“I don’t like this,” she muttered. “My father isn’t thinking straight. He knew we were leaving the house. Why did he wander off? It’s his condition, Malin.”
“He’ll be fine,” Malin replied. “There’s still time. Come on.”
Prig, Cat dangling from his back, led the group past the barracks building and made a sudden sharp turn to the left. Elna remembered the little cave entrance behind the back corner of the building. Selene’s ex, Dominic, had used it once as some sort of hideout. Prig and Spence both produced flashlights, shining them into the depths of the cave. Elna saw a familiar narrow passageway.
“This is supposed to be the place, guys,” Prig said over his shoulder.
They passed through the opening. Elna had the strange notion that they were lining up for some kind of amusement park ride, moving single file into the cave. She walked with Joe, Rita, and Malin at the back of the line. As they passed into the cool darkness, she saw the round chamber at the end. Metal shelves were set against the walls, some of them still containing bits of junk, trash, and MRE wrappers.
Golf moved to the metal shelves at the back of the room, grabbed the end of one shelf with both hands, and pulled. The shelves swung away, as if on hinges, with a section of the smooth rock wall itself, revealing a wide alcove behind it.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Elna said. “This was hidden here the whole time?”
“I guess we didn’t look carefully enough the last time we were in here,” Malin said.
A door at the end of the alcove had a large L-shaped handle with an older-style keypad beside it. Golf lightly brushed his bandaged face with his hands, then began punching in numbers. The code was at least twenty characters long, but when he finally finished, he twisted the handle, and the door gave a big whoosh of air. He pulled it open, revealing a long hallway that seemed to spiral down underground. Lights flickered and came to life in the upper corners of the hallway, revealing dusty metal walls and cobwebs hanging from a rusted ceiling.
The sight of so many electric lights shining, even if they were faint and flickering, made Elna’s breath hitch in her throat. In front of her, Norman pressed his hands to his cheeks. Seeing electricity on the island again was surreal.
“Good job, Golf,” Prig said, clapping his fellow Marine on the shoulder. “I knew you’d get us in.”
Prig and Golf led the way down the descending passageway. It twisted around and sank down under the base itself, moving ultimately in the general direction of the lighthouse. Elna saw small vents high on the walls and heard fans clanking in their cases.
“How is there still power down here?” Malin asked.
“Generators must still have fuel,” Elna replied, “and I guess this place was shielded from the EMP. Does this mean people have been sneaking onto the island over the years to maintain the place? That’s a bit alarming.”
The twisting passage ended suddenly at a second door with a keypad. Golf entered an even more absurdly long code—it took a good ten seconds to type all of the numbers--and opened the door. It opened this time into a large interior space with hallways, doors, rooms, tables—practically an entire base underground. When it was Elna’s turn to pass through the door, she felt cool, recycled air pass over her. Danny and Chloe immediately went dashing about with Sniffy.
“Watch where you’re going, kids,” Prig said. “I can’t guarantee it’s safe down here, and I have no idea what they’ve got stashed in these rooms.”
Mac parked the handcart against one wall and set Ant’s cot down beside it. Cat was lowered onto the ground nearby. Then Prig, Spence, Fish, and Golf headed for a long hallway on the far side of the room. There were doors, some open and some closed, on all sides. A couple of tables sat in the middle of the room surrounded by folding metal chairs. Joe and Rita made their way over to the table, brushed off some of the dust, and sat down together.
“Shall we take a look around?” Malin asked Elna.
“I suppose we should,” Elna said. In truth, she was having trouble accepting the existence of this place. How had they never known about it? Her father had bought the island from the government, but the military had never entirely relinquished the place. She felt strangely violated by this fact, and it made it difficult to concentrate on what they were doing.
Elna chose a door at random and headed toward it. When she opened the door, she saw a long barracks room with bunk beds lining the walls on either side. Though there were no blankets or pillows, the thin mattresses appeared to be in good shape.
“People have definitely stayed in this place from time to time since my father bought the island,” she said. “They must’ve been moving back and forth right under our noses.”
She crossed the barracks to another room and found the lavatory, with a row of toilets, sinks, and mirrors on the wall. She caught a glimpse of herself in one of the mirrors and didn’t like what she saw. Pale and haggard, dark circles around her eyes. Her long, black hair desperately needed conditioner, and her clothes were rumpled to an absurd degree.
I guess I really do look like a high school science teacher, she thought. A science teacher at a poorly funded, crappy school.
“You figure these toilets flush right into the ocean?” Malin asked, patting one of the tanks. “They can’t have a real sewer system.”
“I don’t know.” Elna started back through the barracks room. “This is extensive, Malin. This place is huge. I can’t wrap my head around it. This is our island. We bought it fair and square, the
