The Dark Days Series | Book 2 | Sanctuary

by Cole, Christopher

  Copyright

  Sanctuary is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  SANCTUARY: A NOVEL

  Copyright © 2020 by Christopher Cole

  All rights reserved.

  Editing by KP Editing

  Cover design by KP Designs

  Published by Kingston Publishing Company

  The uploading, scanning, and distribution of this book in any form or by any means—including but not limited to electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of the copyright holder is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized editions of this work, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  About the Author

  About the Publisher

  My home is where everyone is waiting for me, for my friends.

  My family.

  Chapter 1

  Sonny

  As I sat hidden in the brush underneath a tree cooling in the shade, I looked at my wristwatch, it was 1:30pm. I wound it again. The watch was still in good shape, despite everything that had happened – military design I suppose. This watch was clearly built to last, water and shock resistant. I looked closely and saw that it didn’t have a scratch, and the nylon sport wristband strap was slightly frayed, but holding up well, too. Watching the small and precise movement of the second hand was kind of mesmerizing – the watch had twenty-two jewels – each functional to reduce friction of the moving parts and increase the longevity of the device. I looked away from my watch to gaze at the land before me. The sky was partly cloudy with cirrus clouds stretching across the beautiful blue canvas. The trees were rustling as the wind fanned evenly with the sound of the summer cicadas breaking the silence. The summer sunshine made everything in the light brighter and the shadows darker – the green trees, the light brown soil, the grey boulders, it was all so peaceful. Yet, despite the peaceful scenery, I was looking for zombies and listening for even a small moan from them. Expecting the danger strained my muscles with a tense vigilant tone. I looked over by the bushes where Will, Cody, and Evan were at, and they were in the same state as me – expecting danger to appear without warning, staying cautious with every second. Then I spotted a female zombie slowly wander from out of the bushes, and I made a hand gesture to Will tagging its location. Will, Cody, and Evan were crouched in the brush with their weapons out and ready.

  Will whispered to Cody, “Alright, just like Sonny and I showed you. You strike at the knees and then the head.”

  “Okay,” Cody muttered.

  “Cody,” Evan said.

  Cody looked up at his father.

  “You’re killing a zombie; it isn’t rocket science.”

  Cody slowly approached the zombie and kicked the zombie’s knee, but he didn’t kick hard enough – the zombie growled angrily. He kicked again a little harder and that did it. He raised his knife and stabbed the zombie’s skull, but he didn’t have his feet planted right so he fell down with the zombie.

  When he got up Evan said, “You kept falling, why do you keep falling?”

  “I’m trying, Dad!” Cody said.

  “I don’t think you are, because this happens every single time. You don’t hit the knee hard enough and whenever you stab the skull, you keep falling down and risk being bit!”

  Will stepped in and said firmly, “Stop! Evan, he’ll get better. Yelling at him isn’t going to help. We still got more area to scope.”

  Evan scoffed and walked off with his fire ax on his shoulder.

  Will walked up ahead leaving me to hang back with Cody.

  He spoke first, “I really am trying.”

  “I know you are,” I said.

  “I just wish he would stop being so disappointed in me.”

  “You and your family have struggled out here for a long time. He’s just edgy. He wants you to be able to kill cleaner so you’ll survive.”

  Cody scoffed, “It doesn’t sound like that’s what he wants. Sounds more like he’s always pissed off, because I’m not doing anything right.”

  I sighed, “He may not show it, but he cares about you. He’s your father. Just give it time, he’ll come around.”

  Cody didn’t really like that answer, but he didn’t say anything. The train still had some life left in her, but she ran out of railroad tracks so we had to walk. We were now somewhere in the Tahoe National Forest in northern California, and had about two hundred miles left to Fort Gold Rush. Will, Evan, Cody, and I were scouting ahead to clear any zombies while looking for military patrols that could take us to the Fort. California was truly a sight. It was beautiful with its grey mountains, green pines, and stunning landscape. The air was fresh and we had a cool breeze – the temperature felt perfect most of the time. I suppose that’s why so many people wanted to live here. All this made me miss my home in upstate New York. Like California, upstate New York had beautiful landscape and scenery, too. It was gorgeous in the autumn before the winter cold arrived. Even though we were getting closer and hadn’t encountered any problems for a while, Captain Noir still wasn’t taking any chances – he kept saying, ‘Stay frosty.’

  The new family we picked up was the Rose family. Evan Rose was the father, Ginger the mother, and their sons Clark and Cody. Their oldest was the daughter, River. The other man was actually a friend of the father, Bob Colton. Just like me when this all happened, River had to kill zombies to protect her brothers. Clark, the older son, soon stepped up to protect both his sister and his brother. River learned how to bow hunt – she wasn’t an expert, but she could aim and shoot pretty accurately if the target wasn’t moving. River and Clark had to grow up fast like us. Cody was a little shy, though, and not quite ready to engage like his brother and sister.

