To Our Last Breath

She successfully got around the rioting crowds and the insanity and finally made it! It wasn’t easy, but she was used to slipping past angry liberals and violent protestors, and it was only a matter of time before she reached safety. That’s what she kept telling herself, and she was right, as usual. She made it, and everything was going to be all right.

No one had touched the building. No one had set it on fire or hung out in front of it, and there were no squatters around when she went inside, either. No one had taken any notice of the place, thanks to an expensive army of psychologists and engineers that made it invisible to everyone’s perception. In saner times people passed it every day without so much as a glance, and they had told her that no one could even describe the place if asked. The higher ups in the Party had paid too much for it to fail, but they couldn’t help bragging about it at their parties, and she’d been shrewd enough to listen in on the right conversations.

It was an exclusive place. Only the mega wealthy and the top ranks of the party knew about it, and you only learned about it if they liked you. And once she heard about it, she made sure she was one of those they liked. She always voted in the right way on the Floor, said things in public that helped their agenda, and used her followers to build the America they wanted, the way it was always supposed to be. And she’d been lucky enough to make a little on the side and boost her following, which she carefully invested to help her rise in the ranks. She’d shown them that she had what it took to be one of them, and they in turn had invited her in on the secret, little realizing that she already knew.

They were down there, now, waiting for her. They had to wait. Now that the world was going to hell in a handbasket, they would need go-getters like her to lead the way into a bright new future, a strong, bold future free of limp-wristed liberals and their whining about the environment and the dispensable. They were going to make a nation based on strong Christian values like the Bible intended. No more abortions! No more homosexuals! Simply good old-fashioned marriage between a man and a woman, under the One True God! No more heathens or idolators! And best of all, she was going to be one of those in charge of it all!

The bunker was seated deep beneath the building. First was an airlock, strong enough to resist a nuclear blast, then an elevator that was locked off at the bottom once everyone was inside. Then, as far as she knew, there were years and years of fresh air, food, and water for the occupants, as well as every luxury imaginable. She guessed there were some things they would have to go without, like new episodes of Chamber of Gods, and new movies, and she supposed there wouldn’t be any shopping at Tracy’s for a while, but in these times, you just had to make sacrifices.

She had sacrificed much already. It was a long, grueling series of horrible parties and abominable acts that managed to wrangle her onto The List, but she was certain it was worth it to survive the impending disaster. Keeping that in mind helped her through the more disgusting moments.

She found the airlock just where they said it was, and it looked exactly as described. The small room in the rear of the place was dark, the only lights being the dim LEDs on the control panel, and a pulsing light beneath the intercom. The airlock looked like it would survive a nuke, but the controls wouldn’t, not that she had to worry about a nuclear attack. That wasn’t going to happen. Everyone on the planet was going to suffocate before they could even consider a nuclear war.

She paused over the panel trying to remember the combination. The constant fear of discovery as she made her way to the building had crammed the sequence far back in her head somewhere and it was going to take a moment to retrieve it. Her brain wasn’t made for that kind of nonsense. She was a higher thinker and couldn’t be bothered to remember numbers. But she had to. They told her they couldn’t afford to let the code get into the wrong hands, so they made her memorize it, and then repeat it back to them, and luckily, there was nothing wrong with her short-term memory, and she was able to trick them into thinking she had it. After staring at the panel for a little while, she pulled out her insurance policy and punched in the numbers written on the little scrap of paper. What they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. Right?

The panel buzzed nastily and turned a bloody red before resuming its normal look, but that was all that happened. There was no ding of the elevator door, no car waiting to take her downward. The airlock remained shut and sealed. Scowling, she tapped the numbers in again, wondering if she’d made a mis-punch, but as soon as she touched the last number, the panel blazed and buzzed again before resetting itself. She tried a third time, frantic now, stabbing the numbers so hard that she could have cracked the glass, only to have it razz her again.

This time, she stabbed the intercom button. There was a tiny beep afterward, then it answered in a staticky voice.

“What?” The man on the other end was chuckling, and she wondered if he was laughing at her or at something else.

“It’s me! Representative Delphine Etiquette. This stupid panel isn’t working, so you have to let me in!”

