The Grey Ones

  Chapter 6

  While the guys are busy working on the radio, I use Travis’ key to unlock the tunnel. As I slip inside, the small beam from my flashlight gleams through the darkness revealing three shelves full of untouched supplies. Things I don’t need right now. I move the light to the side until I find the cardboard box labeled “Isabelle”.

  After stripping off my dirty clothes I wet a clean cloth with a bottle of water from the shelf. Goosebumps raise on my skin where I scrub my body in the cold. I move quickly and focus on the areas still covered in the Grey One’s dried blood. My skin becomes red and raw from scrubbing so intently on the crusted areas.

  Once I finish cleaning myself up, I grab the first aid kit box from the shelves. With a cotton ball dampened by a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide, I dab at the deep puncture wounds on my wrist. The antiseptic bubbles for a few seconds, appearing like foam, before I wrap it over with bandages.

  When I’m almost ready to go, I throw on the new clothes that I had found folded up inside of the box with my name. After stuffing the dirty ones in a bag off to the side I slip back into the studio sized bunker. Quietly, I walk over to where Travis is hunched over the table. He’s so busy showing Billy which parts are missing to the radio that he almost doesn’t notice me place the key in front of him.

  “See here, this is missing a cable.” Travis points to the ham radio. “And I’m guessing you have a power supply?”

  “Yeah, I grabbed one of those.” Billy nods.

  Their voices continue behind me while I walk over to where Rhett is resting on the floor in a green sleeping bag. On the other side of him, Ty is sitting in the corner playing with Cano. I carefully step over Rhett to where Ty is calling out different commands to Cano.

  “Sit.”

  Cano sits.

  “Lay down.”

  He lays down.

  “Roll over.”

  The big dog obeys his commands and rolls over on the dirty cement floor. After he stands up on all fours he shakes his short black hair clean.

  “Alright! High Five!”

  He lifts a front paw, then hits it against Ty’s palm.

  “Mom, did you see that?” He cries out excitedly.

  “Yeah, I did. That was so cool.” I whisper. “Keep it down though, I think Rhett is trying to sleep.” I shift my eyes to Rhett who waves a hand up tiredly.

  Focused on Ty I don’t hear Travis walk up behind me. His tattooed arms wrap around my waist from behind and squeeze me tightly. His warm lips press against my neck before saying, “We’re going to head into town to grab a couple of missing pieces. Once we have those I should have the radio up and running tonight.”

  “Wait,” I grab Travis’ hand that’s resting on my side, “I want to come with you.”

  “Yeah, me too, dad. We have to stick together, remember?” Ty says. He tugs on Travis’ shirt as he stands up.

  He glances back at Billy, who’s waiting with his sneakers on, and says, “Okay. Billy, you stay here with Rhett. Isabelle, Ty, and I will grab the parts from the pawn shop.”

  He sits back down next to Rhett. With a half smile he says, “Okay, we’ll see you guys soon.”

  After grabbing our backpacks, we head out the small entrance. Travis leads us up the well and back into the sunlight. Staring down at his watch, he says “We have at least three hours until the sun goes down.”