Level 7

But we, who have all the equipment to keep ourselves alive down here, we want to know the answer.

Strontium 90’s half-life, the time taken for its radioactivity to decay to half its original strength, is twenty-five years. The half-life of Uranium 239 is twenty-three minutes. But Uranium 238’s half-life is 4,510,000,000 years! Which of the isotopes is poisoning the surface?

The answer to that question will decide the life of the remaining levels. We on Level 7 are best off, with supplies for 500 years. Go up to Level 5, and the underground lifespan drops to 200 years. While in only twenty-five years the inhabitants of Level 3 will be forced to leave their burrows and risk life on the surface!

It is certain that surface pollution was intended to last for years. Otherwise the Button 4 bombs would not have been used at all. But years, decades or centuries?

People on Level 3 have raised the question in very practical terms. Though a life expectancy of twenty-five years is pretty good, if you remember that most of humanity has just died, they still face a problem. They are asking: “Should we raise children?” Children born now on Level 3 will starve in the prime of their life, unless they can get out.

So for them it is a significant problem. And so it is, in a less pressing way, for all the rest of us cave-dwellers. Even we, on Level 7, would like to know the answer. Can we look forward to the prospect of going out before we die? And if not, will our descendants be able to go out in five centuries’ time? The fate of remote descendants cannot be said to affect us personally; but we are curious to know whether humanity has a chance to survive and, perhaps, one day spread again over the face of the globe.

JUNE 23

In the lounge today, in the dining-hall, in corridors and rooms where people met and passed the time of day, the same question was on everyone’s lips or unspoken, in their eyes: how long will the surface be radioactive?

On other levels they go so far as to ask the question over the air, time and again. Perhaps because they are not so well adjusted to living underground.

Anyway, no one on Level 7 can give them the answer they keep asking for. Somebody on Level 5 must be able to, and Level 5 has been specifically requested to supply the information. But they give evasive replies, not a clear answer.

They advise Level 3 against begetting children, certainly; which must mean that in twenty-five years the deluge will not be over. They also say that living underground is safe and that we should not think about the surface; which implies something about how long the radioactivity will last.

They say it all depends on what kind of material the enemy used for his rigged bombs. What they do not tell us is what stuff we used. All this sounds very mysterious. Why the hell can’t they tell the truth, or at least that part of the truth which they know?

If we could contact them, those leaders of ours, we would get the truth pretty soon. There are ways of squeezing it out of men without using atomic bombs. But we are here, and they are there, and the only contact is by radio. So there is nothing we can do.

It is obvious that they do not want to give us this information. It is equally clear that for immediate practical purposes the information is of no significance: we are down here for life.

My guess is that the truth is worse than many people think. Otherwise our leaders would tell us all they knew. But they do not, perhaps because they are ashamed. Or maybe they are repentant.

To hell with them, anyway! We cannot get a thing out of them.

JUNE 24

Level 3 reports that a married couple there have decided to go out tomorrow and take a look at the world. They do not want to stay inside for the rest of their lives. In fact they do not want to remain underground a day longer.

I remember I felt that way sometimes before I had my psychological treatment.

They intend to take a radio transmitter with them and report on what they see. Everybody down here looks forward with keen interest to that, and I suppose people must be just as curious on Level 3, or they would not allow this suicidal enterprise.

Because it is suicide. That pair will never come back. They must perish on this trip, and they know it perfectly well. But they will have a few days out in the sun.

Everyone on Level 7 is talking about this business. Some people think they are mad. Others say they are brave. If I am not mistaken, everyone envies them a little. Perhaps because of the publicity. Or because of the sunshine.

It is P’s firm opinion that they are neurotic—though even she seems to look forward with some eagerness to this strange escapade.

JUNE 25

They are out.