Page 14 of Sixty Meters Under

Chapter 5

December 2053, Present time

The picture on the TV screen abruptly froze and turned gray. Small dots danced alternately for a few seconds followed by a static noise. The old man watching his favorite quiz show stiffened and waited for the picture to return to normal, his cup of tea stopped half-way to his mouth.

The interruption didn’t last long, though it didn’t show the picture the man anticipated. Instead, the worried face of the presenter appeared on the screen. The woman obviously tried her best to look professional, but she was clearly shaken, her voice high-pitched and full of tension:

We are interrupting this program to bring you the breaking news. As most of you already know, warning sirens have been sounding across our country. I can now confirm the same sirens had been heard in every city and every town across the world. The reason for this is the declaration of the Third World War.

The man put his cup on the table with shaky hands.

This news has been independently confirmed, so we’ll—

The woman on the screen continued to speak, but the old man didn’t focus on her. He got up and grabbed his cell phone.

—we ask all citizens to remain calm and slowly prepare for the upcoming days or weeks that are ahead of us. There’s no reason to succumb to massive panic since—

The man walked across the room, pulled the handle, and disappeared on the other side of the door.

?

Lennart was lying on an exercise machine wearing headphones that blasted heavy metal music. He pushed the weights up and down and stared at the ceiling, when Hugo’s face appeared in his field of vision. He paused, a little surprised, and pulled the headphones out of his ears. “What is it, Hugo?”

“Lennart, it has started,” Hugo said simply, trying to remain calm.

Lennart froze, his brows furrowing. “What? What has started?”

“The Third World War.”

Lennart’s eyes widened for a split second, but his expression quickly changed, and he narrowed his eyes. He knew his assistant wouldn’t make jokes like this, but he simply couldn’t believe what he just heard. He let go of the handles, pushed himself to a sitting position, and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the towel.

There was a short pause, so Hugo added, “We need to prepare and go to the bunker. Now.”

“Did you call Mom?” Lennart felt his heart race.

“I called Anna on the way here.”

“She’s still at work, isn’t she?”

“Yeah. She said she’ll come as soon as she can, that we should take our things and go without her.”

Lennart groaned and got up. He didn’t like that his mother would arrive later. “How much time do we have?” he asked. “Is it very bad?”

“Hard to tell. Maybe a few hours or a few days?”

“Okay. I’m going to pack and fill my car. You pack yours and inform Björn and Alma.”

“I’m on it,” Hugo said, preparing to leave, but Lennart stopped him. “Is Björn home at all?”

“I don’t know. I’ll call him right away.”

“Call him. The city will be in chaos. I hope he’s at home.”

?

When Lennart reached the garage, drenched in sweat and panting, he saw Hugo and their maid putting bags in the car. He started packing his own trunk, and asked Hugo, “Did you reach Björn?”

“He’s getting his things. He was about to leave the house just as the sirens started blaring.”