Title: Another Day, Brother - Chapter 8

Author: jbdean ©

Rating: G

Summary: Later that evening.

Kelvin had been a lot heavier than Desmond had thought and getting to the second layer beneath the bunker's living quarters was a lot of work and exhausting. Two floors below the living quarters were where DHARMA had set up their disposal systems, Here was where the waste from the toilet went, out a large pipe to the sea and where the non-biodegradable refuge was incinerated. It was a large lead furnace-like apparatus that doubled as the means to heat their water for washing and cleaning. There was the familiar DHARMA logo on its front but the image was not that of the swan, as it was upstairs. It had what looked to Desmond to be molecules ... forming what he thought was DNA or some kind of genetic structure. He didn't have any idea why the logo was like this and didn't give it much thought now as he prepared to lay his friend to rest. Once the great door was opened there was a tray that one pulled out, laid the waste on and then slid it back in, shutting the door and then setting the dials to a higher temperature to destroy whatever was on the tray. As Desmond pulled the tray out, it suddenly hit him that it was just the right size for an average man. He struggled to hoist Kelvin onto the lead platform, crossing his arms over his chest, and had his thoughts confirmed as he noticed that there was only a mere 2-3 inches at either end of Kelvin's body.

"I wonder if this is for cremating the remains of those that don't make it out of here," Desmond asked himself. He looked down on the pale face of his buddy and wondered if he had contracted the "sickness" by having to handle him. "Doesn't make much difference, eh brotha, now that you're gone," he asked a silent Kelvin. "If I've got it, then so be it. Nothing I can do about it now, yea?"

Desmond made sure that Kelvin was straight and even on the tray and then he stepped back, crossed himself and silently said a prayer for the safe delivery of his pal. Then, with a heavy heart, Desmond slid the tray back into the waste disposal system, closed and locked the heavy door and turned the dials up as high as they would go. He heard the soft roar of the machine gearing up for its task and then there was a low, steady hum. Quietly, Desmond turned and left Kelvin behind. He had done all he could. The rest was up to God.

Once back upstairs, Desmond showered and washed his hair. He had thought about putting his clothes in with Kelvin but then realized that even if he did that, he couldn't handle anything else without spreading whatever he might have on him to the new clothes before he showered. So, he had taken off the clothes he'd been wearing, (along with all of Kelvin's and his bedding), put them into large plastic bags, and would incinerate them later. All this was going through his mind as he stood under the hot water of the shower. He leaned his head over, placing the palms of his hands in front of himself on the shower wall, and let the water run down his back. It felt good and was relaxing him until he thought about the same machine that was heating his shower water was also turning his friend into ash. Desmond's head snapped back and he quickly turned off the water. Toweling himself off, he remembered the strong box and the film Kelvin had told him to watch. Again he wondered why Kelvin had never shown it to him before ... never even mentioned it. As he dressed in his bedroom, that was now truly just his, he thought about what might be on the film.

In one of the bookcases in the living room area, Desmond moved several books and pulled out a medium-sized lock box. He'd always known it was there but when he had asked Kelvin about it, all he'd said was that it contained important documents that only concerned Kelvin. Now Desmond knew what those "documents" were and that now they concerned him.

Desmond set up the projector and screen and slowly threaded the film through the gears. He turned off the lights and flicked the on switch and the projector whirred into motion. Desmond sat back on the sofa and waited for the film to begin.

The beginning of the film showed the SWAN logo and said it was one of 6 such films. Desmond leaded forward, "Does that mean there are other bunkers like this one?" he asked out loud. Soon a man appeared on camera and introduced himself as Doctor Candle. He went on to explain something about experiments and a project that had begun in the 1960s. The doctor spoke of several different things that were tested and then he said something that caused Desmond to lean in even more. He said there had been an "incident" and since that incident had occurred the numbers had to be entered into the computer every 108 minutes. One of the last things said was a warning that the computer could never be used for anything but entering the code. It could not be modified so that it could be used for communication. "Modified?" Desmond asked. "How would I ever manage that?" Desmond sat and stared at the blank screen while the film flipped around and around as it ran off of its original spool. The tack-tack-tack sound didn't affect Desmond., He had too much on his mind for that. Slowly though, he reached out and turned the projector off and re-threaded the film so that he could rewind it and watch it again. As the film rewound, Desmond got himself a tablet and pencil. "I think I'd better take some notes," he thought.

The story had taken nearly an hour to relay to Locke, who all the while stood patiently listening. When Desmond was done, he looked at Locke.

Breaking the silence, Locke asked the the question Desmond knew would be coming.

"But how do you know about this bunker?"

Desmond reached into one of the pockets in his coveralls and took out a folded piece of yellow note paper. "This was also in the lock box," Desmond added as he unfolded it and handed it to Locke, who looked it over with deep curiosity, a deep frown forming on his brow.

Locke met Desmond's eyes, "It's a map ... "

"Yea, brotha. That it is."