“Representative…who?” There was a slight pause, which peeved her. How dare he? ‘Representative who?‘ Everyone knew who she was! Anyone with a phone and a Chirper account knew who she was! People living on the bottom of the ocean knew who she was! He had to be some ignorant moron, some little person that the Party kept around to do their grunt work, and who had just enough cranial capacity to punch a button or two! It was the only explanation! But before she could let him have it, he said, “Oh! Is that you, Della?”

“Of course, it’s me!” She refrained from adding, “You idiot!” She didn’t know who she was talking to, now, but it might be someone that she couldn’t afford to insult. And if it was some idiot, then they would pay for the affront after she got inside. “Let me in!”

“Where were you?” the man demanded. “We looked all over for you!”

She doubted that. None of them dared wait for her at the airlock, so she doubted they risked going out amongst those rabid commie liberals. No, they stayed in the relative safety of the airlock room and as soon as the rest of them were there, they hustled down to the bunker. They didn’t have to put up with the things she had to. They weren’t as brave as she was.

“I’m here now!” she snapped, trying her best to control her temper. But the sounds of rioting and the angry shouting were getting louder, and she could feel the crowds getting closer. Time was running out. Fast. “Let me in!”

“Oh…Della…” The man sounded nervous. Suddenly she wanted to vomit, and she wasn’t sure why. Then, he said, “I can’t!”

“What?” she demanded. Then, desperately, she snapped, “Just send the car up! Let me in!”

“I can’t, Della,” he told her, and he didn’t sound sorry. “It’s already locked down!”

“What?” she desperately demanded. She pounded helplessly on the control panel, but it just razzed her again, so she shouted into the intercom, “Let me in!”

“I can’t!” he replied, and he didn’t sound as frantic as she was. “Once it’s down, it stays down! I thought you knew that! Besides, we thought you were going somewhere else!”

“Somewhere else?” she yelled. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Where else was I supposed to go?”

“Well, we didn’t know!” the man defensively replied. “We thought you maybe got a better offer somewhere else!”

Somewhere else? She wouldn’t dignify that with a reply. How many people did he think owned their own environmentally sealed shelter stocked with rations and luxuries to last for years, or at least until the earth was livable again? Who had the money? Well, at least who had the money that she had access to? Although the idea was flattering that she could fit in anywhere, she couldn’t believe the man was stupid enough to think there was anywhere else to go.

“Send the elevator up!” she loudly demanded, pounding frantically on the control panel.

“Can’t!” the man replied, his voice telling her he was losing all interest in the conversation. “Besides, what if this is a trick? What if there’s an ugly mob up there waiting to get access?”

“What?” She couldn’t believe it. Still, she glanced around into the empty darkness and shouted into the intercom, “I’m the only one here! Now let me in!”

“Look, Della, I can’t do that,” he wearily replied. “That’s not the way it works! You see -!”

“I don’t care about that!” She yelled at the top of her lungs. “I’m on the list! I’m supposed to be down there! Now send up the elevator!”

The man didn’t reply, not for a long time and she panicked. What if he’d just cut the intercom? He obviously didn’t care if she lived or died. Desperate, she shouted, “Hey! Hey, down there! Did you hear me? Let me in!”

“I heard you,” the man replied. His voice was quiet and unemotional. “And so, did Mr. Dumphy. And he told me to thank you for all you did for him over the years. Without you, he wouldn’t be where he is today.”

“Mr. Dumphy?” He was down there, too? Of course, he was! Where else would he be? He was the man! He oversaw the Party! Heck, he was the Party! After the disaster, he was going to shape the future of the nation, remake everything in his own glorious image. Now, she had to get down there! He would need her in that brave new world, and if she was able to garner some of his power and influence for herself, then all the better.

“Then, he knows how helpful I can be to him,” she told the man. “He might need my help!” Then she had a flash of inspiration and she asked, “Is he there right now? Is he next to you?”

The man didn’t reply right away, and once more, she worried that he had simply cut off communication. That was the last thing she wanted. Without it, she couldn’t convince Mr. Dumphy to send up the elevator. She couldn’t convince him to save her life! But then the man came back and said, “Mr. Dumphy appreciates your contribution and wishes you good luck in future endeavors.”

Then, there was a tiny beep, and the ready light went out. At the same time, the control panel went dark, and no amount of pounding would turn it on again. She knew because she slammed her fists against it for a long time trying to change its mind.

