by Lowry, C. L.
“He’s one of our best men. It seemed like a good idea to have him on this mission. He’s going back now, so let’s just focus.”
“I wasn’t talking about him,” Londo said while stepping aside.
Micah glared into the hallway at Dannie. “What other choice did I have? I need to keep him close, and I damn sure wasn’t leaving him alone with Adina.”
“Just kill him.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Adina wouldn’t want that to happen.”
“Well, Adina will understand that it had to be done.”
“Naw, I don’t think she would. She considers him family and would probably kill us if we killed him.”
“Well, that’s a risk that I’m willing to take.”
Micah looked over at Londo after that response. It was not really what he said – it was more so that Londo was the kind of guy who means what he says. Micah knew he just unleashed a beast. He knew what type of person Londo was, and that was why he kept him close. Londo was not just a hunter, but he enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. He enjoyed killing. The look in Londo’s eyes was one that was awfully familiar to Micah. It was the same look that Londo had on his face every time he was planning to kill. If that was his plan, there was nothing Micah could do to stop him.
CHAPTER 7
It was the crack of dawn, and Sade was staring at the collapsed church ceiling. Rainwater was still dripping from the gaping hole. Being a night owl, she hated getting up early. Getting up before noon was an insult to her. She loved sleep and even more so during the current climate. Any chance to get away from her reality was an enjoyable moment, so she enjoyed every minute of sleep that she got. The screams of the intruder during the night did not even wake her.
Whenever there were heavy thoughts on her mind, she climbed up to the ceiling joists and either stared at the ceiling or at the human and beast remains below her. Sade had been coming to the church since she was a little girl. Her father was a deacon and incredibly involved in the week-to-week operations of the church. On that horrific night, he was among the group of members who were exposed to the chemical gas. Sade was not sure if her father died after inhaling the gas or if he mutated, but what she did know was that she could feel his spirit whenever she was on the joists. The feeling calmed her.
The sun rays slowly began creeping into the church through the broken windows. With no electricity in the building, the rays served as the lighting inside the building. Jayven and Cameron were still sound asleep in the production room. Levi was up and keeping watch as usual. He usually patrolled the church at night, but he was occupied last night. He had not told his friends about the new guest who he brought into the church. He knew Sade would not have approved. She hated outsiders and did not want their lives to be put in danger while trying to be hospitable. The group had already been through those trails weeks after the gas was released. So many different groups of people tried to get into the church, hoping to find food and shelter. Luckily, the doors were secure. Several attempts were made to break into through the roof, but that resulted in people plunging to their deaths. If the fall to the main level did not kill the intruders, the beasts below did.
Sade’s stomach growled with hunger. She needed to eat something before she withered away to nothing. She carefully stood up on the joist, doing her best not to make a noise and awaken any of the beasts below her. They had the capabilities of jumping high and climbing up walls, so it would be easy for them to make their way up to her. Over time, the teens knew which joists to walk on, and they mastered the art of moving in stealth and silence. The slightest noise in the church caused the beasts to go crazy, looking to hunt. Sade grabbed her lantern off the end of the joist and quietly made her way to the kitchen area in the basement.
I know when I die it’s going to be from starvation, Sade thought as she softly opened the new box of meatless jerky that was tucked in the back of one of the kitchen cabinets. Sade and her father were vegans, so it was extremely difficult to maintain that lifestyle when there were no choices when it came to eating. It was hard enough to find food in the new world, let alone attempting to stick to specific dietary restrictions. Luckily, the church’s kitchen was stocked with peanuts, meatless jerky, and protein powder. Sade was thankful that the other teens despised the taste of the jerky, so they usually stuffed their faces with cereal and spam.
Sade chewed through the tough jerky as if it were her last meal. She grabbed a dirty coffee mug from a cabinet and dipped it into a bucket of rainwater. She chugged the water, relieving the dryness in her throat. The backroom that she entered in on the lower level of the church was usually unbothered. The other teens did not bother with it because it was used as an old storage area for Bibles, hymn books, fans, and choir gowns. All the rooms on the lower level had about an inch of water on the floor from the rain leaking inside. It took about a week for the water to drain out, but by that time, it would rain again, and the rooms would fill back up.
Sade took a particular liking to the room because it was docile. She was at peace and away from the other teens and the beasts. It was just her, her jerky, and the dripping sound of rainwater dripping into her bucket. Even though the drip only occurred occasionally after storms, she looked forward to it. She used it to help break up the thoughts in her mind during the times she was in the room.
The one thing she never saw in the back room was a bloody bandage that Sade spotted in the corner. What the heck is this? She kneeled, looking at the bandage. The blood was fresh. Sade held her lantern up as she scanned the room. Her mouth dropped when she saw the bloody figure slumped over in the corner of the room. She wasted no time exiting the room and making her way to Levi. If it were not for their current circumstances inside the church, she would have been yelling to inform them about what she saw. That type of noise, however, would alert the beasts and would create a bigger problem for the teens.
