Day 74

Today is a different day. We woke up and did not hear the buzzing sound we had been hearing since the day that everything changed. From our messed-up calculations, we are waking up to the 74th day since the sick people were released. For 74 days, we kept hearing bustling and steps above our underground shelter. Frankly, I don’t know how we made it past the first 24 hours, all of us crammed in this little hole that my husband created.

It was in the fall of 2001 that my husband thought about creating a bomb shelter, or a safe place for us. It took him 20 years to complete.

The space is about 600 square feet with built-ins. There are four sets of bunk beds, a mini kitchen which also serves as a mini bathroom, and a wall with built in deep shelves that was filled with non-perishables and water.

There are eight adults and a toddler in this tiny space. And not one of them is related to me. Our neighbors, a family of five adults and a toddler, banged on our door when the emergency sirens went off. They knew about the little shelter we had from living next door to us for over 25 years. We had become close friends. Right behind them, came another neighbor from across the street, and his two children, who happen to see we were letting people into our home despite the government telling everyone to stay put. They knew we had something else going on. I couldn’t say no to them either. Luckily, no one else knocked. In fact, my children and their spouses never made it to our door. My husband set out to find them and never came back.

I lost my entire family, my world on that day. 74 days ago.

On that fateful day, the news began to warn that there would soon be an emergency siren going off all over the world, advising, no, ordering us to stay in our homes. They told us that the hospitals and all health agencies were going to release patients who were sick and out of control. There was nothing else anyone could do, and so we were going to be asked to stay indoors. We were not to let anyone that was not our family inside with us. And if we had a sick family member, we were being ordered to throw them into the streets.

Soon after, all communication was shut off and the sirens began to howl. I took my Bible and made sure that all our generators, air vents, and filters were working. When our children had not made it to our home, my husband kissed me on my forehead, grabbed his 1911 gun, and raced against time. That was the last time I saw my husband of thirty years.

On this 74th day of being locked in, we didn’t hear any cries or steps above our bunker. Our home, which I was sure was destroyed by now, was directly above our shelter, were we heard bitter cries, loud stomping steps, dragging and an annoying buzzing for 24 hours a day. Finally, the crying, the footsteps all slowly died down, but the buzzing was relentless. And today, it was perfectly silent.

What would be our next move? Do we stay sheltered a little longer? Do we peek? Do we wait for help?

I made the decision to go out and I instructed the rest to leave me alone and let me die if they heard me scream or fighting for my life. If it was safe, then I would make it back, but if something happened to me then it was obviously not safe.

I opened the first set of doors and locked them behind me, went up the narrow stairway and opened the second set of doors and locked those as well. Now, it was time to open the gateway to the real world.

I slowly opened the door which led directly into our walk-in closet. Our closet door was barely hanging from the hinges. As I got closer to the doorway, I could see my bedroom. "My goodness", I whispered, "what does this?"

My bedroom seemed to have gone through a hurricane, but without the hurricane. This was worse! The structure of the house was intact, but the walls had scratches, blood stains, windows were broken, hair pieces… the covers and sheets from my bed were pulled off and bloodied, pillows seemed to be bitten. It was destroyed. As I took a couple of steps, the corner of my eye caught a black lump on the floor that paralyzed me, I couldn’t move or scream, and the force was so strong that even as I tried to make myself look I just could not! I could see it move, but I could not even think. The black lump got up and made its way toward me and got in front of me, and I was able to see it was my old and blind dog, Zoey. Only that she didn’t seem to be blind anymore, and she did not seem to be Zoey.

She followed my commands and was very loving, as always, but there was something different about her. She then walked in front of me to scour the house and she walked with confidence, as if to let me know it was safe to explore the house. I quickly locked the doors, but it really did not matter because most windows were broken, but it gave me peace.

I then looked at Zoey, and I asked her to go out and look for Daddy, which is how she knew my husband. I took off the heart-shaped locket that my husband gave me, and I added a little note and stuffed it in the locket. The note read “I am alive. Bring our kids home. Love, Lori” and I sent Zoey out the door.

