Dead Life Read Online Free PDF Page B

back.  Al had a small in ground pool in his backyard and a huge shed.  We went inside the shed and I was surprised to see how empty it was.  There were a few things in it; his lawn mower and a work bench with some tools on it.  Mostly, it was just empty.
                  “When I had the pool put in, I had this done.”
                  He pulled on a ring in floor and opened the entrance to a stairway.  When he opened the hatch a light came on and he started down.  We went down some pretty steep steps.  It was cramped down there and it was empty except for a wall where it looked like there was a door to a huge safe.
                  “This is my bomb shelter.”  Let me show you inside.”
                  He opened the door and we went in.  I was impressed.  He had everything.  Along one wall was the living area.  It had two sets of bunk beds, a small table with chairs, a chemical toilet, a shower, and a small living area with a TV and a stereo.  On another wall was all his supplies.  He had canned goods, MREs (ready to eat meals) bottled water, soup, guns, ammunition, and lots and lots of boxes of stuff.  
                  “Through that other door at the far end is my generator and air filtration system.  Where we’re standing, it’s twenty feet underground.  The shower works off the pool.  There’s a pump on that wall to keep the pool chlorinated.  The pool fills automatically off county water, that is until it the water shuts down.  I’ve got a 500 gallon propane tank buried on the far side of the yard to run the generator.”
                  “I had no idea you had all this down here.”
                  “That’s the way I want it.  You finished with that beer?  Have another.”
                  I took another beer.
              “Does that crate really have grenades in it?”
                  “Yup.  I have enough munitions down here for a small army.”
                  “Are you expecting a nuclear war?”
                  “Nah, just a war.  There might be tactical nukes but nothing major.  An all out nuclear war wouldn’t make sense.  Who would win?”
                  “Yeah, nobody wins if everything’s gone.”
                  “I was planning on hiding out down here and waiting.”
                  “Waiting for what?”
                  “I don’t know.  Just see where things end up.  Take it from there.”
                  “So, why are you showing me this now?”
                  “Because I think we’re on the same page.  Let’s go back up.  There’s something else I want to show you.”
                 
                 
                 
     
     
     
    Chapter 9
                  Al led me back to his house.  We went in and he sat down at his computer.  It was a nice one.  Everything in his house was nice.  About this time I was thinking how bad I’d screwed up as a kid.  Al was 62, had been retired for quite a while, and seemed to be living the good life.  If I’d have joined the service right out of high school I could have retired years ago.  Twenty and out was sounding pretty good about now.
                  “Hey Al, how long were you in the army?”
                  “I was a Marine.  To hell with the goddamn army.”
                  “My son’s in the army.”
                  “Oh, that’s right.  Sorry.  I just never liked the army.  Anyway, I was in for 32 years.”
                  “Seems like the service would have been a good way to go.”
                  “Yeah, I retired as a Master Sergeant.  The pension isn’t bad plus after I got out, I did some work for the government.  That’s why I don’t trust