Twisting Topeka by Lissa Staley Page A

every moment I can get each day to get our rural
Internet service off the ground and running.”
    “ You’re right. I’ll do my
best to get used to it.”
    Ken gave her a reassuring kiss before
leaving the garden. He walked further down the stream corridor and
entered the underground pasture, which was built to support enough
livestock to provide residents with enough milk, eggs, and protein
for a healthy diet. He bent down and felt the five inch tall
pasture grass. A week ago they started keeping a small herd of
inside to see how well the animals assimilated to underground
living. So far the cattle and horses seemed content to roam around
the huge cavern, which received sunlight through a lead glass
designed to stop radiation and chemical leakage. A rooster crowed
and pig squealed, the sounds echoing through the manmade
cavern.
    As he listened to the familiar
barnyard sounds, he wondered how noisy a second animal habitat
built near the missile silo entrance would get. Like Noah, they
arranged to house several varieties of animals, which would
transfer in from the Topeka Zoo in the event of an emergency. The
underground zoo offered the animals the same environments they
lived in at Gage Park, but would require a full zoo staff to
maintain compared the few ranch hands who would take care of the
animals in the pasture chamber.
    “ There you are.”
    Ken stood and joined his dad in the
corridor. “How many families do we have on the roster?”
    “ We’re up to forty-five
families and thirty-one singles. We still have fifteen family pods
and twenty-one studio apartments available.”
    They walked along the corridor to a
landing where the stream turned into a waterfall to fill a pond in
a park area below. Ken looked down and watched the fish swim while
his father reviewed the latest enrollment information with
him.
    “ A few Patriots don’t think
living underground is for them. They’d rather be up top helping
survivors get to medical care and safety.”
    “ You’d think with how the
hate groups are killing innocent people without reason, they’d at
least want their families in here safe from harm.”
    His dad nodded. “We can’t force anyone
to live down here. The most we can do is make room for them should
they change their minds.”
    Ken watched as construction workers
continued to create what in essence amounted to a utopia. In the
town square, a library held not only how-to books like those
Great-Grandpa Ellis had collected, but also biographies, fiction,
poetry, music, movies, and a school. An infirmary equipped to
handle radiation and chemical poisoning was built with a direct
access elevator from the outside. Around the town square waited
chambers where residents could set up shops and cafés.
    “ Do you think we’ve planned
for every need?”
    His dad put an arm around his
shoulder. “We’ve accommodated for people, plants, and animals. And
until the time comes when we need to live here, members can use
their living pods for vacations and weekend getaways.”
    “ Alicia doesn’t want to
live down here.”
    “ You’re more than welcome
to live in the ranch house with Mom and me.”
    Ken shook his head. “I can’t explain
it, but I feel called to help others adjust to living underground.
And to do that, I need to live here to understand how living below
ground affects our psychological well being.”
    “ So that’s why you minored
in sociology while majoring in computer science and multi-media
communications.”
     
    Eleven Months
Later
    “ Push!”
    Ken wiped sweat off Alicia’s brow as
she bore down and gave birth to their son. Dr. Wilson cut the cord
and handed him the child. He looked down at the little red, slimy,
squirming infant in his hands and laughed.
    “ You did it, Babe. The
first child born in New Topeka.”
    “ Let me…see him,” she
gasped.
    He laid their son on her stomach and
she cradled her hands around him. “He’s beautiful.”
    A siren sounded and the nurse switched
on