Mad World - Descent Ch. 01

There was a break in the newscast as someone walked up and handed a note to the host.

"Oh my god!" The host gasped, "Folks I'm sorry for my outburst but..."

Looking off camera the host asked, "Jerry, is this confirmed?"

"Yes," Came an off-camera answer.

"Fuck me!" The host growled then turned to the camera and continued, "Folks. The world as we know it in America is gone. Right this minute government officers are making their way here to shut us down. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are dead. Before we go I just wanna report that the government has launched a nuclear strike against its own civilian population. Every major city has been targeted. Everywhere in between has been targeted with chemical and viral weapons of mass destruction! Try to get as much water and foodstuffs as you can, then go inside your homes and tape up your doors and windows! For all of you that are in major cities. Our prayers are with you!"

Just as he finished an FBI agent walked up and ripped the microphone off his lapel. There was some wrestling and a camera fell over. There was a gunshot and then there were many, many guns firing simultaneously.

"Oh my god!" Theresa gasped.

"What do we do?" Michelle asked, her voice shaken and her eyes tearful.

"We go find Scarlett," Eleanor growled, "Mom, Reagan, Michelle, Rowan, you get the girls back in the van! I will take your car, Mom, and go get Scarlett!"

"No!" Theresa argued, "Eleanor, you get your children ready, I will go find mine!"

"Okay! Fine!" Eleanor conceded as Theresa handed Bridgette back to her.

"Mom!" Reagan gasped, she was looking out the sliding door.

"What?" Eleanor shrieked just as a sonic boom shook the apartment.

"I just saw a missile fly by," Reagan wailed, "Mama?! What do we do? Where do we go?!"

"I don't know honey!" Eleanor said, "Maybe toward Mount Hood. If that missile was headed toward Portland, then we would need to be on the opposite side of the mountain! It doesn't matter right now! First, we have to get back in the van! Come on, move it!"

All of the older siblings picked up their smaller sisters and ran for the van. They were all just getting seatbelted in when Theresa returned with Scarlett.

"I have a place for us to go!" Scarlett shouted out of the passenger window, "We need to get to the Redmond Caves!"

"Okay!" Eleanor replied, "You lead the way!"

The roads were a congested mess with most people rushing home or headed for I82 and east as far as they could get from Portland. Once Theresa and Eleanor made it out of Hood River, most people they saw were fortifying their properties or battening down their homes.

Everyone in the van screamed when the sky seemed to light up a thousand times brighter than normal.

"Was that Portland?" Reagan asked, "Did they just nuke Portland?!"

"I don't know honey," Eleanor answered, "I don't think so. I think it was Seattle."

"Daddy!" Michelle said suddenly.

"What about Daddy?!" Rowan asked, her eyes wide with fear.

"I don't know guys," Eleanor said, "I don't think he should be in Seattle now. He should be in Ellensburg I think. Reagan, why don't you try calling him."

Reagan pulled out her phone and started to dial, but then looked at her phone and said, "No bars."

"Well then." Eleanor said, "Jonathan and Nathan will just have to fend for themselves until we can get back."

"If we can get back," Reagan growled.

"Don't be negative," Eleanor chided softly, "Not now."

Reagan cut her eyes at her mother but didn't say anything more. Several times they saw jets and missiles streak by overhead. They were an hour from the Redmond Caves when a silver fog surrounded Theresa's car and Eleanor's van.

"What the fuck?!" Reagan gasped.

"I don't know!" Eleanor growled as she turned on her headlights and concentrated on following Theresa's tail lights.

The fog was so thick that it was hard to see anything more than a few feet ahead. Eleanor was forced to break hard when Theresa suddenly slowed down. They were inching along at fifteen miles an hour when Evangeline cried, "There's something out there in the fog!"

"What?" Eleanor asked.

"I see it too!" Rosemary wailed.

"There's something in the fog!" Gwendolyn cried.

Suddenly Theresa's car swerved off the road as she slammed on the brakes barely missing a foaming and frothing moose a second before Eleanor ran right into it! Their speed was only twenty miles an hour but still, the moose pitched onto the hood of the van and body-slammed the front windshield, shattering it. Then the animal got back on its feet and stumbled back into the forest.

"Shit!" Reagan cried.

Eleanor just looked at her windshield and then the fog as it started leaking in around the edges.

"I can't drive like this," Eleanor said.

