by Ryan Casey
Sanctuary.
It had order. It had governance. It had food, and it had jobs, and it had a sense of hope.
But it had something else crucial.
Something that made it completely unique.
Sanctuary had power.
The origins of the electricity were somewhat mysterious. But it began with the Order of Light, a group set up prior to the blackout and tasked with restoring civilisation in case of an electrical emergency, something global governments were very quietly beginning to fear.
They worked on blueprints of communities. Ways they could restore power from the ashes if ever the worst did come to pass. They poured billions into studying advanced forms of electricity and power that could be implemented if the worst-case scenario occurred.
They’d spent months struggling to create new communities. New homes. To restore power and roll it out, all while maintaining some sense of governance and order.
And they’d done it.
Sanctuary was a success.
A success built on mysterious foundations, sure. The very electricity here—from the power source, as Harvey called it—was way, way ahead of its time. There were some kinks to it. But it seemed to be working just fine.
And at the end of the day, that’s all anyone cared about.
That’s all anybody needed to know.
Looking around this place, it never ceased to amaze Aoife. Seeing people whizz by on electric scooters. Seeing kids playing on game consoles. The luxury of having a hot shower. Cooking food and not worrying about fucking poisoning yourself—not all the time, anyway. So many joys of life that were once taken so for granted. Never again.
Because this place was perfect.
And, of course, there were mysteries. Aoife didn’t know the technicalities of how the electricity worked. She knew there was a central “power source” that acted as a generator. She was one of the few people who’d actually been down there, right to its core, deep under the earth, and seen this bizarre, almost alien technology for herself.
Whatever it was, it kept them connected. It was the next generation of electricity, fifty years ahead of its time. Acted as a beacon for other power sources and created a wireless network of power.
Again. It baffled her. But it worked. And that’s all that she needed.
But this place had been “live” for eighteen months, expanding ever since that day, and Aoife had been here for twelve of those months.
And they were twelve of the best months she’d ever experienced.
Twelve months of a bustling, lively community of just over a hundred people. But also little businesses, too. Shops she passed by. Cafes, the smell of bacon reared on the nearby farm sizzling and filling the air. A perfect little fantasy land.
And the amazing thing?
Sanctuary was just one of several districts the Order of Light was working on across the country.
Slowly but surely, normality was returning to the shores of Britain.
“You’ve still got a bit on your cheek,” Kayleigh said.
Aoife turned around. “Huh?”
“Paint. From Gregg’s gun.”
Aoife shook her head, rubbed her face. She knew what innuendo Kayleigh was trying to pull. “No need to be rude about it.”
“It’s true, though, right?”
“What’s true?”
“You two. You haven’t stopped flirting for about a year now. Why doesn’t one of you just bite the bullet and go for it?”
Aoife sighed. Shook her head. “There’s nothing going on between us.”
“That’s your problem,” Kayleigh said.
“Go on. Enlighten me about my problem, wise one.”
“Sarcastic bitch. Your problem is you’ve got your head so far in the sand you don’t see shit when it’s right in front of you. You’re so happy living in your perfect little bubble that you don’t really see what’s going on with other people. Not anymore.”
Wow. Deep. Not entirely what Aoife was expecting. A little cutting, to be completely honest.
“What I care about is this place,” Aoife said. “Doing what I can to keep it healthy. Doing what I can to help in any way I can. I’m loyal to this place. Nothing else gets a look in. We’re lucky to have Sanctuary. And I won’t for a moment forget that.”
Kayleigh sighed. “Power’s nothing compared to connection.”
“Sounds like you read that in one of those shitty self-help books.”
“I did, actually. And it’s not shitty. I’ve taken a lot of comfort from it.”
“Yeah, well, you keep on manifesting good shit. It’s working for all of us, apparently.”
Kayleigh shook her head, sighed. Aoife enjoyed tormenting her. Really, she was just happy that the Kayleigh of old was back. Well, not entirely. But when she’d run into Kayleigh in the woods a year ago—the Kayleigh who was scarred by everything that had happened with Robert—she was a hardened shell. A ghostly reminder of the girl she used to be. Somewhat ditzy, but caring and hopeful and optimistic about the world.
She was glad some of that naive, dizzy optimism had returned.
“Anyway,” Kayleigh said. “You know what I’d like to manifest right now?”
“Go on.”
“A delicious fry-up.”
Aoife smiled back at her. Glad she’d got off the heavy shit and back into the important matters.
“You know,” Aoife said. “That sounds right up my street right n…”
She stopped.
Because she heard it.
Off in the distance.
The peppering of gunfire.
She looked around, over towards the tall steel walls around Sanctuary.
Saw others looking too. The same wide-eyed looks on their faces.
“Insurgents?” Kayleigh asked.
Aoife nodded. Anger sparking up inside. “Insurgents.”
Kayleigh tutted. “Looks like that fry-ups gonna have to wait a bit longer, doesn’t it?”
Aoife nodded back, just as pissed.
She had to grab her gun, and she had to go deter this attack.
