Chapter 10: Held at gunpoint
Chris walked into the conference room, followed by Francis. Max and Carmella were eagerly waiting at the end of the table. Evan and Garret were also already there. Heather arrived shortly after and stood next to Chris. Chris leaned over to Heather and whispered something in her ear. "We need to talk after this meeting." Heather nodded in response.
Max cleared his throat. "Would someone be so kind and go track down Nicole? She's five minutes late," Max asked.
Chris and Heather volunteered to go. As they were walking down the hall Heather asked Chris what he wanted to speak to her about.
"Francis interrogated me about the marriage," Chris said.
"Did you tell him the truth?" Heather asked in response.
"No, I made up a story that seemed believable," Chris replied.
Chris told Heather the story he told Francis about the marriage. They arrived at Nicole's room. Chris lightly knocked on the door.
"What do you want!" Nicole yelled to them.
"Nicole, the meeting is just about to start. It is mandatory that you show up," Chris said.
"I'm not going anywhere," refused Nicole.
"I really think it would be in you best interest to come out," Heather said.
Once again, Nicole refused. Chris pushed Heather out of the way. He took a step backwards then immediately charged the door and busted it open. Nicole fell backwards off her bed and shielded behind it. She emerged from behind the bed with a pistol pointed at Chris. Chris drew his sword and grabbed a pillow that he found on the floor.
"Get out of my room or I'll shoot!" Nicole screamed. She was breathing heavily, and she was shaking. "I'm not going anywhere and you're not going to get me to go!"
"Why won't you come with us," asked Heather.
"Just shut up and leave!" Nicole screamed, moving the gun between Chris and Heather.
A book flew past Chris and hit Nicole in the head. Chris lunged forward and jumped over the bed, knocking the gun out of Nicole's hand. He grabbed her arms and bound them together using an empty pillowcase. Chris looked at the doorway. Evan was standing there, hunched over trying to catch his breath.
"Thank you, Evan," Chris said, lifting Nicole to a standing position.
"No problem. I came as fast as I could, once I remembered she had a gun," said Evan.
"Take the gun and give it to your father. I'll take her to the conference room," ordered Chris.
Evan left Nicole's room and made his way down the hall. Heather helped Chris escorted Nicole to the conference room. When they arrived with Nicole, Chris tied her to the pole where Jackson was previously tied to.
"Nicole Ashley Feltzler, what the hell is wrong with you?" Garrett screamed.
Nicole sat at the foot of the pole in silence. Her long blonde hair was covering her face.
"I told you to only use that gun in an emergency!" Garrett scolded.
Francis walked over to Garrett and put a hand on his shoulder. "I think it's for the best that you take it easy on her. We don't want her going to war with us, do we?" Francis whispered.
"Now that we're all here, we should get this meeting started," Max said. "Chris, can you come up here?"
Chris walked to the front of the room and stood next to Max.
"After seeing how Chris handled the incident yesterday, I believe it was only logical to appoint him to the chief of law enforcement. He will be in charge of enforcing the laws set in place. As for those laws, until we can create our own set of laws. I think it's best if we follow the old US set of laws. After today work will begin at eight o'clock and end a six o'clock, with an hour break at noon for lunch. If there are any mechanical issues, please contact either Francis or Evan and they will try to fix the problem. Lastly, Jackson is now the in charge of the scout regiment. They are tasked with exploring the world outside of the bunker and try to establish communications with other bunkers. Is there anything I missed?" Max asked, turning to Chris who shook his head in response. "Well, that's it then. Meeting dismissed."
The conference room was vacated except for Chris and Nicole.
"Tell me something," Chris said, walking over to Nicole. "Was that gun actually loaded and if so, were you going to shoot me?"
"No, I never loaded it. The bullets are still in my room. Although, there was one blank round loaded into the gun," Nicole replied. "If it was loaded. I don't think I would have hesitated to shoot you. I hate you and your guts."
"I can't blame you can I," Chris said laughing. "You've got every right to hate me, but could you do so without committing a crime?"
Chris untied Nicole, and she let her body fall to the ground. "So, you're not punishing me?" she asked.
"Do you want to be?" Chris asked, to which Nicole promptly shook her head. "Go back to work in the fields."
Nicole stood up and ran out of the room. Chris followed her walking out at a normal pace. He arrived at the farm little while after Nicole did. They had completely finished sowing seeds in one of the fields. Out of curiosity, Chris asked Carmella what they were growing.
"We are growing a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains," Carmella answered. "Along with that we are also growing fiber plant such as cotton and flax."
"Anything else?" Chris asked.
"Yes, we are growing some oak tree in a plot in the back," said Carmella. "I did some reading last night and I read that the crops here are supposed to grow three times faster due to genetically modified seeds and fertilizer. The trees will grow a little faster. Should have a four in diameter in a month. We'll cut them down then and use the to build tents and homes when we move to the outside."
Chris was excited by this answer. He hadn't thought about moving outside yet, but now that they will have the materials ready, he couldn't wait.