A Fall Toward Grace

As she stared at the photo in her hand, Sylvia’s heart began pounding at her rib cage, trying to break out. Her palms started to sweat and fear gripped her. It was a photo from counterintelligence; it was a photo she was not supposed to see. Quickly, she threw the photo in the trashcan and left her office in the basement of the building. 

‘Calm, I must stay calm. I am not supposed to know, I can’t let anyone know that I know,’ she thought to herself as she made her way through the hallways of the FBI building, her fear trying to take over. 

Sylvia was an FBI agent assigned to guard the entrance to a complex tunnel system under the city. Somehow the photo had ended up on her desk; it obviously wasn’t meant for her eyes, but she would take this opportunity to protect her child. The photo showed a launch schedule from China; there were times and cities in the United States. It was too late for anyone to do anything; she had an hour until the bombs would be released. 

Sylvia reached the door to the daycare, took a deep breath to calm her racing heart, schooled her features, and calmly opened the door. As she walked in, she heard the screech of her five year old daughter, Poppy.

“Mama!” Poppy screamed, running up to her mother, her dark braids jumping around her head. Poppy wrapped her chubby arms around her mother’s legs; Sylvia laughed and picked her daughter up. 

“I am going to take her early today,” Sylvia told the woman at the desk, who smiled and nodded. Never looking up from the book she was reading, the woman slid a clipboard across the desk towards Sylvia, who signed Poppy out of the daycare that the FBI provided for their employees. 

Sylvia quickly turned around and left the room; there was a long way to go and she was running out of time. Sylvia hurried back through the hallways to her office. 

None of the people in the building had any idea that there were tunnels running under the city. Sylvia and a couple generals in the armed forces were the only people who knew about the emergency shelter. It had been built during the Cold War in case of nuclear war, but it had never been used. Now the FBI keeps it stocked just in case there is a need. There was no warning this time. Sylvia only had enough time left to get Poppy into the underground shelter. 

She grabbed a book from one of the bookshelves lining the walls of her office, something for Poppy to read later. Sylvia then confidently walked over to another bookshelf shelf. She pulled on a specific book and the bookshelf swung open. A tunnel appeared in front of them and Poppy’s eyes grew as wide as saucers, but she didn’t say anything. Poppy was very well attuned to her mother’s emotions and she could tell, even at five, that there was something wrong. 

The tunnel had red brick walls and was very long with a gradual slope that led farther underground. There were lights strung all the way down the tunnel, lighting it up. Sylvia entered the tunnel and carefully closed the bookshelf behind them. 

They were still on the basement level of the building and they would need to travel deeper into the tunnels to be safe when the bombs hit. This tunnel gradually sloped until they were about three stories below the ground. All along this hallway there were rooms containing beds; they entered one of these rooms close to the end of the hallway. 

Sylvia glanced at her watch; it had taken her 30 minutes to get Poppy. She took another deep breath, trying to slow her heart rate. She still had time to get her and Poppy deeper underground. Sylvia opened the closet door; hidden under the edge of the carpet was a small red button. She pushed it and the entire bottom of the closet rose up to reveal a small elevator. 

When they stepped into the elevator, Sylvia pushed the button with a ‘B’ on it; this was the deepest floor available and it was 20 stories below ground. This is where the command center was housed as well as the kitchen and food storage; this level was restricted, but Sylvia had been granted access. 

The elevator came to a stop and the door slid open to reveal another long hallway, exactly like the first hallway. At the end of the hallway was the command center; this is where Sylvia took Poppy to wait for the bombs. They were still fifteen minutes from the time that was listed in the photograph. Sylvia put Poppy down. 

“You can play for a few minutes, while I get everything booted up. Don’t leave this room and don’t push any buttons,” Sylvia told Poppy, who promptly ran off to find something to play with. The room had a screen covering an entire wall with computers laid out in rows facing it. She walked to a specific computer and turned it on. The screen on the wall showed the screen of the computer and Sylvia opened the security system. 

The FBI had access to all of the security cameras in the city. The screen on the wall filled with the views of the different cameras around the city. She leaned back in the chair and watched Poppy; she had found a pen and some paper and was currently drawing a princess in a tower and a dragon. She was a very talented artist for five and Sylvia was very proud of her. 

‘Too bad there won’t be a future where Poppy could be an artist. I wish this wasn’t happening,’ Sylvia thought as she watched her daughter draw. 

As the time ticked away, Sylvia’s heart rate picked up. When there were only a few minutes left, Sylvia picked up Poppy and set her on her lap. 

“Sit with Mama for a minute,” she quietly said. Sylvia wrapped her arms around Poppy and hugged her tight as she watched the cameras. When the first bomb hit, the room shivered; they were far enough underground that the bombs that were being used couldn’t penetrate deep enough. That was a good sign, large nuclear bombs would definitely be felt in the control room. 

Poppy didn’t even notice the shivering room around her. She snuggled into her mom and Sylvia was glad that she didn’t pay attention to any of the cameras. She watched bomb after bomb drop as the room continued to shiver with each explosion. Poppy looked at her mom and noticed that she was crying.

“Was wrong mama?” She asked in her childish voice. Poppy reached up and wiped the tears from Sylvia’s face. 

“Why you sad, mama?”

Sylvia smiled at Poppy.

“Don’t worry about me sweetie. Mama is just sad, because things are going to change after today.” Sylvia smiled at Poppy and reassured her. Poppy thought about what her mom said, then nodded her head like she understood. Sometimes Sylvia thought that Poppy was too understanding for a five year old; she seemed wiser than her years. 

Poppy started wiggling on Sylvia’s lap; she was ready to go play again. Sylvia let her go, she climbed off her mom’s lap, and ran back to her princess and dragon.

While Poppy went back to her drawing, Sylvia continued to watch the cameras. Some of the cameras had been destroyed, but others were still streaming. She saw injured people running and screaming; there were dead bodies and clouds of dust. She watched as more bombs fell and more cameras were destroyed. More tears slowly rolled down her cheeks. 

She had no idea what to do now. There was enough medicine, food, water, and other supplies to last the two of them several years in the underground tunnels. There were several exits if the FBI building was hit, but so far the building was still intact. All Sylvia could do was watch the destruction through the camera lens; watch people die while she was safe and sound with her daughter. Nobody would have believed her if she had told them; there was nothing she could do to save any of them, but the guilt sat heavy on her heart. If she could have warned them somehow, then maybe some of them would be alive right now. Sylvia would always blame herself, until the day she died. 

Sylvia sat and watched as the world ended and her daughter sat drawing a purple dragon.