Frank had talked as they had traveled along the road, and filled them in on what he had known. Including some of the details he had initially left out when he had met them back in Watertown, he still did not feel that he should talk to anyone but Gary about the specifics of what he knew though.
They had all known that something had been going on. The Army had kept Gary's gravel pit running day and night, and he had sent so many truck loads to the base that he had lost count. "The thing was," he had said, "we off-loaded right into their trucks, and off they went right back into the city with it. It was pretty clear they didn't want us there, and when they ordered concrete mix they sent their own trucks out to get it." Gary had been forced to invest in a new computer system just to keep track of things, and had been hiring as much extra help as he could get just to keep up.
They all agreed that something was going on, but they had no idea what, and Frank could not bring himself to tell them what he had learned, no matter how he reasoned it. "It makes no difference anymore," Gary had said, "the whole downtown section of Watertown's a good thirty feet below the lake level, and in a couple of weeks whatever they were up to won't matter. That lake will probably keep filling, and that complex they built, can't be far below, probably no more than eighty feet, or so, it'll flood"
It still ate at Frank though, and he wasn't completely sure they had heard the end of it. The tunnel floor had seemed to slope down a hell-of-a-lot more than eighty feet. At least what he had seen of it did. He had also seen air-lock doors before, and the ones at the beginning of the tunnel had definitely looked the same.
"Here," John said, walking back from the rear of the Jeep. He held a warm six pack in his hand. "Stole this for us, to wash down the taste of that orange soda."
"Aren't you afraid we'll get pulled over for drinking and driving?" Frank said, smiling as he opened one of the cans.
"Hell no," John said, smiling back. "Course I ain't the one driving, you are. Don't worry though; we'll post bail if you get arrested."
"Ha, Ha," Frank said, as he climbed in behind the wheel of the Cherokee, "you'd probably let me sit there."
Annie had also grabbed one of the warm beers and grimaced at the taste as she climbed in beside him, and said, "So, you going to keep this buggy? I mean this was supposed to be a short test drive, and I don't know how I'm going to explain the scratches to my boss."
Frank reached over and picked up the factory sticker from the floor boards where he had tossed it, after tearing it off the rear window back in Watertown. They had been playing this little game most of the day. After the dreams of the night before, they had all attempted to lighten one another's moods, and it seemed to be working, at least most of the time, except with Bob. Bob had simply withdrawn into himself, and no one seemed to be able to draw him out.
Frank let out a long whistle as he looked at the sticker price at the bottom. "I haven't made up my mind yet, lady, do you suppose your boss would mind if I kept it awhile longer?"
"No, I guess not," she replied, "but you'll have to keep me along with it," she finished, laughing.
"Well, okay," Frank said, playing along. "I guess that kind'a makes the sticker price worth it. What did you say those payments would be?"
They joked back and forth as they drove along the road, and Gary and John joined in from the back seat. It helped to take their minds off their situation a great deal of the time, and Frank was actually growing to like Annie. After she had decked the young kid back in Watertown, he had immediately liked her. Not because she hit the kid, although the kid had deserved it, but because she seemed to have her wits together, and wasn't afraid to do whatever she had to, to protect herself and stay alive. She had seemed pretty shaken over her kids, and he had wondered whether she would be able to get past it and go forward. He missed his kids as well, and knew that she was still worried, just as he was, but she was trying to see past it. That was all any of them could do, Frank thought, just try to get past it to whatever was in front of them.
The whole group had begun to tighten up, he realized. The others had all gravitated towards Gary, himself, John and Annie. They had discussed that. It had made Gary especially nervous. While it was true he was used to taking charge, this was not the same thing as running a business, he had pointed out, and he wasn't so sure he liked it. He accepted it though, as did the others, although it was a reluctant acceptance.
Eventually the subject turned towards the more serious topic of Rochester, and what to expect when they got there.
"I can't tell you everything about it," John said, and then continued. "Most of what I know about it is a couple of years out of date anyway," he said pausing.
"Well, anything you know is more than we know now. For instance, when we get there what's the best way to
