Liberty Island - 1. Chapter 1

Staring out the window, I wondered just what was in store for me. “Runaway” was my new label now. I might not be running, actually I was sitting very comfortably, in what had to be one of the most luxurious booth-seats ever invented. I was relaxing in the rear car of one of the new high speed trains and calmly taking in the scenery as it passed by the window. No, I wasn’t running, but I was definitely going far away from home, or at least what had passed for home. That place had not been a home to me for years. I suppose I should have been scared, but I wasn’t. In truth I didn’t feel much different than I always did - like a dark cloud was hanging over me. Stoic me: I could handle anything and everything life handed me. The question I sometimes struggled with was why. But for some reason, even if I couldn’t find a good reason for why I should keep going on, deep inside I could never bring myself to end my life. Somewhere inside me lay a deep-set will to survive. It was that will that put me on that train to the city of Liberty Island.

“Would you like something to eat?” asked a steward.

“No, thank you.” I responded without turning from the window and before his words even registered in my mind. I didn’t want to be bothered. On the other hand, his words did register with my stomach and a little grumbling reminded me I hadn’t eaten since the night before. I turned to get the attention of the steward and was immediately taken aback. He was a few years older than me, probably eighteen or nineteen, and as my eyes took him in, my heart seemed to clench up and my blood ignited within me. He was a little taller than I was, with a lean build and an incredible smile. It wasn’t the normal service-person-required-to-have-a-smile type smile, but seemed truly genuine. Here was a man working in a service industry and he actually seemed happy about it. The concept was entirely foreign to me. Every adult I’d ever known hated their jobs. What could he possibly be so happy about? Another rumble from my stomach pushed those thoughts out of my mind.

“Are you sure you don’t want something to eat?” he asked, looking concerned. I looked down and laughed a little at myself. While I was busy staring, apparently I was so hungry he could hear it.

“I guess a little food wouldn’t hurt.” I answered with a bit of a sheepish grin, giving in to him and my grumbling stomach. “A chicken sandwich please, Jared.” I read his name from the name tag.

“And to drink?” Jared asked.

“Grape juice please, if you have it.”

“We do, I’ll be right back with it, okay?” he asked. Either he was an incredibly good actor or he actually cared about my needs, and surprisingly I believed the latter, even if I couldn’t understand it. What made him so happy to work here, or what made him happy period I just didn’t know. Happiness itself was just… alien to me. I couldn’t be mad at him for it, I couldn’t fault him for it, but it just wasn’t a part of my world and I couldn’t understand why it was a part of his. Remembering he’d asked me a question shook me from my thoughts. “Yes, thank you.” I answered politely and he left.

So there I was escaping Tranquility Bay - before I could be condemned to that hole - and going to the one place in the nation I knew I’d be safe. I remembered seeing an ad for Liberty Island University on TV one night. The largest university in the nation by student body with top quality programs in every imaginable field, a whole city had grown up around it and swallowed up multiple counties in the process. It was an island of tolerance in a sea of religious bigotry, and it didn’t take long before the place came into conflict with the local religious groups. The money backing the place kept it alive, growing, and even prospering. The state was run largely by religious fanatics, who had refused to offer the Liberty Island region any kind of support. That worked out to their disadvantage though, because the people of Liberty Island only became more self-sufficient, operating essentially as their own state, but they did get representation in the Utah government, and as they ballooned in population and wealth, the religious groups began to fear they would eventually be out voted. In an effort to keep control of their own government, the religious people petitioned for Liberty Island to become a state unto itself, separating off from the rest of Utah. They succeeded, largely because the people of Liberty Island jumped at the chance. It was the first time since the civil war that a state had split apart. I knew all this because the religious groups considered it a victory for the preservation of their values and they trumpeted it loudly. They believed the heretical sinners would descend into chaos if they had to run their own state. Of course, Liberty Island was now the most prosperous per capita state in the country, but you could never get anyone in my backwater town to acknowledge that.

I really didn’t know a whole lot about it beyond the struggle with religious groups… any web page with the word “gay” on it was banned from my school’s library, and if I’d searched at home my parents would have found out and beat me. What I did know was that Liberty Island University was founded with the specific purpose of providing college education for gay people, that its founders were a large group of very wealthy and innovative people, and that they had a reputation for taking in anyone who was gay and helping them. There were many reports of them illegally hiding minors from abusive parents, though nothing could be proven. I only hoped those reports were true.

