Eternal Refuge

by Annabelle McInnes

  Nick’s eyes were drawn skywards. Birds parroted overhead. They squawked and bickered as they escaped the oncoming blaze. Masses of the winged creatures formed flocks as they accumulated together in their flight. The gates of hell had opened. They were not going to be sucked into the flame.

  Their flight singled the need for haste. They foretold the end of their time sheltered and safe. One more step off the porch and the three of them would be whipped into the tornado of anarchy. Hunted, hounded, on their feet, running for their lives. This would now be their narrative.

  Nick moved until he stood alongside Euan. Kira stepped forward until she was in line with Nick. Shoulder to shoulder, the three of them created a wall to the chaos that would come. They stared at the growing smoke cloud as it reached towards the heavens. Side by side, they would prevail. Together, they would buffer the threats to their foundations. Their future was unknown. Their journey fraught with danger and fear. But together, potentially they would behold the beginnings of a new world, a good world. A world where goodness prevailed and the strong protected the weak.

  Chapter 5

  Euan

  They’d been in a bubble. Hidden from the mayhem of the outside world but for the bunker and the power of Mickey-O and his men. But the bubble had burst, and the nightmares of the real world were closing in.

  Their sanctuary was a hive of activity. Men all in military fatigues surrounded them as they finalised the packing of the stores. The chickens were in cages, hauled into an open tray of a battered olive-green pick-up. The sounds of their annoyance in the change in accommodations were distinct. It was accompanied by the various shouts of the men as they prepared for departure.

  Orders, affirmations, the clatter of wooden crates against steel. The zing of zip-ties as they tightened, the scrape of rope as it tensed, the groan of furniture and equipment as it compacted under pressure.

  Euan held out his hand to Kira who took it without hesitation. Her warm palm in his, he was the first to step forward and off the porch. Nick at his side the three of them marched to where the ordered chaos originated from.

  Mickey-O stood in the centre of his men, Knight by his side. Lily was already wrapped up and bundled in the back of a reconditioned jeep. Her face was hidden by black scarves, her body wrapped in blankets, she had scrunched herself into the space for feet in the back of the cab. Euan suspected that was of her own accord.

  Knight’s hand was outstretched and Euan matched the gesture. Their grips were firm, a single shake that offered so much unspoken sentiment. Knight nodded, and Euan lifted his chin to return the gesture. Mickey-O slapped his back when he approached, but his focus was on Nick.

  ‘You remember where to head in case we get separated?’

  Nick nodded. ‘Yeah.’

  He turned to Euan, black eyes keen and focused. ‘Follow the highway to the overpass. Take the left into the mountains. There’ll be a sign you recognise. You can’t miss it.’ He jerked his chin towards Kira. ‘You keep her safe and out of sight too.’

  All eyes were drawn to Kira. The lines of her slim body were encased in a layer of fabric and Kevlar. The features of her face were hard, she was committed and confident. ‘We got this.’

  Mickey-O grunted in affirmation. Then he turned to his company that were making the final preparations for his departure and waved one hand over his head in the air. His voice boomed through the small clearing. ‘Head on out, boys!’

  The mantle of leadership was heavy, Euan was conscious of the smoke, the increasing temperature, the concern that had marred Mickey-O’s brow. In that moment, he was glad it was not him who attempted to orchestrate a flight into the unknown. Weapons were prominent. Strapped to hips and pulled in alongside each man to rest within easy reach. There was a sense of dread that tangled with the smoke. An anxiety that was almost as visceral as the heat. Euan gave Mickey-O one last nod, then as a trio, he guided them towards their own vehicle.

  The Wrangler was a modern interpretation of the Willys Wheeler, the olive-green all-terrain vehicle that had been used by the military during the Second World War. But this was very unlike its older brother. Leather seats, touch screen controls, air-conditioning, and automatic gearbox. The fuel was part of the biofuel production Mickey-O coordinated back at his compound. Euan moved directly to the trunk of the jeep to ensure they had enough supplies to get them through any outcome.

  The twist in his gut told him they were going to need them.

  He was counting ammunition when he heard Nick call his name. His eyes turned in the direction of the shout, and saw her.

