Polar City Red by Jim Laughter

Author:Jim Laughter [Laughter, Jim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781620160077
Publisher: Deadly Niche Press
Published: 2012-04-13T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Inside the Mountain

Jerky swung open the heavy steel door of the medical warehouse inside the clinic. The air stirring inside the tunnel leading back to the warehouse was cold, and the florescent bulbs inset into the walls and ceiling cast off just enough light for Carson, LouEllen, and Dr. Romanov to make their way into the tunnel. Jerky pulled the massive door shut behind him, causing their ears to pop from the change in air pressure.

This was the first time Carson had been in the warehouse. He’d thought it curious that LouEllen didn’t have access to it without being escorted by Jerky, but he was learning there were many things about Polar City Red that he didn’t understand.

When the group of people, led by Romanov entered the medical warehouse, LouEllen noticed immediately that something was different. A row of shelving that had been empty only a few weeks ago was now filled with boxes that she was sure were not there before. A dozen pallets of medical supplies had been stacked in a corner, tarpaulins loosely draped over them. She peeled back one corner of a tarp and read the markings on one of the boxes—Falls Memorial Hospital, International Falls, Minnesota.

LouEllen exchanged knowing glances with her husband. This was the hospital where she worked while Carson taught math at Falls High School. Their home had been only a few miles from the hospital. Abby was born there. She looked at the date on the shipping label on the box—March 12, 2060. This box and whatever supplies it contained was over fifteen years old, apparently taken from the old hospital’s medical supply room, a room that had supposedly been destroyed when the hospital fell to the floods and fire that had ravaged International Falls. If the salvage team had been able to pilfer these supplies from that hospital it must mean that the city had been destroyed and there was nothing left of the lives they’d left behind. She laid her hand on the box and wished she knew the fate of friends and acquaintances she’d had before their family fled north to escape the turmoil taking place.

Romanov motioned for the Moores to follow him deeper into the warehouse. Jerky moved ahead of them and stood next to another heavy door that LouEllen had not seen on her previous visits to the warehouse. Romanov motioned for Jerky to open the door which he swung open on heavy steel hinges.

Jerky stood aside for Romanov, Carson, and LouEllen to go ahead of him, staying true to his promise that he’d never leave anyone in the warehouse alone, not even for a moment. Once inside another tunnel, Jerky pulled the heavy door shut behind him. They stood in total darkness for what seemed like a long time but was really only a matter of seconds. Jerky flipped a hidden light switch on the wall. Low wattage bulbs in the ceiling and along the floor lit the way further back into the mountain.

This tunnel was larger than the one that led from the clinic into the medical warehouse.

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