THE TOMB

...They don't know anything...

...He didn't say anything until I asked him what he thought about it, and then he said, "It's a tomb, if you ask me...

...If you need it, you don't have it...

...I asked him about candles...

...You mean," he said, "in case of...

...Babcock nodded...

...We stood there in the summer day and said good-bye, and he said, "If there's anything else you'd like to—," and I was still trying to figure out how he felt...

...Air," said Babcock...

...You can say that again," I said...

...There were no bookshelves visible, but the coffee table had a book on it, dealing with Babcock's profession, and several copies of Life, Time, and Reader's Digest...

...It's a problem...

...It's a little noisy," said Babcock, "on account of the concrete, I suppose...

...He was still frowning...

...But it's as Babcock himself said: "It's like insurance...

...Did you build it yourself...

...If we remember to bring it down," he said again, and then, "I guess we'd find out that way, unless...

...Every year," said the little boy, going out with the spaghetti...

...There doesn't seem to be any way to keep it quiet...

...Here," pointing to the capped intake, "is where the air goes in...

...He shook his head slowly and said, "My wife's a chain smoker...

...No," said Babcock, "we had the architect of the house design it...

...THE TOMB by MILTON MAYER r~pHE NEXT best thing to eternal salvation is temporal salvation, and you can't blame a man in the prime of life, or a little past, for wondering what he might do for himself in case of nuclear war...

...Here, try it...

...In event of nuclear attack, or even panic due to rumor, he does not wish his family shelter mobbed by persons less well prepared...

...Whatever else made him unhappy, there was no doubt about Civil Defense...

...The intake was about five feet from the wooden fence surrounding the house and garage, and the exhaust was surrounded by a large pile of kindling...

...I guess not," he said...

...It might take a lot of shooting," I said...

...Nice fellow...

...Professor Edward Teller, the "Father of the H-Bomb," says that there should be a shelter for everybody within ten minutes walk...

...The people in those deep shelters in Hamburg died of asphyxiation, but their bodies were charred from the heat above the ground...

...Of course," I said, "if you had a real fire-storm above ground, with everything burning, I suppose the fire would suck the oxygen right out of the shelter...

...Of course it depends on how long— "But," he went on, "we have some other stuff to drink," and he pointed to maybe a dozen cans in all of ginger ale, root beer, and juices, and two bottles each of king-size Coca-Cola and Seven-Up...

...That's what happened in the ten-night raid on Hamburg...

...How much oxygen is there in it...

...Nothing else...

...Every year," said Babcock...

...He shook his head and said, "Several days, maybe...

...The trouble is, it might be drawing the radioactive particles right in through the filter from outside...

...They're filled with chemicals," he said...

...Is it...

...It goes a little hard," said Babcock...

...You'd think other people would build shelters," I said...

...Well, that's a problem," said Babcock...

...I said...

...Babcock said that would be a problem, he guessed, but an old Navy man told him that with enough bodies down there it would be warm enough...

...I said...

...But it stands to reason that there will be war...

...Of course," he added, "we've got this old Geiger-counter, 'if it works, but we'd have to go outside to use it, so I don't know what we'd do about that...

...I knew he was scientifically trained and a successful, respected practitioner of his profession...

...Oh," said Babcock...

...I said, thinking of his scientific training...

...I asked him what it said on the tag...

...I was beginning to think that Babcock wasn't completely happy about the whole thing, though I couldn't see why...

...Everybody would want to get in...

...He'd heard there were some cans of stuff that worked better, but he didn't know what it was called or where you got it...

...Somebody said you should rotate the food every two years...

...The inside of the hatch-lid was lined with sponge, and I asked Babcock why...

...And where," I said, "is the Gents' Room...

...No furniture of any kind, no hooks or hangers (or clothes to put on them), no copies of Life or Time or the Reader's Digest...

...Pretty sturdy," I said...

...It was Henry T. Babcock, and he lived about two miles away from me...

...I've got a ten-year-old counter, and I don't know if it's any good...

...Babcock didn't say anything for a bit, and then he said, "The trouble is, you can't figure out everything...

...I suppose you might have to stand off some of the people who wanted in," I said...

...By way of changing the subject, I asked him what the single cleat in the ceiling was for...

