“I’m back,” Liam announced as he reached the inner bunker.
“Give me a few,” Evelyn said from the kitchen.
“Take your time, love.”
He studied their home while removing the final layers of his protective hardsuit. Faux pine lined the cavern’s walls, with carpeted floors beneath. The entire unit was over four thousand square feet and held a kitchen with an attached pantry, a living room with its own entertainment center, an infirmary that doubled as a lab, a bathroom, an emergency generator, and multiple bedrooms, with enough bunks to house a family of ten. Light fell from the many UV bulbs, shrouding their home in enough artificial sunlight to mimic the surface. Curtains even fell across facades to mirror windows; sometimes, it was difficult to disprove the notion by mere sight alone.
Where the rest of Cheyenne was modified from its original design to minimize resource cost, Mother had gone to great lengths to make these rooms appear as normal as possible. Liam had not initially understood the need, but after so much time down here, he’d want it no other way. Sure, the outer bunker was a suitable enough environment to work under, but this was their true home. There was a certain sense of comfort that could never be gained by the cold, granite walls of Cheyenne Mountain.
His eyes fell on Leah at last, with her tufts of black hair and those beady, brown eyes. Liam leaned into her play area for a hug. His daughter drooled back.
“Are you waiting until I’m gone just to make a mess?” Liam quipped before giving Leah a kiss. “There, there. Come here. Daddy’s home.”
“She missed you,” Evelyn said from behind.
His wife leaned against the door, her black hair wrapped in a towel. She wore a white robe instead of her usual fatigues, contrasting her otherwise dark complexion. She smiled wide, her pursed lips twisting inward.
“Not you too, love,” Liam gawked. “I spend all day out there getting power flowing again, and you take the first shower without me!?”
“Couldn’t wait. Besides, we can always do another later.” She winked.
There was once a time when Evelyn Jones was no more than the mysterious woman whom Mother had dumped Liam on with the plan to repopulate the Earth. But looking at her now and feeling the warmth in his heart, those days were a lifetime and a half ago.
Liam breathed deep, relishing the sanctuary that had been carved out in this otherwise dead world.
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“How were things up there?” Evelyn asked.
Liam shrugged. “Winter’s coming in, I’m telling you. The air’s got that taste to it. I’d give it another couple weeks before we can ease off AC.”
“Then it’s back to hoarding heat and veggies until Spring. But we both knew that was coming. Anything else?”
“Nothing substantial,” Liam considered before rubbing the stubble on his chin. “I did see something strange. A hollow that looked just like Leah. The other one, I mean. Somehow managed to climb the walls before getting stuck in the fence near the panels.”
“You put her down, right?”
“Knocked her back into the pit, yeah.”
She raised an eyebrow. “But you didn’t kill it?”
“Didn’t feel right.”
And just like that, the serenity was shattered.
Evelyn’s smile dissolved. “What do you mean that you didn’t kill it? How did it get up there? Was it climbing? Crawling? How far up the fence did it reach?”
“I checked the eyes,” Liam said before rubbing his own. “She was a hollow, I promise.”
“It was a hollow,” she corrected before taking another step. “But are you certain? You looked right in them? All white? No sign of red?”
“I made sure.”
“Liam, this can’t be left to sit. If a dreg is forming a Rez inside the fence, it needs to be put down before it becomes too smart.”
He shook his head at the lunacy of it all. Why was Evelyn like this? She could somehow be the sweetest, most caring person in the entire world, with enough love to fill a stadium on her own. But at the tiniest inkling of a threat on the horizon, her mind would warp into the unsympathetic survivor, so detached from emotion that it bordered sociopathic. This constant exercise was enough to drive a man mad!
“Do you want me to go back up there right now, Evelyn?” Liam asked, his cheeks reddening. “Walk all the way through the tunnel, find that one hollow from the crowd, and ram a knife in its brain?”
She stood unfazed. “No. We need to prioritize getting Section C connected again. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.”
Of course, you haven’t forgotten. Evelyn Jones never, ever let her perception of their security lessen for a beat. They would find themselves accomplishing both tasks before long. That was the only way she’d ever grow at ease. Oh, how Liam wanted nothing more than to let her have it.
But he looked again to Leah, with her tanned, innocent face, and thought better of it. Instead, he planted another kiss on her cheek.
“Please, love. Let’s not argue about this. Not after I just got back here.”
For a moment, Evelyn stood in place, her brow hardened. But then she noticed their daughter as well, and her disposition smoothed out.
“You’re right, honey. Forget I said anything.” She closed in to embrace them both.
Her skin was warm to the touch as the three wrapped their arms around each other, but now the room held a tension that could not be shaken. It was only a matter of time before the two were back to shouting at each other, this time with more vitriol. These fights consumed so much of their lives lately, and no small calm would end them for long. Like the normalcy of their home, the happiness in their relationship was only ever skin deep.
It would not last.