“You want to what?” Captain Noir asked.
“We want to go look for any lost surviving Black Shadows and before you say ‘No,’ hear me out please,” I said.
“Alright, continue,” Captain said, half politely and half sarcastically.
“You remember two years ago when I snuck out to go rescue Molly and I saved Izzy and Blair?”
“Of course, you lured a herd of zombies, killing everyone there and you snuck them out of that crazy cult in the melee of confusion.”
“And do you remember you yelling at me for going off alone and then you made a promise to me afterwards?”
Captain Noir sighed and rolled his eyes.
“What was that promise again?” I asked.
After a long silence Captain Noir answered, “I said the next time one of our own is taken, we’ll go after them together . . . so you wouldn’t do something crazy alone. And now, we’re gonna do something crazy together, right?”
“I’m pretty sure everything we’ve done so far is crazy, Captain,” Ashley said.
“Of course, . . . who are the two recruits that saw them?”
“Um . . . Danny Sutherland and Helga Barnes,” Warren answered.
“Alright, we’ll take them with us, too,” Captain Noir stated.
“So, we’re going to look for my friends?!” Ellen asked.
“Yes, but you still follow my lead. I’ll get a few soldiers to come with us, and I’ll have to convince Captain Alvin that we know where they are and that they need our help. We’ll start first thing in the morning, so I suggest that you all rest up,” Captain Noir said, before walking away.
“Thank you, Captain Noir,” Ellen called out.
“Don’t thank me yet.”
As we were headed to bed, I found Carrie and Molly leaning on the rail by the balcony watching the bandits burn. I walked over and sat down on a plastic chaise lounge chair. Ashley sat next to me and soon the rest of our friends came to join us.
“Are they sure that’s a good idea? Burning them?” Jess asked.
“Why wouldn’t it be?” Scarlet asked.
“That’s a lot of smoke.”
“I think they actually want to send a message. A warning to not fuck with us,” Patch said.
“Hope it works,” Warren said.
After a while of silence, I spoke, “You girls okay?”
Molly spoke, “Yeah . . . I was just thinking back to the other day before this mess started. When we were all watching the sun go down together. Laying in the grass with the evening sun without a care in the world. I liked that . . . it was so peaceful. For a while, I actually forgot about all the bad things in the world. I used to be afraid of getting too close to friends because one day we would all go our separate ways to chase our goals in life, but now with how the world is, we can’t chase anything – we just struggle to survive. You think we’ll always be together?”
“I hope so . . . but our future is pretty uncertain. I got a feeling eventually it’s gonna be kind of like the Old West. You know, most of the country is gonna be a crazy lawless country before more government and rebuilding will replace all of it,” Carrie stated.
“That makes sense. I don’t know if that kind of future will be in our lifetime,” Sarah added.
“But do you think we’ll always be together . . . stay together?” Molly asked.
“Well, I doubt we’ll be together forever. What’s important is how often we think of each other and how much we carry memories of each other, right?” Ashley said.
I nodded, “I think so . . . because no matter where we go or where we live, that doesn’t change what we’ve done, what we’ve shared-- our friendship. Even if one day we live outside the Fort, there are no more zombies, and everything changes. That doesn’t mean we aren’t friends anymore. The best friendships are the ones that hold strong, especially through dark times. Take soldiers for example, many of them have told us that there’s a bond that’s found only in combat . . . in war. Survivors can also forge a bond as well . . . in catastrophic events . . . in life or death situations. That’s the kind of bond that brought us together.”
“Well, I’m glad it did. I just can’t imagine life now without you guys,” Molly said.
Carrie got off the rails and hugged Molly from behind, “You won’t have to, because we’re not going anywhere,” Carrie said, wrapping her arms around her while brushing the side of her face against Molly’s hair. Molly rubbed Carrie’s arms before holding her hands, relishing the moment.
There was a peaceful kind of silence in that moment, like we were aware we shared something special, but also recognized it was fragile. I gazed at the stars, but for some reason I felt the need to walk.
