Shaking her head, she moved out of the barracks room and started down a hallway. She passed a large kitchen area, a room full of shower stalls, and finally some kind of common area that had a bunch of card tables lined up in the middle. She found most of the others here. Norman was picking through books on a shelf, while Raymond idly played with some dusty dominoes that had been left on a table.
“We found games,” Daniel Cabello said. He was picking over a shelf stacked with board games in the far corner. “Monopoly, Life, Yahtzee…ooh, Scrabble.”
“They have puzzles,” Chloe said. She grabbed a cat puzzle and brought it over to a table where Miriam was sitting. Sniffy dutifully followed her. The little dog seemed to have glued itself to the little girl’s side. “I want to do a puzzle! Sniffy can do the puzzle with us.”
Elna noted a pile of snacks on the table in front of Miriam. Various kinds of crackers in small pouches. When she picked one up to examine it, Raymond said, “Lots of food in the kitchen. MREs mostly, and other things.”
“It’s like they were keeping this place ready,” Elna said, “like they knew what was coming.”
She tossed the crackers back onto the table and headed back the way she’d come. She wasn’t in the mood to read a book, play a game, or enjoy a tasty snack. However, when she returned to the first room, she mentioned these things to Joe and Rita.
“You might be more comfortable down the hall with the others,” she said.
“I wouldn’t mind putting together a puzzle to pass the time,” Rita said, rising from her seat.
Elna and Malin continued to explore the facility. They came upon most of the Marines in a dim room on the far side. This room was lined with large consoles and a bunch of electronic equipment that Elna didn’t recognize. Prig had a checklist that he was reading, and as he did, Golf turned various knobs, or tapped on the keyboard, or checked various screens. Fish was sitting at another console, and he seemed to be doing some work on the wiring behind a panel.
Elna stood in the door and watched them for a minute. Finally, Prig noticed her and said, “We’re just getting everything set up in here. This is the control room for the comm system. You probably don’t want to be in here, ma’am.”
He was all business now. They all were. Serious expressions everywhere. Elna and Malin excused themselves and shut the door as they left. When she arrived in the entry room, she saw Dr. Ruzka creating a makeshift treatment area in the barracks room. Ant and Cat were laid side by side in bunks, and the doctor was setting up medical supplies in careful rows on a table she’d dragged into the room.
It’s amazing how quickly they’re all acclimating to this strange place, she thought.
Her gaze went to the bunker door. They’d left it ajar for the time being, in case George and Selene came along. But would they know how to find it? They hadn’t left any signs marking the way.
“All of the others have settled in,” Elna told Malin. “I’m going to head back up and look for my father.”
“Are you sure about that?” Malin replied.
“Yeah, someone needs to keep an eye out for them,” she said. “Otherwise, they won’t know where to find us.”
“I’ll come with you.”
She headed to the barracks door, but someone made a kind of loud clicking sound from the barracks room. When she turned, she saw the Marine, Cat, gesturing at her.
“No need to go back up,” Cat said. “Check the cameras.”
“What cameras?” Elna asked.
“Golf says there are cameras hidden all over the island,” Cat said. “The surveillance room should be somewhere near the control room. If they’re headed this way, you should be able to spot them.”
“Cameras.” Elna said the word numbly. Cameras all over the island. A surveillance room!
She realized after a couple of seconds that she was just staring at Cat, so she forced herself to turn away. Cameras all over the island. The words gradually sank in.
“I don’t think it’s a big secret or anything,” Cat said, “but now you know. Prig can bite my head off later if I wasn’t supposed to say anything. I just thought I’d save you some time.”
“Thanks,” Elna said. Her eyes were flitting about the room, and now, what had seemed strange began to feel ominous, intrusive, scary.
Have they been watching us all this time?
But, no, that made no sense. Surely, the military hadn’t been conducting surveillance on a small, family-owned vineyard. No, this was about something else, something bigger.
Something that was coming to the island at that very moment.
20
“Come on. I’ll show you.” Despite the doctor’s protests, Cat rose from her bed and hobbled toward Elna. “You look freaked out. It’s no big deal, okay? They didn’t have cameras in your bathroom. They were planted on the island because this is a surveillance station for watching the West Coast, okay? No big deal.”
“No big deal,” Elna replied. Somehow, she didn’t feel it.
Cat was a big woman, and as she drew near, Elna felt like she was shrinking before her. She had a chiseled face, flinty eyes, and a perpetual scowl that could eat through a wall. Though her words were clearly meant to be comforting, they came out like barked orders. She grabbed Elna by the shoulder, giving her a little shake, as a coach might do before sending a player onto the field.
“Hey, you’ve got a thousand-yard stare,” Cat said. “What’s the deal? The real trouble hasn’t even started, and you look like you’re already halfway checked out.”
“No, it’s not that,” Elna said. “I’m just a little overwhelmed at all of this.” She gestured at the bunker around them. “I grew up on this island and never suspected something like this was right beneath my feet.”
“You think you’re the first people who had the government messing
