Date: Tue, 10 May 2011 13:20:01 +1200
From: Arthur <artcart65@vodafone.co.nz>
Subject: Elios chap 10

ELIOS

CHAPTER 10

BY ARTHUR

THE SEARCH



Nearly two months had passed since Elios new status, the training of the
new boys and all those still wandering into the bunker, had progressed
quickly under the tutelage of Bax and the other more experienced boys,
Elios had spent all of his time in the office rooms and was now ready with
their plan to find more bunkers.

His searching and enquiring mind had opened many new doorways in the
computer and he now had more information than he thought even existed, in
the evenings he had held large classes in the common room after their meal,
all the boys were now using the ancient's style of time and distance.

Elios had mastered the use of the computer and had managed to teach four
young boys how to also use it, with all five of them working, they had soon
found out about what new bunkers were still usable, it appeared that there
were a total of 150 bunkers spread over the whole land mass but according
to the wall map on the glass pain, there were only 21 that were still of
any use.

It had taken Elios two days to work out how to tell the difference in the
good and bad bunkers but it was when he started to play with the computer
model that the map lit up with small lights, theirs was obviously the green
light, then spread over the large glass map were 21 red lights, these he
assumed were the ones that were still usable as the rest were not lit and
nothing he could do would make them do so and so, he had set his sights on
the red lit ones.

The closest one was, in the old measures, about 700 klm's away, he didn't
know what KLM was but the ancients had used it in all their measurements of
distance so he just followed along, next he had, with the help of Elam,
worked out how much fuel they would need and how long it would take to get
that far, he had to make a lot of guesses as there were none of what the
ancients called `roads' and the land would be very rough so he doubled the
amount of fuel and provisions they would need.

Elam had agreed that they should take one Humvee, two of the smaller jeeps,
and three of the quads, if and when they found another bunker then they
could start to make plans to return some of the vehicles and take back more
boys to ease the pressure now building up in the over populated bunker.

Elios worked out that, with luck, they would be able to make it to the
bunker and back in somewhere around ten days, he and Bax would drive the
Humvee along with one other boy as a guard, the jeeps would have one driver
and two guards and the quads would have an armed boy on each one as forward
scouts, Bax would drive the Humvee and Elios would do the map reading and
plan the way to go.

Elvan set about working out how much food and water they would need for
their small group and soon it was all settled and the final thing to do was
select which boys would go along with them, Elam and Elvan would stay to
run the home bunker while the others went out to search.

It was decided that they would set out the next morning, each boy in the
patrol would have one of the `watches' found in a store room and set to the
new time so they would know how often to stop for meals, Elios went back to
his office and sat down in front of his now familiar computer screen, he
felt it was like an old friend and teacher, he had learnt so much but knew
that there was so much more to learn from the ancient times.

Opening the window into the security system, Elios set about adjusting the
status of the security readings while keeping one eye on the glass wall
map, somehow, with the magic of the ancients, the red lights began to
change to green as he clicked on each number on his own screen, all the 21
bunkers would now open to his card and access code, he leaned back with a
pleased sigh as he surveyed his handiwork, 21 more bunkers would give them
an almost endless supply of goods, even as their numbers would grow, it was
still a lot bunkers to find and use.

The 21 green lights were spread all over the land mass and Elios knew it
was going to be a long search to find them all but if he took his time and
followed the maps and plans correctly, they would be able to find most of
them in the years to come, his only regret was that he didn't know how or
what a GPS was, if he had one of those, according to the computer, he would
be able to find them almost with his eyes shut, but, as is always the case
with the ancients, all this was lost so he had to rely on what he had
learnt so far.

That evening, Elios stood after their meal and announced what they were
going to do, immediately boys were volunteering for the adventure and it
was then down to Bax and the other squad leaders to decide who would go on
the journey. They had to select carefully as there was still the need for
the home security to be set and maintained.

Bax was the one that had come up with the idea of setting out scouts in the
valley, four quads would take two boys on each one and they would go to the
each end of the valley, the quads were hidden and the four boys at each end
would keep a look out for Renegs or other boys coming into the valley.

