The police force was spread thin and they were in the center of Kansas City, not out in the far edges, sixty minutes away. Christ. They’d have nothing left if they called the police. No, he’d need to take care of things. Tomorrow, he’d start digging a large, mass grave site at the far end of the pasture. If the body count started to add up, he’d at least have a place to put the bodies. He smiled grimly. It was coming down to every man or woman, for themselves. He and Trish could not count on help from either the police or the government. They had to fend for themselves and deal with whatever came their way.
He just hoped Laura and his girls were doing the same. He knew Bart and Milly were quite capable as was his wife. He knew he’d have to eventually let her go, as lost to him forever. But not now. Not yet. His heart refused to let him do that, his conscience refused as well. He walked back to the house and tried not to dwell on the pain that was breaking his heart.
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Topeka, KS
Megan looked around the interior of the massive building. The structure was enormous. The fifteen-story building was finished on the exterior, except for detailing. The interior had a lot of finish work that needed doing, but it was move in ready. Tilly looked at her, stunned.
“This place is freaking huge!” She breathed. The building was nearly as big as a football field. The first twelve floors of the exterior were now completely covered in the hexagon solar panels. The top three stories had massive windows. Megan wasn’t sure who’d be living up in the last three sections. The interior had twelve levels that went up. The middle was open, and a large atrium was being built with a large pond, in the center of the ground floor. Each level was encased in iron and a balcony ran around each floor. On each level, a person could view below, down into the atrium and activities below.
“I can’t believe we get to move in. I’m glad they gave us a room together.” Megan said, warm, for the first time in months. They were out of the wind and moving through the large interior with many others. The complex could hold forty thousand souls. Each level held over three thousand people. Megan was sure there weren’t that many refugees at the camp. Maybe ten thousand. So why were there so many more rooms? She and Tilly went to the elevator. There were many of them that ran around the building. They’d been given their choice of floors. Both women had agreed that the twelfth floor was best.
“I’m glad we chose the twelfth floor. We can look down into that pond and all. I can’t wait to take a shower. I don’t care if it is only a two-minute shower.” Tilly chirped happily. There were others who crowded into the elevator with them. Megan breathed shallowly. The body odor that filled the small space was nearly overwhelming. She held a hand up to her face and covered her mouth and nose. She hoped all these people took advantage of the showers. On odd days the odd floors had showers, even days, the even floors had showers. She had no clue what today was, but she’d give the showers a try anyway. The walls around the interior were bare and there were wires sticking out everywhere.
“We’ll have to finish our own room, but honestly, I’m just as glad. We even get to pick our paint color.” Tilly said, as though in her own world. Megan was happy to be out of the cold, but something bothered her about this place. It once more reminded her of a prison. How long would they stay there? Until the United States was on its feet again? Would they then, have the ability to leave the Hive and find a job and a home elsewhere? She shivered.
“You cold?” Tilly asked, putting her arm around Megan. Megan wanted to cry, and she didn’t know why. She couldn’t speak, and just shook her head. When they’d asked for their clothing, they were told it had been destroyed in a fire at the warehouse where everyone’s personal effects were kept. So now, all they had were the bright yellow coveralls. They’d also been given large black numbers to sew onto the back of their coveralls. Their number was twelve. They would only be allowed on the ground floor and their own floor. They’d both been given a large rule book and they were told to study it. Ignorance of the rules would not be tolerated.
“I’m fine.” She said numbly, as the elevator stopped, and several people got off. She let out a breath as the man who stunk so badly stepped off. The doors closed once more, and the elevator went up. Finally, they got to their floor.
“What’s our room number again?” Tilly asked, looking around at the bare walls. There were lights above them and along the walls, though there were no coverings. Those would come later. Megan looked down at the paper. She looked up the large hall, it went on forever. She walked to the railing and looked down. Far below was the pond and atrium. She wondered what they would plant there. She sighed and looked again at the paper.
“Our room is 120220. We go this way, see. Jesus, there are so many cubicles. Christ, they’ve not put doors on them yet.” Megan said nervously. She and Tilly walked down the long hall, looking down every now and then. There were no clocks on the walls, and she didn’t
