The end of the world as we know it

Part 6

“You WHAT?” The roar from behind the door was enough to make anyone quake in their boots, even the huge guys I was staring awkwardly at out in the great room. They were all pretending not to look at me, but they weren’t doing a very good job.

Finally I couldn’t take it anymore. “What the hell is going on in there?” Nobody seemed to want to answer me. “Well? Is anyone going to help me out?”

“Who are you again?”

I was about to answer when my guide burst out of the doorway, followed by a younger man, about my age, who was looking like he wished the earth would swallow him whole. He pushed his glasses back up his nose as he trailed after the larger man in front of him.

“Call in the pack.” The order seemed to startle most of the men, but all it took was a look at his face, and everyone started moving.  A few of the guys left right away. Others seemed to be gathering supplies.

“I’m sorry,” I said, trying to tread cautiously. “I seem to have caused some problems here. But I didn’t know what else to do. My dad told me this is where I should go if I couldn’t get in touch with him. And communications are down. Everything is down. This was my only plan. And,” I added, a touch of my anger seeping through, “I thought it was what my dad was paying for.”

“Jag,” one of the men said, addressing my guide, “I just tried the sat phone to get Jimmy, and it’s not working.”

“I told you that already,” I said impatiently. “If that stuff was working, I wouldn’t be here.”

“Ok, then go out and get him on foot. I want everyone back here ASAP. Use the emergency protocols.” Jag turned to me. “Blake, you stay with me. You and I need to talk to our guest here and figure out what to do with her.”

The rest of the men were out the door in moments. Most didn’t even bother to put jackets on, which seemed foolhardy considering the November weather. I was still shivering, despite the warmth inside.

“Am I the only one? I know there are other members. I was hoping…” I swallowed. “I thought maybe my sister might have made it.”

“How many?” Jag was talking to Blake, not to me. “How many people did you sell this to?”

“I told you, I never thought they’d actually come.” Blake covered his face with his hands. “I don’t know, maybe… thirty? Give or take.”

“Thirty.” Jag’s voice was flat. “You gave thirty people a map to our den. And told them they could come here.”

“But they weren’t supposed to come here! Not unless it was the end of the world.” Blake looked terrified. Frankly, looking at Jag’s face, I couldn’t blame him.

“But it is,” I said, my lip trembling. “If you’d seen it out there…”

Jag turned to me, and his face was suddenly calm. He put his hands on my shoulders, and I felt safer than I had in days. I took a deep breath and let it out, trying to relax.