Parker Mayes woke up to the sound of the disaster alarms. As she realized what was happening, a peaceful smile crossed her face. Finally, the end of the world was at hand. She had hardly dared to hope that the recent volatile world climate (which she had monitored through her friends at the news room) would lead to this.<br/><br/>She hurried about the routine she had established in her mind, the hundred times she had gone over this scenario. She grabbed a leather rucksack and started throwing in anything useful: a few clothes, her metal match, some bandages and first aid stuff from the bathroom. There was a bottle with a few pills of codeine on one of the shelves, which she threw in the bag with the rest. She had saved them from her recent dental surgery, taking the white pills only when absolutely necessary, hoarding them against some real emergency - like now.<br/><br/>A water bottle filled with purified water joined her supplies, and some food that would keep well: crackers, a few cans of fruit, tuna - plus of course her hand-operated can opener. It was only a small amount of weight for the convenience. She debated a few seconds, then tossed a bottle of vodka in as well. She could bury it somewhere if the weight got oppressive, and it had all kinds of uses. She stopped by her knife collection, realizing with a pang that she would have to leave most of it behind. But she grabbed a foot-long hunting knife to throw in her bag, wishing she had a small hatchet. And some water purification tablets. And a dozen other things she had meant to stockpile, but never had.<br/><br/>That reminded her of something else that she had put away, and Parker went to raid her junk drawer, where seed packets had started to accumulate. They were less than a dollar at the drug store, so she had quite a stock of them collected. Most of them were flowers for the window boxes she kept meaning to plant, which she threw to the floor cursing. She located half a dozen packets for edible vegetables, and added them to her bag. They would have to do. Maybe later she would have a chance to forage for more.<br/><br/>On her way out, she grabbed her leather jacket and her camera bag, which had a few small essentials plus her Swiss Army knife. She was prepared as well as she could be, and it hadn't taken very long. Parker hurried straight for David Mitchum's little piece of paradise. Plan A, as soon as she heard about the bunker, was to head for there. Plan B was the subway system. Neither was ideal, but this was the worst of it; later, when the bombs had settled, there would be more options available. If she survived.<br/><br/><div align="center">*****</div><br/><div class="floatleft">(http://i51.tinypic.com/r8avm1.jpg)</div>Of course there were other people at the Mitchum Bunker. The news article had let everyone in on that tasty little secret. But she had an advantage over the other people gathered, which included, she noted, a tasty-looking streetwalker who was waving a pair of very nice knives. She had actually met David Mitchum. Well, not so much met as "been near" - she'd taken some photos of him for a few local pieces. Not the bunker article, but a few local color articles similar to that.<br/><br/>She fluffed her naturally blond hair, which she had combed with her fingers on the walk over, and refreshed her rose red lip gloss with a rub of her lips. She tugged the neckline of her grey dress (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_wlWV3mQYlTg/SbQm4Xqh8bI/AAAAAAAAACs/KhOAGK2Ieek/s1600-h/grey+knit+dress.jpg) down to a more flattering depth, where it showed most of her cute shoulders and the upper swell of her breasts. She was still holding the black leather jacket, so only her rucksack and camera bag blocked the view; she shifted the straps so both lay across her back. Her heels (http://www.allchristianlouboutin.com/images/christian-louboutin/christian-louboutin-ankle-boots-3.jpg) were the kind she could walk in all day, padded as they were on the interior pressure points. She looked pretty damn good as she made her final approach.<br/><br/>She waved cheerily at the exposed eye of the camera. "David? David, it's me, it's Parker!" They hadn't actually traded names, so this was a gambit she was hoping gave them an artificial closeness. She walked a little closer, staying outside the striking range of the armed hooker, and smiled at him through the camera. "In case you were thinking of not letting me in, I'm your end-game. You and I know that this shelter of yours is only a temporary measure. The supplies will inevitably run out... and when it comes time to rebuild civilization, I'm the one who knows how to help you."<br/><br/>She smiled sexily at the camera, betting on him having audio feeds out here as well. She continued to talk in a normal tone. "I know how to build a fish trap. I'm familiar with field domestication. I know how to maintain the oxygen/nitrogen balance of a closed-system grow chamber. David... I'm here to help you." She was betting that the total package of looks and knowledge would open the door for her. And if it opened, she would do what she had to do to get through it.