Desolate The Complete Trilogy

8



“If it weren’t for them goddamn niggers at Quentin I never would have ended up in this shit hole in the first place,” said Carl.

“Uh, huh.” Howard stared absently at the back of the prisoner in front of them as they marched to the mine. A guard had brought Carl back to the barracks that morning just before Howard and the others headed out for work in the tunnel. Carl didn’t mention where he had been or what happened, but his face sported fresh cuts and bruises.

Howard was relieved the night passed with no incidents from Big Wilbur but his mood was sour. The gravity of his situation was finally starting to take hold and depression washed over him like an oppressive blanket.

“Had to kill two of ‘em when they jumped me in the showers,” Carl continued. “Goddamn nigger queers, can you believe that shit?”

“Uh huh.”

They walked toward the mine as Carl continued the story of his actions that earned his trip to the island. Howard was lost in thought, thinking about his own story. The vivid dream from the night before still spun through his mind.

He remembered sitting through his trial listening to the terrible things he had done and feeling as if it were somebody else they were talking about. The district attorney claimed Howard Bell murdered his ex-boss, a police officer, a mother, and two young children. Howard still couldn’t believe it. He had been someone else that day. That person killed all those people and maimed poor Sal Hernandez. And now he had to pay for that man’s day of insanity. He would pay for it with the rest of his life.

The DA held the better hand at the trial than his own lawyer did. Howard’s clean criminal record didn’t stand a chance against Officer Kane’s twenty five years on the force. Kane and his wife were in the process of planning their retirement to Wisconsin’s north woods. A bullet to the face from Howard’s gun as he ran like a coward ended those plans.

The jurors had their minds made up even before the DA held up pictures of little baby Sophie. Temporarily insane or not, a victim of alcoholism or not, Howard was a monster that deserved much worse than what he dished out. Since the state of Wisconsin could not put him to death, it would do the next best thing and send him to the International Experimental Rehabilitation Facility.

“That’s why I had to beat the shit out of Reg,” Carl said. “You and me got to stick together, Howie.”

“What?”

“I said, that’s why I had to put the hurt on ‘ol Reg. Goddamn boy, ain’t you ever paying attention to what’s going on?”

“Sorry,” Howard said. “My mind is somewhere else. Who’s Reg?”

“That’s the name of that skinny little twerp who was aiming to steal your shoes.”

“Oh, right.”

Another day working in the mine started out as any other. Howard was on pick-ax duty and Carl worked right alongside him flapping his gums the whole time.

A few hours into the day, Howard noticed some commotion further down the tunnel. Several of the other workers stood around a section of the wall investigating something out of the ordinary.

One of the guards noticed their slacking. “Goddammit, what’s the hold up? Who told you maggots to stop working?”

“We found something, Boss,” one of them said. “Something buried in the rock.”

“I don’t give a fiddler’s fart if you found King Tut’s tomb. You cocksuckers better get back to work.”

“He’s right, Boss,” another worker added. “You better have a look.”

The guard reluctantly sauntered over and Howard took a chance to sidle his way closer to discovery. A smooth metallic surface of something larger hidden by the rest of the wall stood out against the dirt and rock.

“I’ll be damned.” The guard took off one of his gloves and rubbed his hand over the metal. Thoughts of buried treasures and riches no doubt danced through his mind.

“Well, don’t just stand there, keep digging. I want to know what the hell we’re dealing with here.” He noticed the rest of the workers had stopped their duties in curiosity. “Get back to work! We ain’t taking no break here!”

Howard and his partners turned back to their tools as the few men by the thing in the wall carefully scraped and picked at more of the rock surrounding it.

After an hour of digging, more of the metallic surface was unveiled and an even more important discovery was made. A seam of some sort, not much more than a paper thin crack, appeared on the surface. After cleaning and dusting with the men’s gloves, they realized the seam formed the shape of a door. It was cocked at a twenty degree angle to the floor of the tunnel.

By this time, Howard had quietly worked his way into the small group working around the object and nobody seemed to notice. “Looks like some kind of doorway.”

“No shit it’s a door,” said the guard. “You don’t have to tell me that.”

“Yeah, but a door to what?” asked one of the others. “What kind of door is buried underground?”

“Maybe it was some kind of missile silo or underground base,” suggested Howard. “You know, like from the cold war?”

“Look at this.” One of the men brushed away the final chunk of dirt next to the door. “I think I found a switch to open it or something!” As he continued to wipe away the fine dust lodged into the cracks, a lever of some sort was definitely starting to take shape.

One of the other guards came over to talk to his comrade. “Hey Dan, it’s getting to be about quitting time. What do you want to do? I think we better go back and tell the warden.”

Dan the guard rubbed his chin in thought. He didn’t want to report the finding to the boss only to be pushed aside and not get proper recognition. If he played his cards right a bonus or promotion might be in store.

“Naw, I don’t think we want to be talking to the warden just yet, Steve. I want to know for sure what we’re dealing with here. Listen, you take the men to the mess, I’ll stay here with three or four of them, and we’ll see if we can’t figure out this door.”

“They’re gonna be asking what happened to you.”

“Just say these boys were lipping off so I made them stay in the hole until supper was over. Hell, I don’t know Steve, make something up.”

“All right Dan, if you say so.”

Steve the guard ordered the men out of the tunnel for supper and Howard was relieved to find himself as one of the chosen to stay. He was starving but curiosity about the door had him as hooked as the others.

They carefully picked away the dirt from the mechanics of the lever until it looked suitable to give it a try. Howard and the others turned to the guard who watched them intently with his shotgun at the ready.

“All right boys, somebody give that thing a tug and see if it works.”

Howard grabbed a hold of the lever and pulled. At first it didn’t want to budge. After giving it a two handed try and a third hand from one of the others, the lever finally started to give. They moved it all the way to the bottom position and stood back. Nothing happened.

Howard was just about to say something when he heard noises on the other side of the door. The seal broke with a soft hiss and a half-inch gap suddenly appeared. Howard and the others looked at each other but didn’t say anything. They turned to Dan the guard.

“Push it open,” he said barely above a whisper. Burt Westle placed his hand on the door and gave it a push. It moved back a few inches and slid to the side like a closet door.

The blackness inside offered no details until a faint light flickered on somewhere within. Within a few seconds the lights were at full efficiency. “I’ll be damned,” muttered Dan.