by Cameo Renae
“He’s been bitten,” I said.
Finn stepped in between me and the guns aiming at my direction.
“Abi is telling the truth. Look at his eyes. He’s already beginning to change.”
“Rhett!” Reed wailed.
Rhett went and knelt next to his brother, and held his hand up to me, letting me know he had the matter in control. “I’m here brother. What do you need?”
“Take care of my wife,” he moaned.
“Reed. No,” Jamie sobbed. “You can’t leave me. Don’t leave me.”
“Billy. Take her. Please. I don’t know if I can fight this much longer,” he gritted.
“I love you, son,” Billy said, brushing Reeds forehead.
Reed nodded and grabbed his hand. “Take my wife. Please,” he moaned.
“Reed. No,” Jamie pleaded, her face was red and anguished. “Please.”
“We’ll be together again, baby. I love you, and will be watching over you. Now, go. I don’t want you to see me like this.” Moaning again, his body started convulsing.
Billy stood and pried Jamie away, and into his arms, pulling her down into Sanctum. Her wailing cries made my heart ache. She was losing the love of her life.
My arm was still raised, Hellfire pointing at the vital spot in the middle of Reed’s forehead.
“Abi, don’t,” Rhett said in a softer tone.
“It’s too late for him now,” I repeated.
“I know. When the time comes, I’ll do it. We take care of our own,” he said. “Please.”
I looked into his eyes. He looked sincere, so I slowly lowered Hellfire. He was the oldest brother, and the leader of their hive. I just hoped he could do what he claimed.
Reed began foaming at the mouth, and then went limp.
“He’s dead,” Rhett said. I could see pain in his eyes.
“He’s not dead,” I rebutted.
“Look at him. He’s not breathing,” his voice trembled, his face deeply burdened.
A shooting pain suddenly gripped my head.
“No!” I screamed as Rhett placed his fingers to his brother’s neck.
Reed’s eyes suddenly snapped open. They weren’t the same eyes we witness a few minutes ago. They were wicked, devoid of emotion, and milky-white.
An evil growl emanated from deep inside of Reed. He suddenly grabbed Rhett’s arm and yanked it toward his mouth.
Bam!
Reed suddenly went limp. A trail of blood oozed from a hole in the middle of his forehead.
Rhett dropped backward onto the ground, stunned. Everyone turned to the shooter.
It wasn’t me.
Peggy Sue stood to the side of me with her weapon drawn. She dropped it to the ground and ran to her husband. He embraced her in his arms and they both wept.
Watching Rhett with his brother made me question myself. Would I be able to shoot and kill one of my loved ones? Would I be able to watch someone I had grown attached to, die? Ultimately, could I take the shot?
Finn and I teased about shooting each other if we’d ever been bitten, but deep inside I knew there was no way I could take his life.
Peggy Sue must have known her husband wouldn’t have been able to shoot his brother, so she stepped in and did for him. That’s exactly what Finn did for me with the pilot. They saved us.
As soon as Reed died, my head went clear. I stood there, traumatized by the events of the day. We still hadn’t cleared the town, and I knew there were still dozens of Arvies hiding out there.
Laura, their other sister, was in tears. Revek held her and led her back down into Sanctum. The rest of the group followed, leaving Rhett and Peggy Sue to have their moment.
Finn wrapped his arm around me, smiled and nodded. I knew it meant he was proud of me. I nodded back.
He kissed the top of my head, and we walked side by side into the belly of Sanctum.
Chapter 12
After a shower and a very quiet dinner, we all met up again.
“I’ve been thinking,” Rhett said, his eyes still red from the pain of losing his brother. “This town needs to be rebuilt, but I want to start from scratch. I think the best thing to do is to burn the damn town to the ground.”
“But Rhett, all the building material. Won’t we need it?” Peggy Sue asked.