Exhausted, panic overwhelming her, she sank to the floor beneath the control panel and began to cry. She couldn’t stop it, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to. She was screwed, but unlike the other times when the tears flowed, there was no one around to comfort her, and no one to manipulate with them. She was alone, and like the angry little people outside, she was going to suffocate to death as the last wisps of breathable air disappeared just like the trees.

She didn’t know which was worse, the betrayal at the hands of her own people or dying like a commoner on the threshold of safety and comfort. As she wept, anger mingling with her tears, she vowed revenge. Who did they think they were screwing with? She was Representative Delphine Charlotte Etiquette, for god’s sake! How dare they treat her like that? She had over a million followers on Chirper! How dare they?

“Not invited to the party?”

The strange voice scared the life out of her. Scrambling to her feet, she desperately glanced around for the source and found a man leaning in the doorway to the room. She pressed herself against the elevator doors, wishing they would pop open and let her escape the scary man. But then, a tiny hope kindled in her. What if he was on the list, too, and he was simply arriving late, like she had? And what if he could somehow get her inside, where she belonged?

“Who are you?” she asked suspiciously. Something about the way he slouched against the doorframe told her he wasn’t who she thought he was. Or rather, who she hoped he was. “What are you doing here?”

He moved his arm, and she flinched, but he wasn’t pointing a gun at her or throwing something at her, or even yelling. All he did was point at the elevator and say, “They kick you out, then?”

“No!” She was offended that he would even think that! Didn’t he know who she was? Then, she wondered if that might be a good thing. Deciding to feel him out, she explained, “I was late, like you. I don’t suppose you know another way inside?”

He looked at her steadily, as if studying her, then he shrugged. “There is no other way in.” Gesturing at the elevator, he added, “That’s it.”

“No!” she protested, then turned and pounded on the doors. “No! There must be another way in! There must be!”

“Don’t waste your breath,” he advised, but she ignored him and continued her assault. He wasn’t going to tell her what to do! She dug her nails in between the doors and tried to pry them apart, but it bent her nails painfully and she had to stop. It wasn’t doing any good, anyway. The doors remained tightly shut.

She slammed her fists against them and sagged hopelessly, gasping for air. She’d never felt so winded before, and she was big on cardio. Her lungs rasped like she had hay fever, and while she gasped for breath, the man remarked, “Feeling a little under the weather?”

“Shut up!” She growled at him before she realized that she was alone with him and that anything could happen. She had to remain civil, at least until she could figure out who and what he was and how she could manipulate the situation. “Sorry. It’s just so annoying, you know?”

“The air, or your friends?” he asked. She didn’t dignify the question with an answer, but she couldn’t help gasping and wheezing, and she didn’t want to think about why. After a moment he said, “I know you, don’t I?”

She tensed. His reaction would depend upon whether he was one of the Party, or not. But instead of telling him who she was, she waited for him to stumble onto it. It was usually better that way. It gave her the chance to figure out the enemy, to find the advantage in the situation and either attack first or play the victim, depending on whichever was best for her.

“Yeah, I do,” he said, and she tensed, readying herself. “You’re Delphine Charlotte Etiquette, aren’t you?”

He sounded neither hateful nor enthusiastic, so she couldn’t figure him out yet. Some people just held themselves in check until they suddenly exploded, and others ended up fawning all over her, and both ways could get annoying. But she really hated it when they forgot her title.

“Representative Delphine Charlotte Etiquette!”

“Sorry, your highness,” he quipped, joking. “I meant no offense!”

For some reason, the joke annoyed her more than the terrible things those commie liberals yelled in her face. But she wasn’t going to give him that satisfaction. Pulling herself upright with all her dignity, she turned and faced him proudly. “Who are you supposed to be?”

“I’m supposed to be working,” he told her, his voice grinning. “But the riots put a stop to that. Put a stop to everything, for that matter. And since there didn’t seem to be any point in working while the world crashed down around me, I decided to take a little walk, and heard some shouting. So, I came in to have a look, see if I could help.”

“Really,” she sarcastically replied, amazed at how stupid the man sounded. She wouldn’t have guessed it, though, just looking at him. He seemed normal. But she could still use stupid. Stupid was easily manipulated. “What’s your name?”

“Ah!” It sounded like he was taken off-guard. “Well, you can call me Bob”

“That’s it? Just Bob?” This might be easier than she thought.