Just another day in the life at Sanctuary.
Or so she thought.
CHAPTER FOUR
Aoife, Kayleigh, and Gregg searched the outskirts of Sanctuary for the source of the gunfire, but so far, they weren’t having much luck.
It was afternoon. Seemed to be getting hotter and hotter. All around Sanctuary, there were trees. Thick trees that hid all sorts of little communities. All kinds of secrets.
But more than anything, it held the insurgents.
Aoife’s blood boiled at the mere thought of the insurgents. People who didn’t like what they had at Sanctuary. They were selfish. They didn’t want a world with power. They preferred living in the dark ages, where they could instil their own forms of power, their own rule. Groups like Robert’s, who were more bothered about their own egos and their own followers than anything else—as much as Robert’s followers had stepped into the light since reaching Sanctuary, anyway.
The woods were silent. And according to Cole, one of the watch guards, a small group had just appeared out of nowhere and fired at the wall.
“I swear, they just turned up, shot at us, and then darted,” he said, shaking his head like he always did.
Aoife kept her focus on the woods ahead. “Could be an ambush. Could be trying to lure us into a trap. Either way, we need to be careful. You know how these savages can be.”
“Might be a little harsh,” Gregg said.
“What?”
Gregg shrugged. He didn’t look at Aoife. Just kept hold of his rifle, pointing it ahead. “Calling ’um savages. They’re just tryin’ to survive in their own way.”
Aoife rolled her eyes. Gregg was far too soft. “They attack our home. They don’t want a world with power. They’re terrorists, Gregg. And the more you talk like this …”
She didn’t want to finish what she was going to say because she knew it’d wound Gregg.
&nb
sp; The more you talk like this, the less I like you.
That would be a bitter blow to Gregg’s ego.
“I’m just saying,” he said, with that conciliatory tone that suggested a switch of opinion, just so he didn’t upset anyone. “People don’t do nothing for no reason.”
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
“Alright, Little Miss Grammar Nazi. I’m just saying… electricity ain’t worth jack shit when you’ve got a community together. We’ve all seen it ourselves. Where, like, true power is.”
“Have you been reading Kayleigh’s self-help books?” Aoife asked.
“Hey,” Kayleigh said. “Don’t knock them ’til you’ve tried them.”
Aoife shook her head, looked back ahead. “Anyway. Eyes open. We need to be careful, and we need to be smart. None of this terrorist sympathising bullshit. They attacked the walls, and there’s a good chance this is some kind of trap. We need to be careful.”
“Yes, boss,” Gregg muttered.
Aoife scanned the woods closely. She didn’t want to seem cold. After all, she used to work in law. She’d dealt with her fair share of morally ambiguous cases.
But these people, she couldn’t find any grounds for sympathising with them. They were killers. Selfish killers who spat their dummy out because the world they’d grown to love—because they could rule by bullying and live out their own narcissistic leadership fantasies—was crumbling before their eyes. Because order was returning. Because governance and power were returning.
They weren’t going to go out quietly.
But they were going to go out. One way or another.
“You should really read them, Aoife,” Kayleigh said, not really paying much attention to her surroundings, rifle lowered. “Seriously, there’s this one by a guy called Eckhart Tolle. And he talks about how the mind is just an appearance in awareness. That the me we think we are isn’t actually the centre of our universe. You know how radical an idea like that is? How much conflict could be solved if everyone just learned to wake up?”
“If it can’t help me right now, I’m not sure how much good it is.”
Kayleigh shook her head. “That’s your problem. So closed-minded. So caught in your own bubble. So …”
Aoife saw it right away, almost in slow motion.
“Stop,” she shouted.
Kayleigh went to take another step. “What—”
It was already too late.
A trip wire.
Somewhere over to the right, a blast of bullets.
“Down!” Aoife shouted.
She fell to the ground. Listened as those bullets blasted over them. She had no idea whether Kayleigh was okay. Whether the rest of her people were okay.
Just that this was a trap.
This was a frigging trap, and they’d walked right into it.
She waited for the bullets to stop. Frigging self-help bullshit, throwing them all off guard. She’d have a word with this Eckhart Tolle bloke. See how much the mind wasn’t the centre of your universe when it was being blown off your shoulders.
She waited until she was absolutely sure all was good when she rose to her feet, slowly.
Kayleigh was up.
Gregg was up.
Cole was, too.
They were okay. Phew.
“What the hell?” Cole said.
But Aoife didn’t have time to answer.
She saw them.
Two of them, over in the trees.
She lifted her rifle and didn’t even hesitate.
“Over there!”
She fired. Fired at them as they returned shots.
Fired as Kayleigh started firing, as Gregg started firing.
And then watched as they backed away into the woods.
Watched as they fled.
“They’re off,” Kayleigh said.
But Aoife wasn’t having it.
She was sick of these bastards getting away.
“Not this time they’re not,” Aoife said.
“Aoife!” Kayleigh called.
But Aoife wasn’t for dicking about.
She ran into the woods.
Ran deeper into the trees.
