Sanctum (The After Light Saga)

by Cameo Renae

  “No,” I answered. “We’re not going to die. We are going to fight, and we are going to survive.”

  “Everyone stand in a circle and face outward. Injured and doctors on the inside,” Finn instructed. Dr. Banks walked up to Tina and asked for her gun then pushed her into the middle of the circle. Dr. Lee took her into his arms and tried to comfort her.

  We were outnumbered at least ten to one. I knew I didn’t have enough ammo.

  Hideous pale bodies stalked closer, and as they did, the crippling sensations started to overpower me.

  “Fire on the ones that are the greatest threat,” Finn shouted. “Pick your shots and make them count. Don’t fire blindly.”

  “Finn. I don’t think I can do this.” I felt like I was falling apart. The seams of my sanity were being torn to pieces.

  Finn turned and grabbed me. He steadied my face in his hands and had me focus on him.

  “Abi, listen to me. You can’t control everything. Each person is responsible for their own survival. You need to stop feeling like you have to do it all. You can’t save everyone. Focus on one thing. Keeping yourself alive,” he said. “I need you, Abi. I need you here, and I need you to focus.”

  I nodded. The feelings which haunted me were there because, deep inside, I felt powerless to help the people around me. I always had control over everything I did in the hive, and because I was the best shot, I felt like I had to protect everyone.

  Out here, I quickly realized I had no control. Topside, I was filled with fear and my weaknesses seemed to be gripping me tighter and tighter. Unknowingly, I had put the weight of the world on my shoulders, and now they were slowly smothering me. I needed to release them, so I could function and be able to perform to the best of my ability.

  “Thank you, Finn,” I said.

  He grabbed my face and pulled me to him, kissing me quickly.

  “One shot...” he breathed, with a grin, steadying my focus.

  “One kill,” I finished, with a nod.

  He smiled, then let me go.

  I could feel a new fire within, as I finally recognized my demons. This time, I was determined to slay them, and hoped they wouldn’t cripple me again.

  A shot from behind us started the battle, and all hell broke loose. A fury of pale bodies started charging at us. I fired off my two rounds, dropped the clip, and reloaded within seconds. It seemed hopeless. There was a sea of mutant bodies behind the ones that had fallen.

  “Finn,” I said loudly, as I emptied out another clip and reloaded.

  “Are you okay?” he yelled back, still shooting.

  “Thank you for saving me,” I shouted.

  “Ditto,” he returned. “Now quit talking and shoot something.”

  We fired and fired, but the Arvies kept pushing forward. They were relentless. It reminded me of only a week ago when I was on the roof, saving Finn’s life. But this was different. We were surrounded on all sides.

  “I’m out,” one of the soldiers yelled. My heart dropped. He took the center and the rest closed the gap.

  I had two clips left before I was out. They seemed to be holding back about fifteen feet. Toying with us, waiting for us to run out of ammo so they could rush in for the kill.

  There were screams of someone in pain behind us.

  “They took Gus,” one of the soldiers yelled. His screams were telling us he was quickly being carried away.

  I was down to my last clip.

  “How many?” I called to Finn.

  “Ten shots left,” he answered.

  “I have thirteen.”

  “Let’s make ‘em count.”

  “Should we save one?” I asked. He didn’t answer, but he knew what I was thinking. I wanted to save one last bullet for us, just in case. I was down to five shots. “Finn!”

  “Yes,” but his words were not sure.

  Then blasts started booming and smoke began to bellow around us. Arvy bodies dropped and scattered. Canisters were thrown at our feet, emitting a thick white smoke. As it rose, and touched our skin, it burned like hell.

  Pain. Burning pain. My eyes, my skin, my nose.

  “Finn, where are you?” I screamed.

  “I’m right here,” he yelled back.

  My eyes were closed, but I walked toward his voice. Suddenly, I was bumped. Someone grabbed me, threw me over a shoulder, and took off.