I quickly went back to our shelter to let everyone know it appeared to be safe, and that I needed help boarding up windows. But the only thing they helped me do, was take out the dead bodies, then they all left to their homes. So, I began to board up the windows and to clean and disinfect. After all, these were all sick people who have gone mad, or so we were told.

The hours passed and I was almost done boarding up windows, when suddenly, I heard a loud banging at the front door. I ran to the door hoping it was my husband. As I looked through the peep hole, I saw it was a woman and a man in an army uniform, holding weapons.

What do I do? Are they here to tell me my family is dead? Are they here to take me away? Will they kill me?

They knocked again, calling out my name, “Lori Stunner, we’re here to help. Please open the door or we will be forced to come in some other way.”

I slowly got away from the door and took my weapon out of my holster. I pointed the gun to the door as I continued to walk backwards, hoping to go back into the shelter, but out of nowhere, I was taken from behind!

I wrestled a little bit and felt a wet cloth being placed over my nose and mouth, and I slowly began to fade away, but before I did, I took a glance at who had done this. It was none other than my beloved husband.

Next thing I knew, I woke up in an underground medical bunker, where a woman was caring for me. The first thing she said was “Please do not scream or be afraid. You are safe here.”

I squirmed away from her, with fear in my eyes and quickly panting with shallow breaths. All I could see was this woman coming closer, but I couldn’t see what else was in the room. I thought I was going mad. Had I gotten sick as well?

Where’s my gun? I thought to myself as I checked my holster.

“You’re unarmed, Lori. Please, lay back down.”

Then I heard little paw steps and Zoey jumped on my bed, putting her weight on me, almost forcing me to lay down. I hugged her and was relieved to see her. Then I quickly checked her neck for my locket, and it was gone.

“Looking for this?” asked the lady, holding up my chain and locket. A jolt of fear ran through my body, and I was sure that I would not see another day. Hugging my dog was the only comforting thing to do. The thoughts were racing in my head, should I get up and fight? Should I submit and wait for my time of death to come?

The lady began to walk toward me, holding out the locket when I gave her a sharp kick in the face and threw my dog out of the way to run out. I barely made it to the door when I felt her pulling me from my hair. I turned around swinging, but I didn’t feel any of my punches land, I just felt a painful jab on my shoulder as the lady struck me with a syringe, then I began to fade again.

When I woke up, I was in the same room, same bed, but this time, I was handcuffed. The same lady, only with a red and swollen face, was waiting for me to wake up. “Let us try this again, Lori. I am not here to hurt you. I just want to give you your locket back.” I was a little groggy still, but I heard softness in her tone. I decided to hear her out this time; I couldn’t run away, and even if I did, were would I go? They had me.

“Your dog, Zoey, was rescued from your home shortly after the emergency sirens went off. We have learned that canines are amongst few of the animals that not only were resilient to the sickness but aided them in any conditions they had. Once we examined her, trained her, and made sure she was well and healthy enough to help, we kept sending her back to your home to see when and if you would surface. When you sent her to look for your husband, that is exactly what she did. She found him, and your family, in our shelter.” The lady then pointed at a large window across the room, where my husband and children were standing, waiting for me to look in their direction. I could not believe it. The most horrific months of my life were spent alone, in pain and despair, wondering if I would ever see my family again.

“Please, let them in! I need to hold them!”

“Of course!” said the lady, as she opened the door, and my family ran in, surrounded my bed, and hugged me, one by one.

Then I remembered and asked my husband, “Why did you knock me unconscious?”

“We were afraid I would startle you and that you would shoot me.”

“We?” I asked.

There was a look in his eyes, I knew it was my husband, but it wasn’t. I had the same feeling that I had when I first saw our dog, Zoey. I quickly looked at my son, who was hugging me, and I found the same thing in his eyes, then I looked at my daughter, and she had the same look.

Right then and there, I knew. My life, this world as I knew it, was going to be different from that point on. I couldn’t fight it any longer. I was just going to relax my body, submit to their demands and comply.

It was then, that I voluntarily closed my eyes for the last time, to become part of this new world.