"And what are the names of your passengers?" the woman asked.
"Heather Chapsman and Christopher Woodsen," Francis answered.
"We received a message from your father. I'm assuming you have the box?"
"Yes, I brought it with."
"Please pull ahead and park anywhere," the woman ordered.
Francis pulled into a parking space. Two cars had arrived before them. One was a black SUV with two people in their late seventies inside while the other was a red sports car with a young couple in their early thirties inside. The older family walked up to the teens and greeted them.
"Well, hello. I'm glad to see such youngsters this interested in history," said the old man, shaking Chris's hand.
"I didn't think anyone could be more interested in this kinda stuff than my good pal Francis," said Chris, slapping Francis hard on the back, almost knocking him over.
"Good to see. We just wanted to come and meet some of the people we will be staying with," said the old man. "You seem like good kids. My name is Maxwell by the way, but you can call me Max, and this here is my wonderful wife Carmella."
"It really is a pleasure to meet you," Carmella said.
A blue sedan pulled up next to Francis. Two kids, who looked to be slightly younger than Heather, emerged from the car. The girl had blonde hair with a purple streak on one side. She was wearing headphones and seemed to be oblivious to her surroundings. She was followed by an enthusiastic boy a year younger than his sister. He had thick black hair and a thin body.
"When mom said we needed to spend time together, I thought she meant going out to lunch, not go to some dirty old bunker in the middle of the woods," the girls said.
"Nicole Ashley, if you do not lose that attitude, I will make sure that damn phone stays here," scolded a middle-aged man, climbing out of the driver's seat.
"Middle name, huh. You've really done it now," laughed her brother.
"Shut it, Evan," shouted Nicole.
Max and Carmella left Chris, Francis, and Heather and went over to the other family.
"Man, you're even prettier up close," Evan said from behind Heather.
"What the hell!" exclaimed Heather as spun around and jumped into Chris, knocking him over.
"Sorry for scaring you. My name is Evan, Evan Feltzler," Evan said, extend his arm to help Chris up.
"It's fine," said Heather, whose face was still red.
Francis looked down at his watch. It was 10:28. The tour was supposed to begin at 10:30. The woman that at the guard station walked to the front of the small crowd and addressed them. "Hello everyone. My name is Joleena, and I'll be your guide for today. I just want to give a few reminders before we go in. Please don't touch anything. There will be absolutely no flash photography. Everything in there is exactly the way they left it. Lunch will be at noon and after that I will allow you to explore freely."
Joleena turned around and walked to the door. There was a keypad under the handle. Francis watched the numbers get punched in and memorized them. "4,1,1,2,8" He noticed something unusual about them. They represented a date. Today's date. April 11th, 2028. He leaned over to Chris and whispered, "Hey. I just watched her put a code in the door."
Chris whispered back, "So."
"The code is four, eleven, twenty-eight that's today's date. Doesn't that seem a little fishy?"
"Stop being suspicious about everything and have fun," Chris said.
"You're right," replied Francis.
The door opened slowly, accompanied by the sound of metal grinding. Joleena led the group into the bunker. Francis grabbed the box and carried it inside and placed it Joleena told him to. The door led to a long corridor with an elevator at the end with a few supply rooms on either side of the hallway. Joleena talked little about this section.
Joleena led the group into the large freight elevator. After about five minutes, the elevator opened, revealing another long corridor. Along this corridor were doors that led to different rooms. At the end of the corridor was a T-junction with hallways on either side. Joleena opened the first door, which led to what appeared to be a conference room. In the center of the room was a large wooden table with about thirty chairs. In the middle of the table sat what looked to be a hologram projector. Around the table were many files, most of them looked the same. Chris saw Francis, who was at the end of the group, took one file while no one was looking. He watched Francis slide to the back as far away from Joleena as possible. Out of curiosity, Chris fell back with him. Chris noticed the shocked expressions coming from Francis.
"What are you reading there that's so interesting?" Chris asked.
"Here, see for yourself. Look at the project overview, then look at the last page," said Francis, handing Chris the file behind his back.
Chris looked at the cover of the file. [Project Humanity's Last Resort]. As instructed, he flipped to the last page of records.
"April 9th, 2028" Francis was in shock. The ninth was on Friday. He continued reading. "Today we finished preparations for Project HLR. Despite our warnings, Daniel Shirker insisted on setting the launch date for Sunday, April eleventh, 2028. All 150 Noah's Ark will be filled. To all reading this, welcome to the new world."
Chris recalled what he read on the outside of the bunker just above the door. "No-a-'s A-k #151". Chris was able to fill in the blanks to figure out that the sign said, "Noah's Ark #151". He turned to the project overview page as the group made their way to the armory in the next room.
"Project Humanity's Last Resort, HLR, funded by Daniel Shirker, was a secret government operation that served as a reset button for the world. It would trigger a chain of natural disasters that would wipe out all of humanity. In order to restore life after the event. Project HLR established around 150 bunkers across the United States to hold both people and animals during the events of this project and release them once the state of the planet returned to a suitable environment to live in. These bunkers were known as Noah's Arks. Between the 150 bunkers Project HLR planned to save up to one million citizens ranging from the age of 18-30 to restart the population. These people were to be healthy and fit, with no hereditary illnesses or conditions. There were also older people selected within various occupations such as healthcare and government to care for and lead the survivors in the new world."
Chris felt sick to his stomach. His mind began running a million miles an hour. "If there were only 150 bunkers, why is this one 151. Most of the people here are outside that age group. Is the world really going to end? Are we special?"
The group had now passed through the medical room and visiting the craftsmen's room. Joleena stopped and was talking about something, but Chris couldn't understand what was being said. Every noise seemed to come together to for some sort of jumble up, inaudible mumbling. Chris looked down at his phone. The time was 11:45. He separated himself from the group and walked back to the conference room. He returned the file to the table and headed for the door to the corridor. Chris opened the door and almost ran headfirst into Heather.
"What are you doing?" Heather asked. "The tour is headed back this way. If you get caught, lord knows what they'll do to you."
"Something feels off about this place. After lunch, go to the conference room and read one of the files," Chris replied.
Chris and Heather were heading back down the hallway. Joleena and the others rounded the corner. Chris grabbed Heather and pulled her into the armory. The door to the armory had a one-way glass window on it. As the group passed by, Chris cracked the door and grabbed Francis, who was still in the back, and pulled him into the room.
"What the hell are you doing in here?" Francis asked.
Before Chris could answer the question, the ground began to vibrate. Chris looked out the open door. Joleena and the young woman boarded the elevator. Her husband tried to board with them, but he was pushed back. The doors closed, and the elevator ascended. Chris closed the door and pushed himself up against a shelf. The shaking gradually got more intense over the timeframe of one minute until it was so violent Chris could stand.
Heather crawled over next to Chris and grabbed onto his arm. "If we don't get out of here Chris, there's something I want you to know," Heather began. "Chris, I lo-."
"Why don't you wait to tell me when I can hear better," Chris shouted. "And don't worry, we will survive this."
A piece of metal fell off the shelf and hit Chris in back of the head. Chris was knocked unconscious and collapsed on the ground. Moments later, the cables supporting the elevator snapped. The elevator fell to the ground with both women still inside.