Explain why Loomis goes to Chicago first? Why didn’t he stay there? Why do you think he was so anxious to tell the story of his expedition to Ann?

Loomis wanted to go the the safe room that was located at the Air Force base in Chicago. He believed that the safe room would afford him safety and shelter for possibly a year.

In the end, he decided it really did not matter so much. Because all of the underground fallout shelters, this one and others around the world, had built-in time limits, enough air and water to last three months, six months, a year, on the assumption that after that it would be safe to go outside again. And that had not happened.

He left because the time limit had run out, and those sheltering there were all dead. He seems anxious to tell Ann of his experiences because like him, she is only one of the people left alive.