title: The Longest Walk: The World of Bomb Disposal
author:  Peter Birchall 
description: Could anything be more terrifying than walking right up to a ticking bomb? Few of us would willingly face such danger, and yet the brave persons who succeed in defusing these weapons save dozens, maybe hundreds, of lives. What are their jobs like? How do they feel when they're called to duty? What tactics do they use to complete the job -- and maximize their chances of staying alive? A former operative of the bomb disposal unit provides an insider's view of the vocation, its history, training, equipment, and forensics. includes examples of celebrated rescues.
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  ![Cover](images/cover.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Level 7
  
  
    
  
  
  ### Mordecai Roshwald
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ■ **HE WAS GOING**
  
  
  ■ **DOWN,**
  
  
  ■ **DOWN,**
  
  
  ■ **DOWN…**
  
  
  ■ **4000 feet into the earth,**
  
  
  ■ **never to return!**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  _Level 7_ is the diary of Officer X-127, who is assigned to the country’s
  deepest bomb shelter housing important military personnel and equipment. For
  security reasons those who go down, stay down.
  
  
  Four thousand feet away from sunshine, _Level 7_ is considered secure from the
  most devastating attack and has been prepared to be self-sufficient for five
  hundred years. Marriages are made in this inverted heaven; food is taken in
  the form of pulp and pills. All is ordained by the god Loudspeaker which,
  unseen and omnipresent, voices commands for the good of its creatures.
  
  
  The duty of Officer X-127 is to stand guard at the Pushbuttons, a machine
  devised to rocket instant atomic destruction toward the enemy. There are
  pushbuttons 1, 2, 3, and 4. Pushbutton 