The Dark Days Series | Book 2 | Sanctuary

by Cole, Christopher

  “Tickling should be outlawed.”

  “You know you love it,” Jess grinned.

  I still kept my arms crossed.

  “Come on, you love us,” River smirked.

  “Yeah, I like the affection, but you make me wish I didn’t,” I said, as we exited the RV.

  “Sticks and stones, but you love us!” Jess sang.

  I heard a branch break and quickly turned toward the noise. I scanned everywhere but didn’t see or hear anything.

  “What was that?” I asked.

  “I don’t k— “

  Before River could finish her sentence, a large hand quickly reached out and grabbed her. Two men grabbed Jess and I before we could react. A man had me pinned to the ground and held a tight grip over my mouth, so I couldn’t call for help and held my right arm against the ground so I couldn’t go for a weapon. Another man was pointing his assault rifle at us, so I couldn’t do anything with my left. The men were wearing military camouflage uniforms like Captain Noir and Corporal Wade, but they had Oakley military sunglasses and bandanas covering their faces. These guys weren’t like Captain Noir and Corporal Wade; they had high-end gear and their weapons looked brand new.

  The soldier that held me down asked, “Who are you?”

  “I was gonna ask you that,” Captain Noir said, pointing his assault rifle at them.

  The soldier pointing his gun at me rose at Noir and it sounded like a few other soldiers did the same thing. Captain Noir, Corporal Wade, and Will were standing behind some cover with their guns aimed at these guys.

  “Easy guys, easy. We don’t want trouble,” Will said, keeping his shotgun pointing at the men.

  One soldier asked, “What kind of shit storm ran into us?”

  The soldier holding me questioned, “You two, you Marines?”

  “Captain Mark Noir and Corporal Troy Wade, Marine Raiders,” Captain Noir answered, lowering his gun and saluted.

  “What’s left of it, Captain,” Corporal Wade added, while saluting.

  The soldier that pinned me down lowered his bandana mask, lifted his sunglasses over his head, and saluted back, “Captain Derek Benson.”

  “Wait, Marine Raiders? As in MARSOC?” Will asked.

  “Yep.”

  “You never told us that, Captain.”

  “You never asked,” Captain Noir replied.

  “So, are those guys Raiders, too?” Will asked.

  “Nope, we’re former Navy Seals,” a soldier answered.

  “Pulled from retirement,” one soldier joined.

  “Well, we were SEALs, now we’re part of the U.S. Pacific Army,” another soldier said.

  “What are you doing out here?” Will asked.

  “That’s my question, what are you doing out here in my hills?” Captain Benson asked.

  Captain Noir started, “Actually sir, the corporal and I came out of Fort Gold Rush to provide support to Camp Jefferson four months ago, but it was overrun with biters. So, we headed for Fort Denver, but now that place is gone too.”

  “Fort Denver’s gone? Are you fucking serious?!”

  “Yeah, it’s gone. We had a hard time getting out of there. The dead took it,” I said, still lying on the ground.

  Captain Benson looked down at me.

  I looked at him square in the eye and stated clearly, “I lost two friends in that city – if you lost friends there, I understand how you feel.”

  Captain Benson glanced at everyone, and then studied my face.

  “I suppose you do,” Captain Benson stated.

  “So, this means you’re not bandits or crazy people, right?” a soldier asked us.

  “No, we’re not,” Will said, clearly.

  Captain Benson lifted me up and said, “Sorry about the rough introduction.”

  “You still haven’t answered what you're doing out here,” River announced, getting up.

  Captain Benson and his troops were silent for a moment before speaking.

  “Actually, we were uh . . . looking for a deer.”

  “A deer?” Corporal Wade questioned.

  “One, in particular, we got a little score to settle with that bastard.”

  We all stood there confused until Captain Benson turned to one of his men, “It took a piss on my stuff! I’m gonna hunt it down, kill it, cook it, and eat it.”

  River looked at them like they were idiots and asked, “Really guys? The world ended and you Special Op guys are spending your time on a Bambi vendetta?”

