The End is Imminent
The actual construction will take place in Clarissa Shoffler’s backyard. There aren’t any
police in Gordon nor do the neighbors care about what is going on in the world around them.
We have a pretty good chance of being inconspicuous in a way, and avoid any unnecessary
problems related to the construction of our shelter. If we are questioned or someone asks us if
we have the permission to dig a giant hole in the yard, we will apply for a permit. Maybe we the
borough will continually deny us permission…so we can all move into my grandmother’s old
house in Hegins which has four acres of land, and almost no one travels through that area.
The three of us will build it as soon as we can get our hands on the equipment.
Backhoes, shovels, and dump trucks are necessary for the digging and removal of the excess dirt.
After that, we will transfer the dirt to my grandmother’s land to help her level it. (There isn’t
much of a point to this, but we needed somewhere to go with all of it!) Before we can start any
of this, we need to take the hedges out from around Clarissa’s house to bring in the vehicles, and
we need to be extra careful not to hit any sewer pipes or things of that nature. (If all fails, we
move to grandma’s!)
The hole is going to be 10 (including extra to support the ground on top to keep it from
collapsing into itself) feet deep and the about 100 feet wide. After that is complete, we will go
underground to expand the inside to a total of 1 square mile. There isn’t anything in Gordon that
will stop us from digging that much. There are underground streams running under the town,
and under Clarissa’s house. The entrance to our shelter will be located in her basement where
we extended part of the shelter to. This way, no one will be able to get in unless you are inside
the house.
Now that we have a big hole, we need to support the ground around it and on top of it.
We will use wood “pillars” to hold up the sides, and we will have enough earth on top to support
our “ceiling.” We will also need to make a ventilation system leading to the surface, but with air
scrubbers to keep out sewer gases and other dangerous gases from the bomb.
We will build wooden cabinets to hold our food and other supplies, and we can use some
that we have or other people have that aren’t using them. A specific area will be set off for using
the bathroom. There will be a deep hole in the ground (about 5 feet deep) with a toilet seat over
it to designate it as a bathroom facility. When there is about 3 feet of ground left, we will cover
the hole with dirt, mark it as used, and dig another hole about 5 feet away from that one.
Lanterns will be hung from the ceiling (powered by dry cell batteries) to provide somewhat of a
light source.
Food and Water
The three of us are going to need a lot of water. There are underground sources all over
Gordon, but they are polluted. We decided to collect that water, purify it, and build large tanks
to store it in, and a hand crank will be attached to rotate the water as need. Water scrubbers will
be on hand. Food is another big issue. Canned foods last a very long time. We will make sure
we have well over 6570 cans of food because if you think: 3 people, 3 meals per day, and for two
years you come up 6570.
We will make sure we have foods that provide us with nutrients we need to survive, and
keep going until we can find more.
Green Beans
Corn
Nuts
Fruits such as peaches, apricots, etc.
Dried Eggs
Canned meats
Carrots
Peas
Beets
Chicken Broth
Tomatoes
Limas
Garbanzo beans
Canned Milk
Soups
Along with the actual food, we need ways to cook it to satisfy ourselves. Pots, pans,
bowls, glasses, plates, knives, spoons, forks, coffee mugs, spatulas, can openers, lids.
These are all things we need to eat the food we have. The empty cans will be placed near the
bathroom, but in separate holes.
We are going to build a concrete fire pit with a pipe leading to the surface to rid us of Carbon
Monoxide. We will include air scrubbers here, and a fire extinguisher just in case.
We will bring a kitchen table, a metal pan to wash dishes (soap), and chairs to have a
little bit of comfort. A space will be saved for our “kitchen”. The dirty dish water will be
dumped in the bathroom area.
We will also need some water pails and five gallon buckets if we need to transport water.
Since we might be the only survivors left in the area, we probably cannot be held
responsible for having alcohol. Even though alcohol does take away some of your hydration, we
made need it in case that our water is unfit for drinking. A few bottles of beer and wine on hand,
but not for getting drunk. This is a last resort!
Sleeping and Personal Hygiene
Now our sleeping area will have a bunk bed, and a cot. We will have mattresses, lots of
blankets, quilts, sheets, comforters, pillows, etc. We are going to use old ones lying around our
houses, and buy some new ones.
Hygiene is an important element of survival. We must be clean, but we can’t go overboard. We
will have lots of towels and wash cloths. We will have a stockpile of bars of soap in our
bathroom area that will use for bathing. We will use a metal tub to bathe ourselves will minimal
water, and we will dump the dirty water into the bathroom area where the dish water was
removed of.
Since we are all women, we will need to have something on hand for our menstrual cycle.