“Just Bob,” he happily confirmed. “I like to keep it simple.”

She nodded. “What are you doing here, Bob?”

“Like I said, I came to see what all the shouting was about,” he said. “Sounded like someone was in trouble.”

She decided to take a risk. “I am in trouble, Bob.” she decided to include him in her troubles. That always worked on men like him. “We both are! My friends locked us out, and now we have nowhere to go. Unless you know of any safe places to stay?”

“Safe from the death of all the trees?” the man asked. “Safe from slow suffocation? I don’t think there’s anywhere like that left.”

She wanted to cry again but somehow managed to pull herself together. There had to be somewhere left that was safe, somewhere where there was enough air to last a long time. Somewhere where she would be safe from all those infidels that wanted to tear her to pieces.

“There has to be somewhere,” she insisted, trying to jog his memory. If he knew of a safe place, then she would make him take her there. If not, then she could at least use him for protection. Either way, he had a use. “Anywhere at all.”

“I don’t think so,” he said, and there was an edge to his tone now. “Not now. Not after everything you did to make this happen.”

Her heart leapt into overdrive. He was one of them! One of those godless liberals! And he knew who she was and what she did. But it wasn’t all her fault! There were others to blame, others that were more to blame than her! She was only doing her job! She was only doing what she knew was best for everyone!

“I did nothing wrong,” she protested with conviction.

He leaned against the doorframe again, and she finally noticed that he blocked the only way out of there other than the sealed elevator. She would have to get him away from it if she had a chance to escape. Then, all those hours of cardio would once more be put to the test, but first, she had to lure him out of the doorway. But then, she reconsidered. Where would she escape to? The riots in the streets? The murderous hordes of liberals more than willing to tear her to pieces just for who she was and what she stood for? She was safer in the room, away from all of that, at least until she could figure some things out.

“Name one thing you did right,” he challenged her.

That raised her hackles. How dare he question her honor like that? It was true that she hardly paid any attention to the names or the contents of the bills she voted on, but she voted according to the Party’s agenda, and they only had the best interests of the American people in mind. Granted, the only American people that counted were the wealthy donors, but what was good for the goose was good for the gander, right?

The man patiently waited, like he had all the time in the world. But she didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t fair! In all her years in the House, no one had ever treated her so poorly. Well, the fake news networks had, but no one watched them anymore. Real Americans watched ORN and Vole News, where they knew how to treat an elected official.

“The Save Our Skies Act!” she blurted, suddenly remembering it but only because it had such a weird name. She would have called it something better, like the Etiquette Initiative, or something. “That was a great piece of legislation!”

“The bill that completely de-regulated carbon emissions for factories and made sure the EPA was no longer allowed to enforce restrictions, past or present, on offenders?” the man asked.

She didn’t like his tone, or the insinuation, but she remembered the talking point. It had worked then to shut them up, and it would work now. “That bill lowered prices at the store and brought back American jobs!”

“That bill only allowed factories to pour as much filth into the environment as they wanted to,” the man replied. “They pocketed the money they saved and put it into stock buy-backs and increased dividends for their investors. And it didn’t lower any prices in the stores. In fact, it didn’t even bring back any jobs. Instead, industry cut the staff monitoring their pollution and put thousands of people out of a job through down-sizing.”

“That bill helped people!” she insisted. She’d heard that chestnut before, but they didn’t have any proof to back it up.

“Rich people,” he smugly replied. “And your bill helped widen the gap between the very rich and the very poor and helped eliminate the middle class. It threw thousands out on the street when they could no longer afford housing and raised the child mortality rate from hunger and environmental poisoning.”

Now she was sure that he was one of them! He thought he had all the answers! Well, she wasn’t going to lose to him! If he wanted a fight, then he was getting one!

“It lowered prices for the little people!” That would get him. His type always whined about the little people. And what else was there? Oh, yes! “And fought inflation, which is more than your president did!”

“How can you believe that?” he asked, sounding hurt. “What is the cost of breathing? Of drinking clean water? Of being able to find land that wasn’t poisoned so you could grow crops or raise livestock? Your bill did more than pollute the air. It ruined the soil and made the water undrinkable.”