  “Well, it’s not like we can go to Afghanistan or Somalia to do anything important, the world ended. Our orders are to look for survivors and refugees. You guys are the first ones we’ve seen in months. So, it gets really boring out here,” Captain Benson replied.

  “Really?” I asked.

  “There were a few others, but mostly bad characters, bandits. One of them shot their own, so we’ve axed most of them off. So, you’re looking for Fort Gold Rush?” Captain Benson asked.

  “Yes, we are. There are more of us over this hill,” Will said.

  “Captain Noir, these people you have, do you trust them?”

  Captain Noir looked at Captain Benson without even blinking and said, “I do, sir, these are good people.”

  “Alright, we’ll take you there,” Captain Benson stated.

  “You serious? So, the place is real?” I asked.

  “Yep, it’s real. Private Dwayne, call it in. Tell Command we found survivors.”

  Everyone let out a sigh of relief . . . except for me. For them, their search was likely over, but for Ashley, Carrie, and me, we knew it wasn’t over. Captain Noir led Captain Benson to the rest of our group and they took us to a rendezvous to wait for vehicles to take us to Fort Gold Rush.

  Chapter 2

  Sonny

  “To lose a child is to lose a piece of yourself.”

  – Dr. Burton Grebin

  The armored trucks – what they call Cougar HEs – finally came to pick us up and take us to Fort Gold Rush. The Cougar HEs were big six-wheeled armored trucks that had a Browning M2 machine gun on top of each one. They looked like they were spray painted many different shades of green, brown, and black to hide their former desert sand colors. Captain Noir said these things were designed to be mine-resistant and ambush-protective or MRAP for short; these things looked like they were built like tanks. There were two rows of seats inside and they looked a little narrow, but if Captain Noir’s right about it being tough, I had no problem with it. Ashley, Carrie, Kayley, Will, Tracy, and I sat in one together. Ashley and Carrie sat next to me while the others sat across from us on the other bench seats.

  Faith was getting very excited about the fact Fort Gold Rush appeared to be a real place. I think the rest of us felt something more akin to relief – perhaps like a brief respite from the horror life had become. I didn’t know exactly what else I was feeling, I suspect it was anxiety. The last time I went to some place far away that was supposed to be safe, it quickly turned into a nightmare. I suppose I was worried it might be too good to be true. Judging by the look on Ashley and Carrie’s faces, they must have felt the same way. One of my questions, even if this place was real, is how long will it last until we end up on our own again? Safety never seemed to last long. I tried not to be doom and gloom, but I found myself guarding, so my hopes weren’t abruptly destroyed again – quite the emotional survival skill I had developed. I wanted to ask Ashley and Carrie about what they thought, but I was afraid it would only generate negative talk that would bring the others down. It’ll be okay. I kept repeating it, but it felt like I was lying to myself. The whole thing made me feel slightly nauseous as we drove. Kayley, who was sitting directly in front of me caught my look and it didn’t take long for the others to sense it, too.

  “Sonny?” Kayley asked.

  “I don’t know about this,” I spoke, honestly.

  “What?” Tracy asked.

  “The last time we went to someplace that was safe it didn’t last long. Is this pla
ce going to be any different?”

  “They said this place has walls. Not fences, walls. Plus, Fort Denver didn’t have these vehicles or Navy SEALs, so that counts for something.”

  I looked down shaking my head.

  “Even if this place is safe, how long will it stay safe?” Carrie questioned.

  “Longer than Fort Denver and if we’re lucky, it will be safe for a very long time, maybe the rest of our lives,” Will stated.

  The girls and I looked at Will.

  “The rest of our lives?” I repeated.

  “Yes.”

  I sighed while rubbing my forehead.

  “Sonny, we can make it work,” Ashley claimed.

  “I’m just worried this place will fall, too.”

  “It won’t!” Tracy asserted.

  “I wish I felt your confidence, but the reality is we don’t kn—“

  “Sonny, even if the place falls, we’ll get through it together. No matter how this turns out, we all stick together as a family,” Kayley stated.

