Twisting Topeka by Lissa Staley Page B

a radio. Amid the bustle of cleaning up their son and the
birthing room, they listened to news reports about how an accident
in the Middle East released not only radiation, but chemical nerve
agents into the jet stream. Millions of people were dying in the
Mediterranean and Asia. In retaliation, North Korea launched its
nuclear arsenal on the Middle East and claimed missiles exploding
in Europe, Asia, and Africa were targeting accidents.
    “ Ken, we need to get the
animals moved in, now,” his dad yelled.
    He kissed his wife. “I’ll be back. We
have to get everyone inside before that deadly air passes into the
United States and over Kansas.”
    Although she looked frightened, she
said, “Go! Little Noah and I will be fine.”
    Ken rushed to a decontamination
chamber and put on a protective suit. From there he went to the
underground pasture and saddled his horse. Half the herd already
lived inside, but the remaining animals ranged outside. The long
tunnel they went through provided mass entry through three
air-locked, lead-lined, steel doors. Before each door opened, the
previous one closed to prevent contamination of the underground
ark.
    “ How much time do we have?”
Ken asked.
    His dad shook his head. “Not long.
Twelve to fifteen hours. The accident only happened six hours ago
and the Japanese estimate that nearly half their population was
affected. According to the weather reports, the jet stream has
several abrupt direction changes and is moving rather fast. If the
air jets don’t break up, this catastrophe could potentially affect
every nation on Earth within a day.”
    Herding the livestock into the
underground pasture took eleven hours since they ran each animal
through a dip bath to rid them of parasites before releasing them
into the meadow. They checked in with the south entrance and
learned that the job of settling the zoo animals down took just as
long.
    When they finally finished cleaning up
in the decontamination chamber, Ken’s dad walked to the end of the
stream corridor and checked the gauges on the water filtration
unit.
    “ Colonel Crawford.” A
Patriot sentry stopped and saluted. “All members are present and
accounted for. What do we do about the extra people who have asked
to join us?”
    “ How many?”
    The sentry held out a clipboard.
“Ken’s in-laws and relatives of Patriots make up about two dozen.
The rest are outsiders.”
    His dad studied the list. “We can only
take forty-two more people without risking over population. There
are over a hundred people on this list.”
    “ I know, sir.”
    Ken watched his dad put checkmarks
beside forty-two names. He breathed a sigh of relief when Alicia’s
folks received approval. As the sentry scurried off, he stared at
this man who just made such a life and death decision.
    “ Do I dare ask how you
chose?”
    They walked to the landing and looked
down over the harried activities of people locating their pods and
moving in boxes of personal belongings.
    “ Noah from the Bible was
only allowed to bring his family and two pairs of each animal. Like
his ark, New Topeka is being colonized to help rebuild a whole
civilization. Other survivors around the world will find shelter,
but there will be those who will die suddenly from the nerve agents
like those in Asia. Others will get radiation sickness and die in a
matter of days, weeks, and months. There’s nothing we can do about
that. All we can do is keep those inside this community safe and
healthy. What I did to avoid overcrowding is take care of our own
first and our future second. Relatives are a no brainer. They’re
blood, you can’t turn them away. Next, I chose those important to
our future; teachers, ministers, and medical professionals. At that
point, I had three spots left; so I picked a fitness instructor, an
artist, and a poet.”
    “ Why them?”
    “ The fitness instructor
will help us keep our bodies in shape. The artist and poet will
help keep our minds open to