Suddenly Theresa and Scarlett were knocking on Reagan's passenger window. She rolled it down and the fog flooded into the cab of the van. As soon as Eleanor inhaled it her body began to tingle. A warmth bloomed in her womb. She knew its familiar presence like it was an old friend. It was arousal, but unlike anything she usually felt. There was a spark, and then somehow she knew, she felt, that she was pregnant. Jonathan's seed had taken root in her belly. Looking around she noted that Theresa and Scarlett seemed fine, but as soon as Reagan and the other girls inhaled the fog they began to cough.

"We're going have to walk from here," Theresa said, "My car is high centered and your windshield is shattered."

"Yeah," Eleanor agreed, then started giving directions, "Reagan, Rowan, Michelle, get your youngest sisters. Gwen, see to Gabby. Evangeline. Rose. Heather. You three stick together!"

"I will watch them," Scarlett offered.

Eleanor nodded, then looked at her mom and said, "I have go-bags and groceries in the back, as well as our clothes."

"Good!" Theresa said, "We have go-bags and blankets."

"Okay!" Eleanor said, "Let's get to it!"

A half-hour later, Theresa was in the lead walking down the road. Twine was found and all of the children were tied together in groups to an older sibling. However, an hour into their march Gabriella and Maeve collapsed.

"Mama, I feel funny," Rosemary whined.

"Me too," The others complained.

"We have to stop," Eleanor called to Theresa.

To be honest she felt weird too. It was as if all her senses were on fire, her skin tingled, and her womb was a furnace. She was so aroused she didn't know what she was gonna do!

"Mom," Reagan moaned, "I-- I feel..."

She suddenly thrust Bridgette at Eleanor and ran off into the fog and started to puke. Loud obnoxious wrenching that was very quickly repeated by the other girls. Eleanor, however, didn't feel sick. She felt hot. So hot that she was starting to sweat. So hot that after a few seconds, she had to put Bridgette down and started taking off her clothes. She never realized that Theresa and Scarlett were doing the same thing. Nor did she see Reagan and her daughters starting to take their clothing off. Then, suddenly, Eleanor crumpled to the ground and darkness took her. She didn't see the shadows surrounding her, or feel when they slowly lifted her off the ground and carried her to the Redmond Caves.

----(!)----

I was in Ellensburg when the news was announced over the AM radio, and I was headed over Manastash Ridge when I saw the mushroom plume from the nuke that hit Seattle.

When my phone rang I picked up and heard Nathan's scared voice on the line, "Dad?! Are you okay? Have you heard the news? Can you believe this is happening?!"

"I'm fine son," I said as calmly as I could, "Listen! I'm still a little way outside of Yakima. I'm headed home. While I am on my way, I want you to pack the truck and jeep. Go to the shed, you'll find tools, and you will find prepared foodstuffs and jugs of water. Get it all. You'll find gas tanks. Get that too. Find your go-bag and mine. Get blankets. Get as much out of the refrigerator as you can. Pack it all in the truck. Then get the guns and ammunition. Once it is all packed, wait for me. I'm coming straight home!"

"Okay, Dad," Nathan said, "I'll see you when you get here."

"See you when I get there," I said.

Pressing down on the accelerator I maxed out the truck's speed at seventy-five, and still, it took another hour and a half to get home.

"Dad!" Nathan called as he rushed around packing everything he could think of into the truck and jeep, "Dad! What about mom and the girls?!"

"I've been trying to call them," I said.

"Me too," Nathan replied, "Nothing! Right after I called you the cell towers went down."

"Sounds right," I said, then patted my son on the shoulder to reassure him, "Your mother is a smart woman, and she is with Theresa, another smart woman. They will know what to do. For now, we have to get out of the city."

"Where, dad?" Nathan asked, "Where can we possibly go?"

"I bought some property up near Kahlotus near the Snake River," I answered, "Since then, I've been buying shipping containers and building an underground bunker."

Nathan just stared at me for a second before he said, "For real?"

I laughed.

"Yeah," I said, "It never made sense, you know, preparing go-bags in case of an emergency, but then having nowhere to go if it actually happened. So, your mom and I started slowly buying and building an emergency bunker, and only finished it five years ago and have been stocking it since."

"Geez, Dad!" Nathan mumbled.

"It's not so crazy when the world is coming to an end, is it?" I asked.

"No." He agreed with a shake of his head, "Not anymore."

"Alright then," I said, "let's get out of here!"

