Virus

Seven

Topeka was underground. The actual city had been ravaged by Holler's troops. The safe haven was buried beneath the rubble of the original city.

The bus had been cleaned by Jameson's soldiers. Before he left, Jameson wished everyone well and said to contact him if I ever changed my mind. Then half his men got onto a big truck and left.

The bus, now driven by a soldier, went deeper and deeper into the charred rubble. He drove into a dark parking garage, with only the dim headlights to guide him.

We went all the way to the bottom floor before stopping at a huge garage door. I saw cameras mounted on either side of the door.

The driver pulled out a walkie talkie and said some number code that I didn't catch. After a few minutes the garage opened.

It was as if all the door had behind it was blackness. That's all I saw. The man pulled forward just far enough for the door to close again.

Outside the windows I saw beams of light cut through the darkness and heard hushed voices. Then the lights flickered on. About seventeen men stood around the bus, all holding some sort of weapon. They looked like the weird gun we saw during the fire in Montana. The kind that shoot lightening.

"Follow us!" One yelled. He wore a leather vest over his bare chest and a pair of Levi's. He looked to be in his thirties with a bald head and a busy gray beard. He was also really pale. "This will be orderly. Anyone who pushes or causes disturbance will be locked out. Are we clear?"

Everyone filed off the bus. Sara, Jasmine and I were one of the last ones. The unlucky one at the very end was a elderly woman. She screamed at people to get out of her way and pushed passed them to get farther in front. The man who'd spoke earlier put his revolver to her forehead.

"I am going to have to ask you to step out of line, ma'am."

Rules must've been strict here. I couldn't believe they would lock an old out.

One of the guards pushed a button and the garage door opened. All I could see was pitch black.

The leader grabbed the woman by the arm and threw her into the darkness.

"Please!" She screamed, but the door was already inches from closing.

I swallowed down the lump that had formed in my throat. Maybe Topeka wasn't such a good idea.

At the back of the room was a door. The leader instructed us to follow him through the door. We emerged in a dimly lit stone tunnel. The tunnel reminded me of a sewer but minus the smell.

"We are about to take a trip through a huge maze!" He yelled. "No wandering off or you'll be stuck in those tunnels forever. Guess what happens a midnight. We unleash sarin through the vents to kill any unwanted wanderers."

The lump retuned. I was almost certain now that Topeka wasn't the right place to seek relief from the war above.

We all followed obediently through the maze. If anyone took off, no one seemed to notice.

We stopped at a giant circular door. The steel had a padlock in the center. The leader typed in a code and it swung open inwardly. Behind it was a giant elevator. How many security measures did they take just to get to the city?

Once we were all in, he slammed the big heavy door closed. It was an airlock door.

Then he pressed the down button on, and we started falling, leaving the big door behind.

The elevator options we inside the stone wall, so when you had the door to them closed, it'd look like the room was entirely empty.

This place made me really unsure.

The elevator stopped in a torchlight room. The stone turned to obsidian. A tiny river trickled through against the wall. This was more comfortable.

In front of us were two massive, but cozy-looking, wooden doors. They'd made the foyer to the city as comforting as possible for the residents. I doubt all of them even knew about what was up there.

I braced myself for the worst as the leader pushed open the doors.