Act - II - Revolution - Chapter - 6
We're Old!
“The Bunker”
On the third level down, there is a room. It’s just off the main corridor, and it is the same size as the bunker’s matter calibration chambers. The dark room has soft, warm downlighting. It functions efficiently as the villagers’ gym. Everyone knows that free weights and treadmills line their exercise space. There are also many other machines that no one has any idea how to use. In the last week, Adam has resumed a daily exercise routine with Raji every morning. Sweat having long ago puddled under him, Ezekil’s brother repeats bicep curls as he grunts, "Gaea—used to—make fun—of me—when I—worked out."
Raji wipes his head of perspiration. He vigorously pedals a minimalist, brushed metal exercise bike. The forty-eight-year-old tosses his hand towel over the handlebars and reminds Adam, “We wouldn’t be free without those workouts.” He visualizes what would have happened and chuckles, “Chief would have seen you coming if you hadn’t. Or you would have bogged down in the sand.” David’s uncle ceases his pedaling and allows the gears on his bike to whir. As he rests his forearms on his towel, he says sincerely, “I’m sorry I haven’t said anything about your family.”
Adam rests his dumbbell on the black, foam rubber floor. He insists, “You really don’t have to.”
“I know. But I need to. I’m so sorry about your wife and your daughter. We’re going to get them back.”
“And what if we don’t?” Adam allows the silence following his question to accentuate his point. He articulates, “Ya’ know what I keep thinking, ‘What would have happened if we had conducted our rebellion one day sooner?’”
Raji tells his friend, “We wouldn’t have had our weapons to use on Lrence.”
“I know,” agrees Adam, shaking off his contrarian attitude. “I just miss my family.” Through developing tears, he asks, “Do you think we’ll even be able to find them?”
“Honestly? I don’t know.” Adam slouches on his padded weight bench as if some strength had been removed with the answer. Then he sobs. “Hey,” Raji says. “It’s going to be okay. Gaea was close to the whole village, especially David. If anyone can find an opportunity to get your wife and your daughter back, it’s David.”
“Raji.” Adam sniffles. As though he is sure the boy’s uncle had never thought of it, he explains, “David is just a kid.”
"Yeah," Raji says, reassuring Adam that it had occurred to him before. “But, just like us, he loves freedom.”
Cocking his head sideways, Adam scoffs, “Okay?”
“Look.” Raji re-engages his exercise bike with a click and a burst of leg speed. He expounds, “Is David the strongest of us? No. Is he the smartest? Well, he’s certainly not the dumbest.”
Picking up his weight, Adam continues his curls. He laughs and says, “Not—a ringing—endorsement.”
David’s uncle leans again onto his handlebars. He continues, “My point is, name someone here who is as smart, as strong, and as young.”
After a moment of consideration, Adam answers, “No—body—comes—to mind.”
“Exactly. Unless we can wipe the Annunaki out, there is no end in sight to the struggle for our freedom. You and me are old. How long could we realistically lead a revolution? Ten, maybe twenty years? Why not give the reins to a younger man and let him learn the ropes? It’s not like we’re going anywhere in case he needs help.”
Adam again places his dumbbell on the floor. He admits, “I have a bad feeling this is all gonna end with our bunker overrun and all the villagers dead.”
“And I assure you!” After using his towel to wipe his sweaty face, Raji declares, “Anyone here would make that sacrifice if it meant that we could get Gaea back.”
“Thank you, Raji.”
Accompanied by a minor bunker-wide whir, the lights in their gym flicker. Then they become steady.
“Whoa!” Adam accompanies his friend to his feet. He asks, “What was that? Is everything okay?”
In anticipation of broken equipment, Raji dives into the bunker’s third-level corridor. He manically repeats, “No no no no!” The forty-eight-year-old looks left. He then glances to the right for confirmation. Raji swiftly proceeds to the end of the corridor. He leaves the gym’s door to automatically close Adam inside.
Adam enters the corridor. He turns right after his friend. Ezekil’s older brother is cautious as he descends the empty hallway. He asks, “Raji? Is everything okay?”
The forty-eight-year-old strokes his chin. He observes a blinking red indicator light. Raji answers, “Both indicator lights on this level are blinking full.”
Slowly advancing, Adam queries, “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
Spinning to look at Gaea’s father, Raji smiles deviously. He tells Adam, “I think the relocators have finished charging.”