Nathan jumped into the jeep as I got into the truck. Right at that moment though, the neighbor lady next door came running out of her house with her two teenage daughters screaming and crying in Spanish.

"Please, sir! Please!" The older woman begged as she ran in front of my truck blocking my exit, "My husband, he is mad! Crazy! He won't listen! He's trying to kill us! Please! May we go with you?!"

The woman and her daughters were all red-eyed and sniffling. They had only one backpack each. And, I felt guilty for even thinking about it, but all three women were gorgeous. The mother especially looked like Sofia Varga, the older daughter looked like Roselyn Sanchez and the youngest daughter looked like Sarah Shahi. They were only my three favorite Spanish actresses ever, and these three women looked exactly like them!

I felt like I should say no. The right answer was no. But, I found myself instead saying, "Get in! We're leaving right now!"

"Thank you so much!" The mother said as she got into the passenger seat, "My name is Esmeralda, and my oldest daughter is Fernanda and my second daughter is Marisol."

"Nice to meet you, Esmeralda. I'm Jonathan and my son is Nathan," I said as I helped her into the truck.

"What are you doing with my wife?!" The husband yelled as he came charging out of his house waving a pistol, "I'm going to fucking kill you, puta!"

The women screamed! I had only a moment to react. The man was indeed acting crazy. He lifted his pistol at me and before I knew it--BLAM!

I looked down to see my Colt.45 1911 in my hand. The barrel was still smoking as Esmeralda's husband crumpled like a doll that had just had its strings cut. The tone of the ladies' screams changed from fear to horror. Marisol jumped out of the truck ready to run to her father, but Esmeralda yelled sharply, "No!"

Marisol gave her mother a single anguished look then looked at her father. Nathan appeared then and put a hand on Marisol's shoulders as he said, "How about I take her with me?"

Sniffling, Marisol allowed herself to be led away as I turned to Esmeralda and said, "If there is any food, blankets, or clothes you should get them now."

The older woman nodded and beckoned Fernanda to follow her back into the house. It was strange. No police sirens sounded. No one came out of their houses. There was no response to the sound of gunfire. Nothing. Esmeralda brought out bags of clothes and blankets first, then she and Fernanda brought out pots and pans, silverware, spices, a very great amount of alcohol, and finally all of the food.

After looking at everything she packed, I took her back into my house and asked her to decide on what should be taken from the kitchen. Esmeralda gave me a grave nod and made her choices. We packed it all out into the truck and finally, we left.

It took almost two hours to navigate our way from Kennewick to Pasco and then head north on Highway 395 until we reached Connell. From there, we turned right and headed for Kahlotus. We passed the tiny, mostly abandoned, town and headed east until we were north of the Snake River. Then, I turned off on a dirt road and headed south for a mile and down into a ravine where all that could be seen was a slight shadow before we stopped inside my underground, and hidden garage.

Leaning toward Esmeralda I said, "Welcome, to your new home away from home."

"Where are we?" She asked in a heavy Spanish accent.

"Hopefully," I sighed as I looked from her to Fernanda, "Nowhere anyone will be looking for us except for my wife and kids if they're still alive."

"Where is your wife, mister Jonathan," Esmeralda asked.

"Hood River, Oregon," I said as I moved to get out of the truck.

"Aren't you going to go get them?" Fernanda asked as she opened her door and got out.

I shook my head no.

"For now, we all need to stay inside," I said, "Radiation is coming if it's not already here."

Nathan and Marisol got out of the jeep, and I led them, Esmeralda, and Fernanda all to the side of the garage before I pointed to several hampers and continued, "Before we can go inside the bunker, what we have to do now is strip all our clothes off."

"What! Why?!" Marisol asked while Fernanda looked appalled and Esmeralda looked shaken.

"We might be far enough away from Seattle that no radiation has dropped on us yet," I explained, "However, we can't take any chances. For now, we have to get out of our clothes. Then, we must all go and bathe. I have clothes inside we can put on. Once we are clean, I will use the radiation meter to see if our stuff is contaminated."

As I finished I met and held Esmeralda's eyes trying to silently convey that this needs to happen and that I had no ill intentions toward her or her daughters.

"I know this is scary and humiliating," I said, "I don't want to do this either, but we have to. All of us. There is no negotiation. If you don't want to then you're free to leave."

Esmeralda looked at me for several seconds then finally nodded and said to her daughters, "It's okay. Do as he says."