Most days, while they spotted Renegs in the distance, it seemed they the
marauders had heard the reputation of the valley as a death trap and stayed
well away from it but the boys kept up their vigilance just in case.

It was also finally decided to cut down to only two quads for the scout
team with Elios as there would need to be four of them left at the bunker
for the guards use, at last they had decided on which boys would go with
them, the two boys to do the scouting on the quads were judged by their
ability with their weapons and their riding ability on the quads, the two
jeep drivers were to be the two best ones that had been trained by Elam,
they also had to have good repair skills, all the guard boys were selected
by their ability on the firing range and their exceptional eye sight.

The Humvee would carry most of the food and water as well as the extra
ammunition and a little of the fuel, the jeeps would be the main fuel
carriers as well as the small camping tents and cooking gear. The quads
would carry their own fuel supplies as they could go loner distances on
less fuel and they would also carry a little extra ammunition for all the
boy's side arms.

Elios had spent a long time trying to work out how to keep everyone in
contact with each other and for most things they would just use hand
signals as long as they were in sight of each other, at last he came up
with the idea of using small hand mirrors for when they were to far apart
for hand or voice signals to be used, it was then he had to work out what
those signals would be, it had to be simple as the boys would not have much
time to learn them by morning.

Once the meeting had ended, Elios called all those going together in an
empty room and began to go over the details, the signalling was easier to
learn than he had first thought, as a back up to the mirrors they would use
gun shots and at night they would use the lights on the vehicles, the
signals were simple, one flash or toot or shot meant everything was safe,
two of the same meant stop and wait, three meant immediate danger and the
sender needed help fast.

They would take no extra clothing and would have to put up with dirty
clothes until they got to the next bunker or returned back to this one,
none of the boys worried about it as if they had too they were all quite
happy to go naked if need be, Bax held Elios in his arms as they discussed
everything with the other boys, they had become closer and closer as the
time passed and at this stage Bax had no eyes for anyone else, Elios was
also happy as, after he was well healed from his breeding night, Bax kept
him well satisfied every night, he also had easily adjusted to being taking
in the breeding position as he loved to look into Bax's eyes as the older
teen filled him.

The next morning all the boys stood ready in the garage, the Humvee, the
two jeeps and the two quads were sitting ready, they had all been checked
over personally by Elam and refuelled to their fullest, everything had been
packed and the boys were doing a final check on their personal weapons,
Elios had a brown leather bag with the maps and pictures in it as well as
the tools he needed for measurements and directions.

It had taken Elios three full days to work out how to use the little round
compass and put the information to the map drawings, but it had also been
exciting as he found out new things about how the ancients had lived and
used these marvels of their technology, Bax gave him a final hug and walked
to the drivers door of the Humvee as Elios slipped into the front seat,
their guard boys took a seat in the back, he was quite young, barely into
his time of hair but his eyes were the sharpest of anyone in the bunker and
his skill with a knife could not be bettered.

He was a quiet boy, his skin was a little darker than most boys and no one
knew where he had come from, his hair was a strange tightly black curl so
close to his head it seemed as though someone had painted it on, none of
the boys had ever seen a boy like him before and he didn't remember where
he had come from, he had been chased by Renegs and had just run for his
life finally hiding in a deep crack in the ground until the Renegs had
given up looking for him, he had wandered for days until he had stumbled,
thirsty and almost starving, into the valley and been found by the guard
boys.

He very rarely spoke and only to Elios when he had to, all the other boys
you was that his name was Usof, the only other strange thing about Usof was
first seen when he was washing for the first time, He had no skin on his
boyhood, none of the boys had ever seen anything like it and it had been a
topic of conversation for quite a few days, much to the embarrassment of
Usof who, of course, had never seen any boys with their boyhood covered in
skin so he had smiled quietly and walked away. Elios was his only close
friend in the bunker as far as Usof was concerned, even though he didn't
say much to the blonde boy he saw him as his friend and protector as it was
Elios who had finally stopped all the boys from making jokes about the lack
of skin on Usof's boyhood.