  I looked at her and the others.

  Kayley added, “We’ve been through so much together, why should the question of this place change that? It doesn’t. No matter what, we’ll protect each other. Even if this place doesn’t last long, we’ll look out for each other like we always have. There were no guarantees about what may be headed our way, only that we were going to face it together.”

  She’s right. She’s right about everything. Whether this works out we have to give it a try. It’s better than staying out here – I was going to have to accept that that was enough.

  I nodded and agreed, “You’re right.”

  “Yeah?” Tracy asked.

  “Yeah,” I answered, more confidently than I felt.

  Kayley gently grabbed my face and lifted it up to face her.

  “Now you’re gonna stop this downer talk or Faith and I aren’t gonna feed you,” she told me.

  This was my chance to turn things to something positive, “Oh no, no, no, don’t do that! I love your cooking! It’s better than ice cream!”

  Everyone laughed.

  “You best obey the boss lady, Sonny. That’s something I had to learn the hard way!” Will teased.

  “Why? She wouldn’t feed you if you didn’t listen to her?” Tracy asked with a smile, and a raised eyebrow.

  “Worse, she’d throw away all my beer!”

  Everyone laughed even harder.

  Our laughter came to a grinding halt when we laid our eyes on the site of Fort Gold Rush. The trucks came out of the trees and into a huge clearing. Thick, high, concrete walls, 100 feet tall or higher, surrounded the city. The walls were impressive – on the top of the outside of the walls were big metal railings tangled with thick razor wire. There were big guard towers with mounted searchlights about 40 feet apart with artillery guns, SAM missile launchers, Miniguns, and patrolling soldiers. A few of the tall skyscrapers in the downtown area could still be seen from the outside. To the far south, lay farmland with greenhouses surrounded by multiple high razor wire fences with more guard towers. To the north, were hills with towering wind turbines and a power plant surrounded by more razor wire fences with overhead lines running to the city.

  There was a road that looked like an old highway leading straight to the gates of the Fort. On the edges of the clearing next to the tree line, were massive round-sloped holes that housed huge cages of bombs with mounted speakers on top. Captain Benson said that if a herd was to come, the speakers would draw zombies into the holes, and the bombs would detonate. On both sides of the road were signs that said, ‘Danger! High Explosive Mines’ with skull and crossbones above the text.

  The walls seemed to get bigger as we got closer to the Fort – there were big metal I-beams with concrete sections of the walls to give more structure support. At the end of the minefields, were lines of weirdly shaped fences that almost looked like big gates covered with spikes – Captain said they were called Belgian Gates, which are used to slow down the zombies for them to shoot. He also said that the log ramps behind them were covered with explosives and the minute they’re touched they explode. Close to the walls were rows and rows of big odd shaped metal things that looked like an ‘X’ and I actually knew what they were. They were called ‘Czech Hedgehogs,’ and they were used to stop vehicles or tanks. I read it in a book that the Germans in WWII used those and big rows of reinforced concrete blocks called ‘Dragon’s Teeth.’ There were no dragon’s teeth here, but it didn’t matter; this place looked indestructible! There’s no way zombies are getting through this!

  “Holy mother of Christ! You guys really fortified the place!” Will said, amazed.

  “Yep! And we’re not done,” Captain Benson replied.

  Looking at these walls gave me hope and a sense of safety in a way that a place of sanctuary would. I made the right choice of coming with Will and Kayley, because with these walls I won’t have to worry about zombies getting in. Even the gates of the Fort were massive. There were two big reinforced sliding steel doors about fifteen to twenty feet high that lay under the walls, with concrete pillars sitting outside next to both doors holding up a large concrete roof platform. The roof had lights facing us like the ones in baseball or football stadiums, razor wire covered the edges making it impossible to climb. There were two walls stretched outward near the pillars, as if shielding them and more Czech Hedgehogs were sitting on the platform preventing anything like a tank or a bulldozer from getting through. The trucks drove underneath the concrete ceiling under the wall in front of the gates. After a few seconds, four red lights started flashing and a loud siren sounded. The sliding doors slowly started to slide back – you could tell how strong the doors were by their thickness and the mechanism effort it took to open them.