...It took a lot of lifting...

...He had done his duty by showing me the shelter...

...Of course," I said, "you couldn't let everyone in...

...Well," said Babcock, "this is what it looks like from the outside...

...Food and water," he said, "what if they're contaminated...

...Oh," said Babcock, brightening, "you can operate the blower with the hand crank...

...Once we got into the shelter itself, we could lock ourselves in...

...I said...

...But there seemed to be something more than Civil Defense weighing on him...

...It consisted of one clammy concrete bunker eight by ten feet...

...I used to be a miler, took a third for Englewood High in the City Meet in 1925, and there's nothing to keep a man of my age from getting back into trim...

...As long as the current is on, it works fine...

...You mean—afterward...

...What if what...

...And I'm afraid to use chlorine, in case the fumes are poisonous...

...the County," I said...

...You can say that again," I said, and Dicken said, "It's a tomb, if you ask me...

...Babcock nodded and said, "But maybe they won't keep away from you...

...I opened and closed it a few times and asked if it was airtight...

...That would be bad, all right," said Babcock...

...We went over to the iron hatchlid set in concrete...

...It's not much more than a five-man shelter, really...

...Well," said Babcock, "we've got a plug-in here for a portable radio, if we remember to bring it down when we come, and an antenna up through the vent...

...Babcock excused himself to get the old Geiger-counter and a pick, which he said he thought he might as well put down there because he had no use for it in the house and you're supposed to have some tools in the shelter...

...You can say that again," said Babcock, but I didn't...

...Another thing is that you're supposed to change the filter, but you'd have to go outside to do that...

...Well," said Babcock, "that's the biggest problem, I guess you might say...

...What if the fence was on fire...

...But we haven't been able to figure out...

...I was just wondering about poison gas, and whether bacteria, once you took them off the leash, would turn 180 degree corners...

...This is the only one we could get to stay in, so we haven't been able to put up the bunks...

...I said, "Of course, there's such as thing as too much heat in a shelter...

...They give you a formula to calculate— by the cubic feet and number of persons and so on—but I haven't had a chance to calculate the formula, there's so darned much to do...

...Babcock said that that was the only idea he had ever been able to get from Civil Defense, and that every time he ever tried to find out anything from Civil Defense he ran into a stone wall of red tape...

...It cost me four-thousand-some dollars, just for a hole in the ground...

...Here was his family—nice fellow, nice wife, three nice children—nicely sheltered from nuclear attack...

...You would," said Babcock, "but you know how people are...

...I hope not," said Babcock...

...There was one naked light, shelves of tinned and packaged -,.food, a bunk spring (without legs) leaning upright against the wall, a plastic garbage can, a slender cylinder of oxygen about two feet tall and six inches in diameter, and one metal cleat in the ceiling...

...There were three protrusions from the ground, an air intake pipe (capped with a filter), an air exhaust pipe, and a tilted entrance hatch...

...I thought that was interesting, and said so...

...Some people say weeks, and some say months, so you don't really know...

...Now Dicken may not think a lot—it's hard to tell—but he doesn't say much...

...I asked him how he'd know when to come out...

...I'd spent some time wondering lately, until I saw a headline in the local paper: "COUNTY MAN BUILDS A-BOMB SHELTER...

...The lid had a heavy hasp for a padlock on the outside, but there was no padlock...

...That's where you're supposed to keep it...

...He emphasized the "theoretically...

...It was blank...

...I asked if the hatch could be locked from the inside, and Babcock said it couldn't be...

...You bet there are," I said...

...You know how people are," I added...

...I asked him if he had any idea how long it would last in case...

...I guess we'd have to drink it cold, if the current went off," he said...

...Very clammy...

...I opened a can of tomato juice a while back, and it was spoiled...

...Of course it depends on how long...

...The door of the shelter itself was made of wood, with steel trim...

...I put Dicken into the car and got in myself and fastened my safety belt, and we started home...

...The roof was nine inches thick...

...He turned it on...

...Neither of us said anything again, and then Babcock said, "We might be better off to depend entirely on the oxygen tank," and we walked over to the tank, which was, as I've said, a cylinder about six inches in circumference and two feet tall...