Sitting on that train, once again staring out the window as the terrain began to transition from coastal plains to Appalachian Mountains I began to wonder just what I was going to do when I got to Liberty Island. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to go to a strange place with nothing but my clothes and a little cash? No. I made the right decision. Better an uncertain future in a place where I wouldn’t be persecuted than a certain future in a cesspit. But really, what was I going to do? I hadn’t even finished high school so I couldn’t apply to the university yet. Or could I? I’d brought a fake id with me, maybe with that all I would have to do is take entrance exams? This was looking worse and worse. But what choice did I have? Even if I ended up a homeless beggar it would be better than the place my parents were going to send me!

I took a few deep breaths and decided to put those thoughts away. I was helped by the arrival of my drink, and I felt my pants getting tighter as Jared smiled and set it in front of me. “Your lunch will be out in just a few minutes,” he said. I was blushing a little, and I could only nod at him as he turned around and went on his way. What was wrong with me? I didn’t usually react that way. I’d known I was gay for a long time, but to react like this to a guy I knew nothing about? Maybe this was that chemistry thing everybody always seemed to talk about? Still, it was a bit disconcerting to realize I was still watching him as he left… no, I was watching his ass! What was wrong with me? At least there was no one around as I blushed again, realizing I was lusting over my waiter. A few more deep breaths and it was time to look out the window again. Peaceful scenery, that’s what I needed.

The train was coming around a small mountain, and through the window I could see the valley below and more mountains in the distance. On one of the closer mountains I could see a large rock face jutting out from the otherwise tree-covered area. Below lie a peaceful stream, not moving especially quickly, and not quite clear, but far from the murky brown streams common where I was from. I think it was the first time I’d seen water that actually looked blue. That stream wrapped around the mountain with the large rock outcropping, separating it from two more on the other side. I tried to imagine what the area would look like from atop of that outcropping. It was facing the south, which meant it would be a great place to view the valley either at sunset or sunrise. I could imagine sitting up there and watching as the rays of sunlight began stretching across the valley floor, all the different shadows that would form from the morning sun, and how they would move as the day continued until it would look much as it did now, with the sun high in the sky and the shadows barely visible. I could imagine them lengthening in the opposite direction as the sun moved into the western sky. I could imagine the sun hanging low, lighting up a scattering of clouds with bright pinks, oranges, and yellows. I imagined sitting on that mountain precipice, watching as the bright colors began to recede from one end of the sky to the other, and as the sun dropped below the horizon, with arms around each other’s shoulders kissing Jared.

Huh? I shook my head quickly, wondering where that had come from, but it didn’t do much good because a moment later he was standing next to me, setting down my lunch. “Here you are,” he said. Right… I was there, sitting on a train, not a on a rock face overlooking a valley and not kissing the man who was standing next to me. Except now he was sitting in front of me. “I hope you don’t mind,” he said, “As you can see this isn’t a very full train, so I’m not too busy, and you looked like you could use the company.”

“Its okay,” I said, distantly and slightly confused. Who was I to tell him where he could or couldn’t sit?

“So where are you headed?” It was an innocent enough question.

“I’m riding all the way to Liberty Island.” I answered. It was a major transportation hub, since the technology used to make the national train system economically viable was invented there.

“Ah, so you’ll be with us to the end of this run then. Good, I can use the company,” he smiled at me before taking a bite of his sandwich, which reminded me I should probably start eating my own. “This run is always so slow this time of week, at least today I’ll have someone to talk to.” I nodded at him, swallowing a bite of my chicken sandwich. “So, are you going to check out the University to see if you want to go there?”

“Yeah,” I answered. It was actually a very good and plausible reason for my little trip. I should have thought of it earlier.

“Cool, you’ll love it there, trust me.”

“You’re a student?” I asked him. It was a stupid question - of course he was a student there.

“Yeah, I’m a third year student in their structural engineering program. You should see the stuff I get to work with!” A third year student? He was older than he looked.

“So what are you doing here?” I asked… another stupid question. He was working.