“We’ll keep Sanctum up, but I don’t want to deal with those bastards hiding in those buildings. The wood is probably soiled with their waste anyway. Abi mentioned when they first came into town, they saw a patch of grass. Pegs, that means this town can sustain life. We can start to plant. We can start a new life, right here.”
Peggy Sue turned to me, and I nodded in affirmation.
“What about the smoke? Won’t it be like a beacon, pin-pointing our location?” Revek asked.
“It might, which is why I think we should do it just before dusk. They can’t see smoke during the night. We’ll burn everything down. The Arvies won’t have any other choice but to leave, or die. We’ll have our night vision goggles and will pick them off as they try and escape.”
His plan seemed simple enough, but usually those kinds of plans backfired. They were too easy and I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be as simple as he said.
“But maybe the smoke will work to our advantage. Maybe it will signal our rescuers,” Tim added.
“We don’t want to risk it,” Finn said. “It could bring in rescuers, but it could also bring in more Arvies. That’s not a chance we can take, especially if we have to travel another 30 miles on foot.”
“Understandable,” he said.
“Well to make this plan work, we’d first need to somehow sneak past the Arvies and set the buildings on fire. It sounds too risky. Unless…” Rhett muttered.
“Do you have grenades?” I asked.
“No, we don’t, but that would’ve been a good idea.”
“Do you have anything highly flammable? Like gun powder? We could create mini-bombs and set them in certain key areas, and I can shoot them from the top of Sanctum. The only risk would be for those who set them up.”
“We do have a lot of gunpowder, and a lot of extra empty bean cans. They are small enough to be concealed, and should be easy to transport.”
“That should be good. We could have them ready to go by morning. Then, tomorrow, when the sun is directly above us, would be the best time to set them out.”
Rhett turned to his uncle who was still distraught over losing Reed. “Billy, I need you to help make the bombs.”
Billy glanced up and nodded his head. “Anything to kill those bastards.”
He pushed his chair back and walked out of the room.
Rhett pulled out his map, and the rest of us carefully planned out which buildings and where to place them. They had to be placed where I would be able to shoot them from the lookout.
“We have one barrel of oil which has been sitting for years up top. Maybe we could use the blast canisters filled with the gunpowder to start the fires, and trail the flames to the remaining buildings by using the oil?” Rhett suggested.
“I think that’s a great idea. We’ll need to have the teams set up, ready to eliminate the Arvies as they try to escape. None can escape, because if they leave this place, they will most likely return with a lot of backup,” Finn said.
Rhett nodded once.
“Then it’s settled. If any of your team would like to help Billy with the bombs, it would be a great help. I’ll get the rest of my men to help pull the oil barrel, and find containers easy to carry and dispense it.”
“Sure. Pike and Tim can come with me,” Finn said.
They nodded.
I noticed that none of the women were in the meeting. “How is Jamie?” I asked Rhett.
He shook his head and exhaled. “She’s a survivor, but trying to mend a broken heart will take time. They’ve just lost their father, and now Reed. I’m still having a hard time trying to keep myself together, but I’m their leader. I can’t break or they will all fall apart. The women won�
�t be going out tomorrow.”
“I don’t blame them,” I said.
“You don’t have to go either, Abi,” he said, glancing at me.
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be in the tower with a rifle. There’s no safer place for me to be,” I smiled.
He gave me a sad sort of smile and nodded his head. “Abi, I wanted to say thank you.”
“No, you don’t have to. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“No,” he held up his hand, stopping me. “You warned all of us, and I know you were just trying to help keep us safe. I thought I was strong enough to take my brother’s life, but put in the position, I couldn’t. You were brave, and smart—a true leader. Without you covering us from the tower, warning us, we all could be dead…or worse.”
I didn’t know what to say.
Rhett took a step forward. “You are wise beyond your years. If I ever have a daughter, I’d want her to be as strong as you are. Your father must be very proud.”
My eyes stung with tears as my thoughts went to him and my mom. “Yes, I guess he is.”
