The buckles of the boots were frustratingly difficult to take off with the thick gloves we had donned ourselves in. It took a few tries, but I could eventually free my feet and I stepped onto the cloths laid out for us.
“Turn around for us, please. We’ll step forward and unzip you from the suits. You may want to yawn, there will be a slight pressure change as we get you free.”
I did as I was asked and felt my ears pop as they removed the suit. I stepped out of it and waited. Jason and his teammate demonstrated for us the proper way to take off our gloves and helmets off.. The protective measures that had felt so sensible before we stepped outside seemed a little silly now. Surely there wasn’t anything that could be that toxic to humans left on the earth, right?
They bundled the protective equipment into thick plastic bags with the assurance that it would be properly decontaminated and replaced by the morning. To my surprise, there was one more step in the process. From another room, Jason wheeled out a large filing cabinet. It was easily taller than the both of us and wide enough for us to hide behind.
“I’m going to ask you to strip off your clothes for me, my friends. Even with proper removal of the PPE, there is still a chance of contamination. We have two nice fluffy bathrobes out here waiting for you, so the quicker you are, the quicker you’ll be comfortable again.” Hands appeared with plastic bags and we took them.
I snorted, knowing full well there were no bathrobes in the shelter, nor had there ever been. Nicole and I looked at each other and lined up back to back, stripping each piece of clothing carefully. It was the closest I had been to a naked woman in years, and it took restraint to not look behind me. What can I say, I’m male. After we deposited our clothing into the bags, Jason handed us large towels to cover ourselves with and stepped out from behind the barrier.
“I apologize to both of you. In the future, we’ll have a better system set up. Certainly one a little more private. For now, we’re stuck with what we’ve got.”
“No trouble. A pleasure meeting you properly, Jacob.” Nicole made her way down the hall towards the women’s showers. Was it me or was she blushing a little?
“I’d make a joke, Jason, but I think I should follow the lady’s lead. I’ll catch up with you later?”
He nodded, biting back a laugh, and I went to shower myself off.
Chapter Two
As the week went on, watching the outside camera feeds became something of an obsession for me. If Odysseus didn’t return, I would be in serious trouble. No doubt George and his fellows would ensure that I suffered an ‘unfortunate accident’ before declaring themselves the new leaders of the shelter. As it was, I couldn’t rule that possibility out. As I stopped by to check on the poor guy manning the cameras for the twentieth time that day, I saw a flash of white streaking through the greenery.
“What’s that?” I pointed to the screen.
“What? Jacob, I don’t see anything. Look mate, you should go and, I don’t know, see to some paperwork or something. Relax, we’ll get a hold of you the very moment anything happens.”
“Sorry, sorry. I’m just anxious.”
“I understand, but do me a favor and trust me, all right?”
“You got it.” I turned and started the trek back to my office when a loud beeping interrupted my walk.
“Is that…?”
The technician held up a finger and tinkered with some switches at his station. I bounced on the balls of my feet, waiting to hear what the alarm was. The technician beckoned me close to his screen, and I almost cried. Munching down on the fruit gummy we had left him was Odysseus, the cage wired to the bait snapped securely around him. I jumped in the air and clapped my hands together. Without waiting for the technician to say another word, I raced toward the shelter door.
Jason and a few members of the team had already arrived by the time I got there. They grinned at my enthusiasm and I hung back while they donned hazard suits and cracked the inner door open. The seconds crawled by as I waited for the team to return with our intrepid explorer. When the interior door opened again, I sprinted towards Odysseus, safe again in his cage, but a woman held her hand up to me.
“I’m afraid I can’t let the two of you reunite just yet, Jacob. Our hero here needs to go into quarantine for at least two weeks. We don’t know what he got himself into out there just yet, and it could be fatal to us if he brought anything back in.”
“Of course.” As soon as he was out of containment, I was going to kiss that mouse. Our first foray into the outside world had been a success; it would be seriously difficult for George and his allies to push back on resettling the surface. I accompanied Odysseus to his new home for the next couple of weeks and watched as they put him into one of the NICU cribs in the infirmary. There were small holes drilled into the top of the crib to allow airflow through with a tight filter over them. “Won’t that be a problem if Odysseus is sick with anything?” I asked Jason.
“It will and it won’t. In a perfect world we’d be able to put the little guy in an oxygen supplied box with a higher-grade filter, but as things are, we’re going to give him his own room.” He gestured to the office that abutted the infirmary. “Plus, even if he’s caught a cold, the filter we have will take care of it.”
Two people donned surgical gear, just as Jason had when we set