“This is part of my contribution to the university. They own and operate all of these high speed rails, since the technology came right out of their labs. LIU doesn’t work like most other universities. They’re big enough and have enough finances from all their different projects that they don’t really need to charge tuition. Instead they offer programs where the student gets to work for the university in some fashion. You can opt out of the programs, but you would have to pay more in tuition and why would anyone want to do that? As is, my contributions to the university, and my commitment to work with them after I’ve earned my degree, get me a free place to stay, all the food I care to eat, an education, a load of experience in the field I’m interested in, and a little extra cash to spend on the side.”

Well, he sure seems happy about the place. I thought. “How hard is it to get into the university?” I asked him. This was becoming a very informative conversation. I wanted to learn all I could, since thanks to my parents I knew almost nothing about the place.

“Any gay who applies and shows aptitude for something, anything really, is accepted into the university. Whether your interests are in art and literature, history, or the sciences, if you can show you’ve got the talent, you’re pretty much guaranteed a spot in. If you’re not gay then for admittance purposes you aren’t given priority, but that’s rarely an issue because they have so many classes available. They make it a point here to maximize their use of space and time, likewise maximizing the number of students they can admit. The student-work programs to reduce or eliminate tuition also free up spaces in the classrooms so more students can come in. A four year degree will take five years to complete, but the internships and working with top of the line technology make it worth it. You know, come to think of it, I’ve never heard of anyone gay or straight being denied admittance if they showed they had the aptitude.”

“That’s… generous, but how do they determine whether a student has an appropriate level of aptitude?”

“They’ll look at transcripts and standardized test scores on a case by case basis. They have their own standards though, and since they know many school districts have been “dumbing down” the curricula, they require all applicants to take a battery of college entrance exams. They determine how many exams you have to take based upon where your transcripts are coming from and what they say. If you mysteriously don’t have any transcripts, then you just have to take the full battery of tests. I don’t envy those guys; I was only required to take two of the entrance exams and they about blew my mind away.”

Well that certainly wasn’t exactly encouraging. Sure, I was a good test taker, but if they were as hard as Jared said…. No, I would be fine. I would take the exams and I would do at least well enough to get in. I may not be a genius but I was a pretty good student.

I ate the last bit of my sandwich and smiled. It was probably the best tasting chicken sandwich I’d ever had. I was just expecting some microwaved cheap-o thing but this was truly awesome. “God, that was delicious!” I said aloud, not even realizing it until I saw Jared smirking at me, trying to contain his laughter.

“I’m glad you like it. Our culinary academy has been working with our agricultural department to develop new ways to make healthy food edible,” now he was laughing. “They’re only testing it on the public just now to gauge people’s reactions, but if yours was any to measure its success by, I’d say they got it right.” The huge grin he had was very distracting. He was witty, too… I liked that. I took a sip of my juice and smiled back at him.

“So what’s it like living there?” I asked.

“Its probably the closest to a Utopia that mankind will ever come to, but it has its dramas. People are still people after all. Some get along better than others. We have a strong social element that really helps with the stress. You’d be surprised at how much having friends to hang out and relax or do things with will help. So many kids isolate themselves from others and curl up into their own little universe.” He paused, and his eyes seemed to pierce into my past, as though reading from my life. Was I so transparent? He continued after a couple seconds, “Obviously they can’t require you to go make friends, but it is encouraged through different team-based activities and clubs they offer. Would you believe it actually counts as a discount from tuition?”

I had stopped listening to him though. My mind was too busy going over the truth of his statement about getting curled up in one’s own little universe. I’d spent the past couple years of my life like that. It bothered me that he could read me so easily. It bothered me almost as much that I could not disagree with his assessment. I always tried to idolize the stoic figure that could handle anything and needed no one, but I could not deny that it left me feeling generally empty. I’ve always known that and dismissed it as irrelevant though. It was the way I had dismissed the relevancy that I was questioning now. Anytime someone brought up a need for others I had just dismissed it. They lived in a fantasy land, I thought. But why, then, should it be mattering to me now? That is when it hit me. The promise of more mattered to me now, became relevant to me now, because before this point in my life I’d never hoped for anything more to be real for me. To me a “happy” life was an empty fantasy, and pointless. Their real world was a fantasy that could never be real for me. I used to feel… belligerence, even… toward those who were optimistic about life. I wondered, was it happiness itself that I hated? No… I hated that I had no reason to believe I could ever be happy, and in response I had built in my head a world for myself where happiness was of no consequence. Their world had seemed a lie to me, and I was jealous, even angry at those for whom it was not a lie… but I also buried those emotions below my stoic exterior and hid them even from myself. I was really one screwed up kid.

