After the Fall

Book II | Part 3: Denial

As Patrick repeatedly slammed a small chunk of the wall against the metal, the clanks echoed between the crumbled concrete barriers on either side of the hatch. After a series of futile attempts, he lifted the stone above his head with a grunt then forcefully threw it at the door. The concrete was no match and only added to the many dents before pulverizing on impact. The door's design didn't allow for a knob or lever, so he slid his gloved fingers along the edge of the slab then groaned as he attempted to lift it from its fastens, but to no avail.

"What the hell's going on?" He kicked the metal slab. "Open the door, goddamnit! Open..." he kicked, "the..." another kick, "fucking door!"

I turned away, his heavy breaths flooding my ears. I'd never known how difficult it was to watch a man come to terms with dying, and watching him struggle produced an unbearable ache in my chest.

I dropped the brass bells into the dirt and pushed sand over them with the edge of my boot. The angelic sound of their jingle reverberated in my ears, bringing memories of Connor and his bright smile to mind. The feeling was similar to the moment I had looked in Connor's innocent eyes and said my final farewell. Light shined around me, stealing my attention, and I turned.

"You said something about pissing off someone?" He lowered his light. "What have I done? I don't understand. Whatever I did, I'm sorry. I apologize. I—I—"

"It's not me, Patrick." I moved closer to rest my hand on his shoulder and peer into his eyes. "I have as much control over that door as I had in the decision to send us out here. I'm sorry."

"What did I do? What did we do?" The soft light inside his helmet made it easier to see the fear in his eyes, the fear that had been there since exiting the facility but was now intensified.

"I can only tell you what I've done, and still it's only a guess." I paused and he stared at me as if waiting for me to answer. "I—" Gulping, I searched my mind for the right words. "You know the contamination leak that caused the facility to shut down the upper hemi?"

"Yeah, but that was—what—seven years ago? What does that have to do with this?"

"Well, there's more to that story. A lot more."

The facility, like the hundreds of others, was designed and constructed with structural fortification in mind. And what better way to counter the high underground pressure and provide reinforcement from its crushing power than going spherical? It was a genius and durable design. To make living underground with several hundred people easy and safe, the sphere was divided into two: the upper hemisphere and the lower hemisphere. Each hemi had the essentials to sustain and house hundreds of people as there were ten floors; twenty between the two.

Too bad a mysterious contamination breach in the upper hemi had taken many lives and caused the few survivors to transfer to the lower hemi before the upper hemi was permanently sealed and forgotten.