Midnight by Anna Dove (books for new readers .TXT) 📕

             She now saw him clearly in full light. He looked a little leaner, a little older. He could not be more than thirty five, but his face seemed to bear more lines, and to be more reserved, since their interactions at the gala. He nodded his head politely.

            “Welcome,” he said, and motioned her inside.

            They entered the foyer, with exposed brick wall and an iron radiator to the left. Their feet sank deep into the oriental rug that ran the length of the room. Candles were lit on a side table, lending a soft light to the space. Several paintings from the Victorian era graced the walls, the faces peering with gravity from the oil colors.

              The foyer led to the dining room, which adjoined the living room with two pillars between the two. Windows allowed natural light to enter, and there in a red armchair in the living room sat the Senator.

                 He sat with his large forehead propped against his hand, absorbed in reading a book. The lines on his face had deepened and the gray streaks in his hair seemed to have multiplied, Haley noticed, as she passed through the dining room towards him. His beard was grown out, and his eyebrows furrowed down like great gray caterpillars. Her heart panged with a strange sadness. He looked so old.

                  She followed Landon into the room, and the Senator looked up. His face lit up with pleasure as he saw Haley, and standing up, he shook her hand vigorously, and then overcome with emotion, he wrapped her in his arms, as if she were something very precious. Tears welled to her eyes as she felt the heartbeat through his chest. He pulled back and placed his hands on her shoulders, his eyes misting.

                  “Haley! I can’t express how happy I am to see you. So relieved. Welcome, welcome to my humble home! I am so pleased that you are here! I was so worried! It seems that so—so many—so many—well, I am happy,” he finished, and Haley was touched to see the relief in his eyes. “Come in, come in. Sit down! Would you like some water? We have so much to discuss tonight. Sit down, I’ll bring it to you.”

                 He strode from the room, his tall frame vanishing through the doorway, and Haley and Landon sat down on the red couch adjacent to his chair.

                  “Is anyone else joining us?” asked Haley.

                  “No, not that I’m aware.”

                  “How did you manage in the last few months?” She turned towards him curiously.

                  “I was in Chimaugua Bunker with the Senator. Awful place. So chilling.”

                   Haley took a deep breath. “What about his family?”

                  “His car was a key started engine, his old Ford. One of the only remaining non electric cars on the road. Probably illegal. His wife and children—if you want to call them children, they’re not much younger than we are—they all drove to West Virginia and stayed with her parents.”

                The Senator entered with a bottle of water and three glasses. He set them down on the little coffee table.

                “Our story?” He questioned, and Landon nodded.

                “The Capitol Police force invaded the Senate and House buildings perhaps thirty seconds after the attack. Landon had just walked into my office,” continued the Senator. “They escorted us out, not the staffers just the members of Congress. About one third of us in all were there at the end—everyone else, I don’t know. They took us to the basement of a hotel—a nondescript chain hotel—and we took the steps down to the basement. In the basement, this giant door swung open from the inside and we entered a tunnel. Most terrifying thing I’ve ever done. No one was speaking really, we all just moved forward, watching what was going on. We knew something had happened—had no idea what—and I knew it was the attack but I still thought it had happened in New York and the media just hadn’t picked it up yet. We got on a train, and rode it for about two hours maybe until we got to the bunker entrance. On the train we talked a little, but not much. Wasn’t much to say. When we arrived at the bunker entrance we rode down a long elevator shaft, hundreds of feet. Hundreds. One man vomited all over the space. We were all thinking about our families, and that feeling of being so helpless—well, it’s something I never want to experience again.

               “We got to the bottom, and boy, is that place a piece of work. It’s like the heart and soul were sucked out of the air and replaced with fear and steel. Walls, floors, ceilings, feet thick in steel. We had power down there, because you know it’s literally a metal box, impervious to the effects of the attack, and so the generators functioned normally. There were dormitories they had split into men’s and women’s, there was a massive meeting room with central speaking podium and tables and chairs around the walls, there were storage rooms for food and water. Each room, each hall, was steel. The overhead lights lit the spaces grimly—I’ve never seen bright light be so grim. It illuminated every corner, no softness.

               “Eventually they briefed us on what happened. The President was there, the First Lady, a few members of his cabinet, but the Vice President noticeably absent. Just over two hundred members of Congress, both chambers combined. One Supreme Court Justice. Many upper level Department of Defense members. Not many others. The police had a prioritized list, but as their communications were cut off, it was a real hit or miss.”

                “How awful,” said Haley, as the Senator paused to sip his water.

                “We found within the first ten minutes that our allies, mostly in