Breakout (Final Dawn) by Darrell Maloney Page A

general assumption among the men that their facial features were probably fairly well intact, much like Egyptian mummies of old.
         None of them unwrapped the bodies from their burial shrouds to find out, though. There was no need for the bodies to suffer such an indignity after resting peacefully for so long.
         Besides, they all preferred to remember the bodies as the people they once were, not what nature had transformed them into.
         While they were preparing the bodies, The girls were inside trying their best to console Roxanne and Rachel, making small talk with them about their father and their lives with him. The girls wanted him reburied in the family plot, but the actual process reopened old wounds and brought back new pain.
         Hannah and Sarah found out things about Bill they hadn’t previously known. He had been a United States Marine, had fought for his country during Operation Desert Storm. Then he’d been a high school teacher, and later a principal.
         Hannah excused herself for a minute and called Mark on the radio, out of earshot of Roxanne and Rachel. Didn’t they have a couple of American flags somewhere in a box?
         Mark said he’d take care of it, and thanked her for the information.
         After the bodies were placed within the caskets, the men moved to the northwest corner of the compound, to the small piece of land designated as the family burial plot. It was forty feet square. These two graves would seem lost in a sea of space, but they knew that in the years ahead everyone else would join them. One at a time. Mark found himself wondering just how many generations would have to live in this place before the world was sane enough and safe enough to venture out past those walls again.
         Hannah walked out of the “big house,” as they’d started to call the main building in recent months. It was a humorous reference to what inmates sometimes call a prison.
         “Hi. It’s pretty stressful in there. How are you guys holding up?”
         “Probably better than Roxanne and Rachel. I think it helped us to be involved in the process of getting the bodies ready. Or maybe just staying busy in general.”
         “What’s the game plan?”
         “After we finish the graves, we’re going to leave everything overnight and have the funerals in mid morning. Mom first, then Bill. We decided a joint funeral wasn’t right. They were both fine people and both deserve their own moment in the sun.”
         “What can Sarah and I do to help?”
         “You can pass the word to everyone that the graveside service for Mom will be at nine a.m. Then everyone will return to the big house while we move Bill into place, and will return for his graveside service at ten thirty. Then anyone who’s interested can gather in the lounge for remembrance.”
         “Okay, got it. What else?”
         “We thought we’d leave the bodies in repose overnight, under candlelight, for anyone who wants to visit them and spend time with them. Can you find some candles to place atop the caskets, and maybe a kneeling pillow to place before each one?”
         “Sure. Anything else?”
         “No, I think that about covers it.”
         The following morning, David manned the security desk and everyone else assembled at the grave of Phyllis Snyder. Bryan, who’d once toyed with the idea of becoming a minister, conducted a brief but dignified service to celebrate the life of his mother. The group sang her favorite hymn, How Great Thou Art , and then retreated to the lounge for coffee while the men lowered her casket into the grave and prepared the adjacent plot for the second service.
         The funeral for Bill Meyers was just a bit more elaborate.
         John and Brad were both military veterans. Although they had no uniforms, they stood at attention and saluted their fallen brother-in-arms. Then they enlisted the help of