“Hey, you okay? You’ve gone all quiet on me” Jared asked.

“I’m fine.” I answered reflexively. But was I fine, really? My stoic world had worked so well for me. I didn’t need other people. I could trade any one acquaintance for another. I could survive anything. I didn’t need to feel. Feelings meant nothing in my world. They were a weakness. Yet… was that not the world I was leaving behind? I had built a defensive persona for myself because on some level I knew I needed it to survive. But had I not decided survival was not enough? Wasn’t that part of why I had left? I could have survived that shit hole they were going to send me to but I wanted more. I didn’t have to settle for survival anymore. I actually seemed to have a chance at being happy, and I was going to seize it. Sure that may sound like something to be happy about in and of itself, but you have to understand, I’d built my entire self-identity around not being happy. I didn’t feel sad either, didn’t feel much of anything at all, really. Except contempt. I figured out while sitting on that train with Jared that I wasn’t just leaving my parents, my school, my town and what passed for a life behind… I was leaving most of myself behind too. What was perhaps most disconcerting was when I realized leaving my self behind was hardly leaving much of anything at all. I still had my analytical abilities, my knowledge of history, and science… but such things did not constitute a self. Its no wonder the other kids had always seemed a bit standoffish to me, I knew none of the social ins and outs. It must have seemed to them like all there was to me was an endless encyclopedia of information I’d absorbed, and when I thought about it… that was all there really was to me. I was what I learned from books and documentaries and classes, I was analytically proficient, and I was cold, closed off from everyone.

It’s funny. The Christians talk about being born again, and in a sense, this self-reflection felt similar to such a concept. But it truly shocked me to realize it was more like being born for the first time, because my old life as the stoic survivalist was no life at all. This raised many questions in my head. Obviously I wasn’t a completely clean slate, I still had my life experiences, but I was now in a situation where those didn’t mean so much. I could become, really, whoever I wanted to be. This brought up a new question: How did I want to be?

I didn’t get a chance to answer that question though. The lights all around me and all through the train turned to a dark blue and a strange noise sounded throughout the cabin. It was similar to a siren, but the pitch was very low, and it was not especially loud. The feel of the train changed too; it was accelerating. It was more the look that came across Jared’s face that caused a trickle of fear to crawl down my spine than the change in lighting, though. His eyes had grown wide and all of his muscles tensed up. He turned around and looked behind him, toward the door to the next car. Looking back at me he spoke with some urgency in his voice “Stay here and relax, I’ll go find out what’s going on.”

I’m supposed to relax when there’s clearly something seriously wrong? I didn’t really have a choice I guess, so I just stared out the window and returned to my thoughts, but it did not escape my notice that the television set that had been playing the news no longer had a picture. The last I’d looked at it there were reports of riots somewhere in the Middle East. No big deal, I had thought. There were always riots in the Middle East. A few moments later I could hear a loud roaring sound that seemed to be coming from off in the distance. I looked upward just in time to see half a dozen jets in formation speeding off into the distance. Were they traveling faster than the sound barrier over populated land? I wasn’t sure, but I did know these trains were built to be exceedingly quiet, so to be able to hear those jets from in there, what else could have been loud enough to cause that?

The door to the car opened again and in walked Jared. “Come on,” he said, “everybody’s getting moved up to the front. We’ll explain what’s going on there.” His voice brooked no disobedience. I didn’t like not being in the know and wanted to demand an answer, but the promise of one would have to do. As I stood up to follow him, I heard more planes roaring overhead. “Through here,” Jared told me as we stepped into the junction between cars and into the next one. There were a couple other people in this car standing at the next junction. We fell in line behind them and a similar scene played out in the next cars until we reached the front of the train. “Every passenger here and accounted for.” I heard Jared tell the man I presumed to be the train manager.