“You better go get some rest. We need our sniper to be rested for tomorrow. The success of this mission depends on you.” He tapped me on my back and left the room.
I stood there, overwhelmed by this whole day. My world, which I had dreamed of countless times, had become a twisted nightmare. I was exhausted, and my brain was starting to hurt. But this was a different kind of pain. This pain was purely emotional.
In our room, the injured were sleeping and Dr. Banks was sitting with the other doctors at the round table, chatting. Tina had cleaned up the entire room and her face lit up as soon as I walked in.
“Abi.” She rushed over to me. “Oh my God. I was so worried. Pike came in a few minutes ago, but said he had to go help the others with something.”
“Yeah,” I answered. “It looks like we have one more full day tomorrow.”
“Is there any way I can help? I feel so worthless sitting in here. I heard what happened to Jaime’s husband. I was helping Nely in the kitchen, when one of her other daughters came running in screaming and crying. She left, so I finished what I had to. I feel horrible for them. Did you see what happened?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yes. He was bitten by an Arvy and started to change, so we had to—”
“I know,” she said. “I saw what happened to the pilot.”
I nodded, not able to speak words without getting emotional.
“Abi, I’m terrified to leave this place. What happens if we get attacked by Arvies on our way to the pick-up zone?” she questioned.
“What we will be doing tomorrow will help us have a safe journey. The Arvies live and hide within the dark areas. Areas away from the direct sunlight.”
“How do you know?”
“When we were on our way to your bunker, we entered a large city. The Arvies stayed in the shadows of the buildings, and only came into the sun when they had to. It hurts them. So, tomorrow our plan is to burn the town down, and destroy the Arvies. Rhett said there is practically desert for the next fifty miles, so we should be safe.”
“You’re going to burn the town down?”
“Yes, everything but Sanctum. They want to start from scratch, and not have to worry about Arvies hiding from them.”
“I don’t blame them. I would want the same,” she said.
“Well, I think I’m going to head to the showers. I want to scrub the day off of me.”
Tina nodded. “Have a good one,” she said.
Dinner was the same as the night before. Somber.
Jamie and her mom didn’t show up, but Peggy Sue, Laura, and Shelley did. Their eyes were red and puffy, and they barely picked at their plates.
“The pain does get easier with time,” Dr. Banks said.
Peggy Sue glanced up at him, “How would you know?” Her voice was a little harsh, but I knew it was because she was still grieving.
Dr. Banks set his fork down, wiped his mouth, and spoke softly. “Because my wife was bitten by an Arvy on our way to the government bunker.” He paused for a brief moment, and I saw a slight quiver in his lip, but he swallowed hard and continued. “She was the love of my life, and the very best part of me. The day she died, a part of me died with her. My heart felt like it was torn from my chest. I didn’t want to survive in this world without her. I didn’t want to be a part of this godforsaken place without having her beside me. She was my comfort, my encouragement, my light in the darkness. She was my whole world.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said.
Dr. Banks shook his head. “I understand your pain. But you all need to understand that all we have is each other. For weeks, I wept. I didn’t want to continue. My heart was shattered. But deep inside, I knew my wife would want me to pull myself together…not for myself, but for everyone who might need my help…Abi, Finn, and the others who have been under my care.”
“I believe in destiny. I believe we are all survivors for a purpose. Yes, we will lose loved ones, but we can’t let that weaken us. It has taken enormous amounts of strength for you to have survived for the past thirteen years underground. It’s natural to mourn the loss of those we love, but we cannot forget to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and continue to survive, striving to make them proud. I know that’s what my wife wanted me to do.”