We’ve decided to go old fashioned and wear a rag to absorb the fluids. We will then use rubbing
alcohol to clean them and eventually wear the clean ones again. Three girls getting the monthly
visitor for about 7 days a week every months or 24 month will make definitely make it harder for
us. Pads and tampons will add up to too much trash that we can easily avoid, but if we do not
the water to clean the rags with, we will buy lots of feminine products to store. (Sorry mom we
cannot all go get hysterectomies either).
We will have toothbrushes and some toothpaste on hand to keep our teeth healthy. There
will be extra clothes and shoes on hand because what we are wearing will eventually wear out.
We will have first aid kits on hand that contain scissors, bandages, tools for stitches,
antibacterial ointments, and braces to wear on hurt ankles, knees, and wrists.
Tools
We might have to repair parts of our shelter, or our motorcycle that will be mentioned
later. Our toolbox will include:
Hammers
Hand saws
Hatchets/ Axes
Screw Drivers
Trowel
Concrete
Wedges (split wood)
Screws and Nails
Hand Drills/ Chisels
Extra wood
Parts for our motorcycle
Tarps
Dry cell batteries
Generator
Light Bulbs to keep on hand
Flint
Matches
Wood for fires
/Space Heaters.
Flashlights/ Lanterns for light source (hand cranks)
Yarn
Tape
Sewing Needles
Knitting Needles
Crochet Hooks
Fuel (gasoline, ethanol, and moonshine)
AK-47 and Extra Ammunition
Knife to skin animals
5 Backpacks
Pens, pencils, notebooks, paper, diaries
Pencil sharpener
3 Flasks
Binoculars
Canteens
5 Sleeping Bags
Compasses (direction)
Rulers, yardsticks, measuring tape
Adjustable Wrenches
Boredom
Books are a great way to avoid becoming bored and going crazy. Of course, we will
build book shelves and provide plastic covers and pesticides to preserve them.
Textbooks (Algebra, Basic Math, Geometry, Calculus, Trigonometry, Biology, Physics,
Chemistry, Earth Science, American History, World History, Mythology, Sociology,
Psychology, Music, Encyclopedia Americana, Dictionaries, Thesauruses, English, Grammar,
Literature, Spanish, German, French, Atlases, maps.)
We are going to make sure we include:
Bibles
Dune Series by Frank Herbert
1984 by George Orwell
Shakespeare
Edgar Allan Poe
Dickens
Classics
Do- it – yourself books
How to (Building, Crocheting, Knitting, Sewing, Hobbies, Cooking)
Books about nature
Science Fiction
And tons more!
We also need to get some exercise why we are stuck underground.
Baseballs, bats, gloves, things to use for bases, helmets.
Basketballs, hoops to hang off of something if we can.
Tennis Racquets, balls.
Board games: Monopoly and Scrabble.
Preserving our Culture and Nation
We will bring textbooks that contain the history of our nation, how the government
works, how the economy works, and copies of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence.
We will make sure we take at least one of each of the different types of American flags, and one
of each representing the fifty states. We will also take radios and engines with us to provide
information on how things of that nature work.
Coming out: What now?
For transportation, we will put a motorcycle that can use different types of fuel in our
shelter. We already have spare tires and other parts and tools to fix it if we must. We will also
have bicycles with us and extra parts for them. As soon as we come out of the shelter, we will
inspect the damage. We really don’t know what to expect, but we do know for a fact that what
we used to call home will be a wasteland. Next, we will try to find some food. It is very
improbable that we will find anything like rabbits, squirrels, or other small mammals. We will
take our hunting supplies (rifle, ammo, and knives) with us on our trip.
We will also pack up our leftover food with us to start an expedition to look for survivors.
We will load up our backpacks with our sleeping bags, food, water, and other essentials for
survival. Not being sure far we are going or where we are going isn’t a good idea, but we can
plan a certain number of hours to be away from the shelter, and also to have someone guarding it
at all times.
As soon as we find some sort of place that is habitable, and we will take our survivors, if
any, with us to start building ourselves a better shelter above ground. If we travel far enough to
find somewhere that wasn’t completely obliterated, we can take our pieces of our culture with us
to add to what is there, or instill it in the people there. Hopefully, we can also find ourselves a
place to start that provides us with the things we need (preferably woods or a place near a body
of fresh water) where we can start our next big project. Hopefully we have the people that we
can breed with so we can pass on our culture to our children, and make a new America out of the
ruins. We have our recorded history in the textbooks, and we also have documents that our
important to our culture, government, and lifestyle. Rebuilding the world will take decades or
possibly even centuries, but with the items in our shelter, the knowledge we possess, and the
willpower can help us.
And another thing…
I, Clarissa Ann Shoffler would like to thank Mr. Wyatt for providing us with the
opportunity for this project. My group had a great time working together, thinking, and
preparing this for you. It would be wonderful if other teacher presented us with more challenges
quite like this one. Once again, thank you for being the awesome history teacher that you are.