Elios had left instructions for the four boys he had trained on the
computers to watch for his signal when they made it to the new bunker, he
didn't know how it worked but the ancients must have had some sort of
machine to make it so that one computer could still communicate to the
other, they were indeed a magical race the old ones.

The five vehicles started up as Elam opened the large door to the outside,
Bax put the Humvee into gear and they were off on their new adventure, they
had decided to travel until midday, as it was now called, and then stop to
check fuel and eat a small meal before going on until dark, they would take
a track down to the sea and then follow it along for as far as they could
and then turn inland when Elios told them too.

Each of them would take turns at what was now called `night' to guard their
camp while the others slept and, after a quick meal they would start again
before the sun rose for a new day, Elios knew they would make good time and
distance while on the sea front but as soon as they turned inland they
would be slowed down by the many valleys and deep gullies.

By midday they were down on the sea shore for the stop, Elios took the boys
to the water edge to find some more of the sea food they had found last
time, it took very little time before they had a lot of them which they put
into a large box that had been filled with the ice that Elvan was so fond
of making for their drinks, they had to empty half of the ice out to put
the seafood in but the boys didn't worry to much as there were three more
boxes of iced food still in the Humvee, Elios promised to show the new boys
how to make the seafood ready for eating when they next stopped for the
night.

Mid afternoon brought their first hold up, they had been travelling along
the sea front at a good speed when Elios realised they were running out of
sea front, to their right side the cliffs had risen higher than they would
be able to climb with the vehicles and not much further along there was a
large cliff face leading right to the edge of the seas where the small
waves broke against it.

Elios could see the water would come up high and then go down again after a
long time only to turn around and start all over again, he looked and saw
that the water was on its way out, the high mark that they had been
travelling above was now further from the waters edge, he had no idea how
far the water would go back but was pretty sure it would go down a lot
further yet, he told Bax to stop while he went to have a look.

As he got out of the Humvee, Elios heard Usof jump out as well and, with
his weapon at the ready, took a position just behind Elios, the two boys
moved closer to the large cliff and Elios watched the water as it hit
against the face, with nervous steps he moved forward, Usof staying close
behind him even though Elios was moving carefully into the water with one
hand on the cliff face as he did so.

Elios found that as each small wave of water came he could give a little
jump up and would not get to wet as he made his way further along the
cliff, when the water got as far as his knees he felt he would be safe,
they would have to wait for the water to go out a little more but he was
sure they would get passed if they waited, he turned back and smiled at
Usof and nodded his head to start back.

When they got back to the Humvee, Elios told Bax what he had thought and
seen, they called all of the boys together, parked their vehicles and set
up a small camp while they waited, Elios watched intently as the water
receded further and further out until finally he could clearly see the sand
around the cliff, with a nod of his head at the others, they started their
vehicles and slowly moved through the now widening gap in front of the
cliff, ahead of them stretched another open stretch of sand as far as the
eye could see, the vehicles sped up again and were on their way once more.

As darkness closed in they looked for a place to camp for the night, they
had to have time to refuel and have a meal as well as find a place that
would offer good protection from any stray Renegs, even though they had
seen no sight of anyone all day, it was Usof who spotted the small gully
off to the side of the water front, it was like someone had cut a big slice
with a very large knife but on inspection they saw there was only one way
in and that it was deep enough to hide the vehicles and easy to guard, Bax
called a halt inside the cutting.

Firstly all the drivers refilled their vehicles and checked that nothing
was wrong with them after the long days driving while Usof took the first
guard at the entrance while Elios got out some of food along with the small
round sea food that he knew the boys would get to like, and started to cook
for them all.

Quickly the small camp was set up, they had enough of the tents to have two
boys in each one and soon they were all sitting down to eat, Elios took a
well filled plate over to Usof who was still on guard, the boy looked up
and gave Elios a small smile of thanks. Usof thought to himself as Elios
went back to his man that it was a pity Elios had been made a Bred Boy as
he would really liked to have spent time in the other boy's bed but even he
knew that was not an option now that Elios had been Bred.

