Isolation - Doomsday Diary

“Tap, crack, bam!”

Harry heard them banging on the outside of the door, again. They knew he was here, but they couldn’t get to him. It was his one saving grace.

Harry had been holed up in his high-tech bunker for the last five years. Assuming the world had ended outside, he’d avoided the worst of the aftermath. His shelter had a garden, massive food stocks, and water was constantly recycled. Air scrubbers took care of the rest, and maintenance was automated by A.I. It could have been a space capsule; he was completely isolated.

Well, he had been isolated, until they had arrived a few days ago.

Harry had barely noticed the first time, but it was hard to miss noise amidst all the silence. Normally, he slept with music in the background to keep him company, but one night, he awoke to a sharp “Bang!” Something was thumping in the background of his music, coming from the entrance.

After the surface had gone radio silent, the network of caves leading to his shelter had collapsed. Cameras outside the entrance were dark. No one could have accidentally stumbled upon his bunker without spelunking. They’d have to know he was here.

Quietly sitting up in bed, he lowered the volume on his music and crept towards the door. There it was… unmistakable. It was quiet, but someone was definitely making noise near the entrance. Harry pulled up his console. External cameras were still dark, but the sound sensors were going off. This wasn’t in his head. After all these years, was someone coming to rescue him, or were they after his supplies?

The thought banged around inside his skull. Who were they? What had they been doing for the last five years? How many people were left on the surface? The thoughts multiplied with every echoing thump.

Then, as suddenly as it started, silence filled the shelter. Harry shuffled into the entranceway. His decontamination suit was hanging where he’d left it, and the shelf of tools on his left had remained undisturbed for the last three years. One forlorn pair of boots sat, cleaned and polished, in front of the hatch. He put his ear up against the door and strained to hear.

Silence. The sound had completely stopped. He hadn’t imagined it, but it was gone, now.

Waddling back into the shelter, Harry collapsed on the bed. What did it mean? Should he go out and look? The thought of leaving his shelter set off a cascade of other worries. The Outside World. He hadn’t seen it for years, so he didn’t really know the situation. Nuclear fallout was the most likely threat, but his Geiger counters weren’t registering anything this far into the cave system. They could be broken, though. He had no idea. The computer was telling him that everything was fine, but they didn’t feel fine. Something was wrong.

Sighing deeply, he grasped the locket around his neck and fiddled with the latch. Running his fingers over the intricate grooves of the heart-shaped necklace always calmed his anxiety. He went to click it open, when the banging started again.

“WHAM!”

He jumped up. It was louder. Closer!? He’d sworn they were banging on the outside of his shelter, but maybe they had just been clearing the rubble. He sprang over to his console.

Nothing. Again, there was nothing. He nervously thumbed the locket, and “WHAM!” Again?! Was it the locket?

Harry shook his head. He needed more information.

“Computer, what’s making that noise? Can you analyze the sound?”

The console light flickered on and beeped at him. The computer’s lilting drawl answered him, “The sound is the result of a percussive force somewhere within the vicinity of the local cave system. Analysis indicates that it is nearest to the shelter’s entrance.”

“Good,” said Harry, “Good thing I asked you.”

He crept over and listened at the door. Should he open it? There was no way of knowing what was on the other side.

“Computer, are there debris blocking the entrance?”

“Pressure sensors indicate that the area directly outside the doorway is congested, but it could be cleared with minimal effort. The rest of the tunnel is partially or fully obscured.”

“Is there a clear path through any of it?”

“Sensors indicate airflow. There are multiple small passageways leading into the tunnel system, but my readings terminate before the exit. It’s possible that one or more of them leads outside. I could provide you with the path of highest probability.”

“What is that probability?”

“18.2%”

“Oh, goood…” Harry sighed. Slumping onto the couch and curling up, he mulled over his options.

Well, he was safe for now. His house detected all entries, and the sensor array would pick up additional movement. Every room was wired with microphones to communicate with his A.I. It used a sophisticated web of cameras with facial recognition to track his movements, so it would know if anyone else entered the premises. He was safe from the outside world.

“BAM!”

As safe as he was going to get. He stood up.

“Computer, who made that sound?”

“Sensors indicate no one made any noise. You were breathing steadily on the sofa. Perhaps, you had a dream?”

Harry’s eyes widened. He’d been staring at the swirling green pattern of the upholstery. There was no way he’d been dreaming. What had woken him up?

“Computer, do a full sensor sweep. Is there any movement?”

The A.I’s response took a full moment. “There is no movement outside of the shelter.”

“What about inside?” Harry thought. Was the computer even telling him the truth? What if they had control of it?

The thought froze Harry in his tracks. The sensor net at his fingertips could track him anywhere in the shelter. They would know his every movement.

Who were they? If they could access his shelter so easily, then… he had no idea. He didn’t want anything to seem abnormal.

“Well, it’s time to make dinner!” he announced to no one, walking to the kitchen on shaky legs.