Levi was perched in the window, monitoring the outside. The streets were quiet. The strong tap on his shoulder gave him an inkling that something was wrong. He turned and saw a panicking Sade with a bloody bandage in her hand.
“There’s someone downstairs,” she whispered.
Levi grabbed her hand and began to climb out the window. The teens exited through the window and climbed the fire escape. Once they got to the roof of the church, they hopped over to the roof of the neighboring building, which was an abandoned thrift store. This was the usual location the teens chose when they wanted to have conversations and even when they wanted to get fresh air. Being up there allowed them to see if anyone else was one the rooftops but also provided them the opportunity to monitor what was going on down at the street level.
“There is someone in the basement,” Sade said at a normal tone.
“I know there is,” Levi replied.
“What do you mean you know there is? Who the hell is that?”
“I don’t know his name.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No, I didn’t kill him. I ran into him outside, and he needed help.”
“So, you bring him to us? Why would you do that?”
“Sade, we are in times that are going to bring out the worst in people. God wouldn’t want his children to turn their back on others that are in need.”
“God? You want to talk about God, Levi? God did this. All of this. God is the reason our parents aren’t here with us. Where was your God when our parents died and got turned into those monsters? Our parents were good people, but yet God chose not to spare their lives.”
“Sade, you can’t think like that.”
“I can think however I want. We don’t even know if our parents died or if they turned into those monsters down there. Don’t tell me how I can think. Anyway, you need to get that guy out of our church.”
“And put him where? On the street to die?”
“Yes. You don’t know who he is or what he is capable of doing. What if he’s with the Underlings? He’l
l tell the rest of them about the church, and then what’s going to happen?”
“He’s not with the Underlings.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I chased one of them off of him the night, I found him in the alley. That’s why they came rolling around that night.”
“Wow. You really did all of that and didn’t tell any of us about it. Those dudes could have killed us that night if they knew we were in there.”
“They won’t kill us. I told you, I’ll protect you.”
“With what, Levi? That stupid bat you have with the nails in it? The Underlings have knives and guns. Your little bat isn’t going to scare them away.”
“It did the other night.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Sade said, heading back to the fire escape.
“I’m serious, Sade. I can tell this guy isn’t like them. He needed help, and God gave us the ability to help this man.”
The teens’ conversation was cut short by the blaring sound of emergency sirens. Both teens hit the deck and gave each other frightening looks.
CHAPTER 8
The blaring sound of emergency sirens echoed through the air. Sade and Levi crawled to the corner of the roof and peeked over the ledge. Two ambulances pulled up to the Chevy Silverado that was flipped over in the middle of the street. Both ambulances had been spray-painted black. If it were not for the horrendous spray paint job, they would look more like armored cars than ambulances. The first ambulance pulled up and struck the front of the truck, which knocked it back a few feet. The second ambulance pulled directly next to the first.
The doors of the ambulances flew open, and small groups of men and women poured out of both vehicles. They were all dressed in black militia-style clothing, which included bulletproof vests, gas masks, boots, and gloves. One of the men was an odd figure who everyone seemed to be following around. He was wearing a long black hooded trench coat, black ripped jeans, and black boots. His face was covered by an altered gas mask that appeared to have a bloody skull attached to it.
Fear swept over Levi and Sade. They wanted to make their way back into the church, but they could not risk being seen by this group. It was not hard to spot the Underlings. This was one of the most violent groups that began terrorizing the city after the evacuations. The creepy man who Levi chased away from the alley the night prior was dressed similarly to this group. They were back for revenge.
“Now, what do we have here?” the mysterious man in the skull masked asked, approaching the damaged truck.
The man walked up to the truck and seemed to be examining it. The truck was familiar to him. He had seen it before. He even remembered taking it out on a mission about two months ago. He closed his eyes as he reminisced about that day, then quickly snapped out of the trance. “I need you to bring me whoever was in this truck. Dead or alive. Start off with the alleyway that Worm said he was in. I want the person that was driving this truck, and I also want the boy with the bat.”
“What about the church?” a voice asked from the group.
“We’ll save it for the end. If Bucky isn’t in there, we’ll burn it to the ground.”
The groups of men and women began cheering and ran off to follow the orders. Many of them headed into the alleyway, and others broke off into small groups and began checking buildings. Levi and Sade carefully peeked over the rooftop ledge, watching the Underlings scatter around like roaches, running into the different buildings. Levi counted twenty-two members in total, all armed with different type of weapons. Some had guns, while others had metal pipes, knives, and wooden boards.
“We have to get out of here,” Sade whispered.
“How? They are in the alley.”
“We have no other choice. We gotta jump the roof.”
“Are you crazy? We can’t jump that roof.”
“We have no choice. They’re going to spot us up here if we don’t make a move. If we jump that roof over there, we can just keep going, and they won’t catch us from all the way over here.”
“What about Cam and Jay? We can’t just leave them. You heard what they said. They’re going to burn the church down.”
“Follow me. We’ll go get them and then get out of here.”