There was a small empty place inside Usof, he knew something was missing in
his life but could not remember what it was or how the feeling had come
over him, everything before his escape from the wild Renegs had disappeared
from his memory, all he could remember was staggering down the unknown
valley and being found by the boys of the bunker, Usof went back to his
watching as it grew darker and fell into total night as he heard the next
boy come up behind him to take over the watch.

The second day went much the same as the first although in the early
morning they did see two small groups of Renegs far in the distance but as
the two quads made their way towards the small groups, the hawsmen turned
and galloped away into sand hills. After their midday meal the group drove
on until mid afternoon when they saw spread across the shore a distance in
front of them, a much larger group of Renegs, Bax immediately tooted twice
to get the attention of the other boys.

Bax pulled the Humvee to a halt; they were still well out of the crossbow
range of the Renegs but well within the range of their own weapons. As the
other four vehicles pulled up beside the Humvee, Bax reached into the back
and took out his large rifle, opening the small legs he rested it on the
top of the motor cover and loaded a round into the breach, the other boys
stood back and watched as Bax took careful aim at the far off group.

The loud boom echoed along the sea shore and the boys saw one of the Reneg
completely thrown from his now bucking haws, the other Renegs stood stock
still as the echo resounded along the shore, then, all their haws started
to jump and buck as the full force of the loud sound hit them, while this
was going on, Bax had reloaded and fired again, hitting another Reneg with
the same results, suddenly the shore was empty apart from the two dead
Renegs and two more now on foot after their haws had thrown them and bolted
away.

Bax quickly replaced his big rifle in the back of the Humvee and, along
with the other boys, set off down the beach after the remaining two Renegs,
the two boys on the quads got close to the Renegs first and, after
threatening them with their own side arms, had the two men lying on the
sand waiting for the other two vehicles to arrive.

The two quad riders had replaced their side arms with their rifles as soon
as the got off the quads and were now standing over the two men in a
threatening manner which brooked no arguments from the prostrate pair. Bax
pulled up with the jeeps close behind, all the boys got out and walked over
to the men who were now showing a little bit of fear at the strange looking
boys with their unearthly weapons.

The two Renegs were both older, one was about 25 years and the older was
about 35 years, like most Renegs they had scars over their bodies from
fights and wars amongst themselves and others, while they were worried
about their capture by these boys, they were not going to be scared of
them, they were Renegs and feared no man or boy, although their position at
the moment wasn't the best.

"How many of you are there around here?" asked Bax of the older Reneg.

"More than enough to skin you, breeder." Came the sharp reply, the anger in
the Renegs voice very apparent to the group of boys.

Before any of the boys could move, young Usof drew his side arm and walked
over to the Reneg and shot him in the head with no hesitation and no
further thought he turned towards the last one and pointed his pistol at
the younger man, Usof's eyes were hard and unforgiving as he eyed the man.

With a very shaky voice the younger Reneg answered immediately.

"There was about three plus ten of us."

"Where are they camped?" asked Bax.

"Half a dei ride from here, back in the sand hills."

Bax turned his back and walked away as the sound of a second shot from
Usof's side arm echoed again down the shore, the boys got back into their
vehicles and drove off down the shore leaving the four bodies of their
hated enemy where they lay, the animals of the night would eat well.

Again as darkness closed in, the boys found another camp site for the night
but this time they set two guards instead of one as the nearness of Renegs
was not to be taken lightly, they parked in another gully and checked their
vehicles making them ready for the next day, Elios had told them they would
need to head inland later in the morning to look for the new bunker.

Elios wasn't sure how much further they had to travel as the maps he had
were from the old world before the change and he was only following the
general directions he had, some of finding the bunker was going to have to
be by guess work, even the shore line was different from the maps but at
least it was in the right direction, he felt sure however, that they would
come across some sign of the new bunker some time tomorrow, his compass
said it was almost time to head into the rising sun, if he was right then
it would be almost a straight line to the bunker.

As the morning dawned, the boys were up and ready, Bax set the two quads
out front and each of the jeeps on either side of the Humvee then they set
off down the long barren shore to find a way to head inland, it took half
the morning before they came upon a place they could climb the sand hills
and head inland to where Elios said they should start to look for the
bunker.