  “Thanks for volunteering to come with us. It’s nice to have someone to talk to,” Cody spoke.

  “No problem, but I wasn’t too keen about your mom saying I shouldn’t go,” I responded.

  “She has a weakness for kids and you can’t exactly blame her. No offense, but it’s not every day you see a kid with a knife, a hatchet, and a gun.”

  “Before the outbreak, there were thousands of child soldiers holding guns bigger than my pistol. There have been many times when these weapons saved both me and my friends.”

  After a moment of silence, Cody asked, “Can I ask you something?”

  “What?”

  “I know you’ve killed zombies, but have you killed any . . . people?”

  I stared at Cody blankly and he looked away realizing that probably wasn’t something you should ask.

  I thought for a moment and answered honestly, “Yes, I have.”

  Cody’s eyes widened. We barely knew him and his family. I know they mean
well, but I’d choose my friends over any of them in a heartbeat.

  “Oh,” Cody muttered.

  “We’ve come across some dangerous predators out there, and there are worse things than zombies,” I told him.

  “Really?”

  “There are some crazy people out there. People that . . . aren’t human anymore. They may not be zombies, but you wouldn’t call them human either. We just call ‘em Predators.”

  After a while of silent walking, Will searched through his binoculars for any more zombies.

  “Alright, I don’t see any more. Let’s head back to the others,” Will stated.

  “What? But there’s still a lot of daylight left,” Evan pointed out.

  “Captain Noir doesn’t want us to wander too far away from the group. We’re heading back.”

  As we headed back to the group, we heard a gunshot. We ran over the hills and headed for the sound. When we came over the hill, we saw that the other scouting party was in trouble. Father Lawrence, Captain Noir, Clark, and River were dealing with a group of zombies. Captain Noir and Clark were pinned against a tree while holding off zombies trying to bite their faces. Most of the zombies didn’t have lips, exposing bare teeth. Their clothes were unsanitary and rancid with old dark blood mixed with fresh blood all over. Their skin and eyes were discolored and devoid of any life. Despite being mostly dead, they were immensely aggressive, biting and clawing violently. We quickly ran downhill to help.

  I ran down hill and built up momentum and tackled an adult male zombie. The zombie fell hard and quickly attacked. As I pulled out my hatchet, the zombie knocked it out of my hands, and I had to push back against it to prevent it from biting me. Will pulled out his machete and sliced off two zombie heads. The zombies cawed and growled as they attacked us. Evan, grunting angrily, swung his fire axe overhand into a big zombie’s head, nearly driving his axe into its throat. Captain Noir, with his wild eyes wide open and his teeth clenched, was able to gain the upper hand on the two zombies pinning him against the tree, grabbing their throats and running them straight toward a boulder. After ramming them into the boulder, he grabbed the back of their skulls, lifted them up and slammed them again into the rock. The zombies’ skulls shattered leaving blood and gray matter behind – the sound was unpleasant, the skull cracking open and the blood and brains spilling out. I kicked the zombie, rolling it over, and grabbed my hatchet and viciously swung at its head – one more second and it would have bitten my leg. My heart rate was accelerated, and I was pumped with adrenaline as I tightened my grip on my hatchet.

  River let out an angry cry while trying to get a zombie off her. I ran to help her, but another zombie was in the way. I swung the hatchet at its leg and then at its skull but the hatchet stuck in its skull. I tried pulling it out, but River needed help – no time! So, I pulled out my knife and ran to help River. I got to River and grabbed the back of the zombie’s shirt to pull back and then I stabbed its skull with my knife. As my knife entered penetrated the brain, a crackling sound escaped and the blade of my knife was coated with dark blood, as I pulled it out and the zombie fell dead accumulating a pooling puddle of blood in the dirt.

  “Thanks,” River expressed gratefully, while clasping my hand.

  “It’s not over yet!” I replied, getting her up.

  More zombies were coming at us. I grabbed my hatchet with both hands and used my foot to leverage the hatchet from the zombie’s skull and jumped on top of the boulder. I jumped from the rock and swung downward with the hatchet, striking a zombie squarely in its skull. River got her bow and started shooting arrows at the approaching zombies. She killed three zombies with arrows, all piercing their skulls. She aimed at the zombie that had Clark pinned down, but Cody stabbed the zombie with his knife before she shot – without falling. Clark looked down at the zombie then back at Cody and nodded a thank you.

  “Look out!” Clark shoved Cody out the way.

  A zombie ran downhill and leaped for Cody, but Clark saw it coming. He grabbed the zombie midair and threw it to the ground. He stomped on its skull repeatedly until its face caved.

  He was out of breath when he finally stopped stomping he asked, “Is that all of them?”

  “I think it’s clear,” Father Lawrence answered, pulling his machete out of a zombie’s skull.

  “We’re heading back. Let’s go,” Captain Noir ordered.