  Kira stood before a house she had called home almost her entire life. She had suffered the worst of what had happened to mankind safe in, and under, those walls. There were memories of family, of love and happiness within that building. Memories Euan hoped he could create for her again.

  But for now, he’d give her what he could. He slapped his pockets until he found what he was looking for and did his best to jog towards her.

  He wrapped his arms around her shoulders when he reached her. She leaned into his embrace. Warrior, woman. Strong, fragile, perfect. She sniffed, and Euan bent to kiss the top of her head before he opened his palm in front of her face.

  ‘I took this before they packed the pictures. Thought you might like to keep it safe.’

  She hiccupped and took the small photograph. It was a picture of her brother William and herself that had been in pride of place on the bunker’s living room wall. Two blonde children who smiled brightly at a camera. Arm in arm, their grins were bright and their identical blue eyes creased with happiness. They sat on the very same porch Kira stared at now, but there was no smoke that thickened the air, no ash moats that warned them the fire was licking at their heels. Instead, blue sky, green grass, lavender flowers coloured the image.

  ‘My mother took this photo,’ she whispered as she thumbed the image of her brother. ‘I was six, he was eight, maybe nine. I remember my grandmother gave us ice-blocks that afternoon because it was so hot.’

  Euan nuzzled her crown, squeezed her tighter, allowed his heartbeat to synchronise with hers. ‘Time to go, sweetheart.’

  She breathed in, coughed. ‘Wait. I have something for you too.’

  She turned in his embrace and after digging into a pocket at her breast, she offered a small piece of paper. Worn, the edges frayed, brown. Euan knew what it was instantly. ‘I gave that to you.’

  Her eyes were melancholy. ‘And I’m giving it back. It’s yours.’

  She pressed the picture into his hand and he opened it with care. A drawing, one completed by his own hand. It was a picture of both Nick and Kira, wrapped in each other’s embrace, sleeping.

  He remembered drawing it. Taking the pencil and paper he had found in one of the storage rooms and feathering the lead over the white page. It had been chance. Fate, that had provided the utensils close at hand when he had been beside them, propped on lumpy pillows as he watched them sleep. Nothing had been more striking in that moment. The way Kira’s blonde lashes fanned against her cheeks. Nick’s brow so smooth in sleep. The last time he had seen this picture he had left it on the pillow beside Nick’s head the night he left them to find retribution.

  In one swift move, he bent and lifted Kira up into his arms. His feet screamed from the extra weight, and the pain in his shoulder bloomed through his muscles to radiate into his throat, his chest. But he ignored it all. Kira was in his arms, she was safe, whole, his. He swallowed her squeak with a kiss and took the few steps needed to place her in the back of the jeep. Their embrace lingered for only a few moments before he pulled back to brush the wetness on her lips with his thumb. ‘Ready?’ he asked.

  She smiled, and even as her eyes said no, her voice said, ‘Yes.’

  Nick pressed the Glock in Euan’s hand as he rounded the jeep to the driver’s seat just as the shout to head out was made.

  Engines revved. Men whooped and hollered.

  They met at the driver’s side door.
Nick’s hand was on the handle, Euan’s frown was deep. ‘Nick.’

  Nick pressed his lips together, licked them. ‘I’m sorry, big man. But I’m driving.’

  Euan’s reply was determined. ‘I can drive.’

  Nick’s gaze softened, so did his tone. ‘You’ve only got one eye …’

  The blink of that single eye was rapid. Sometimes he was so conscious of his disability, and others …

  Trucks were beginning to take off, there was no time for arguments or platitudes. As much as Euan despised it, it was the truth. The loss of his vision could be the deciding factor between success and failure.

  Euan bumped his fist against the door once before he moved off to make way for Nick. The muscles between his shoulder blades pinched. He rolled them to do nothing more than ease the tension and strain. He trusted Nicky, he just had to trust himself.

  A gust of wind carried the smoke. Nick coughed.

  There was no more time. They needed to leave.

