Dog Balls gave me a sly grin. “Perhaps as a precaution.”
Hm. Not exactly an answer. All our guys narrowed their eyes, probably wondering what the full story was there, just like I was. Because judging by the looks of the halls and kitchen decorum, this compound had been around since the nineteen seventies.
I peered around the kitchen area and asked, “Where did you get the spinach?”
He nodded in appreciation at the question. “Aboveground we have a greenhouse. We send people up at night to work it and harvest. Nobody goes aboveground in daylight except a handful of watchmen and scouts.” I nodded.
We came to a commons room sort of area, larger than any other room we’d been in, and sunken further into the ground to make the ceiling higher than the halls and small rooms. This room had long rows of cafeteria-style tables and benches on one side, and on the other side were couches and tables. Three guys and a girl playing cards looked up at us as we passed. First Sergeant gave them a nod and promised to introduce us to everyone in the morning.
They watched us as we passed, and we watched them back. Some of them wore their BDU pants with white T-shirts, but one of the guys was in jeans. The girl was in boots, black pants, and a black tank top. She looked tall and slender with icy light blue eyes that didn’t miss a thing. Her brown hair was short in back and angled down longer around her face in the front, where it turned blond. Her eyes stayed on Rylen for way longer than necessary. He noticed and gave her a nod of greeting before looking away. Weird.
We stopped at the far edge of the room in front of a large, steel door.
“Now, here’s where things got tricky,” First Sergeant said. “We’ve got one hundred twenty-nine people here—one thirty-eight including you all—and there wasn’t enough room in the compound to house everyone. As you can imagine, it was tight quarters in here that first week until we knew we had to do something. Thankfully we have some handy troops who were able to dig a tunnel from here out to the Army hotel, about half a mile from here.”
Every eyebrow in our group went up, and First Sergeant chuckled. “Yep. It took twelve days. They just finished last week. Now we have full access to the Army hotel, which appears stranded from the outside. All windows and doors have been shut and boarded.”
“Wait,” Remy said. “We’re staying in a hotel?” Her cheeks seemed to get color for the first time in days. First Sergeant gave her a nod and a grin. We all smiled, because the idea of it was pure luxury.
“Now then. Each person is allowed five minutes of shower time per day. You’ll find that the lobby of the hotel is where most of the socializing happens. This room is where we eat and break from work. Each person has a daily job. We’ll figure out something tomorrow for each of you. I assume none of you is opposed to work.”
“No, sir,” we chimed. He nodded and turned to the steel door. When he pried it open, an earthy scent blasted us. Inside was a tunnel, literally carved into the dirt, about seven feet high and six feet wide. And it was pitch black.
“Oh, my gosh,” Remy whispered.
“That’s half a mile long?” Devon asked. “Y’all walk that every day?” His voice sounded wary, but it was his face that gave away his fear. His eyes had gotten huge.
“What’s wrong, Big D?” Texas Harry asked. “You don’t like tight spots?”
Several guys chuckled, and Devon grinned, shaking his head. “Not when it’s half a damn mile long.”
First Sergeant handed him a flashlight. “It’s secure, Sergeant. Our engineers are solid. Let’s go, unless you want to sleep in a chair in here.”
Devon looked at the chairs like they might not be a bad option as we began to pile into the dirt hole in the wall. I followed behind Rylen, grasping his shirt. He reached back for my hand and I reached back for Remy’s hand. I wasn’t normally claustrophobic, but this was a daunting tunnel. All was quiet but the echo of our feet, and Devon’s occasional whispers to baby Jesus.
Just when it felt like the tunnel might never end, the flashlight reflected off steel, and First Sergeant was pushing open a door. We spilled out into a basement laundry room that smelled heavenly, like it actually got used on a regular basis.
“Each person gets a day of the week to do laundry, and we recommend combining your clothes with another’s to fill up the washers. We will flog anyone’s ass who wastes water around here.”
Point taken. And I’d never been more happy at the thought of doing laundry in a machine versus a pot.
First Sergeant clicked off his flashlight, and Devon did the same, blanketing us in darkness. “Watch your step. The stairwells use minimum light.”
We continued to follow as he walked up a flight of concrete stairs from the basement to the first floor, until we spilled into a dimly lit hotel hall.
“This floor’s got the lobby, gym, some meeting areas, and rooms.” He stopped in front of a room marked GYM and opened the door. It was medium sized. A man was running on a treadmill while another two lifted weights. My eyes scanned several machines and a space with mats before the door closed again. “For those who work out, you’ll be allowed one half scoop of protein powder with water per day that you work out thirty minutes or more. Everything is heavily rationed here.”
The guys nodded appreciatively.
Next we followed him to the second floor. “We only have three rooms in a row together. I assume you guys wanted to be nearby, not spread out. One is a king, so I’m giving that to the ladies. We’ve only got twenty-four women in the compound, now twenty-six, and I expect all my men to treat them with respect.”
“Yes, sir,” came a chorus from the guys in the rear.
First Sergeant turned, handing Remy two keys. “Get some rest. Breakfast is at eight-hundred.” Eight o’clock AM, military time. “Someone will be ready at oh-nine-hundred to talk with each of you about your jobs. Feel better, Missy.”
“Thank you,” Remy said.
“Sir,” New York Josh said, “Is it okay to use our five minutes of shower time tonight?”