...If you have it, you don't need it...

...I don't know why, but I had thought that the shelter would consist of two or three rooms, at least...

...And the garbage can...

...but just acquaintances...

...I don't know," said Babcock, "I just don't know...

...I suppose the cost is a problem," I said...

...The decor of the shelter was simplicity itself...

...The local paper had described him as eager to shan his experience...

...Here," he said, to his little boy, handing him a can, "take this spaghetti up to the house and we'll have it for lunch...

...And," I said, "on whether the filter was drawing radioactive particles in, or napalm, or gas...

...If they use gas and we use the air pump, I guess we've had it...

...He said, "We thought we could get those cleats into the walls, to hang the bunks on, but for some reason we couldn't," and he pointed to the pockmarks in the concrete...

...The people in the shelters were asphyxiated...

...No," said Babcock, "there's just room for Nettie and me an<J the kids...

...He showed me the flashlight, of the sort that burns out in a night...

...We'd be drawing the smoke right down into the shelter...

...But you can see for yourself, it works fine...

...Even when he said, "It's nice outside," he said it without much zest...

...I said...

...But you'd be getting fresh air through the blower," I said, "so you'd be all right...

...I was surprised to learn that the roof of the shelter was covered by only three feet of earth, but Babcock explained that the deeper you dig the more it costs...

...Well," I said, in a tone with which I might have slapped another man on the back, "keeping away from contaminated people has always been a problem, socially...

...It says two thousand pounds pressure," he said, "but I don't know what that means...

...One fellow said I'd need a gun...

...I asked him about the food, and he said that that was a problem...

...he had done his duty by building it...

...But you designed it," I said...

...I said."No," said Babcock, "it was built by a contractor...

...That would be bad...

...Neither of us said anything, and then Babcock said, "You know, I guess the pump isn't really much use, except the blower part, to circulate the air you've already got...

...But there are problems, lots of problems...

...I found him willing rather than eager...

...The trouble is," he said, "that it spoils...

...Well," he said, "I don't know, exactly...

...There," said Babcock, indicating the plastic garbage can...

...With its sevenfoot ceiling, and its foot-thick floor, the bottom of the hole was eleven feet nine inches deep...

...If I had to put an adjective to Babcock, I suppose it would be "apathetic...

...I guess we'd have to do it in shifts if we were going to do it all the time...

...I said...

...Then he said, "I suppose I ought to move it away, but there's so darned much to do all the time...

...But there was something more than apathy there...

...I guess so," said Babcock...

...It will be nice to come out after—," I said...

...I don't know," said Babcock...

...If the current goes off, we've got this flashlight, of course...

...There always has been...

...I guess it isn't much use, when you come to think of it...

...Yes," I said...

...Yes," I said, "in case of...

...The second paragraph of the story went like this: "Eager to share his experience in building a shelter for protection from nuclear blast and fallout, yet reluctant to pinpoint the location of the shelter, its owner declined to be named...

...but doing his duty appeared, to have touched him with a deep melancholy...

...Well," said Babcock, "that's a problem, all right...

...Our host returned with the pick and the Geiger-counter and said, "Well, let's go...

...The shelter was about forty feet from the house (which was made of wood) and ten feet from the wooden two-car garage...

...What's the kindling around the vent for...

...Yes—afterward," I said...

...Within an hour-and-a-half—never mind how—I had the name and address of the man with the shelter...

...I said that the concrete must be pretty hard, and he said that I could say that again...

...I tossed little Dicken into the car, got in myself, fastened the safety belt, and drove over to Babcock's without ceremony...

...So we got this plastic garbage can...

...He said they had instant coffee, too, and he thought they had a hot plate somewhere...

...It's a problem...

...Yes...

...he said...

...They"—I meant the Russians—"might use napalm, or gas...

...I asked Babcock if he thought it was enough...

...If I knew the weight," and he turned the tag over...

...I've been trying to get a Geigercounter from them for the past three years...

...Every year," said his little boy, who was with us...

...We draw it in with a blower in the shelter...

...It workect fine, but it roared...

...At the foot of the stairs was a 180 degree turn to the shelter door...

...Hedidn't say much on the way home...

...It's pretty complicated...

