Ever Hayes - Emergency Exit

He went on to explain that there weren’t many black people in rural North Dakota, and they were used to being treated quite differently by the locals. He and his boys appreciated that we hadn’t seemed to care what color they were. “ Good people are good people, regardless of skin color.” He said. We were all on the same page there.

I could tell he’d raised his family with the same philosophies as ours. He seemed fine with putting his life on the line with ours, trusting us, and leaving here with the rest of us.

“All or nothing,” I heard him mutter to himself.

“Dad?” Sam asked.

“Nothing.” Wes patted him on the back. “Everyone come with me.” He led us down the short hallway towards the lake. “There may still be a way out of this.”

We listened with awe, and renewed hope, as Wes showed us the lake escape and explained how the hatch system worked. There were a few limitations we’d have to adjust for. Only four of us would be able to leave at a time, so if anyone noticed the first group leaving, we’d probably all be killed. They wouldn’t hesitate to blow the roof in then. Once the first group left, the power in the rest of the bunker would be permanently out, or we’d all be electrocuted. Likewise, there was no way back in once we left. The scuba breathing gear would work for us all, but there were only six adult wetsuits. The six suits for his grandkids would be useless to us, but we could use the tanks and masks. Danny and Cameron each had their own military diving suits, but that still only made eight. Three of us would have to make the journey without wetsuits, and that water was near ice. We wouldn’t last long, and it was a long journey across the lake to the highway. There was a used auto dealer on the outskirts of Fort Totten. If we could get there, surely we could find the keys to some vehicles and flee. But that was a big “if” at this point. Other than Wes and Sam, none of us were convinced this would work—but what choice did we have?

Kate and Jenna were both swim team veterans and, with Danny and Cameron, were probably the best swimmers, so they volunteered to go without wetsuits, using only their insulated tights and tops to provide some cover. Danny and Cameron had to keep their diving suits because they were going out first and intended to stay in the water the longest to ensure we all made it out. Grandpa Dan and Grandma Ollie both needed suits, and Sam wanted Hayley to take his. He would go without. Danny tossed Sam a Marine issued insulated top from his own pack. Everyone else was good. Danny and Cameron bound as many supplies as they could in waterproof duffels. We were going to have to leave a lot of gear behind, so we reasoned through the process of whittling it down. Finally, close to 1 a.m., we were set.

Danny, Cameron, Isaac and Hayley were going first. They were taking the biggest load of equipment with them, albeit the lightest gear, and Isaac and Hayley would have to drag it across the lake while Danny and Cameron hung back.

Jenna exchanged a quick hug with Hayley and a kiss with Cameron. Danny was reassuring Kate he’d be waiting for her and instructing her to keep her group quiet. He looked at me and nodded. “I’ll see you in a bit, Dad.” Then the four of them stepped into the chamber.

Wes gave Danny a thumbs-up. Danny returned the gesture, took a deep breath, pulled his mask down, and pushed the button. There was a quiet whir as the chamber filled with water and the face of the hatch opened, releasing the four of them into the cove. Danny made sure the hatch door closed behind them, and, as an additional precaution, they all dove deep, moving out into the middle of the lake before surfacing. Looking back, it was obvious no one was aware of their escape. The soldiers still stood around their campfires and the spotlights. A couple men were patrolling the shoreline in front of the cabin, but they hadn’t stopped or redirected any spotlights. No one was looking for them in the lake, and their heat signals would be impossible to detect in the ice bath. Twenty minutes later, the second foursome surfaced, and they weren’t doing well. Jenna and Kate were shivering uncontrollably, and Mom and Dad were struggling with the weight of the items they were towing. Danny made a judgment call to have Cameron accompany Jenna, Kate and Mom to the shore to join Hayley and Isaac. Dad would stay with Danny in case the final group needed any help.

Wes, Sam, and I made up the final group. As the chamber filled with water one last time, I knew it had to be a bittersweet moment for Wes. He’d told us about the millions he’d poured into this place, and all of that would now be going down the drain. But it had served its purpose, and it could potentially save us all. As we were released out into the cove, I watched as Wes turned back and locked the hatch open. This way when the soldiers blew up the bunker, it would instantly fill with water, and they wouldn’t be able to salvage much from the ensuing mess. It was an ingenious design, something his former supervisors would have been proud of.

“It worked, Dad,” Sam chattered when we surfaced, giving him a fist bump. “Worth every penny.”

“Yes, it was.” Wes agreed.

“We’ve got to go, guys.” I whispered, a tad reluctant to break up the moment of pride between them.

We joined Danny and Dad in heading to the opposite shore. As we got out and changed, we did our best to restore the body heat of the three without wetsuits, wrapping them in thick blankets and instant heat packs. Soon everyone was dressed again, head to toe in black, and we were ready to head towards the car dealer.

Well, almost. “Guys,” Hayley spoke up. “We have a problem.”

We were missing a bag. Wes shook his head as we circled around him. “I left a bag in there, guys. I don’t know how…but I did. I was supposed to have two bags and only came out with one.”

Danny remained calm. Wes had a lot on his mind. Now was not the time to overreact. “Did anyone else grab the bag?” He looked around. None of us had, so he then asked, “Which bag was it?”

“Care to guess?” Wes replied with a strained laugh, but he answered before Danny could prompt him further. “The one with the maps.”

“Shit,” Cameron muttered.

“Yes.” Wes nodded. “I know.”

Danny knelt and tapped his fingers on a large rock at his feet, reciting from memory the inventory of the bag. “Tent, sleeping bag, guns, ammo, food, the folder of maps…anything else?”

No one could think of anything. None of the maps had our exact route, but the national one had a general hand-drawn line from Northern Minnesota through Colorado to Hawaii. To save space we had only included the maps of the states we intended to cross. That could be a problem. Our route could be relatively obvious to anyone flipping through them.

Another problem was the guns. If these were the same soldiers from Grand Forks, and they were smart enough to compare the serial numbers on the guns to the registry back at Cabela’s they’d know they were still following the same people. This captain seemed intelligent. That couldn’t be much of a stretch. With no bodies in the bunker, wouldn’t he figure we were still moving and pick up the chase again? Yes. Probably . I leaned over and voiced my concerns in Danny’s ear.

He clearly agreed. Turning to Wes, Danny asked, “There’s no way to get back in there, right?” Wes shook his head. “All right.” Danny shrugged and stood. There went that idea. “Then we’ve gotta go.”

Lugging all our gear, we hiked across the road and around the outskirts of Fort Totten to the used car dealership. The door was unlocked, as were the key boxes. Danny and Cameron searched for the best transport options while the rest of us huddled in the main lobby. No one said a word.