“Okay,” the manager started. “You’re all wondering what’s going on and…” He was cut off by the sound of many planes overhead. “And I’m going to be straight forward and tell you. Earlier today, The President of Pakistan was assassinated. That country quickly erupted into chaos and in the process a group of religious zealots seized control of several nuclear missiles. They wasted no time, and Israeli citizens had no warning as five nuclear missiles were launched against them. The IDF succeeded in shooting down two of the missiles, but the other three, all targeting the Israeli capital of Tel Aviv, succeeded in annihilating that city. In response, Israel launched a number of nuclear weapons against Pakistan and bulldozed the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem. The Palestinians erupted en masse, along with Muslims all around the world, but the last we heard the Palestinians were being mowed down by the remains of the IDF before communications in the region went down. One of Israel’s nukes had gone off target and struck a small city in western China. China responded by obliterating what remained of Israel, but the violence did not end there. The Israeli Navy, armed and disguised with US equipment launched several nukes into China. The death toll there is unimaginable. One of the Israeli nukes took out Beijing, eliminating most of the upper Chinese government. Chinese military leaders, unaware that the attacking naval vessels were Israeli, have launched a counterattack against the United States. We learned they launched all of their nukes at us, before civilian communication systems went offline. We don’t know the precise targets of their missiles, or how many we’ll be able to shoot down, and a full scale war is commencing.” He paused. “Take a moment to take all that in.”

A moment? The third world war had just begun and he wanted us to take a moment to take it in!? I breathed in deeply and summoned the stoic in me back to life. It seemed I would not be letting go of that part of myself after all.

“What are we going to do?” A young woman asked. That seemed to sum it up for us all, as none of us felt like speaking very much just then.

“We’ve accelerated to our maximum speed and will be headed toward a nearby transit station. You’ve all heard rumors that Liberty has been taking some liberties with property laws. That’s fairly accurate. All across the transportation grid are small transit stations, masking a network of underground bunkers. We’ll be taking shelter in one of those.”

“What about our families how do we get in contact with them?” asked a young man who was standing a little ahead of me and to the right. I guess that was a fair question. Not everybody had horrible parents.

“That’s a very good question, and I’m glad you brought it up.” The train manager answered. “All civilian communications are down. When we get to the bunker, there is a registry system there on a private grid. All of you will be required to register your names and your status at that time as will any other refugees we bring in. Later, you will be given access to our computer terminals to search for any friends or family. If you locate someone you wish to contact, you may send them a private e-mail and they will be notified the next time they log in to one of our terminals.”

“How well-supplied are these bunkers?” This question came from a middle aged man who looked like he was dressed for some kind of middle management job.

“They can each be brought up to the capacity to house several hundred people. More specifically, they were all designed so that in case of an emergency, every train within range of the transit station could offload all of their passengers there and they could be supported. They’re deep enough and structurally sound enough that…” The man interrupted him.

“No, I mean for how long would they be able to supply us.”

“I was getting to that. Each of them is self-sustaining with its own supplies of food, energy and water, so they can feasibly keep us alive there forever, but I don’t think that will be necessary.”

“Why not?” I chimed in.

“The Chinese nukes aren’t as advanced as our own, and our anti-missile defense systems will take out most of them. The transit station we’re en route to isn’t located in a major metropolitan area so it’s very unlikely to sustain a direct hit.”

“What if it was?” A little girl asked.

“Then the bunker would be able to keep the people inside alive until they could build a tunnel to somewhere not in the blast radius.”

“And the people who don’t get into one of these bunkers?” This was the middle-aged man again.

“Any bunker that isn’t filled to capacity will be sending teams out as soon as it’s deemed safe to rescue as many people as possible.”

“And the ones who aren’t rescued?” This man was getting annoying.

“Like all of us, they’ll do what they can,” the station manager answered in a low tone. He didn’t like people who asked questions with obvious answers that were better left unspoken.

“How long before we arrive?” asked the young woman again.

“It will be in about three more minutes. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have things I must attend to.” With that the train manager turned around and disappeared into the next car.

Jared then spoke up for the first time since this little meeting started. “If any of you would like something to snack on or drink, just let me know, and I’ll get it for you.”

“Will it be free?” asked the middle aged man.