Ran in the direction those people had gone, as Gregg shouted for her, as Kayleigh and Cole shouted for her.
And as she got deeper and deeper, she realised she’d gone too far.
She stood there. Looking around. The woods were empty. She’d lost them. The pricks had got away.
And then she heard a branch snap, to her right.
She looked around, lifted her rifle, and she saw him.
A man. Ginger. Pistol pointed right at her.
A look of hatred on his face.
“You’re on the wrong side of history, love,” he said. “You’re on the wrong fucking side of history.”
She pulled her trigger.
The rifle jammed.
Nothing happened.
Fuck.
A smile crossed the ginger man’s face. He laughed a few times, lifted his pistol, and pointed it right at her head.
“If you’ve got any last words… well, unlucky. ’Cause I ain’t that generous—”
A bang.
Aoife closed her eyes.
Waited for the darkness.
But she was still conscious.
She was still alive.
She opened her eyes.
The ginger man lay on the forest floor.
Blood trickled out from behind his eyes.
When Aoife looked around, she saw someone walking towards her, rifle raised.
Gregg.
“You shouldn’t run off like that,” he said, his voice shaky.
And all Aoife could do was lift a finger. Point at the ginger man. “Still believe they’re just harmless little lost souls now?”
Gregg looked around. Clearly shaken up by the whole ordeal. “That was… it was too close. Come on. Let’s get back home.”
He turned around. And as much as Aoife wanted to stay out here, as much as she wanted to search for the rest of the insurgents, she couldn’t shift his words out of her mind.
You’re on the wrong fucking side of history.
CHAPTER FIVE
“You could’ve died, Aoife. You should be careful. Very careful. You know just as well as I do how savage these insurgents can be.”
If there’s one thing Aoife didn’t appreciate, it was a grilling from the leader of Sanctuary, Harvey Watson. He wasn’t someone who Aoife knew very well on a personal level. Nobody did, really. Didn’t need to. You didn’t want to know your pilot, after all, did you? Or your doctor? No. Harvey Watson was the leader of this district and one of the main figureheads in the establishment of the Order of Light across the country. He was a pretty big deal.
And yet he was still rather humble when it came to actually interacting with him. He was surprisingly available and accessible. Kayleigh teased Aoife that he fancied her, something she outright rejected. But then he did seem to show a particular interest in her; she couldn’t deny it.
“I’m okay,” Aoife said. “Seriously. Gregg did good.”
“But next time, Gregg might not be there. I don’t want to lose one of my most valued people. People like you are so integral to everything we are doing here. You can’t go putting your life in danger like that. Especially not breaching protocol. You know the rules, Aoife.”
Aoife nodded. She felt like a schoolkid being grilled for disappointing her teacher. “Shoot on sight. If they flee, they flee.” It was a strange rule, but it was one Aoife had respected up until today. The anger just got the better of her. The urgency. These bastards were trying to destroy their home. And it just felt wrong that they were allowed to get away with their threats for so long.
Harvey nodded. He was a large man with a constant smile to his face. Balding. Early sixties, but looking rather good for it. Had an aura of power about him. The kind of guy you immediately respected. Always dressed smart, in a black suit. Wouldn’t look out of place in government be
fore the end times.
His backstory was vague. He’d found himself in the Order of Light quite by accident. Former military, then MI5, and then a secret member of the Order of Light. A part of the early government response to clean up the mess and a big part of the rebuilding process. He never wanted to be a leader, he always said. But he’d never turn down the opportunity to help humanity where he could.
So he’d been installed as leader of this district—of Sanctuary—and since that day, he’d never looked back on this gradually expanding community, still very much in its beta stages.
“Anyway,” Harvey said, standing from his desk chair. His office was quite something. All ornate pieces of furniture, expensive leather, that kind of thing. And a beautiful view from his window at the woods beyond, which Aoife often saw him staring out of at night, off into the distance. “I have a few announcements to make over the coming days. I received word of serious progress at the Welsh district. So much so that it’s looking like they’re going to be able to open up within weeks.”
“That’s great,” Aoife said. The Welsh district was another one of their safe-havens. It’d had a long and turbulent set up, mostly due to issues with the technology around that area and constant run-ins with insurgents. But it finally looked promising.
“And even more immediately exciting,” Harvey said, “we’ll be switching the south generator on. Tomorrow.”
Aoife couldn’t contain her laughter. “Tomorrow? How the hell?”
“I know,” Harvey said, laughing too. “But please. Keep it quiet. I want it to be a surprise that coincides with the eighteen-month anniversary. I’ve got my darned speech tomorrow, and as much as I don’t want to rush anything at all, being able to switch the south generator on will be such a boost to everyone who’s worked so hard. We’re talking more light. More power. We might even be able to extend Sanctuary even further. And it’s all thanks to the hard work of people like you.”
Aoife smiled. Getting the south generator up and running was one of the big goals the last few months. A way of expanding power further south, extending the range, and enabling expansion and growth of this community to welcome in lots more people. Hundreds. And eventually, thousands.