Chapter Eleven #3
“Good!” he said, louder than he meant for it to be. He pulled in a breath, catching himself, and forced his shoulders to drop as he reined it back in. “Good. I want to be ready for whatever comes at me. I want to be able to protect Olive. To protect all of them.”
“Did I hear my name?” Naomi asked, stepping into the hallway.
“Shit,” I said, closing my eyes for a second.
Zeke laughed, stepping out from behind her. “Sorry. We were just stopping by to see how you were settling in.”
“Hope we’re not interrupting,” Naomi said, her attention settling on Bodhi. “This the string bean you want me to train?”
“I don’t think—” I began, but Bodhi pushed to his feet.
Naomi had to tilt her head back almost unnaturally to meet his eyes, her gaze climbing several inches to get there.
“I hear you’re the one to do it,” he said with a smirk.
Naomi glanced at me. “He’s green. Arrogant. This’ll be fun.”
“Not for him,” I grumbled.
“No,” she said, shaking her head before looking back up to catch his gaze. Even from below, she was terrifying. He eased back half a step without realizing it. “No, it sure as shit won’t be. I’m gonna knock that grin off your pretty face.”
Bodhi swallowed. “Y-yes, ma’am.”
Naomi relaxed her posture, sitting next to Olive. “So… how are you settling in? Have everything you need?”
“Actually,” I began. “I saw a door on the way back from Command. Is it a bunker?”
“Why do you ask?”
“I was talking to Abby, Ellie, Cami, and Falyn. We need a plan in case the shit hits the fan and the fences are breached.”
Naomi scoffed. “Highly unlikely.”
“Now who’s overconfident?” Bodhi said with a chuckle.
Naomi looked up at him and he straightened his posture, looking straight ahead.
“It’s a bunker,” she said, returning her gaze to mine. “The code is 675-209-90, and yes, you should head there at the first sign of activity at the gate. Everything you need is already there.”
“Good, thank you.”
Bodhi began to sit, but Naomi shot him a glare. “You’re mine now, recruit. You sit when you’re told to sit.”
He stood. “Shit, sorry.”
“Aye, ma’am,” she corrected.
“Aye, ma’am.”
Olive seemed more and more uncomfortable with their every interaction.
“Would you mind if I took a look? We’ll need diapers, wipes, and anything else to prepare for the possibility of an extended stay, even if it’s one we don’t anticipate needing.”
Amusement flickered across Naomi’s expression. “It’s not a cave, you know.”
I lifted a brow. “No?”
“This is my father you’re talking about. It’s a full-scale underground facility.”
Zeke leaned against the wall, arms crossing. “The General’s been expanding it for years. Everything you need is down there and ready. It’s cleaned and restocked regularly.”
“What exactly can we expect?” I asked.
Naomi’s gaze moved briefly to Olive and Bodhi before returning to me.
“Large enough to hold every family here and sustain them for years. An interior blast door that’s essentially impenetrable, but if it’s not, there’s a back exit leading to tunnels that run for nearly a mile and pop up west of the compound, near a two-lane highway for easy evac. ”
“Define large enough, just for my peace of mind,” I said.
“Enough for transport and utility. There’s designated living space, medical, storage. It’s stocked for long-term use.”
“How long?”
“Three years.”
Olive straightened. “Three?”
Naomi nodded. “Food, water, medical supplies, child and infant care. It was built with families in mind.”
“There’s a playground,” Zeke added. “Not identical, and smaller, but close enough.”
Bodhi let out a quiet breath. “Underground.”
Naomi turned to him. “Did I say you could talk?”
He straightened. “Sorry. Sorry, ma’am. I mean, no, ma’am.”
I tried to imagine something of that scale in my mind, mapping what she was describing against what I’d seen. It didn’t seem possible, but then again, this was Marcel. Preparation was his baseline, not his ceiling, and funding didn’t seem to be a constraint.
“Single entry?”
“And a secondary exit,” Naomi said.
“It holds under pressure?”
“It holds,” she said. “Against a nuke if they bring one.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, damn,” Zeke said, only half amused.
Naomi’s attention returned to me. “You staying above ground when they attack?”
“Of course,” I answered.
She nodded once, as if confirming something she’d already assumed. “I’ll coordinate with the General.”
“Thank you,” I said. “It was a relief to be here, but now…”
“Nuke proof,” Olive said, dazed.
They didn’t linger after that. Naomi moved for the door, pausing just long enough to glance back at Bodhi. “Get a good night’s rest. I’ll see you at the north wall at 0500.”
“Uh… Aye, ma’am.”
She and Zeke traded amused glances, and then they let themselves out.
Bodhi fell into the chair, speechless.
“You sure about this?” Olive asked, touching his arm.
He thought about it for a moment and then looked to her, scanning her face. Then he shared his decision. “She’s indisputably terrifying, but yeah. I’m sure. I can’t let any of those bastards get to you.”
I turned back to the counter, picking up the towel without needing it, my thoughts already shifting ahead, aligning everything we’d just confirmed into something usable.
A plan was in place. Now, we waited.