going on to cause such a sound. We all hushed and shared nervous looks. Ry raised his eyebrows at me, and I knew how he felt. If we couldn’t laugh and joke, what was there worth living for? We squeezed hands at the same time.
“This is the women’s quarters,” said Colonel Latham, stopping at the end of the hall. It was tiny. I saw some major snuggling in my future, and not with the person I wanted to snuggle. The Colonel cleared his throat, looking guilty. “To be honest, it was a storage room and we converted it when we heard that you had eleven women in your company.”
“Only nine now,” Top said quietly. The reminder made me tense and shudder.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” the Colonel said. “We have four, and nearly double the number of men as you.” He scanned us for reactions, then cleared his throat again and marched back down the hall. Our group, which was considerably more somber now after the mention of Remy and Linette, followed in silence. I caught sight of Matt’s face, usually smiling and jovial, now downcast and pale. He’d had it bad for Remy.
My heart ached, a physical pain in my chest. I equally hated the thought of her being dead and her being captured. Had my brother made it to her? Please, God, let them have had a moment together before whatever happened. Rylen gave my hand a slight pull and I looked to find him staring at where I rubbed my chest with my palm. I let my arm drop.
“I’m okay,” I whispered. A rush of love and gratefulness pummeled me when I remembered how it felt to think that Rylen was dead too. I moved closer to him as we walked, and he seemed to understand.
Before our group spilled back out into the common area, Top and the Colonel turned to us one last time.
“It’s spring,” the Colonel said. “Snow will be starting to melt. We’ve got a plan that we’re going to debrief you about. If all goes well, we’ll be out of this hole by mid-summer, on the road to taking back our planet.”
“Hooah!” we all shouted. Yes, that’s right, even me.