“I somehow pulled the broken pieces of myself together, and know that if she is looking down at me, she would nod and say, ‘I’m proud of you, Banks.’” His voice started to shake, and a tear escaped his eye, which he quickly flicked away. “I believe I will see her again, when my time is up. But until then, I will do whatever I can to help those around me. I know what my purpose is. It’s to help alleviate pain of the afflicted. To mend a broken bone, bandage a wound, or give medicine to the sick. And now, to share my personal experience of losing my precious wife, knowing there is hope of surviving the loss. The pain will never go away, but if you take it, and channel it into you gifts, then maybe you will find some peace and begin to live out your destiny.”
I glanced around the room; everyone was still and silent. Heads were down, and there were only a few dry eyes. I wiped the tears which had escaped my own eyes, and grabbed Finn’s hand. He laced his fingers through mine.
Then, Jamie walk around the corner, her eyes were bright red, swollen, and filled with tears.
She didn’t speak, but made her way toward Dr. Banks. She stood before him with tears streaming down her face.
“Thank you,” she breathed, then leaned over and hugged him.
He patted her back. “I’m sorry for your loss,” he whispered. She stood, nodded, and walked away. She must have heard him speak, and I was glad.
Rhett wiped a few tears from his eyes. “Thank you, doctor. I think we all needed that. It was a great reminder of why we have survived, and why we will continue to do so, despite the horrors around us. I also believe in destiny. No matter how bad it may seem, I believe your chopper crashed outside of our town, so you would find your way to us. You were sent here, to our small town in the middle of nowhere, to help us, and to renew our hope and strength. So thank you, all of you.” He glanced at every one in our group.
Dinner was done shortly after. We were all given details on what we would be doing tomorrow, before everyone turned in.
Peggy Sue came in with a troubled look, and went right to Dr. Banks. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he quickly grabbed his medical bag and headed out.
When the lights clicked off, I curled up in Finn’s protective arms. His sweet scent and his steady heartbeat were calming.
“Do you ever miss being back in our old hive?” I asked.
“Yes,” he whispered. “But eventually we would have had to come out and face the inevitable.”
“I know. But I miss the simplicity. In that little hole, we were shielded from danger, and surrounded by everyone we loved. On the topside, we’re unprotected, and I’m in constant fear. My greatest fear—”
A lump formed in my throat, and tears threatened my eyes.
“What’s your greatest fear?” he asked, hugging me closer.
I blinked, and tears escaped and trailed down my face, dripping onto his chest.
“Losing you,” I breathed. “You’re my world. If anything happened to you, I couldn’t… I wouldn’t want to survive.” Just thinking about losing him made my heart ache.
“Abi,” he whispered. He placed his fingers under my chin and gently lifted my head to meet his eyes.
“It’s true, Finn. When I’m out there, I’m strong because you’re right there next to me. Because I know when we complete our tasks for the day, you will be there, to hold me, comfort me, and tell me we’ll make it another day.”
“I understand,” he exhaled softly, “because losing you is my greatest fear.”
I kissed him softly, then pulled his arms tighter around me. I pressed my ear to his chest, and listened to the soft beating of his heart.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“Longer than forever,” I answered.
Chapter 13
The next morning we all had a chance to sleep in. I was still wrapped in Finn’s arms, and didn’t want to move.
“Hey beautiful,” he whispered, his eyes attempting to open.
I felt heat rush to my cheeks. “Hey handsome,” I breathed, running my fingers through his thick, dark hair.
“You know, after our talk last night…I’ve been doing a lot of thinking,” he spoke softly.
“That’s a little terrifying,” I teased.
He grinned, then his lips straightened and his eyes narrowed. That was his serious face.
“I was just thinking about our life in the last government bunker. I barely got to see you, and when I did, it was only for a moment. We trained separately, had free time separately, slept separately.” He popped his eyebrows at me briefly, and sighed. “Abi, they even sent me out on a mission without, letting me tell anyone. I couldn’t even say goodbye to you. It’s just, when we’re separated, bad things happen. And now, we’re headed into the largest government bunker, with thousands of more citizens. Do you think they’ll give a damn about us or our relationship? Will they care that we want to be together?”