Chapter 22: 120 hours

Mike held his cigarette on his left hand tightly. Standing on the rooftop, Mike puffed out the smoke in a very relaxed manner.

'Should I let Jeff in this issue together? He is a good friend as well as my subordinate. I have done a lot of bad stuff before, but this time... I can't bear to see my friend to be in danger...' Mike has been thinking to tell Jeff, about the 'Secret Project ISAF' for a long time now.

Mike is worried if that overly-anxious Jeff, will blurt out this government secret in public and put his life in danger as well. It is a secret project after all, but keeping it in secret even from Jeff would make him a selfish devil, who only knows about saving his butt.

Mike's consciousness waver. He likes Jeff's mother. Jeff's mother treats him very well for all this year. Whenever Mike went to San Francisco, Jeff's mother would always invite him for dinner and overnight there as well. He can't leave that old woman to die alone, due to his selfishness right?

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"Jeff, can you come into my office now?" Mike's voice was heard from the intercom on Jeff's table.

"Right away, Mike." Jeff quickly got up from his seat, and walked towards Mike's office.

"So... do you have anything to talk to me about Mike?" Jeff asked nervously. He has been inside Mike's office for a while now, but Mike still has not spoken anything. Mike just sat on his seat and stared at Jeff.

"Jeff, can I trust you if I told you a secret?" Mike finally spoke up after a long silence.

"Well yeah, we have been friends since high school anyway. Before you were my boss, you are my friend." Jeff looked at Mike weirdly.

"What's bothering you? What kind of secret are you talking about anyway?"

"Do you remember telling me a few days ago, that the San Andreas Fault might have its Big One within a week? What if I told you... that the government was aware of that issue, since 2 years ago? and they actually have built a 12-story underground bunker to survive the catastrophe?" Mike did not even look at Jeff as he told him the news. He is afraid to look at Jeff's face right now. He must be feeling sad, and his face to be downcast as if it is implying that Mike had been betraying him all this while.

"What did you say Mike? Do they already know about this since 2 years ago? wai-wait... how come I was never aware of any of it?" Jeff could not believe it. How come this big news was swept past him for 2 years, and that is also right under his nose? He has been collecting and analyzing data from the San Andreas Fault for as long as he has been working as a Seismologist.

" You heard it correct Jeff. The government was aware of the possibility that the Fault is going to collapse soon, and they have been asking sponsors from their bunker's future residents to build the bunker. The bunker was originally built as a Nuclear fall out shelter for the public, but now it will be used for the investors during the disaster. Haven't you noticed that all the high-rank officials have been making out excuses to stay out from California these past few days? They are preparing for the worst Jeff." Mike said calmly to Jeff.

"So, so... you are telling me that my prediction is correct? that the Big One is coming? and-and they knew all along?" Jeff's eyes were rounded as he speaks. He is nervous, angry, and happy too. He did not know what to feel right at that moment. His years of research finally has a breakthrough. The prediction is correct!

"Yes, Jeff. Your calculations are correct. We have around 5 days to do everything we could to convince the people to move out to safety." Mike looks at Jeff with a stern face. There is no time to waste if they are going to save the people.

Jeff's face changed when he heard Mike's instructions. "Mike, do you remember I told you that San Andreas was the midpoint of the two plates? If the San Andreas Fault collapsed, then it is not the end yet. It is just the beginning of a bigger catastrophe. We-we... might have nowhere to hide. Weeks ago, a sudden rise of the seawater level was detected, and huge tsunamis hit Antarctica. It was not reported before, because the tsunamis did not cause any casualties. But there is a small town, that was an independent island, it was wiped out totally. We predicted that more than 20 thousand people were gone. This happens only 2 days before Hawaii was hit with the tsunami. " Jeff explains to Mike.

"And why did I not have anyone reported it to me before?" Mike questions Jeff.

"Initially we thought that the tsunami that hit Hawaii was from an underground earthquake underneath that island itself. But, we have been looking at the data from the satellite, and that is how we have discovered about the huge tsunami."

"I think you need to inform the higher-ups about the possibility of the two big plates colliding with each other. If they did collide and causing the San Andreas Fault to collapse, I don't think by staying away from California may do any difference. We are looking at a huge scale of damage that is equivalent to 2 or 3 nuclear reactor to explode together at various places. Huge tsunamis that can go up to more than 100 feet, earthquakes that we have never seen before, and the volcanoes. A chain reaction or any change of pressure in the Earth's core may trigger their eruption all at once."

"The only way to survive all this is to stay somewhere underground that did not have any connection to the volcanoes, and away from the routes and movements of the tectonic plates... I doubt we have identified any of that place. Do you know where is the location of that secret bunker?" Jeff looked at Mike questioningly. Mike was stunned when he listens to Jeff question.

"I-I don't know. I did not have the clearance to know where is the location of the bunker. Only authorities with a level 4 clearance can have that classified information... Well, other than an underground bunker, is there anywhere that we can go?" Mike asked Jeff with hopes on his face.

"Well, I guess if you can find an alien spaceship to transport you out, it would be fine then. " Jeff chuckled and he said jokingly to Mike.

"Well, I guess in this world, even though there are other countries that did not have any active volcanoes in their country, and are out of range from the tectonic plate movements, I'm afraid that, there is nowhere that can survive the toxic gases released if all the volcanoes around the world erupted at once... Maybe, just maybe this might be how the world ends.."