By midday they had covered a lot of distance and now were finally in the
area of the bunker according to the map. All Elios and the boys could see
was a vast flatness at the end of which was a deep ravine, the quad riders
set out to look all over the vast plain where it slowly rose until it was a
steep hill.

Once they all stopped at the end of their search they could see no sign of
any bunker or where one might be but Elios was adamant that they were in
the right place, again they looked around and it was one of the riders that
saw the strange round mounds down on the plain.

>From the level of the plain they could not see them but now as they were
higher up they could see the unusual symmetry of the six mounds below
them. The mounds looked to be no more than natural bumps in the ground but
on further investigation it looked out of place in the rest of the flatness
and they were evenly placed which was not what nature would have done,
Elios lead the way down to them for a closer look.

When they arrived at the closest one, Elios got down and looked more
closely, the mound was as high as his waist, now that they were so close he
wondered how they had missed them in the first place, he was now sure they
were in the right area but where was the bunker entrance, Elios, along with
some of the other boys, began to scrape away the sand from the mounds with
the small shovels from the Humvee.

By the numbers on his watch, Elios saw that they had been digging for just
over two hours but now he could see the results of their hard work, all the
boys apart from the two set as guards, stood around the now cleared metal
mound, around the outside was the normal ancient grey stone, in the centre
was a large round metal plate with the thick crack down the middle, the
metal was covered in the red dust that was familiar for this type of metal.

Elios tried to wedge his small shovel in the crack to pry it apart but all
he got was a dull echo that told him the mound was hollow inside, he stood
back and scratched his head in puzzlement, it was not like the ancients to
make something that did not work in some way, he set his mind to thinking
on the problem, why they had made doors like this and that they could not
be opened was another mystery to solve.

Elios, along with the other boys sat down on the edge of the metal mound
and looked back at the small hill that they had just come from, even there,
there was no sign of the large metal doorway he was used to seeing at the
home bunker, somewhere around here was the bunker, he was sure of it, but
for the life of him, he could not see where it was.

As it was getting late in the afternoon, Bax decided to have them make camp
here close to the mound, they could start their search again in the morning
when they were more refreshed and observant, Elios sighed as he nodded his
head in agreement he had so much wanted to find the bunker today but this
new set up of ancient mounds was confusing him, he set about starting their
evening meal as the other boys put up their four small tents, there would
be double guards again tonight, at least the slightly extra height of the
mound would give them a better vantage point to watch from.

The next morning all the boys were up early and, as they sat around eating
their first meal of the day, they discussed what to do about looking for
the bunker, Elios sat with his back resting on Bax's folded knees as he
closed his eyes and tried to imagine what to look for, their home bunker
was under a hill, that made him sure that somewhere along the hill in front
of them was the doorway to the next bunker, but how to find it in all the
sand that covered the hill and what were these mounds used for, Elios sat
quietly and thought.

After their meal, Bax sent one of the jeeps along with four boys to drive
as high as they could up the hill and to set up a watch post while the rest
set about searching for the elusive bunker door, suddenly, Elios
straightened up against Bax's knees, he looked at the others and a small
smile came over his face.

"What is it?" asked Bax as he saw the boy move.

"I think I have a way to find the bunker, you weren't with us when Elam,
Elvan and I found the other one, it was just a chance that we came across
it, we were looking for a place to hide from the Renegs and found a vehicle
full of goods and then we stumbled on a small cave that turned out to be an
entrance into the main bunker. The ancients did everything very much the
same so this one must have a special entrance as well, all we have to do is
find it and I think I know a place to start."

"Where? It all looks the same to me." Replied Bax.

"Over there in that deep gully, the other one was placed well away from the
main door to hide it, I think that's what they did this time, all we have
to do is look along the edge of the cliff and see if there's a small round
hole that looks different from any other caves."

"That would mean we would have to go all the way back and then find a way
down into the gully. If we find the hole then we would have come all the
way back again, we could spend all day just to find the hole?"