  The trucks around them formed a convoy of rumbling engines and groaning steel. The vehicles grumbled under the weight of the men and supplies. The green lawn was churned up in their wake, the scent from the lavender flowers was consumed by exhaust and ash. The house where Euan had met Kira, the garage where he had tied a traumatised boy to the wall, the bunker that had sheltered them, allowed their love to blossom and grow was now in their rear view.

  Euan hauled himself into his seat as Nick did the same at his side. They adjusted the mirrors, strapped into their seatbelts and breathed in. Nick’s hands were wrapped tightly around the steering wheel. Euan’s were clenched in his lap.

  Then Nick turned the key and the jeep jerked to life. The vibrations jostled them. Euan’s hand reached out instinctively and gripped Nick’s thigh. The touch seemed to startle him and their gazes snapped together. There he was. Everything Euan needed, wanted. Nick was angry, still so fucking angry, but they were together, complete. He’d prayed for this moment, begged any God who would listen that he could look into those green eyes again. His wish granted, it was now up to Euan to finish building the bridge.

  Mickey-O’s truck was in the lead. The man’s tattooed arm was raised high out the open window to wave them forward. Knight and his precious cargo of Lily were next. Two more vehicles rolled forward and then it was their turn.

  At his side, Nick pressed the accelerator. The jeep leapt forward and Kira laughed. A nervous giggle that made Euan’s lips quirk. A glance over his shoulder saw an expressionless head swathed in fabric. But her smile had always been physical. He could feel it even through the cloth.

  Their convoy was slow. They swayed in their seats as the jeep rolled over the overgrown terrain. Euan’s hand was on the support bar above his window, the other still wrapped around Nick’s thigh. He would not let it go. It was their connection, Nick had not shaken it off. Green eyes often glanced Euan’s way, took in his exposed forearm that gripped the support, the way his fatigues encased his thighs, the pull of his fly over his groin.

  ‘Eyes on the road, Nicky,’ Euan said with a tiny tilt to his lips.

  The embarrassed jerk of Nick’s head made his lips quirk higher. The back of Nick’s neck turned pink. Euan found it endearing, he always had. Maybe there was hope. If they could get to the hotel safely, Euan would make the time to mould trust and support back into their relationship again. Maybe they could lock themselves into a room and thrash out their anger physically to see it dealt with. Maybe, Euan just needed to suck Nick’s cock and all would be well again. Despite the dangers they currently faced, he felt himself begin to swell.

  The hand on Nick’s thigh tightened.

  A thunderous boom jolted the three of them.

  There was a flash, a rumble so violent it shook the jeep. Thunder, lightning. Euan’s eyes were on the sky in an attempt to see which God had finally given up hope on humanity.

  But it was not divinity that caused the storm.

  It was man.

  The enemy had found them.

  Euan’s dread gripped him. Adrenaline surged, his focus sharpened. He let go of Nick and pulled his gun into his hand, was comforted by the solid grip. Another flash, another boom. Euan and Nick both swore and Kira cried out as, before them, they witnessed true horror.

  Mickey-O’s truck exploded in a ball of fire and smoke.

  They’d lost their leader. A man who had promised salvation, security, home and hearth was eviscerated in a great cloud of black fire. Pandemonium followed. Trucks drove in all directions to escape the heat and debris. In the back of one, Euan saw the chicken cage bounce free and hit the ground. Feathers and birds burst in a plume of white and brown.

  He had no time to think about the ramifications. They had no time left to them at all.

  ‘Go!’ Euan roared.

  Nick put his boot to the pedal and turned the wheel. Wreckage rained down. Chunks of warped steel and twisted plastic hit the roof of the jeep, bounced off the bonnet. The glass rattled, the steering wheel vibrated. Euan’s heart thundered in time with the booms as other trucks of their convoy met similar fates.

  Guns were fired. A glance over his shoulder saw black figures emerging through the trees. Sparks of flame and light flared around them. The smoke hindered his vision.

  ‘Fuck!’ Nick cursed as he avoided hitting one of the invaders.

  ‘Just plough through them,’ Euan barked. ‘We’ll work through the remorse later. Get us the fuck outta here!’