  When I could finally open my eyes, I noticed I was being carried by someone in army fatigues. A man. At least, I thought it was a man by the way he easily flung me over his shoulder and took off running. I was in so much pain, my skin felt like it was melting off my bones. I was gritting my teeth together so hard, I was afraid they’d shatter.

  Chapter 6

  We were soon in a dark place, but we didn’t stop. My eyes were burning so badly I couldn’t open them to see where we were. I could tell I was being carried down some stairs.

  “Where are you taking me?” I asked. “Where are the others?”

  There was no answer. Fear rushed through me. What if this person was a hostile? What if he wanted to kill us?

  I screamed. “Help! Finn! Finn!”

  There were no other sounds, except the steps of the person carrying me further and further downward. Every single horrifying scenario played through my mind. Hellfire was still attached to my waist, so I had a means to fight back.

  After a few minutes, we stopped and I was gently placed on the ground. I tried to open my eyes, but everything was a painful blur. I heard footsteps heading away from me, then the sound of water. From a sink?

  “It’ll take a few hours for the burning to completely wear off,” a deep voice said, “Here, wash your face.”

  I was handed a wet towel. I pressed it to my face and wiped it as best I could. The cold water felt so good against my burning skin. I wiped my eyes, and then tried to open them. They still burned, but at least I could see a little better.

  “So you can talk?” I asked.

  He turned to me with a smile. It was a man, who appeared to be in his mid-thirties, and had short dark hair and stubble. He wasn’t too bad looking.

  “Yes. I tend not to waste my breath while I’m moving,” he grinned.

  “Where are the others? I need to go check on them,” I said, heading back toward the stairs. I had to make sure Finn was alright.

  “Whoa, whoa!” he said, grabbing my arm and holding me steady.

  “Let me go,” I yelled, trying to break his grip.

  “You don’t have to worry. My men will be bringing them all down.” As soon as he finished speaking, there were multiple voices, and painful moans in the stairwell, heading down toward us.

  “Damn, this crap burns!”

  I exhaled, relieved to hear Finn’s voice.

  “We’d better clear this room. It’ll be filled soon,” he noted. “Come, I’ll take you to get something to eat and drink while your friends get cleaned off.”

  I nodded and followed him.

  The walls and floors were made of a dull, gray concrete. The air was cold and filled with a musty smell mixed with spices. It smelled like someone was cooking curry.

  “Where are we?” I asked, slowly following him down a hallway.

  “We are under the old church. Our priest allowed us to build a shelter here for the members, in case anything happened, and we did it in secret. We always believed something was going to destroy the world, we just didn’t know when or how. That’s when we started to build an underground bunker. We call it Sanctum.”

  “So you lived under here for the past thirteen years?”

  “Yes. There are nine of us now. It’s been really rough these last few years, but we managed to survive. Our radio system sucks. We couldn’t make contact with anyone from the outside, but we could hear some of the radio transmissions from the larger bunkers. We listened to their warnings, but they never went into detail. They just told all survivors to make their way toward them.”

  “When we heard people were returning to the topside,
we went out to see what was left of our town, but came face to face with those monsters living in the buildings. We all went out, but lost two good men. We’d taken out at least twenty of theirs, but as you can see, were still outnumbered. We were lucky to make it back to Sanctum. ”

  “Yes, the Arvies have taken over. There are hundreds of thousands of them roaming the earth. They’d taken out most of the fuel stations near our previous bunker, which is why we were headed toward the largest safe zone in South Dakota. The end goal is to gather all remaining survivors together, so we can wage a war on the Arvies,” I said.

  “Arvies? Is that what they’re called?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Where the hell did they come from?”

  “They’re the rest of humanity. People, like us, who were injected with the ARV-3 serum. It was supposed to be an anti-radiation miracle; a hope which thousands relied on. I don’t think they were expected to survive, but somehow…they did. The ARV-3 serum kept them alive, but they suffered in complete agony. The vaccine had a reaction with their DNA, and it mutated them.”

