Todd Strasser - Fallout

I started to shake my head, but that made it hurt more. Dad was a football fan, but we’d never gone to a game.

“Ronnie and I go a lot,” Mr. Shaw said. “Have a great time, don’t we, Sport?”

Ronnie nodded morosely.

“Maybe you’d like to come with us to a game?”

“You mean, if there isn’t a war?” I asked.

“That’s right,” Mr. Shaw said patiently. “We’ll only go to the game if we haven’t gone to war. Would you like that, Scott?”

“Sure, that would be great,” I said.

Ronnie’s dad smiled. “Okay, let’s plan on it.”

When it was time to go, Ronnie got his jacket.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“With you.”

“Because I’m drunk?” I asked.

Mr. Shaw rubs my head. “You’re not drunk, Scott. Now, run along.”

It was dark and chilly outside. Ronnie kicked a stone down the sidewalk. “Don’t tell your parents, okay?”

“That I’m going to a football game?”

“No, dummy, about the wine.” He held up his pinkie. “Swear?”

I had to think about it. I guess I knew they were using the Giants to get me to not tell, but the truth was, except for my head hurting, no harm had been done. I didn’t know why I’d taken that big gulp of Dubonnet, but they hadn’t made me, and I didn’t want to get the Shaws into trouble or to make Ronnie angry with me.

I hooked my pinkie to his. “Swear.”

“Okay.” He nodded grimly and patted me on the back. “See you tomorrow.”

No one’s spoken since Janet made her plea for their help to find her children. I know they must feel as bad as I do, but right now we’re so weak, and fortifying the broken bunk bed under the trapdoor seems like such a huge task. Maybe if we just rest awhile…

But minutes pass and no one moves.

It’s Sparky who finally speaks up. “I’ll try again, Janet.”

Of course, there’s nothing he can do, but somehow, hearing him say it gets the others to reconsider. Eventually, everyone, even Mr. McGovern, agrees to try. It takes a while, but we manage to get the boards up on top of the bunk under the trapdoor. Dad wants to use some of the posts from the other bunk bed to make this one stronger, and Mr. McGovern suggests angling them in a way that Dad didn’t think of.

Sometimes it feels like we’re working in slow motion, but finally we’re ready.

Then Dad climbs up and says something that really surprises me: “Ronnie and Scott, I want you to help. There’s only room for two adults up here. But I think we can squeeze two boys in place of one adult and still have room for me.”

As frightening as it all is, it makes me feel good that Dad wants me to help. That he thinks Ronnie and me together will be stronger than Mr. Shaw.

We slowly climb up on the reinforced bunk bed, and all three of us put on gas masks. Feeling a crazy mixture of fright and hope, I lie on my back next to Ronnie with our feet against the underside of the cold trapdoor while Dad wedges his back against it. “I hate to say it, boys, but our lives depend on this.”

What if I’m not strong enough?

What if no one would be strong enough?

“One, two, three… push!”

We grimace and push as hard as we can. It’s difficult to breathe with the masks on, and the clear plastic disks quickly fog from exertion. The trapdoor feels like it weighs a ton. Something really heavy must be on top of it. Dad grunts. My heart thuds so hard, I can feel the pulse thumping in my ears. The door rises slightly.

“It’s working!” Mrs. Shaw’s voice reaches my ears. “Keep going!”

“You can do it!” Sparky yells.

The trapdoor rises a little more. Bright light begins to seep in.

“A post!” Dad croaks, and Mr. Shaw quickly jams one into the gap between the trapdoor and the closet floor above.

“Stop pushing,” Dad gasps.

Ronnie and I go limp, panting and exhausted from the effort. The light seeping in around the trapdoor feels unnaturally bright, and we have to squint.

With the light comes cold air. Dad studies the instruments from the radiation kit. “Fifty-five roentgens. That’s close enough.”

When he yanks off his mask, it catches me off-guard. It almost seems reckless.

“Come on, boys,” he urges.

Ronnie and I pull off our masks, and cool, fresh air fills our lungs. It feels amazing.

But with it comes a smell.

Like rotten meat.

The others smell it. Noses wrinkle, eyes wince. Dad’s face falls. “Everyone into the other room,” he orders grimly.

Janet leads Sparky back around the shield wall. Ronnie and I climb down and follow. Only the dads stay behind.

In the shelter, Ronnie, Paula, and I sit together, listening to every sound and whisper that comes around the shield wall. Wood scrapes and men grunt.

“Can you turn that post sideways?”

“Wedge it in as far as it will go.”

“There’s a hammer in the toolbox,” Dad says.

Mr. McGovern comes back into the shelter. He seems full of energy, and I wonder whether it’s from excitement or if he really has been saving it up like he said he was. He gets the hammer and goes back through the gap, and soon we hear banging.

“That should work.”

“What about this piece?”

“Can you jam it in that way?”

A long silence follows. Those of us in the shelter exchange uncertain glances.

“Dad?” I call.

“Just a second,” he calls back. Then to the other fathers: “Ready?”

We hear grunts and heaving noises. Wood creaks. Metal hinges squeak….

There’s a slithering sound as if something is sliding off the trapdoor.

The narrow corridor on the other side of the shield wall fills with light. Different light. Natural light. Sparky jumps to his feet and dashes out.

The rest of us follow.

Above us, the trapdoor is open. Dad’s standing on top of the bunk bed, his body half out of the shelter, his pale skin bathed in light. It’s cold, and the rotten meat smell is awful. Mr. McGovern and Mr. Shaw are standing on the floor below.

“How is it?” Mr. McGovern asks somberly.

Something in Dad’s throat catches. “It’s… okay… I guess.”

It was Why Can’t You Be Like Johnny?’s birthday. Earlier in the day, a U.S. Air Force spy plane was shot down over Cuba, and now the U.S. Armed Forces were being mobilized. Preparations for war had begun.

The Sinclairs canceled the birthday party but invited Ronnie, Freak O’ Nature, and me over for cake because we lived so close. Dad said it was okay to go. This was the first time we’d been allowed in the Sinclairs’ house since the Pee Steam Incident of the previous summer. Why Can’t You Be Like Johnny?’s bedroom was upstairs and had its own porch, and one night we’d brought sleeping bags over and slept on the porch under the stars. It was chilly in the morning, and Ronnie said that instead of using the bathroom, we should pee over the railing because when it was cold, your pee had steam. Why Can’t You Be Like Johnny? said it wasn’t cold enough for pee steam, and Ronnie said, “Wanna bet?”

I was surprised that Why Can’t You Be Like Johnny? took the bet, but I guess he was determined to prove Ronnie wrong. We stood at the railing and peed down onto the flower beds. Of course, Why Can’t You Be Like Johnny? was right because he was always right. Then Ronnie laughed and said he’d known all along that it wasn’t cold enough for pee steam and he’d really just wanted to see if he could get us all to pee off the porch.