There were sighs and dirty looks but Esmeralda led by example as she slowly unbuttoned her blouse. She was a stunningly beautiful woman. She had beautiful, flawless mocha skin. Her hair was such a dark glossy brown it was almost black. Her eyes were as shiny and black as onyx. She stood maybe 4 and a half feet tall. Both her daughters were of a similar height. She was small and slim with large double-D or F-cup breasts. She had an age-thickened waist adding only a little padding around her lower belly but was still very waspish. The rest of her maternal weight broadened her hips, thickened her thighs, and added very sumptuous curves to her behind.

Fernanda and Marisol were much slimmer. They both had their mother's mocha skin, dark brown almost black eyes, and dark brown hair. But where Esmeralda and Fernanda's hair was bone straight, Marisol's hair was kinky, coiling curls.

Fernanda had an oval face like her mother with thick natural eyebrows and a very plump rosebud mouth. Marisol had a heart-shaped face with a thin upper lip and a much plumper bottom lip. Fernanda was a pear with a small chest, small B-cup breasts, a waist that was the same measurement as her underbust, and she had wide hips for a girl who was less than 5 feet tall. Marisol was an hourglass like her mother with large double-D breasts, and a small waspish waist before flaring out to broad hips and bubble butt. The thick round bubble butt was a shared feature of all three women.

Nathan was more nervous than the girls were about stripping. He mumbled something like, "First Mom, then Reagan, and now this!"

I didn't know what he meant but we all stared at him until I finally said, "Son, it has to be done. I tell you what, we will go start our showers while you undress, then come and join us. I'm not letting you in the bunker until you strip and bathe."

"What? No! He's seen us naked!" Marisol protested, "We had to strip in front of you!"

"It's only fair that you both strip in front of us," Esmeralda said with a grin as she ogled me.

I gave her a bashful smile, but I understood Nathan's feelings more than a little. Plus, I couldn't help but feel like I was cheating on Eleanor. With an exasperated sigh and more than a few nervous looks at Marisol-- So, that was how the wind blew! --Nathan finally stripped his clothes off and deposited them in a holding bucket while all the women smiled and had their turn to ogle.

Esmeralda was smirking when she stepped in close and mumbled, "Ah youth. So wasted on the young. Though, I find the comparison to wine to be as true for men as it is for women. The new wine is so vibrant and colorful..."

"And aromatic," I added with a grin.

Esmeralda smiled and nodded but continued, "Ah yes. Aroma. However, the seasoned wine," and she very obviously ogled me while cupping her hands under her very large F-cup breasts, I decided they must be, to keep them from jiggling too much before she concluded, "has more flavor."

"Very true," I admitted as my eyes dropped from hers to ogle her breasts before returning to her onyx eyes.

She smirked, but then I cleared my throat and looked at Fernanda, Marisol, and Nathan. I tried very hard with the girls to not look at their breasts or bellies or hips, but it was a futile thing, so I said, "Okay, let's go bathe."

I led them to the communal bathing room I built in one container.

"The first thing we did," I explained as I flipped a switch that turned on the low voltage LED lighting down the first two shipping containers that made up the downstairs central hallway, "Was to drill a well and dig a French-drain septic system. The well provides water to a buried cistern above us. That provides us with water pressure. The septic system is below us and several yards away so that if there are any problems, it doesn't flood the compound."

"I notice that you have many plants, and it doesn't look like we're inside shipping containers," Esmeralda said.

"No. Your right," I agreed, "Eleanor insisted that this look like an actual home if we were going to raise our children here for any length of time. And the plants are to help keep the air fresh. There is ventilation and air conditioning, but if we have to seal ourselves off from the outside air supply for any length of time, without the plants we would suffocate. So, there is a centrally located garden with dedicated lighting. Most of the electricity we have is dedicated to providing the light needed to grow plants underground. All the other plants spread out throughout the compound need only a little to no light."

"It's very comfortable," Fernanda remarked.

"Thank you," I replied as I brought them to the bathing room just across from the central garden.

The bathing room was a communal bath with twelve open-air showers on one end, a large communal bathtub for soaking in the center of the shipping container, and a single self-standing bathtub on the other end.

"The water used to bathe with is sent to another potable water container that is then used to water the plants," I said proudly pointing out the unseen features no one would know about unless I told them.

"Very environmentally conscious of you," Fernanda said.