Jared rolled his eyes a little. “Yes, it’s on us, but since we’re going to be at the transit station in just a couple minutes, I can only get you a snack or a small drink.”

“Never mind then,” the man said grumpily, as though he was upset because he couldn’t have a salmon fillet when the world was ending around him.

I couldn’t stand people with attitude, so I came to Jared’s defense, “Hey, the guy’s got a point, old man. It’s only a few minutes to the station. Be glad he’s offering anything. They don’t have to, you know?” Jared smiled at that but I knew he had a role to play and didn’t take it personally when he didn’t jump to my own defense when the man started yelling at me.

“Alright, that’s enough,” he said instead. “We’re all in a bad situation here so let’s make the best of it okay?”

“What do you know? You’re just a steward.”

“Actually I’m reserve National Guard for the state of Liberty Island and you will respect our authority while you’re here. The last thing to come across the news networks ticker tape before it was cut off was that the president issued an order of martial law. You’re all civilians and are guests of the Liberty Island National Guard now and for the indefinite future. We recognize you are civilians and will not be overly demanding of you but you will obey our commands and maintain order. Do you understand?” The last bit was spoken directly to the jerk.

If nothing else, it succeeded in shutting him up. They guy seemed genuinely intimidated. I know my eyes were wide, too; it was a side of Jared I hadn’t seen before. He was entirely pleasant just a few minutes ago, maybe even slightly effeminate, but now his voice rang with authority. His posture was different too, he no longer seemed to be relaxed, and rather, he was standing with his shoulders squared and an intense gaze in his eyes that without question radiated the words “I mean business.” The old man looked very indignant about being told off, but at least he wasn’t talking anymore.

A low bell chimed, and the train started decelerating.

“We’ll be pulling into the station in just another minute.” Jared said. I wondered how much training he had gone through, and how old he really was. He looked like he was in his early twenties, but he seemed to have already done so much… the National Guard, a third year student at the university, and working a job as an attendant on the train. If nothing else, he certainly deserved my respect, and he got it. I admired him a lot. I wondered if he was a gentle lover too…

I was shaken from my thoughts by the sound of an incredibly loud explosion and a flash of light. I instinctively covered my eyes, as did most of the others in the room, including Jared. The concussion shook the train but it remained on course. The train was slowing to a stop, and suddenly the area became much darker. I removed my arm from blocking my eyes and looked around. I could barely see anything and at first I thought I had gone blind, but then my eyes adjusted to the soft blue light. I could see we were still on the train and seemed to be inside of a narrow building. This must be the transit station, I thought. I looked around and started to stand up, but Jared stopped me.

“No,” he said looking at me and raising his hand. “Everybody, please remain seated. This ride isn’t quite over.”

I felt the train jerk beneath me and a moment later it seemed like the room our train was in was flying up away from us. It didn’t take long to figure out we were actually going down, and the train was on some kind of massive elevator. I saw what looked like maintenance equipment on a couple levels and then nothing but concrete. I had no idea how quickly we were falling but it must have been pretty fast because I actually felt lighter. Soon I could feel myself getting heavier again and a vast room came into view.

“Okay, folks,” Jared said. “This is where we get off. Please follow me in an orderly fashion, and I’ll show you to the registration office where you will be assigned an id and a room. This is a light travel season so for now you’ll all have rooms to yourselves, but as we bring in more people from the outside you may have to share. Any questions?”

There were none. I looked around, reading the expressions on people’s faces. Everyone, even the two children, seemed very solemn. We all knew what that flash of light meant. In the space of a few seconds, millions of American citizens had just been incinerated. How many other nukes had gotten through? We would not know for quite some time just how bad the devastation had been. At some level, I didn’t want to know. Even though I had not really lost anything myself, I could feel a deep sadness forming within me. So many innocent people were dead now. How many children had just been boiled alive? How many people had lost their wives, their husbands, their children, their cousins, their brothers, and their sisters? How many entire families had just been wiped out?

