Twisting Topeka by Lissa Staley

son?”
    Ken jumped. His dad stood in the
hatchway with his arms crossed.
    “ We should refurbish this
thing and restock it.”
    “ Why would we do
that?”
    “ To save our lives when
Iran and North Korea mess up and blow up the world.”
    His dad laughed and shook his head.
“You sound like Grandpa Ellis. Only he worried about Russians
blowing us up.”
    “ How can you laugh? You’re
the one who joined the Kansas Patriot Responders. Their whole
mission is to help defend this country, if we get attacked by
foreign or domestic enemies. This would be a great place to use as
a base of operations should something happen.”
    His dad, who had served thirty-five
years with the Army’s Corps of Engineers before retiring two months
ago, glanced over the supply racks. He looked over his shoulder at
the living area before refocusing on Ken.
    “ You’re right. But counting
the members of my unit, their spouses, and children, there’s not
enough space for everyone. We’d need to purchase the missile silo
across the road and build enough living pods to house, feed, and
support over four hundred people. We’d also need to make
accommodations for livestock. Not to mention planting hydroponic
gardens, finding a power source, and filtering breathable air and
safe drinking water.”
    Ken grabbed a shovel from a wall hook.
“Let’s do it.”
    That night at dinner, his mother’s jaw
dropped. “You’re doing what?”
    Ken looked at his dad. “We’ll blast
through the rock and make living pods just like the one
Great-Grandpa Ellis made when the military built the silo across
the road. It will be our underground ark for surviving nuclear
disaster.”
    “ James Crawford, you’ve
warped this boy’s mind with all your survivalist talk.”
    “ There’s nothing warped
about him. He’s talking sense. I researched underground cities this
afternoon and it can be done with enough concrete and steel to
protect against ground shifts. And purchasing the silo will cut
down on some of the digging and construction work needed.” He
reached over and took her hand. “Face it, Carol, with the way
things are going, even if there isn’t a nuclear Armageddon, we may
need a place to hide our families from those committing
genocide.”
    She threw up her hands. “Fine, but
where will you get the money?”
     
    Seven Years
Later
    Ken stared up at the gigantic
windmills. Transforming the Crawford Cattle Ranch into a wind farm
had not only generated revenue to finance building the underground
ark; the huge turbines also powered the community.
    He walked to one of the windmills and
entered a door in its base. Inside, a ladder went up for
maintenance and a hatchway opened down into what insiders called
New Topeka. He climbed down into a decontamination chamber and
passed through to a corridor where an underground stream ran
through a covered trench in the center. The portal he entered next
led into one of ten hydroponics gardens where fruits and vegetables
grew.
    Alicia stood in a row, picking ripe
strawberries. He kissed her on the cheek.
    “ How’s the harvest
going?”
    “ Great! We’ll have plenty
of food for our wedding banquet.”
    He wrapped his arms around her. “I
still wish we were having the banquet below ground to help christen
the ark.”
    She stiffened. “We’re holding the
wedding topside like normal people.”
    “ I know. Besides, Mom is
ecstatic that we’re holding the ceremony in her flower garden and
Dad already has the barbeque in the smoker.” He touched his nose to
hers. “And…I’m happy we won’t have far to go to start our
honeymoon.”
    She frowned. “I wish our first home
together wasn’t a living pod in New Topeka.”
    “ We talked about this.
Living in our pod will help us save money for a down payment on our
own house.”
    “ We could live in the
apartment above Dad’s garage.”
    “ And I’d have to commute to
the ranch every day. Besides, once the satellite dishes I ordered
arrive, I’ll need