"No, we don't have to do that, we just take the Humvee up to the edge and
then we use that long rope in the back and you can let me down over the
edge, once I'm at the bottom I can walk along and look for the hole, if I
find it, you can bring me back up with the rope again or park the Humvee
close enough where I can climb up to the hole and see if I can get inside."

"That could be dangerous, what if Renegs come along while you are at the
bottom on your own?"

"He won't be alone." Came the voice of Usof, "I'm going down there with
him, I promise I will protect him while he looks."

Bax could say nothing more, it was the only real way of searching the cliff
without spending a whole day going all the way back, he nodded his
agreement and they set about getting ready. Elios took a small pack and
filled it with the things he thought he might need to get into the bunker
if he found the entrance hole; Usof put extra ammunition and some food into
his pack and put his rifle over his shoulder so his hands would be free.

An hour later and they were set, the rope was just long enough to reach the
base of the gully and was tied tightly to the Humvee, Bax had taken out his
big rifle and set it up on the very edge of the cliff so he could see most
of the gully floor in both directions, Elios slung his own rifle over his
back like that of Usof and, grasping the rope tightly, began to work his
way down, when he was half way he felt the rope move and looked up to see
the smaller frame of Usof following behind him.

Elios finally made it to the bottom, his hands were a little chaffed and
his breathing was coming in short pants as his feet hit the solid ground,
he took his rifle from his back and looked up to watch as Usof came down to
him, after both boys had rested they began to slowly walk along the face of
the cliff, Elios using his binoculars on every inch of the face while Usof
was carefully scanning every nook or cranny that might hold danger for them
both.

For an hour the two boys worked their way along the floor of the gully, it
was slow going as Elios had to check every small cave or hole in the wall
with his binoculars, above them they could hear one of the quads pacing
them. Bax had decided to keep close in case they needed help and he didn't
want to remove the rope until he was certain they were ok.

At midday the two boys stopped to take on a little food and water, it was
hot work down in the gully and they were starting to feel the pressure, the
sun was now beating down into the gully and it was now only on the other
side of the gully that had any shade so, Elios and Usof made their way over
to the other side to rest and eat while above them the quad also came to a
halt, Elios heard Bax's voice shout down to them with a hint of an echo.

"Are you ok, have you found anything yet?"

Elios looked up to where the voice had come from, Usof jumped in fright as
Elios leapt to his feet and grabbed for his binoculars, quickly he began to
scrutinise the cliff in front of them and then, with a loud yell of relief,
he pointed to a small perfectly round hole high up on the cliff face so
Usof could see it.

"That's it, it's got to be, we've found it, the back way in." Elios yelled
with glee as Usof tried to see the small round hole.

Elios called up to Bax.

"Bring the rope over to here, I've found it, it's near the top so you will
have to pull me up to it."

"Ok, wait while I go and get the Humvee and the rope, are you both ok
there?" replied Bax.

"Yes, we can have some food while we wait."

Elios and Usof heard the louder roar of the quad as it sped off to retrieve
the rope and Humvee, Elios was almost as excited as Usof at finding the
next bunker, they could hardly eat or drink as they waited in anticipation
of Bax's return. It was an hour before they heard the approaching Humvee;
Elios jumped to his feet and kept watch on the high rim of the cliff.

A short time later and Bax stood at the very edge of the cliff, the rope
rolled up and slung over his shoulder, Elios signalled him to move further
along the rim until he saw that Bax was now directly above the small round
hole, He then signalled Bax to throw the rope over and secure it to the
Humvee. Elios and Usof watched as the now secure rope snaked its way down
the cliff and finally rested on the floor of the gully.

During the time they had been waiting, Elios had explained what his plan
would be so that Usof would be able to tell Bax how to go about lifting
Elios up to the hole, to make his climb easier, Usof stripped off his
equipment and clothes until he stood naked before Elios who, even though he
was a Bred Boy, could not help looking at Usof's skinless boyhood in
fascination, Usof gave a soft sort of cough and brought Elios back to their
situation, Elios blushed and smiled as he held the rope tight ready for
Usof to begin his long climb to the top of the cliff.