  “Are you serious? Those things out there could be members of our community?” he asked.

  “They could be,” I shrugged.

  “Are you from one of the government bunkers?” he asked.

  “Yes and no. I grew up with my family and twelve others in a small bunker in California. My father worked for NASA, and as they began to do studies on possible disasters, he became a prepper. He and his team theorized a high probability of solar flares wiping out the grid. He began prepping to make sure we would be safe. The only thing we weren’t prepared for were the Arvies. What’s worse, they are smart and strong, and their bites are toxic. One bite, and you’ll start to change into one of them.”

  “Good to know. I’ll make sure my people know,” he said, then paused. “Do you have any doctors with you?”

  “We do. Dr. Banks was our hive doctor. He’s the best, but there are two others with him from the government hive.”

  “Good. We have one member who’s been very ill for about a week now.”

  “I’m sure they’ll have no problem with that.”

  “Thank you,” he said, continuing to lead me down the long hallway. “So how was life in the government hive? It must have been quite an adjustment.”

  “It was,” I sighed.

  “You don’t sound too happy about it,” he chuckled, glancing back.

  “Let’s just say, I wished we could have stayed in our hive.”

  He laughed. “So you’re a leader’s daughter. You must be well trained.”

  “I guess I can hold my own,” I answered, and he grinned.

  “So, who’s your leader?”

  He stopped and turned to me. “I’m sorry. I failed to introduce myself. My name is Rhett. Rhett Miller. I am the leader of this group.” He held out his hand to me, so I took it and we shook. Then he turned and continued.

  “So what brings you to our town, Miss—”

  “Abigail Park. But please call me Abi.”

  He smiled. “Abi, what brings you to our town? You’re a far way off from civilization.”

  “I know. We were headed to a drop-off zone, on our way to the bunker in South Dakota, but our chopper crashed about fifteen miles outside of town.”

  “I’m sorry. Did everyone make it?” he said concerned.

  “Yes.” I paused, and swallowed the huge lump forming in my throat. “Except, we lost a few when we came into the town and were met by the Arvies.” I tried to fight the overwhelming sadness that rushed over me. “We’d lost three before you came and got us.”

  “I’m sorry. Do you have family with you?” he asked.

  “My parents were scheduled for a later flight. But Dr. Banks and Finn Armstrong are here with me, and they are family to me. Finn’s my—” I hesitated for a split second.

  “Husband?” he asked, completing my sentence.

  “No. Boyfriend,” I corrected. Hearing the words instantly brought a smile to my face. He was my best friend. And I guess, knowing we were heading out into eminent danger, instantly kicked our relationship to the next level. The thought of losing him terrified me, and I was pretty sure he felt the same way.

  “Well, that’s nice. You’ll be meeting my wife soon. She and the other women, her mother and sisters, are in the kitchen preparing dinner.”

  “Oh, that’s cool.”

  He nodded and smiled.

  “So, how did you know we needed to be saved? You can’t hear a thing in this bunker,” I asked.

  He turned and paused. “Well, since we returned to the topside and were attacked, our men have been on a watch rotation. One man keeps guard in a small, safe-room at the top of the Sanctum. Our guard tonight heard gunfire, and then saw the monsters surrounding you. We tried to get to you as quickly as possible.”

  “Well, thank you,” I said. “You and your men saved us.”

  “No problem. It’ll be nice to have some real guests. We haven’t had any in…well, thirteen years.” We both laughed. “And just to let you know, our food rations are very limited. We’re down to beans and rice. It’s been really rough these past months, but we do have some spices that help.”

  “Beans and rice sound great,” I said. “If you want, we are going to be heading toward our pick-up zone and will be picked up and taken to the government bunker. They have food and shelter there, in case you want to join us.”

  “I bet they have a lot more to offer us, but no thanks. I’d rather stick with beans and rice, and scavenge whatever else we can. We’ve been experimenting and planting a few things, but most don’t do too well without sunshine. We started to put this bunker together about a year before the grid went down. We planned for the major things like sewage, water, and air, and obviously overstocked with beans and rice.”