  I helped River collect her arrows and we all headed out. I saw Evan, Clark, and Cody talking ahead of us. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it looked like Evan was being more supportive and letting Cody know how well he did. It made me smile involuntarily, but I felt a tinge of pain in my heart – I miss my mom and dad more every day.

  “You alright?” River asked.

  “Yeah, I’m . . . I’m fine,” I answered.

  “Okay,” River stated, with a tone that sounded like she wasn’t convinced.

  After a while of silent walking, River spoke again, “Thanks again for back there. I would have been screwed if you hadn’t shown up.”

  “Maybe,” I replied honestly.

  “No, I think I was in serious shit. That zombie was bigger than me and he had a stronghold.”

  “Don’t doubt yourself, you’re faster and resourceful.”

  River raised an eyebrow and questioned, “Oh? Is that how you do it?”

  “I just tell myself that I have people I want to protect, so I can’t fail. You made the same decisions yourself to protect your family,” I answered honestly.

  River nodded and agreed, “Yeah, I did.”

  By the look on her face, she looked a little upset. I thought I should change the subject to something positive.

  “Can I ask how your parents named you River?” I asked.

  River gave a slight smile and started, “You know how sometimes there’s a story whenever someone is born? Like a rainstorm finally coming after a drought. Or, the father drove through a million red lights to get to the hospital?”

  I answered while nodding, “Yeah.”

  “Well, when my mom called my dad to let him know that I was coming, he drove to the hospital. On the way, he waits at a long red light. As he’s sitting there waiting, this little kid, Mickey James, fell into the river and he couldn’t swim. So, my dad got out of his car and jumped into the river to save him,” River explained.

  “Wow,” I said, impressed.

  “Yeah, wow. That’s why he showed up at the hospital completely drenched, freezing his ass off.”

  That must have been a proud day for Evan and Ginger – baby’s coming and along the way, he saves a kid from drowning. I’ve heard of some pretty amazing stories about people being born, but that one takes the cake!

  “That’s quite a story,” I declared.

  “Yeah, made the front page of the town’s newspaper. What about you? Any famous tale about you being born?” River asked.

  I looked down and away. I did have a story, too, that my parents told me when I was born, but I’m not sure if it’s as happy as hers.

  “What’s wrong?” River asked.

  “Uh, mine isn’t really that great,” I said.

  “Oh, come on! Come on, tell me!”

  “Alright, well my parents said that they got married a little young. They weren’t kids, but you know it was a little sooner than most. While my mom had me in her belly, western Washington State was going through a very unusual drought, because in the northwest it’s usually wet and grey. There were clouds, but the rain just didn’t come. On the day that I was born, there was this huge thunder and lightning storm with lots of rain. Each lightning strike lit up the whole sky, and the thunder shook the windows of the building. My dad said he never saw such an active storm in all his life,” I explained.

  River’s eyes widened and spoke, “Wow, really?”

  “Yeah, my father said that I was the lightning in that rain. He said I must have been the storm itself. But after I was born, the storm ended and there was a break in the clouds. The sun break w
as so beautiful, that they all said it looked like God showed up. That’s why my mom always calls me Sunshine.”

  River smiled, “Sonny, like sunshine, but spelled differently. That is . . . an awesome story! And you said it wasn’t that great! Sonny, that’s a great story. A storm shows up and then a sun break, and that’s how you’re named – how is that not a great story?”

  I shrugged.

  River slowly looked up and said out loud, “The lightning in the rain, the thunder in the storm. That sounds kinda cool.”

  “I guess.”

  River spoke, “Lightning, that’s your new nickname. Lightning.”

  “Let’s just stick with Sonny.”

  “Uh-uh. No way! I am so calling you Lightning from now on. Like Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief!”

  I stood right in front of her to stop her and look at her square in the eye.

  “No. Hell no! There is no way I am going to be called Lightning or Lightning Thief,” I said clearly.

  “What’s wrong with Lightning or the Lightning Thief?” River asked.

  “His weapon was a pen.”

  “. . . that transformed into a sword.”

  “His. Weapon. Was. A. Pen.”

  “That turned into a sword!”

  “River, we’re not doing this.”

  River smiled and gave me a look saying, “Alright, suit yourself. I’m just saying; you could've had a cool nickname.”

  “Yeah sure, insert groan here,” I said, sarcastically.

  I wanted to change the subject again.

  “Your mom, Ginger, she talks a lot about the beach. She must really love it, huh?” I asked.

  “Yeah, she’s only been there a few times, but each one was special. It’s kind of weird, because my mom grew up in the Rockies. So, it’s like Paul Bunyan wanting to be SpongeBob,” River answered.

  “Hmm.”

  We later made it back to the group, who were all sitting in the shade underneath a few trees. It was strange looking at the whole group like this, I recalled that after we lost Pat and Cindy, I said we needed more people. I wasn’t even sure if we would ever find any; now there are twenty-two of us.