Maybe it was the air, or maybe he was getting all emotional, like liberals do, but he choked on his own words. Maybe, she thought, the lefty lies were finally getting to him, and maybe he finally saw the light. There was no way that she was responsible for anything bad happening to the Earth. It was the factories’ fault, not hers. She was just trying to help her donors get what they paid for, that’s all. The rest was their responsibility!

He kicked away from the doorframe and spread his arms wide. “Well, I guess you can see the cost, can’t you? Did you think this happened for no reason at all? Or that your legislation had nothing to do with it?”

“It didn’t!” she shot back. “Leading experts said -!”

“Said that this was a natural progression of the Earth,” he interrupted, sounding as if he was reciting by rote. “Said that there was nothing to fear, that the Earth would naturally absorb excess carbon and that it would take hundreds of years before the world became unlivable. Plenty of time to fix it, they said. Nothing we needed to worry about. Nothing to be concerned with!”

He gestured again. “Do you call this nothing to be concerned with?”

She really hated him. “It’s a phase -!”

“That the world needs to get through,” he finished for her. “Give it a few years for the Earth to get used to it. Then everything will be all right!” He took a step towards her and asked, “How long can you hold your breath?”

She really, really hated him, and she was so peeved that she couldn’t speak. Not that he would listen anyway. All he would do was interrupt her again. Typical liberal attitude!

“Anyway,” he said, getting control of himself again, “There’s nothing we can do about it now. The damage is done, and so is humanity.”

Suddenly, she panicked and slammed her fists against the elevator doors. And when that didn’t work, she darted for the intercom and stabbed repeatedly at the button, desperately muttering, “Come on! Come on! Answer the phone!”

“Do you really think it’s better down there?” he asked, and he was deliberately keeping his voice calm just to spite her. “They have -what?- three, four years of food and water down there, and maybe a few more years of air before it runs out? And then what? They emerge into a world purified of all toxins to start a new conservative world of their own, free of all outside influences?” He softly scoffed. “How long do you think it’ll really take before the damage is repaired on its own? Decades? Millenia? Never? And what happens when the people down there finally come up and see that the world is still a mess? What do you think they’re going to do without any provisions from below or any means to find them above?” He stepped towards her again. “Do you really think any of them have the slightest chance of surviving?”

She really, really, really hated him, and wouldn’t dignify his remarks with an answer. She was sure Mr. Dumphy had thought it all out and planned for every contingency. It was how he did business, not the legitimate ones that everyone razzed him about, but the other, extra-lawful stuff that everyone did if they wanted to stay on top. He’d gone decades without getting caught, and that was only because of those busy bodies in the liberal media and all those whistleblowers and leftist judges. So, he had to have seen this coming and had to have planned for it. But she wasn’t going to live long enough to find out, and suddenly, she wanted to cry again.

He didn’t come to comfort her, like weak men always did, and for a second she wished that he had. Instead, he maintained his distance, and said, “We’re probably better off dying quick.”

Sobbing, she sank to the floor, her back against the control housing. She didn’t know why, but words just poured out of her along with her tears. “I don’t want to die! Not like this! Not like this!”

This time, he sat next to her and put his arm over her shoulders. Without knowing why, she put her head against his neck, tears searing in her eyes. She hoped they burned his skin the same way.

“At least you won’t die alone,” he gently told her. “I’m right here.”

And they just sat there. He didn’t attack her. He didn’t call her names. He wasn’t angry at her, although he had every right to be. All he did was sit and hold her gently, without saying a word. And she couldn’t help thinking that it might be her fault, at least partly, for the way things turned out. She could have voted against the bill, gone against the Party, been the maverick that her idol claimed to be. But she’d toed the line, and reaped the rewards, at the cost of the world. But if she had gone the other way, had voted against the bill, it wouldn’t have done any good, anyway. The vote was assured with or without her, so she might as well have reaped the benefits of following orders. And now, it was all gone. Everything she had ever done was meaningless, and someone she didn’t like and who didn’t even like her was giving her comfort in their final days. Staying with her until their final breath.

“You know, this doesn’t change anything,” she told him in a quivering voice. “I still don’t like you.”

“I know,” he replied, giving her a friendly squeeze. They sat in silence for a while, then he said, “If we’re still breathing when the shouting is over, do you want to find something to eat? I’m starving.”

She settled into his shoulder. Typical liberal. Always thinking with their stomach!