Under the Dome

Twitch took over from Ginny. Barbie watched as drops of sweat from Twitch’s forehead darkened Ernie’s shirt. After about five minutes he stopped, coughing breathlessly. When Rusty started to move in, Twitch shook his head. “He’s gone.” Twitch turned to Joanie and said, “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Calvert.”

Joanie’s face trembled, then crumpled. She let out a cry of grief that turned into a coughing fit. Norrie hugged her, coughing again herself.

“Barbie,” a voice said. “A word?”

It was Cox, now dressed in brown camo and wearing a fleece jacket against the chill on the other side. Barbie didn’t like the somber expression on Cox’s face. Julia went with him. They leaned close to the Dome, trying to breathe slowly and evenly.

“There’s been an accident at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.” Cox kept his voice pitched low. “They were running final tests on the pencil nuke we meant to try, and… shit.”

“It exploded?” Julia asked, horrified.

“No, ma’am, melted down. Two people were killed, and another half dozen are apt to die of radiation burns and/or radiation poisoning. The point is, we lost the nuke. We lost the fucking nuke.”

“Was it a malfunction?” Barbie asked. Almost hoping that it had been, because that meant it wouldn’t have worked, anyway.

“No, Colonel, it did not. That’s why I used the word accident. They happen when people hurry, and we’ve been hurrying our collective ass off.”

“I’m so sorry for those men,” Julia said. “Do their relatives know yet?”

“Given your own situation, it’s very kind of you to think of that. They’ll be informed soon. The accident occurred at one o’clock this morning. Work has already begun on Little Boy Two. It should be ready in three days. Four at most.”

Barbie nodded. “Thank you, sir, but I’m not sure we have that long.”

A long thin wail of grief—a child’s wail—went up from behind them. As Barbie and Julia turned around, the wail turned into a series of harsh coughs and gasps for air. They saw Linda kneel beside her elder daughter and fold the girl into her arms.

“She can’t be dead!” Janelle screamed. “Audrey can’t be dead!”

But she was. The Everetts’ golden retriever had died in the night, quietly and without fuss, as the Little Js slept on either side of her.

11

When Carter came back into the main room, The Mill’s Second Selectman was eating cereal from a box with a cartoon parrot on the front. Carter recognized this mythical bird from many childhood breakfasts: Toucan Sam, the patron saint of Froot Loops.

Must be stale as hell, Carter thought, and had a fleeting moment of pity for the boss. Then he thought of the difference between seventy-some hours of air and eighty or a hundred and hardened his heart.

Big Jim scrummed more cereal from the box, then saw the Beretta in Carter’s hand.

“Well,” he said.

“I’m sorry, boss.”

Big Jim opened his hand and let the Froot Loops cascade back into the box, but his hand was sticky and some of the brightly colored cereal-rings clung to his fingers and palms. Sweat gleamed on his forehead and trickled from his receding hairline.

“Son, don’t do this.”

“I have to, Mr. Rennie. It’s not personal.”

Nor was it, Carter decided. Not even a little bit. They were trapped in here, that was all. And because it had happened as a result of Big Jim’s decisions, Big Jim would have to pay the price.

Big Jim set the box of Froot Loops on the floor. He did it with care, as if he were afraid the box might shatter if treated roughly. “Then what is it?”

“It just comes down to… air.”

“Air. I see.”

“I could have come in here with the gun behind my back and just put a bullet in your head, but I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to give you time to get ready. Because you’ve been good to me.”

“Then don’t make me suffer, son. If it’s not personal, you won’t make me suffer.”

“If you keep still, you won’t. It’ll be quick. Like shooting a wounded deer in the woods.”

“Can we talk about it?”

“No, sir. My mind is made up.”

Big Jim nodded. “All right, then. Can I have a word of prayer, first? Would you allow me that?”

“Yes, sir, you can pray if you want. But make it fast. This is hard on me too, you know.”

“I believe it is. You’re a good boy, son.”

Carter, who hadn’t cried since he was fourteen, felt a prickle in the corners of his eyes. “Calling me son won’t help you.”

“It does help me. And seeing you’re moved… that helps me, too.”

Big Jim shuffled his bulk off the couch and got on his knees. In the act of doing this, he knocked over the Froot Loops and uttered a sad little chuckle. “Wasn’t much of a last meal, I can tell you that.”

“No, probably not. I’m sorry.”

Big Jim, his back now to Carter, sighed. “But I’ll be eating roast beef at the Lord’s table in a minute or two, so that’s all right.” He raised a pudgy finger and pressed it high on the back of his neck. “Right here. The brain stem. All right?”

Carter swallowed what felt like a large dry ball of lint. “Yes, sir.”

“Do you want to get kneebound with me, son?”