CHAPTER 152

An hour later the bunker was stirring with groggy occupants. Seth frowned as he sliced open a rectangular package with thick, green, plastic wrapping. "If I have to eat another MRE I might barf."

Kyra held her open palm in front of his face. "Yeah, but look at the cute little bottle of Tabasco Sauce it comes with, and the neatly wrapped wad of toilet paper."

"I don't care. I want a hamburger. I want a Chicago style pizza so deep I could drown myself in it."

Shelly was hopping by on one foot as her mom helped her to the bathroom. "You could eat more of that crappy, canned, beef stew."

Seth pounded his head against the table.

Kyra said, "no. That's for dinner."

Seth moaned with his mouth against the table, "again."

When Carrie had gotten Shelly to the bathroom Dianna walked up to her and said, "you really ought to be careful on that ankle. It might be fractured."

Carrie rubbed her hip and said, "yeah, but my ass hurts. I think it's going to fall off if I sit any longer."

Dianna smiled. "Ok. Just take it easy. It's not like we're going anywhere, and one of us can lug Shelly across the room if she needs to."

Bryce was leaning over Hector's abdomen and inspecting his wounds. Placing new bandages on them he said, "I think you're gonna be ok."

"Thank you, Amigo." Hector propped himself with a wince and looked around the bunker. "Three days. How long we gonna do this?"

"I was kinda hoping you could tell me. Do you think there's any chance your cousin is still coming?"

"If it were up to him I'd say sure, but who knows. Maybe he can't get the plane off the ground. Maybe something else. We can't send a radio, so who the hell knows? Maybe we wait one more day. Maybe we gotta figure something else out."

Bryce nodded and patted him on the shoulder as he stood.

Across the bunker Bill was standing by a front window and flicking at a Zippo. When it lit he reached for one of many cigarettes he had laid out to dry on the window sill. Holding it to the flame he soon conjured billows of smoke and a glowing red ember.

"Yes." Bill smiled and took a drag. Exhaling with bliss he sighed, "that's the stuff."

Within moments Carrie had hobbled over. "Can I?" She begged.

Bill nodded. "Sure. What are fellow future lung cancer patients for."

Dianna's voice sliced through the room. "Hey! There's kids in here."

Shelly was finished in the bathroom and Dianna was catching her at the door. Leaning against the frame Shelly's eyes got wide. "Mom, you said you quit!"

Carrie's face filled with guilt. The lit cigarette was millimeters from touching her lips. "Honey, I-"

"Mom." Shelly would've stamped her foot if she could've.

Carrie groaned and snuffed out the cigarette on the window sill. Then she snatched Bill's and did the same.

"Hey!" he protested.

Carry proceeded to scoop up all the other cigarettes and crunch them in her fist.

"That's so god damned unnecessary." Bill was pulling at his hair.

Carrie dropped the crumpled remains into a nearby waste basket and turned to her daughter. "Happy?"

Shelly shook her head as she hopped back to her cot using Dianna as a crutch. "Ouch. Ahhg." She cringed as she awkwardly maneuvered. "Thanks, mom," she said with an undertone of disappointment.

Bill stared at the smashed cigarettes in the trash can. "That's just great. What the hell is the point. So what if I smoke a cigarette. We're all gonna die anyway."

"Hey." Dr. Conners snapped. He crossed the room and slid his face right up beside Bill's. "You better cut that shit out. The last thing we need is that kind of talk."

Bill lowered his voice. "Everyone is thinking it. I'm just saying it."

"Come on man. Just give it a rest. We're all stressed out."

"I'd be a whole lot better if I had a cigarette."

Another voice seemed to come out of nowhere. "Excuse me fellas."

Dr. Conners turned around to see Marcus standing there with Logan lurking just behind. "What?"

"Oh, nothing. I just thought maybe you'd wanna stop bickering for a second and check out the plane that's flying overhead."