The silos, or underground bunkers, are buildings that Donald Keene originally designed as above-ground structures to house up to 10,000 people and provide space for living, work, and recreation. The project was originally for a biotecture class that taught the incorporation of living things within a structure, such as gardens that could be grown as part of the structure. Donald is asked to redesign a building so that it can become an underground bunker to house employees of a nuclear waste facility should an accident occur. Donald designs the building with the assumption that it will never be used.

The silos become a motif representing two of the novel’s main themes: The Fight for Survival and Control of Life and Death. While Donald designed these silos with the belief they’d never be necessary, they become the center of a fight to save humanity by a group of people who take it upon themselves to control the fate of all humanity. The silos are the heart of this dystopian society because it’s the only thing that stands between the survivors of a nuclear strike and death. At the same time, the silos are housing what will one day become the basis of a new start for humanity.