...His manner was that of a real estate agent showing a property he'd just as soon the client didn't buy...

...I don't really know...

...Then the whole town could follow you into the shelter, couldn't it...

...I suppose that's so," he added...

...I said...

...Unless...

...I agreed that it was and asked him how the family planned to occupy itself in the shelter in case of...

...He had certainly lost interest in the shelter...

...Everybody is," he said...

...We didn't meet at the same parties, but, then, I don't get out much any more...

...The construction was all steel-reinforced concrete except for the hatch-lid, the stairs, and the door at the bottom of the stairs...

...I said they didn't seem to work too well, and he said, No, they didn't...

...It's snug, but I guess you wouldn't call it airtight...

...Then somebody might snap a lock on the hatch from the outside," I said, adding, "but nobody would do that...

...I seemed to be making him actually miserable by asking him the questions that anyone would ask about it...

...And people," I said...

...And, of course, the Geiger-counter and the pick...

...I guess it's the damp, or something...

...I should have built it under the house," said Babcock thoughtfully, as we crossed the yard...

...My host began mopping up the dew with small bags scattered around the floor...

...Of course, there's an inside lock on the door at the bottom of the stairs...

...I Ought to get some more...

...I asked...

...said Babcock...

...I haven't been able to find out if the filter would keep them out...

...Well," he said, "unless the station is knocked out, or the current goes off...

...I guess it's the only one in...

...Yes," said Babcock, "pretty sturdy...

...The house was one of those new ranch style affairs with merging "areas" instead of rooms...

...I asked Bafccock how long he figured they might be down there...

...I thought about this and said...

...I suppose," I went on, "that you'll have to keep away from contaminated people...

...Well," he said, "the radioactivity is supposed to travel in straight lines, so it can't turn the corner...

...It's nice outside," said Babcock...

...You could build a nice swimming pool for that," I said...

...Babcock's trouble is that he doesn't want to die and he knows he's going to die and where he's going to die and where he's going to be buried...

...That's just our kindling pile," said Babcock...

...I don't think they'd do," he said, "they'd use up the oxygen...

...So, then," I said, "you'd find out over the radio...

...Well, you've got it," I said...

...He was working in the garden, and he said he was glad to see me, and I said I was interested in his bomb shelter...

...Babcock said they hadn't really thought about that...

...Well, I guess so," said Babcock...

...I asked him what they would do for light if the current went off...

...There doesn't seem to be any way to find out...

...What was Civil Defense's idea about the 180 degree turn...

...I don't know what we'd do about that...

...Had he ever had any...

...I was just wondering," I said...

...I don't really know," he said...

...It wasn't getting any warmer in the shelter, and I asked Babcock what they'd do for heat in case...

...The darned thing's on my desk in the house...

...Gas," said Babcock, without any tone or emphasis...

...Dicken and I were left in the living room...

...That would be bad...

...And air," I said...

...Babcock and I were acquaintances, as people are in small towns...

...They just don't want to think about it...

...I thought that the place ought to be pretty spicy after a week or so, and Babcock said, "The CD literature says to have a chemical toilet, but I can't find out where to buy one or how to build one...

...We followed him out of the house and across the yard in the rear...

...Well," he said, frowning, "theoretically it's to keep the lid from sweating...

...The wooden stairs to the floor of the shelter were steep, but the stairway had an iron handrail...

...I tried it, for twenty to thirty seconds, and it nearly broke my arm...

...Rust...

...They're supposed to absorb the moisture, and then you bake them out in the oven...

...Babcock said nothing...

...It's a problem...

...There," said Babcock, indicating the plastic garbage can, which was four feet tall...

...I guess that affects it, too...

...Besides the canned and packaged foods, there were twenty-four beersized cans of water for a family of five...

...I've asked Civil Defense, but they don't know...

...At this point, he seemed to become thoughtful, and so did I. "And if the current goes off...

...I ought to calculate that formula...

...Now that I think of it, I'd better put it down in the shelter...

...What if the fence was on fire, or the garage, or the kindling...

...I suppose so," said Babcock...

...He looked at the tag on the cylinder...

...Babcock was frowning, and there didn't seem to be anything more to say or to see, and we went on up and out into the summer day...