Takashi wasn’t sure he could, not if it was his true love at stake.
Joe stared anxiously past the threshold, frozen in fear. He listened numbly to Takashi’s fractured voice over the intercom. Static interference mangled the transmission, rendering it barely comprehensible:
“Brody — we — ah — each—”
“What?” Joe asked, straining to make out what was being said. “Say again?”
“Catastrophic radiation breach!”
Joe had thought he couldn’t be any more scared, but this nightmare just kept getting worse and worse. Utter horror transfixed him. This couldn’t be happening…
“Seal the corridor,” Takashi pleaded, “or the whole city will be exposed!”
Keep going, Sandra thought. Just a little further!
Terror overcame exhaustion as she and her crew sprinted down a corridor, despite the best efforts of the earthquake to slow them down. An earth-shaking rumble caused the floor to quake beneath their feet, tossing them from one side to another. Yamato tumbled headfirst onto the concrete floor, forcing Sandra to turn back and help him to his feet. His visor had survived the fall intact, thank goodness, and they were about to resume their flight when—
The air rippled behind them as a billowing cloud of radioactive vapor and particulate matter blew in from the far end of the corridor. The oncoming vapors set off the radiation sensors in the ceiling, causing the emergency klaxons to sound directly overhead. Flashing red lights accompanied the sirens. The hot gases and steam rushed toward Sandra and the others with frightening speed. Unable to outrun it, her eyes wide with horror, she braced herself as the cloud blasted past them like a red-hot gust of wind, knocking them all to the floor. Buffeted by the blast, she felt the heat of the vapors through the multiple layers of her protective suit. She held her breath instinctively, despite the gas mask protecting her air supply.
Oh my God, she thought. Have I been exposed?
But that wasn’t the worst part. The cloud kept on going, triggering sirens further ahead. It flooded down the corridor toward the containment threshold. Sandra and Yamato traded stunned looks. They all knew what would happen if the irradiated cloud reached the checkpoint first, what would have to happen for the safety of the entire community. They needed to be on other side of that boundary before it was too late.
Panicked, they all scrambled to their feet and ran madly for the checkpoint.
“Five seconds… four seconds…”
Takashi counted down over the intercom as Joe stood like a statue right outside the containment area, staring bleakly at the empty corridor beyond. He remembered kissing Sandra in the car less than an hour ago, tried to remember the last thing he said to her before they went their separate ways this morning. Had he said he loved her, or even said goodbye?
He knew he couldn’t wait much longer.
“Joe,” Takashi said, reaching the end of his countdown. No doubt he was tracking the progress of the radiation leak as it spread through the lower levels. “You have to shut it down… now.”
Looking away from the entrance, Joe stared at the manual control button on the wall. He tried to step toward it, but his feet didn’t want to move. He forced himself to take one step toward the button, two, three… until the button was within reach. He raised his hand, clenched his fist.
God forgive me, he thought.
Static squawked from the walkie-talkie. Fragmented bursts of his wife’s voice came over the speaker:
“—Joe — ear — an—”
His heart surged in his chest. He clutched the walkie-talkie hard enough to turn his knuckles white. Desperation filled his voice.
“Sandra?… Sandra?”
Perversely, the static abated long enough for him to hear her clearly at last, perhaps for the last time.
“Joe. It’s too late! We’re not going to make it!”
Her words hit him harder than any earthquake, shattering his world. “No, no!” he shouted into the walkie-talkie. “Don’t you say that! Don’t you stop—!”
“You have to do it!” The signal began to break up again, pops and crackles threatening to consume her final words. “You have to live! For Ford!”
The radio sputtered and died. He smacked it furiously, trying to get her back.
“SANDRA!”
Klaxons blared as a swirling cloud of discharged vapor came gusting around a bend at the far end of the corridor. Red lights flashed in alarm. The radioactive gases rushed toward Joe… and the boundary.
“You have to seal it!” Takashi shouted frantically over the intercom. “JOE!”
Joe thought of the unsuspecting city outside the plant. Ford would be at school now, maybe playing at recess… along with dozens of other kids. And thousands of other men, women, and children were going about their business, unaware of the hell that had been unleashed from the damaged reactor, the hell he was trapped in now.
I’m sorry, Sandy… I’m so, so sorry…
Screaming in rage, he drew back his arm and pounded his fist into the emergency control button. A transparent barrier, more than six inches thick, instantly slammed down like the blade of a guillotine, sealing off the contaminated corridor. The advancing red lights halted right on the other side of the barrier. The screaming sirens faded away, echoing into silence.
Dear God, Joe thought. What have I done?
Alone in the control room, Takashi sagged in relief, sinking into his seat as he watched the blinking red icons tail off at the checkpoint. A message flashed upon the screen:
“BARRIER SECURE.”
Takashi kept looking at the message, almost afraid to believe it was true. He felt like he’d aged twenty years in the last few minutes. They had come so close to a total catastrophe. If Joe had been just a few seconds slower…
“Radiation is contained,” he reported over the comm. He paused before asking the question he was afraid to ask. “Is… is Sandra with you? Joe?”
Joe couldn’t answer. He felt destroyed by what he had just done. The finality of shutting the barrier on his wife. The walkie-talkie slipped from his fingers, crashing unnoticed onto the floor. Unable to stand, he slid limply to the ground, his back against the thick plexiglass barrier. He buried his face in his hands.
“Joe?” Takashi continued to harangue him. “The barrier will only hold so long. We have to close the lead shield, too.”
Joe knew he was right, but he couldn’t cope with that right now. He needed a moment, just to try to come to grips with what he had lost, with what his life had just become. He and Sandra had been together since college, even gone into the same industry together. He had always assumed they would grow old together, watching Ford grow up…
A dull pounding reached his ears, coming from the barrier behind him. Dread gripped his heart as he realized what the pounding meant. Oh, God, he thought. I’m not sure I can stand this…