  I nodded. “Word is, most of the bigger bunkers had gathered animals, and have been keeping them in separate, large sections, like a huge zoo, or—”

  “An ark?” Rhett added.

  “Exactly. I guess once the Arvies are eradicated, they will slowly be set free to repopulate the earth. I don’t know the whole plan, but it’s good to know we haven’t lost everything.”

  “So how bad is our planet? Does anyone know?” he asked.

  “Well, it’s still spinning,” I sighed. “But my father said that more than half of the land is uninhabitable. In areas that are suitable to sustain life, we will still have to work hard to peel back layers of toxic soil so we can begin to replant and rebuild. The areas farthest away from the direct blast zones will supposedly be bordered off for the survivors. Areas like this place.”

  “What do you mean, this place?” He stopped and turned back to me.

  “We saw a patch of green grass growing on the side of one of the buildings outside. It proves this area can sustain life.”

  Rhett’s eyes went distant. “There’s grass growing outside?” he whispered, almost as if to himself.

  “Yes. It’s a beautiful patch of soft green grass,” I said.

  His mood suddenly changed. “This is our home. Our land. We don’t want the government coming in and stripping it all away. We’ve worked hard to build this town, and they have no right to come in and take it from us.”

  “I understand,” I answered. We were their guests and I didn’t want to cause them any stress. There was already too much tension flying around. “I promise, we won’t say anything about your town, but I cannot guarantee they won’t find it.”

  “They’re not welcome here. They’ve already destroyed our planet, allowing nuclear power plants to be built. Everything they’ve done is for wealth and power. ‘We the people’? That’s bullshit. We were lucky we decided to take matters into our own hands. If we didn’t build our own shelters, we’d have been dead, or mutated into those monsters. We’ve learned how to survive, and we will continue to, without their help.”

  He was a disgruntled man, but I could see his point. Unfortunately, the govern
ment bunkers were the only ones we could turn to if we were to survive. They had the resources and the firepower to defeat the Arvies. They had everything we needed to survive and start again.

  They did keep their people safe, and had dismantled all nuclear weapons before the apocalypse. At least that was something. Hopefully they learned and wouldn’t make the same mistakes. All I could do was hold on to my dream of living on the topside. That dream was coming true. We were here now. I experienced the sheer awesomeness of the sun, the moon, and the stars. I felt the cool breeze on my face. It was amazing, but still, it was tainted. We couldn’t enjoy any of it. But hopefully, one day soon, we would.

  “Do you know how many survivors there are?” he asked.

  “I don’t, but I do know there are a total of fifteen government bunkers around the globe. That’s not counting the independent survivalists, like us. There could be hundreds, or thousands out there. One thing I do know, the Arvies completely outnumber us. There were thousands surrounding the previous bunker. It was horrifying.”

  “Well let’s hope there are a lot more survivors out there, like us, with lots of weapons,” he said.

  I agreed.

  Chapter 7

  We finally made it into a large room which had one long table, almost like a picnic bench, filling the center of the room. The room was about thirty feet by twenty feet. This must have been their dining hall. The smell of spices filled the air and tickled my nose.

  “Beans and rice never smelled so good, huh?” Rhett said.

  “Oh yeah. I’m looking forward to it.”

  “Come. I want you to meet my wife.”

  He led me through a door at the far side of the room which led into a small hall. To the right was another swinging, salon-style door. He pushed his way through and I followed.

  Inside were three women. One was much older and had dark hair and a pretty face. The other two were younger, maybe in their mid-twenties, and I could see the resemblances.

  “Hey, babe,” Rhett said, walking up to a thin, dark haired girl. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. She smiled at him and turned to me with a cautious look. It was the same look I’d received when I first arrived at the other government bunker. I just had to remember I was the newbie and the first person, other than the people in their hive, they’d seen in over thirteen years.