Elios stood below watching as the sinewy arms and legs of Usof pulled him
ever up ward, it was unavoidable that Elios could see all of the younger
boys assets as he made swift work of the long climb, Elios almost felt
sorry to see the small slender figure be pulled over the rim by the larger
Bax. Next, Elios tied all of Usof's clothes and equipment onto the rope and
watched as it was swiftly pulled up and moments later the rope dropped
again and Elios time would start.

Looking up he saw Usof's small dark head poke over the rim, Quickly Elios
looped the rope over his shoulders and fastened it around his chest then,
giving Usof the agreed signal, he heard the sputter of a quad and he began
to rise steadily and smoothly up the face of the cliff, he kept his eyes on
Usof as he rose, as soon as he was level with the opening he called out
loudly to Usof and rope stopped just opposite the hole but a little to the
left.

Slowly and with a lot of care, Elios began to swing his body to the right
until he could hold onto the rim of the opening, it looked exactly the same
as the first one at their home bunker, he gripped the edge tightly and then
called for Usof to let the rope slacken off enough for him to crawl inside
and release the rope altogether.

Finally it had all been achieved, Elios released the rope and was now
tucked into the tunnel, taking his pack off he felt around for the
flashlight, switching it on he looked down the tube and began to crawl
towards the darkness as he heard the rope being pulled out of the tunnel
and back up the cliff.

This tunnel turned out to be longer than the first one they had discovered
all that time ago but the end was just the same, this time he had the use
of metal cutting tools from Elam's garage and he made short work of the
metal screen, turning the small handle on the hatch, he pushed upward and
opened the safety door turning his flashlight down and into the room below
him.

Elios saw that he was not in the common room but at the entrance to the
generator room, squirming around he lowered his legs over the side and,
hanging by one hand he shone the flashlight down onto floor just below his
feet and let go, bending his knees to take the slight impact, he came to
stand up in the dark room, next he looked for the switch board and soon he
had the power going and the lights on, Elios smiled in triumph, this time
had been so much easier now they understood so much more of the ancients
secrets.

It took Elios only minutes to find his way to the garage and the entrance
to the main door, this garage seemed a lot bigger than the one he had come
from and he looked around before going to the door controls, lined up in
the garage were not as many quads or jeeps, there were only two Humvee's
but three APC's as well as a new vehicle that they did not have in the
other bunker.

These vehicles were bigger, and then it clicked in his mind, these were the
same vehicles they had first come across buried in the sand, Elios almost
forgot why he was there as he looked at the new vehicles, from his old
memories he could now see that they had fixed the problem of carrying large
amount of goods or boys, all they had to do was spend the time to work out
how to drive them. Elios started as he remembered why he was down here,
there would be plenty of time to look around once he had opened the main
doors for his friends, Elios moved towards the main door.

Elios saw that this door was different from their own, it was wider and
seemed a lot higher than the other one, Elios went to the control box and
slid his card in the slot, next he punched in the same security numbers and
immediately there was a deep groaning sound as the long closed door tried
to open.  To Elios surprise, the door did not lift like the other one,
instead it began to lower from above him, as it did so a fine rain of sand
began to fall towards him, the more the door opened the more sand rained
down, Elios jumped back before he was buried under the raining sand.

Finally the door came to rest on the sand covered floor of the garage, it
now formed a long ramp up to the daylight although it was difficult to see
it under the build up of sand, Elios shouldered his pack and scrambled
through the high piled sand until he was again standing outside, it was no
wonder they could not find the door from above, all around him stretched
the endless yellow sand, his friends were nowhere in sight, as agreed,
Elios lifted his rifle and fired a shot into the air, moments later he
heard the replying shot from well behind him.

Elios dropped all his equipment apart from his rifle and started to climb
up the sand hill behind him, eventually he made it to the top and saw in
the distance the small group of his friends as they turned their vehicles
towards the sound of his first shot, Elios fired again and heard the
response, he then waved his arms so they would see the movement and then
waited as the vehicles sped up towards him.




Tbc.

Artcart65@vodafone.co.nz