Karma of the Silo: The Collection by Patrice Fitzgerald

Author:Patrice Fitzgerald
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Dystopian, Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic, Fiction, Dystopia, Post Apocalyptic, Hard Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction, Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic, Sci Fi, Science Fiction Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Apocalyptic
Publisher: eFitzgerald Publishing
Published: 2014-01-15T05:00:00+00:00

20

It’s been two months down here. We are like tigers. We each pace, restlessly, around our underground cage.

I now spend time in the big server room, just to have somewhere to go. Sometimes I climb the ladder to the upper level of our two floors. I watch and listen for action outside the door. There has been no gunfire for some time. No explosions sending tremors through our walls and floor since the last big one. But there is still occasional pounding on the door from wild-eyed men in coveralls whose colors we cannot trust.

We never open it.

Mars tells me Jeff is waiting for a signal from someone outside the door, and since he hasn’t gotten the high sign, he’s apparently concluding that the good guys—or his idea of good guys—are not yet firmly in charge. Jeff won’t authorize the opening of the door until the code is given.

“Do you think it’s over?” I ask Mars when I know Jeff and Hazen are on the other side of the server room.

“I can’t tell. I only know that we have to stay down here so that we preserve what Silo 1 thinks is important. That would be me, in particular.” His stance is defiant, but there is something of despair there, too.

“Because you’re the IT guy now.”

He nods. “As long as I am down here, they won’t blow the whole thing to smithereens. And as long as the airlock to the Outside holds.”

“Thank you, Mars.”

He looks at me, surprised. “For what?”

“For everything. For keeping us—me—safe down here. For taking over your father’s job. For keeping whoever the hell has that power from cancelling all of us… the Silo.”

He nods.

“How are you holding up?” I ask.

“Fine,” he says, but his mouth makes a grim line, and I see him fighting for control. A moment passes. “It’s a lonely job,” he says finally.

“I’m your mother,” I say, my eyes meeting his. “You can share whatever you want to with me.” And I smile, because it’s true. I know I can bear whatever burden he carries.

Mars closes his eyes, and slumps against the wall. “I can’t, Mom.” He runs his fingers through long hair and rubs his now bearded chin. “I can’t tell you this.”

His eyes open again and he looks at me.

“You don’t want to know.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.