  And Nick did. He crashed through the overgrown driveway, the grass, weeds and immature saplings. They tramped men, drove through flame and over the wreckage of their comrades. Fire surrounded them. Flame and heat licked the exterior. The metal shell of the car popped and hissed. Kira cried out as one of the men that had avoided the bullbar slammed her window, threatened to break it with the butt of his rifle.

  Euan lifted his Glock and fired.

  Glass shattered, their ears rang, the scent of smoke, carbon and blood filled the interior of the cab. Kira coughed and wheezed. Nick spoke in a constant stream of profanities.

  They hit the road. But it was too late. They had taken too long to assemble their escape. It was an ambush. Men with guns used trucks and trees to hinder their path in both directions. Euan’s head swung left and right. Nick said, ‘Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.’

  There were men dressed in layered clothes that were grey, green and black. So many men. They were encircled by hoards of unwashed spiders waiting for their prey to be trapped in a web made of flame, trees and trucks.

  They were trapped. Fucked.

  Euan jerked the wheel under Nick’s grip. They veered sideways, almost rolled.

  Nick cursed and righted their trajectory. ‘What the fuck!’

  Euan’s voice boomed. ‘Into the trees!’

  As the gunfire rattled around them, Nick did as he was told. Their jeep tumbled over terrain. They bounced and jumped. The saplings parted in their wake, mowed down by a truck with thick tyres, high suspension and a four-wheel drive shaft that kept them upright and propelled forward. The vehicle groaned as it bounded over logs, it creaked as it climbed gullies and depressions, but it held true and fast. They could make it.

  Then the trees thickened. So did the smoke.

  ‘They’ve pushed us straight into the fire. Jesus Christ,’ Euan bellowed over the whine of the engine.

  They had. There was no escape. They were trapped. Men of war at their backs, a wall of woodland before them.

  Euan risked a glance at Nick. He knew what those men expected. They’d hope they’d double back. Keep within the safety of the jeep. As their gazes met, it was obvious they shared the same thought. Euan nodded with a single jerk and Nick slammed on the brakes.

  ‘I’ll carry Kira, you get the gear,’ Euan said as he opened his door.

  ‘Not happening,’ Nick yelled as he opened his own door. ‘You’ll destroy your feet with her on your back. You take the gear and rifles, I’ll get Kira.’

  ‘I can run!’ Kira yelled from the bac
k seat.

  It was Euan who answered. ‘They’ll be looking for your footprints, sweetheart. We gotta keep your location hidden for as long as possible.’

  Between the twisted and gnarled branches of the forest, the sky was orange, a colour that screamed danger, that heralded disaster. Euan coughed, his hand at his mouth did nothing to stop the smoke. It burned his throat, his lungs. It scorched everything.

  He opened the trunk to gather their gear just as Nick swung Kira’s side door open. Both Nick and Kira’s coughs were like razor blades to his heart. If he didn’t get them out of this fire, they were dead. If they weren’t fast enough to escape their enemy, they were dead. If he took the wrong direction, led them into the path of destruction. They. Were. Dead.

  Euan had suffered at the hands of the men that hunted them. His feet and his face were evidence of the malice and cruelty they could inflict without trying. He only had to remember the shock of the taser to know how simple it was to keep him from protecting those he cared about.

  His mind pure instinct, he secured the packs and rifles to his body, checked his Glock was loaded and waited for Nick and Kira to be at his side. Then, he turned to the trees. ‘Let’s go.’

  Chapter 6

  Euan

  In a single, explosive moment, all hope for a safe path behind a strong leader out of this horror story had been destroyed.

  The forest was alive with noise and commotion. Animals scampered under their feet. The birds squawked and took flight. The trees groaned, creaked and popped with the heat. The sun was obscured by smoke and clouds. Vibrant shades of orange, red and pink stained the sky. The sound of gunfire was lost in the distance. They disregarded it all as they fled.

  Breath, heartbeats, the crunch of mulch under boots. Smoke burned their lungs. Every inhale seared and scorched. Wet fabric was wrapped around their heads, the heat from the fire at their back. They jogged, as quick as they were able, through the trees. Each step was one more that separated them from the enemy. They didn’t speak as there was no energy. They didn’t rest as there was no time. They headed east, the mountains to their right, their future path was unknown.