Hopefully his brother would be able to relax by them and enjoy himself. At the same time he knew just how nerve-racking such a situation would be for him, after all, it wasn’t just his first dance, but his first date and girlfriend. Experiencing all of that during one night — Alan couldn’t even imagine what that would be like. It did, however, bring to mind his own first date two years ago and how much of a disaster it had been.
Samantha woke weary and tired, her body having been unable to relax enough for her mind to drift away for long periods of time due to the ropes. Every time she did mange to doze off, something would happen that would pull her back. The tug of the ropes was the worst. People were not designed to sleep while standing so whenever her mind would enter the dream world the ropes would yank her back. Of course just relaxing enough to fall asleep was nearly impossible. All her mind could think about was her situation, which kept the fear of having to live the rest of her days tied up like this constant. To make matters worse, every time she did fall asleep and then woke up, she thought Jimmy was in the room with her, his body concealed somewhere in the darkness.
It was also very cold and her body had no way of keeping the heat in, which is why she was shaking when Jimmy did actually appear the next morning.
“Here,” Jimmy said while handing her a wool blanket. He had gotten it from the stack of wool blankets that had been folded and left in the rear corner of the shelter. Before doing that he had untied the ropes from her wrists and told her to sit against the wall.
Samantha nodded a thank you and wrapped herself with the warm blanket. It felt wonderful, despite the itchiness, yet didn’t get rid of the shakes right away. The comfort of finally being free from the ropes, however, made it difficult for her eyes to stay open.
Jimmy uncapped the bottle of water she had drunk from the day before and helped her take a few sips. For the first time in her life Samantha was glad the water was warm.
“Do you need to use the bathroom?” Jimmy asked.
“Y-yesss.”
“Okay, stay here a second.” Jimmy stood up and walked over to the wall with shelves and picked up a metal bucket. He then brought it back. “Use this.”
When he had asked, Samantha had assumed he would take her into the house and let her use one of those toilets since this little shelter didn’t have one. Now she just stared at the bucket with disgust and humiliation. “I ca-can’t go in th-that.”
“If you need to go you can.”
Samantha looked at Jimmy and then back at the bucket, disgusted. How could he be doing this to her? Why was he doing this to her?
“If you don’t use it now I’ll just tie you up so your legs are straddling it. But then you’ll be stuck with the smell until I get back from school.”
“S-school?” she asked. “What time is it?”
“It’s just after six o’clock in the morning.”
As soon as he said it the hunger that had been showing up on and off throughout the night hit full force. She was starving.
“Can I e-eat something?” she asked, hesitation gripping her as her eyes studied the shelf with canned goods.
“Oh, yeah.” Jimmy got up and walked to the shelf. “What do you want?”
Samantha didn’t know what was over there, so she didn’t respond. Anything would satisfy her as long as it put an end to her hunger.
Jimmy turned. “Crackers?”
Samantha nodded.
Jimmy moved a few cans around and took out a box of crackers and then returned to Samantha. “I bet this started out as the Hoods’ Y2K shelter, but then wasn’t enough for the coming nuclear war with Islam they thought was going to occur.”
Samantha wasn’t sure if she heard it correctly, but it seemed like Jimmy was trying to start up a simple conversation. Why would he do that? Rather than answering him, she just waited for him to bring the crackers.
A day earlier, crackers for breakfast would have been a joke unless she was dieting. Now her stomach opened up with just the thought of a single small square.
“Let me see your wrists,” Jimmy said once the box was open.
Her arms felt like they had gone through a heavy workout, and she had trouble holding them out to him.
Jimmy looked at the red marks the rope had left and slowly began rubbing them. He then asked, “What was it like standing there all night?”
Samantha didn’t respond. Last night had been the worst night of her life and now he was asking the question like it was nothing. It could have been a bed he was asking about, and how comfortable the new mattress had been.
“If you want some crackers you better answer me,” Jimmy said, his voice growing stern.
“It hurt,” she said. Her voice wasn’t as shaky as before and now her body actually felt warm.
“I’ve always wanted to know what it would be like,” Jimmy said. “Standing there like that, arms over your head, the bite of the ropes, knowing you couldn’t get free.” He shook his head. “I envy the experience you had.”
Samantha couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was he serious? Could he actually be envious of what he had forced her to do all night, and would force her to do again? He was crazy.
“That and the stocks, or pillory as they are really called; I’ve always wondered what it would be like to stand locked in the pillory all day, the way the girls in medieval and Puritan times were forced to do. I don’t know when that desire started, but I love looking at videos on YouTube of girls at Renaissance Events being locked in the pillory.”
Samantha didn’t reply. She had no idea how to.
Jimmy didn’t seem to care and continued. “One of these nights I might lock myself up with you. I’d tell my parents I was sleeping over somewhere and come here, put handcuffs on, tie them up like yours and just wait until morning before unlocking them. What do you think of that?”
Samantha struggled with a response. She didn’t know what to say but knew he was expecting an answer. “I guess it would be nice to have some company.”
“Was it lonely last night?” Jimmy asked.
“Yes.” Tears began to well inside her eyes again. She wasn’t sure why his comment about being lonely had gotten to her. Perhaps it was everything coming together. The tears did not fall. She wouldn’t let them. She didn’t want him to see her cry.
“Here,” Jimmy said while handing her some crackers. He waited with the water.
It was the most delicious thing Samantha had ever eaten. She had another handful before washing it all down with a sip of water.
Jimmy then handed her the box of crackers and set the water next to her. For a moment she thought he was going to leave and let her stay sitting there all day, but he was only getting up to stretch his legs and look at some of the things the Hood family had brought down.
“I wonder when they made this place,” Jimmy said while examining the concrete walls.
Samantha’s mouth was full of crackers.
“I don’t remember ever hearing about it being built, and no one ever mentioned it, so maybe they didn’t really build it? Maybe it was an old atomic shelter from the fifties that they converted into a Y2K shelter?”
Samantha took a big swallow of water and then said, “My dad talks about it all the time.” It was a lie but one she thought might work.
Jimmy whirled around. “What?”
It had worked.
“He remembers them asking him about concrete and cement and how much would be needed. He owns that construction company you know and so they asked him all about it.” She had tried to sound genuine but then her voice started to waver. “He talked about it with us at dinner a lot.”