  After the doors were open, the trucks drove to a clearing that was still underneath the vast walls. There were small military buildings on both sides of the space. At the end of the area, were steel panel fences with two fenced pathways leading toward the city. One was for vehicles to pass through and the other looked like it was for people to walk through. In front of the walking pathway, there were security checkpoints with metal detectors – these guys were very thorough! The back doors of the truck opened and some soldiers were waiting for us.

  “Step out of the truck please,” a soldier requested.

  We all did as instructed and gathered where he directed us.

  “First group of people in a long time, right Amos?” Captain Benson asked the soldier.

  “Actually sir, another group came through forty-five minutes ago,” Amos answered.

  Captain Benson walked up to him and asked, “Really?”

  Amos handed him a clipboard and explained, “Yes sir. It’s a group of survivors from Oregon. They said their group was larger, but some of them didn’t make it coming down here. We just got done taking their weapons, inspecting their belongings, and telling them how things operate here. They’re in the box waiting to be assigned living quarters.”

  “How many?”

  “Twelve, sir.”

  “Alright, well we got twenty-two here including those two leathernecks.”

  “I heard that!” Corporal Wade said.

  Everyone chuckled.

  “Alright, everyone listen up! This is Lieutenant Otto Amos. He’s gonna tell you how things are done in here, the rules, and procedure – so you listen up and pay attention to him. If you have questions, he’ll answer them. Is that clear?” Captain Benson asked.

  We all nodded.

  “Alright, Amos, they’re in your hands. My guys, let’s go!”

  Captain Benson and his men went back out of the fort and the gates closed the same way they opened.

  Lieutenant Amos announced, “Okay people give me your attention! This is Fort Gold Rush! In here, we have everything that you don’t have out there. We have food, clean water, shelter, and best of all – protection. These walls are made of reinforced concrete and are a 100 feet tall and 4 feet th
ick! Also, they’re layered; there are four sets of reinforced walls that are about 5 feet apart from each other. If one of the walls is breached for any reason, there are three more walls to prevent a further breach. Those big gates are made of solid steel! They open and close with motors and hydraulic gears. There is no way any zombie or human is going to get through that.”

  We all stood quietly as he continued.

  “However, in here we have rules that you must follow if you want to remain here. You’ve got to obey the rules, Fort Gold Rush rules. Failure to obey the rules will result in your exile – period. These rules consist of no firearms or weapons whatsoever. If you are caught with a weapon, you are out. No stealing; if you are caught stealing, you are out. You have to do something to contribute to the community, whether it’s farming, engineering, labor, cooking, fishing, scavenging . . . whatever it is, you have to contribute. If you refuse to contribute, you are out. The only exception is when you are sick or in a condition where you are unable to work. Those are rules that will get you kicked out – the following rules have more severe consequences for non-compliance.”

  The look on his face gave me chills.

  “Murder, sabotage, or treason will result in your summary execution. In here, we work together as a team. If you turn against this team, you will not be kicked out – you will be executed. Do I make myself clear?”

  Many of us nodded.

  “Good. Now, all of you will need to line up toward Checkpoints A, B, and C, over there – they’re clearly marked. You have to turn in all your weapons and submit to a search of your belongings,” Lieutenant Amos said.

  “We really have to give up all our weapons?” Jeff asked.

  “All weapons. You want to live here; you’ll hand over your weapons.”

  Will and Kayley started first by placing all their guns and weapons on the table. Then the rest of the adults surrendered their guns and weapons, too – Tracy wasn’t quick to let go of the knife I gave her. When it was our turn – the younger kids – I was the first to move forward. It was difficult to let go of my Glock 19, my hatchet, my Gerber Bear Grylls Ultimate Fine Edge, and my Microtech Combat Troodon. Those weapons had saved my life and the lives of my friends too many times to count.