I shuddered. I had little faith in religion, but the alternative to an after-life – oblivion - still scared the hell out of me. The thought of so much loss of life sent a chill throughout my body. I followed Jared quietly as we disembarked and walked across the vast room to a set of terminals. He turned and looked at everybody and seemed about to issue new instructions, but the ground shook beneath us and we could hear the echo of what sounded like another blast. How many nukes would get through? When things settled again, Jared looked over our group and offered some simple instructions. “There are enough terminals for you all to do this at once. Just follow the prompts on the screen and you’ll be issued your ids and a mail account with us.” The others began to comply, but I kept my eyes on him. He walked over to me. “What is it?” He asked.

“I don’t have any family to speak of anymore.” It was close enough to the truth.

“I’ll tell you what; I get special quarters as a member of the armed services of Liberty Island. I’ve only got the one room, but the couch folds out into a futon if you want to bunk up with me, instead of being on your own.”

That look was in his eyes again, the gaze I felt piercing through my soul, reading my past, assessing me and… offering to help? This was my chance to get close to someone. All I had to do was say yes and I’d have it.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

“Okay, but you still have to register though. I’ll change your room assignment later but you can come with me now if you’d like.”

I nodded my head, knowing even then that I was about to start down a path completely foreign to me, but this man, Jared… he would be the key.

After registering, Jared showed us the way to our new lodgings where we would wait out this national disaster. None of us had any idea how long we would be staying here. We all feared the worst. He stopped at the end of the hall and turned to face our group. “Okay, you’ve all got your room assignments; match them up to the numbers on the doors and that’s where you’ll be staying. Inside you’ll find beds, desks, personal computer terminals, and a bathroom. Whatever luggage you brought with you will be brought to your rooms. Until then, or if you had no luggage, there are clothes provided to you in the closets. On your computer terminals, you will be able to locate a map of our facility, information about what recreation is available, as well as meal times and designated eating locations.

“Once things get settled in here, you may be requested to volunteer. At that time, if you decline to volunteer, then if it is at all feasible for you to be transported to the surface you will be asked to leave. We are self-sustaining but our resources are limited; if you are unwilling to contribute when asked, you become a burden we will have no reason to bear.”

I heard the middle aged man ask an otherwise un-noticed man if they could really do that. At first the guy just grunted at him and nodded. Then he spoke in a very foreboding tone. “The United States is dead, friend. These people know what they’re doing and you’d do best to just go along with what they want.”

“I’ll remind you,” Jared cut in “That we don’t know yet the status of the US government, when communications get re-established, we’ll learn exactly what the situation is and we can figure out what to do when we know what’s happened. Until then I suggest you keep speculation to a minimum. It will save you a lot of headache.”

“These are my quarters,” he said pointing at the door at the end of the hall. “If there’s a problem you need to bring to my attention, that’s where you’ll find me when I’m here. Otherwise you can send me an electronic message. If you have maintenance issues, I don’t want to hear about it. On your terminals you’ll find a system for reporting maintenance problems. That’s where you’ll be able to report that kind of thing. Our maintenance crew is not a maid service. You’ll find cleaning products in your bathrooms. Keeping your rooms clean is your problem. You can request more cleaning product if you need to. We have plenty of it available. Same for shower soaps, shampoos, conditioners, and so forth. You will each be assigned a time to do your laundry. I suggest you do it then, because otherwise it’s just a matter of luck to find a machine that’s not reserved.”

He looked around at them, making eye-contact with any who still had their heads up. He shook his head, obviously wishing he wasn’t in this situation. He started to turn to open his door, but stopped and looked back at them again. “One last thing,” he said with a smirk. “Welcome to Bunker 118.”

With that, he turned and pressed a button next to his door, then keyed in some kind of code before it opened. Everybody else took that as a cue to do the same thing. I followed Jared into his mini-apartment, looked around, and wondered what kind of life I’d just escaped to. The door swooshed shut behind me.

If I had only known what was to come, I’d have gladly run to tranquility bay if doing so would have undone the events of that day, but I know that would have changed nothing. Yesterday, I was a prisoner of my parents, trapped in their abusive grip. Today, I was a refugee, living with another man - a gay man - A man who both intrigued me and scared me.

I was probably the only one on the entire planet who felt even a trickle of happiness.

Morbid as that might sound… depressing as the situation might seem to some... to me, that day’s events promised a future where I had a chance at happiness. I’m probably the only one who can look back on that day and in spite of everything is glad it happened.

This is the day I was set free.