The Shattered Earth (Surviving the Fall 3)

Gary looks at Jacob and shakes his head. “I don’t think you understand. Every single sensor is showing this. Pressure in every single well is building to phenomenal levels.”

“Why the hell haven’t the safety valves tripped?”

“No idea, sir. We can’t access any of the systems.”

“God dammit.” There is a sound of scuffling from the other end of the line and several more muted curses. “Get your asses out to the closest well and jack in directly. I’ll have a crew out there in two hours. As soon as you’re at the well call me back and I’ll have one of the techs here walk you through accessing the systems.”

Gary opens his mouth to argue but the line goes dead. He slowly places the phone back on the table. Next to him, Jacob raises a questioning eyebrow. “That didn’t sound good.”

“Nope. Not at all.”

Chapter 10

The Waters’ Homestead

Ellisville, VA

After cleaning out the burned egg and scorched toast from behind the stove where they had inexplicably fallen—both boys had no idea how it could have happened, or so they professed—Dianne turned her attention back to the snow.

“All righty, kids. Listen up.” Mark, Jacob and Josie were all seated on the living room couch while Dianne paced back and forth in front of the back door. “Since we obviously can’t get weather reports anymore and I’m about as good of a meteorologist as I am a circus ringmaster, we need to treat this storm as seriously as possible.

“The heating elements in the solar panels will keep them clear of the worst ice and snow, but we’ll need to keep an eye on them and we need to get the rest of them installed as soon as this snow clears. Thankfully we got the bulk of the veggies in, but I want Jacob to help me go through the gardens and clear out any we missed. We’ll dump them straight into the freezer and should be able to salvage them.”

“What about me and Mark?” Josie kicked her legs against the couch impatiently. Dianne turned and smiled at her.

“You and your brother are going to have quite the assignment. While Jacob and I are taking care of the garden and the vegetables and the animals, you and Mark are going to get the basement cleared out and ready for us to set up the aquaponics.”

“We’re going to do it in the basement?” Mark asked. “Why not in one of the barns like you were talking about before?” Dianne’s original plan had been to set up the aquaponics in one of their outbuildings. Due to complications with running power for the lights and with the onset of the early snow, though, she was glad she had changed her mind.

“Running lines is going to be a hassle and I’d rather not have to make trips back and forth in the snow and cold. Besides, having everything here in the house is going to make things easier overall.” Dianne sighed and shook her head. “It’s already getting a bit cramped in here, though. Maybe we should think about doing it in an outbuilding after all.”

“What about the passageway from the basement?” Mark asked the question meekly, knowing that he wasn’t supposed to bring up the subject. Dianne, however, wasn’t upset, mostly because she had forgotten about the years-old project that had never been completed.

“The passageway?” Dianne rubbed her chin. “It’s been ages since I thought about that. Though as I recall we told you not to talk about it, didn’t we?” Mark started to defend himself when Dianne laughed and shook her head. “Relax, Mark. I’m joking. If there was ever a time for everyone in this family to learn about the passageway it would be now.”

Started as a project a few months after purchasing the house, the passageway was a pet project entirely of Rick’s creation. Obsessed with the idea of houses with secret passages since he was a child, shortly after moving in Rick had created a detailed design for a passage that would lead from the basement of the house to a shed out in the woods. Dianne had initially been against the underground tunnel, but eventually relented once she saw how much it meant to Rick. When she tried to get an answer from him as to what practical purpose it would serve, his response was always the same. He would smile, shrug and say “No reason, just for fun.”

Rick’s shifting work responsibilities and the growth of their children meant that there was far less time that he could devote to the tunnel project than he had initially hoped. While the length of the tunnel had been dug and partially shored up, the structural supports necessary to ensure it would never collapse had never been put in place. As Rick’s free time completely evaporated he finally gave up on the project, sealing off the hatch in the basement so that their children wouldn’t inadvertently wander into the passage and hurt themselves.

Forgoing checking the gardens and animals for the moment, Dianne headed for the basement as her three children ran ahead of her. Downstairs, Jacob and Josie ran around the room, shouting about what objects in the room could be connected to the secret passage.

“Maybe if you pull one of these books!”

“No, you have to turn the lights on and off just right!”

“What about the bricks on the wall over there? Maybe one of those will open it!”

Dianne laughed as she headed over to the bookcase and stood on her toes to feel around on the top. Her hand fell on a set of keys and she grabbed them before stepping towards the center of the room. “All right!” Dianne clapped her hands to get the attention of her younger children. “You two, over there by Mark.” When all three children were standing together, Dianne adopted a serious expression and tone.

“I want you three to listen very carefully. This tunnel isn’t a game. It’s not a toy. It’s not a place to play. Unless I tell you explicitly that you can go down into it, you’re to all stay out, is that clear?”

“Even me?” Mark asked.

“Even you. It’s been a couple years since anybody’s been down in the tunnel and for all I know it’s partially or fully collapsed. Even if it hasn’t there’s no telling what kind of condition it’s in. Everybody understand me?”

A chorus of “yes, ma’ams” were half-heartedly mumbled and Dianne nodded. “Good. Now let’s open it up and see what condition it’s in.” Dianne turned around and pointed to a large rug in the center of the floor. It was a thick piece of carpeting that was covered in stains and tears. The bookcase rested on a corner of it, several boxes were stacked across the back section and an old couch and rocking chair sat in the middle.

“Mark, help me lift that bookcase back. Jacob, pull the carpet out from underneath.”