4 Months Before It Happened, He Built a Secret Underground Shelter
Chapter 5
Daniel’s mind raced.
“Explain.”
Martin’s voice came through the hatch.
“I can’t.”
“Then don’t expect me to believe you.”
“You built the shelter from plans you found online.”
“Yes.”
“Those plans were fake.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
“They were designed to make people build shelters exactly like yours.”
Daniel looked around.
The ventilation system.
The water tanks.
The battery bank.
Everything.
Martin continued.
“Blackline wanted independent shelters constructed across the country.”
“Why?”
“Because they needed places to store people.”
Daniel felt sick.
“You mean prisons.”
“Exactly.”
Sophie moved closer to him.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Who is Blackline?”
Martin answered:
“Not a government agency.”
“Then what?”
“A private consortium.”
“Who runs it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I saw their leadership once.”
“Who?”
Martin hesitated.
“People you would recognize.”
Daniel waited.
“Corporate executives.”
“Politicians.”
“Military contractors.”
“Financial leaders.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
It was bigger than he thought.
“Why October 17?”
Martin’s voice became quiet.
“Because that’s when they intend to trigger the event.”
Daniel’s blood ran cold.
“What event?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re still hiding something.”
Martin didn’t respond.
Then a loud metallic impact shook the shelter.
Someone was trying to break through.
Martin shouted:
“Daniel, listen!”
“What?”
“The event isn’t natural.”
Another impact.
“The system failures are only phase one.”
“What is phase two?”
“People.”
Daniel stared.
“What does that mean?”
“They’re going to make the population believe there’s been a catastrophe.”
Daniel understood.
“Mass panic.”
“Exactly.”
“Then they’ll move people into shelters.”
“Yes.”
“Like this one.”
“Yes.”
“And once they’re inside?”
Martin didn’t answer.
Daniel looked at the word PURGE on his laptop.
“Lock them in.”
Martin whispered:
“Exactly.”
The hatch shook again.
Daniel knew they had minutes.
He opened the emergency control panel.
There was a manual override.
He had installed it himself.
But he had never tested it.
A red switch.
TOTAL SYSTEM RESET.
If activated, it would destroy the shelter’s electronic systems.
The doors would unlock.
The cameras would shut down.
The ventilation would switch to manual.
The shelter would become useless.
Daniel reached for the switch.
Sophie grabbed his arm.
“Dad.”
“If I do this, we lose our shelter.”
“What happens if you don’t?”
Daniel looked at her.
“We might never leave.”
He flipped the switch.
Everything went dark.
The underground doors unlocked.
The emergency lights failed.
Daniel grabbed two flashlights.
Then he heard the hatch opening.
A man climbed through.
Daniel raised the crowbar.
The man froze.
He wasn’t armed.
It was Martin.
Blood covered his shirt.
Daniel stared.
“You came back.”
Martin nodded.
“I told you.”
“What?”
“They wanted me to bring them here.”
Martin looked toward the tunnel.
“They’re coming.”
Daniel asked:
“How long?”
Martin looked at his watch.
“Less than two minutes.”
Then another sound came from the tunnel.
Footsteps.
Seven people.
Approaching.
Martin looked at Daniel.
“There’s one way out.”
“Where?”
Martin pointed deeper into the tunnel.
“Under the old railway.”
Daniel grabbed Sophie’s hand.
They ran.
