James Axler – Stoneface

Doc agreed. “All he needs now is a ballyhoo balloon to advertise our presence. This is not salubrious ground. A deaf, dumb and blind multiple amputee could find us.”

“Everything seems secure so far,” Krysty said. “If the Sioux are around, they’re not planning anything violent.”

“Yet,” J.B. added. “The night is young.”

“I thought Plains Indians didn’t attack at night,” Mildred said.

Doc chuckled. “And I thought you minored in American Indian history.”

“Sociological groupings,” Mildred responded with some irritation. “Genotypes, cultural linkages in linguistics and the like, not whether they preferred waging war when the sun was up or down.”

“It’s true that Indians didn’t attack at night a few hundred years ago,” Ryan replied, “because dew would take the tension out of their hide-and-sinew bowstrings, or dampen the powder in the pans of muzzle-loaders. The warriors we saw carried automatic rifles, and they don’t have to worry about keeping their strings or powder dry.”

“Thanks,” Jak said. “Feel better now that cleared up.”

At least dinner was sumptuous, which helped to offset some of their anxiety. First, potatoes fried in fat, then remarkably tender and juicy beefsteaks followed by baked ears of corn. Dessert consisted of thick slices of apple pie, swimming in cream. Afterward, sated, they drank the delicious genuine coffee. The repast relaxed them, the strong coffee notwithstanding.

Hellstrom sat in his chair and ate with a gluttonous gusto that surprised Ryan. If the volume of food he consumed that night was a normal meal, it was astonishing how he remained so thin. Fleur made several trips to the cookstove simply for him.

As they nursed their coffee, Hellstrom waved them over to him. “Gather ’round, boys and girls. Time to come clean and to speak of many things.”

” ‘Of ships and shoes and sealing wax, and of cabbages and kings’?” Doc inquired with a rueful smile.

Hellstrom’s lips twisted in a strange, mirthless rictus. “Sir, you are more correct than you could know.”

Chapter Twelve

Contrary to the accepted dogmaHellstrom saidthe end didn’t come as a nightmarish surprise to everyone. A select few had realized it was quite inevitable that the world would end in nuclear fire, and long before entire nations were bombed out of existence, this elite group, who were the most powerful men of their day, figured out a way to survive the apocalypse they were responsible for. They had the forethought, foresight and wherewithal to prepare for the worst.

Though this group may not have anticipated every repercussion from the nukecaust, such as skydark followed by the big freeze, they were well aware that a Deathlands would take the place of the North American continent.

As many as fifty years before the nukecaust, underground complexes were constructed under a program known as Continuity of Government, the ultimate insurance policy should Armageddon ever arrive. Many subterranean command posts were built, located in ten different regions of the country.

The most ambitious COG facility was code-named the Anthill because of its resemblance in layout to an ant colony. It was a vast complex, with underground sewage plants, railways, stores, theaters and even sports arenas.

Supplies of foodstuffs, weapons and anything of value were stockpiled, often times in triplicate.

Because of its size, the Anthill was built inside of Mount Rushmore, using tunneling and digging machines. The entire mountain was honeycombed with interconnected levels, passageways and chambers. The interior walls were reinforced with a special silicon foam, mixed with molten lead to provide shielding against radiation.

When the first bombs arrived on the twentieth of January, 2001, the Mount Rushmore facility had been in operation for some two months. At that time it was protected only by a skeleton force of soldiers. A group of scientists had taken up more or less permanent residence, sharing the complex with a few paranoid politicians and their families.

The world blew out on noon of that day, the safety measures kicked in, and everyone inside was safe and soundor so they thought.

Despite all their precautions, radiation and fallout storms still reached them. The Earthshaker bombs caused extensive damage to the Anthill.

Since they had no choice but to remain in the facility in order to survive, and, hopefully, one day govern again, it took them awhile to realize that they were just as much victims of the nukecaust as those whom they referred to as the “useless eaters” of the world.