What should he do? He pulled out a pan and turned on the stove. Was he still safe here? Oil splashed into the bottom of the pan. Where else would he go?

What did they want? He ran his fingers over the locket around his neck.

“WHAM!!”

The locket.

“Computer, who made that sound?”

“My sensors aren’t detecting any other life-forms.”

Liar. LIAR! He didn’t trust it anymore. He knew it. They were watching him. Grow-a-meat sizzled in the pan. He poured dried garlic onto it with shaking hands, his breath getting shallower. He was panicking. The computer would know he was getting nervous. It could read biometrics. He’d invested heavily in the latest security. Now, he didn’t trust it.

Harry stared at the pan. He needed vegetables! Garden vegetables weren’t the least bit suspicious. He pulled out an unassuming onion. There, everything was normal.

“Computer, can you give me a physical?”

The red lights glowed steadily at him. “Biometrics are recording an elevated heart-rate and shallow breathing. Are you feeling okay?”

It knew.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“If you need it, I can engage the mental health protocol. Do you need to chat?”

“No, I’m fine, Computer,” he responded. It’s not like I trust you enough to talk. Not now.

The computer was against him. He was alone.

“I guess I did bury myself in a shelter miles underground,” he thought. How long had he been there, living the same routine? He tried to remember the last year, but every day bled into the next one. He couldn’t break routine, now, or the computer would be suspicious. He sat on the couch.

“What delicious food!” he chirped aloud. Totally normal.

Slowly, he spooned food into his mouth and mechanically chewed it. He’d had this meal every Tuesday for the last two years. He glanced at the wall-clock. But, it was Wednesday. He’d been distracted.

“Oh, fuck. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck!” He’d broken routine. The computer would Know. He needed to deal with this situation.

“WHAM!!”

“OH, FUCK!”

They knew that he knew that they knew! Harry needed to act, but he sat there, frozen. What should he do?

The locket! They were after the locket. He couldn’t let them have it. He ran his fingers over the clasp and felt calmer. He could think rationally for a second. There was only one solution. Harry wouldn’t let them get their hands on it.

But, he needed to be smart.

“I’m going to have a shower!” he announced.

The shelter responded with silence. He took off the locket as he slipped under the stream of hot water. Perfect.

Palming the heart in his hand, he grabbed a torch from the tool rack and went down to his workshop. The computer would recognize it as weird behaviour, but whomever was watching him wouldn’t know for sure. Unless, they’d been watching him the entire time. He’d have to risk it.

“BAM!”

Harry hurried to his workbench. Near the beginning of his isolation, he’d tried metalworking. It seemed like a good use of the infinite stretch of time that lay before him. He hadn’t picked it up for years. Nervously, he pulled a half-finished project off the dust-drenched shelf and let the locket slip between his fingers.

“You should use a safety mask before engaging with that project,” the computer chirped.

Right, of course. He had relied on it for so long that he was making mistakes without it. Pulling on his mask, he hesitantly lit the torch and directed the flame towards the project.

Small silver rivulets began running down the side of the locket. Behind the mask, tears stained Harry’s cheeks. He didn’t understand it, but he couldn’t contain the sorrow. The latch on the locket melted, and it curled open. Harry caught sight of a pair of brilliant eyes before the picture curled into the melting silver mess.

He was sobbing, but he focused through the tears. It must be done.

“Bam!”

Quieter, now. He knew it. This was the answer. He gritted his teeth. The locket had completely dissolved into the project by the time he was done. There. No one would know.

Harry felt empty. He took off the mask and laid down the torch. Now, it didn’t matter what they did to him. He’d won.

“WHAAM!!

Harry’s eyes widened.

“Computer, what was that sound?!”

“Sound is the result of a percussive force somewhere within the vicinity of the local cave system. Analysis indicates that it is nearest to the shelter’s entrance.”

That was it. He was done with this cat and mouse bullshit. With a renewed sense of purpose, he zipped himself into his hazmat suit.

Harry clipped a Geiger counter onto his suit. “Computer, give me a radiation reading.”

“Radiation levels nominal.”

Okay, well, we’ll see if that’s true. He slipped into his boots and turned on his headlamp. It was time.

Slowly, Harry opened the door and strained against the debris. He slipped a hand outside and nudged the largest rocks out of the way. Leaning hard, he shouldered the door open and stepped outside.

“BAM!!”

Harry wheeled around and barely dodged a large rock falling from the ceiling. He directed his headlamp upwards as another rock crumbled out of a large pile and “WHAMMED” into the shelter.

Harry dropped his silent Geiger counter. Nothing. He’d been scared of nothing. His locket… the computer. It had all been him. Grasping for the heart-shape, he felt a sharp pang of regret. It had cost him, but the picture was seared into his memory.

“It’s time.”

Harry disappeared into the shelter and emerged with a bag of supplies, his trusty A.I. plugged into the neck of his suit.

“Alright, so tell me again about an 18% chance of finding other people?”

“I only promised that you might find a way out.”

“Right, that’s the first step,” he laughed and set off into the darkness.