The teens low-crawled across the rooftop to get back to the window of the church. The Underlings had slipped down the alley, following the blood trail. The teens could hear the other members of the group smashing up the buildings that they had entered. Glass was shattering, doors were being kicked in, and any other destruction to the buildings that the Underlings could cause was happening.
“We can’t let them get into the church,” Levi said. The teens stayed low, hoping not to be spotted. They noticed a couple of the Underlings were aiming rifles up toward the high-level windows and rooftops. The mystery man stood by the vehicles with a woman. Those two seemed to be running the show.
Just as the teens were making it to the church window, one of the Underlings began banging on the front door of the church. “Bucky, you in there?” the man yelled. The door banging and yelling got the attention of the beasts that were inside the church. Loud growls could be heard coming from the interior of the church.
The riflemen heard the growls and focused their aim at the church. “There’s movement on the roof!” one of the men yelled before firing shots at the teens. The shots barely missing the teens as they knocked out chunks of the church’s stone exterior. Levi and Sade stayed as low to the rooftop as possible, but their movements were now limited.
“You gotta make a run for it!” Levi yelled over the gunfire.
“I’m not going to leave you,” Sade replied.
“You have to. I’ll have them focus on me while you make the run for it.”
“No. I’m not going to . . .”
Levi popped up before Sade could finish her statement. The riflemen now had their target. Shots continued going off. Sade quickly crawled to the other end of the roof. She wasted no time popping up and taking the quick leap. The shooters were so focused on Levi they never even noticed Sade popping up and leaping over to the next building.
Levi continued ducking the shots as he descended the fire escape. The shots continue plinking off the metal rails on the fire escape. Levi made it down and dove into the window of the church.
“Jay! Cam! The Underlings are outside.”
Shots continued to ring out, and the beasts were going crazy. Suddenly, there was silence. The men outside were regaining positions. Their focus was now on the church. They just knew the occupant of the truck had to be in there. Loud bangs were coming from the back door of the church, then shortly after, a very loud bang came from the front of the church. It almost sounded like an explosion. More gun shots followed.
Sade hopped from one roof and onto another. She did not even look back. She could still hear the commotion coming from the church and wanted to get as far away from it as she could. The young teen was desperate, and the only thing on her mind was getting away from the Underlings. Fatigue was starting to kick in, and she began slowing down. She was about six rooftops away from the church and was now on top of an old laundromat. The laundromat was on a main road, so she had nowhere else to go but down to the road. It was about a twelve-foot jump, and it was dicey. The store sign and an awning stood in the way of Sade and the ground. She did a quick peek over the rooftop edge. There was no sign of the Underlings or anyone else. For the moment, the coast was clear.
Sade noticed that the other buildings alongside the laundromat also had awnings. None of them were in the best condition, but the laundromat seemed to be sturdy. Sade held on to the rooftop ledge and attempted to drop onto the awning. Once she did, the awning gave out, and she fell straight through it, and it collapsed on top of her.
BOOM! Another explosive sound rocked Levi’s ears as he went on the search for Jayven and Cam. “Jay, where you at?” the scared teen yelled out. “Cam, where are you?”
Roars and howls echoed through the church, followed by another
explosive ram at the front door. The Underlings were determined to open up the church and get to Levi. The teen ran up the stairs and began checking each room. Bullet holes decorated the door and walls, so he crouched down to avoid being on the other end of one of those rifle rounds.
“Get that fuckin’ door open.”
The driver of the ambulance slammed on the pedal again and smashed through the front door of the church. The first four attempts at the door loosened the boards, and the fifth attempt was successful. Just as the ambulance entered the church, multiple beasts pounced on the vehicle and began digging their claws into the ambulance. With beasts covering the windshield, he was unable to see the large pillar in the center of the room. The crash rocked his body forward. After slamming into the pillar, the driver threw the ambulance in reverse. The power of the beasts was on full display as one’s arm broke through the front windshield. The driver of the ambulance ducked but not in time before the claws of the beats ripped through his shoulder. He yelled out in pain. Another swipe missed the driver.
His shirt was covered in blood, and he was stuck. The beast blindly swiped into the ambulance, cutting its arm on the broken windshield. More gunshots rang out as members of the Underlings entered the front door. They did not realize they were walking into a pit of death, but it wouldn’t take long for them to find out. The first member to walk into the church was mauled by one of the beasts. The sharp teeth tore through the flesh of the unsuspecting woman. One of her comrades fired their handgun, striking the large, furry figure that was feasting, but his attack was halted when long claws pierced through his back and out of his torso. The man was lifted off the ground and thrown into the wall.
More shots rang out as the Underlings did their best to defend themselves. Outside, the deathly screams of his subordinates caused a knot to form in the masked man’s stomach. He was now standing in the back of the ambulance with three other members of the Underlings. He carefully watched as his people entered the church one by one, only to be slaughtered by the beasts. A few of the beasts escaped out of the front of the church, only to be gunned down by the rifle men. The man’s stare was intense under the mask. He had plenty of encounters with these beasts and knew that his people did not stand a chance against them.