“Do Barnes and Sutherland know they’re coming with us?” I asked.
“Not yet,” Warren said.
“I’ll go tell them, so they know what’s coming.”
“I’ll go with you,” Patch said, getting up.
“No, it’s fine.”
“Na-uh, I’ve seen the horror movies. You walk around at night alone and next thing you know you wake up dead in the next scene.”
“Alright, so, where are they?”
“They’re keeping watch by the highway. Be safe, stay frosty,” Ashley answered.
“Always,” Patch answered.
“Remember, the call sign is ‘Stars.’ Countersign is ‘Stripes’,” Molly said.
Patch and I grabbed our guns and walked out of the hotel toward the highway. Both soldiers and Black Shadows were either fortifying defenses or were on patrol keeping watch. The smell of the burning bandits was not a pleasant odor, but nothing we haven’t smelled before. We followed the road leading to the highway. They told us the Black Shadows were keeping watch on a ridge capable of overlooking the highway in either directions – Barnes and Sutherland were just about done with their watch. Patch and I walked carefully toward the ridge, it was mostly dark trees and some brush.
Then someone gave the call sign, “Stars,”
“Stripes,” Patch and I said, almost simultaneously.
We looked over and saw it was the two kids we were looking for, Danny Sutherland and Helga Barnes.
“Barnes, Sutherland,” Patch said.
“Philips, Way. What are you guys doing out here?” Helga asked.
“We’re looking for you two. Come on back to the hotel. We need to talk,” I said.
When the watch changed, Danny and Helga walked back to the hotel with us.
“Captain Noir is assembling a team to go look and find Campbell and the other missing Black Shadows,” Patch started.
“Are you saying we’re part of that team?” Danny asked.
“Yeah.”
“Figures . . . who else?” Helga asked.
Patch, myself, Molly Smithfield, both Johns – Carrie and Ashley, Jess Jones, the Riley twins, Warren Kyle, Sarah Adler, and about five soldiers that Captain Alvin can spare,” I answered.
“Including us two, that’s eighteen.”
“Think it’s enough?” Patch asked.
“Who knows? Not really sure of anything nowadays, are we?” Danny asked.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.
Helga stopped and turned to me, “What are we doing guys? Camp Sledgehammer is gone and our camp here has more bullet holes for a zombie to squeeze through than swiss cheese. On top of that, we got shot up by homicidal bandits and I’m pretty sure that by now every Black Shadow here has human blood on their hands and not a one of them are even at the drinking age.”
“What’s your point?” Patch asked.
“Our point is . . . this is all crazy. Like ‘holy fucking shit’ crazy. We’re just kids. We’re just a bunch of fucking kids! We’re fighting zombies, we’re fighting bandits and we got a storm coming our way. What exactly are we doing this for? I don’t even know why we’re doing this anymore. Isn’t it enough? Don’t you guys ever think about just leaving?” Danny asked us.
“Helga, Danny, this
isn’t exactly the best time to be having doubts. This is the time where we really need to keep our shit together. There are people fighting for their lives right now, and some may not have much longer to hang on – and do you know what’s gonna happen if they can’t hang on long enough? They’re gonna die. Do you understand? They’re gonna die. They have families and friends waiting and praying for them back home,” I stated very clearly.
“Okay look, that’s really noble of you, Nate. I’m very happy you’re all enlightened and all, but what about our survival, or at least, what about the survival of those people that need a hospital ASAP?” Helga asked.
Patch and I stared at them for a few seconds giving them this look.
“Look . . . crazy suggestion. The bandits left a few vehicles down that road not too far from here. There’s a truck and maybe two SUVs and a car. Let’s the four of us, go there and try securing one of them,” Danny suggested.
“For what? So, we can ditch everyone here?” Patch asked.
“No, for them. Those kids that are fighting for their lives. We put as many as we can and try driving back to Fort Gold Rush or at least somewhere where the choppers can meet us and pick them up and get them to some doctors,” Helga explained.
“By us, you mean you two as well?” I asked.
Danny and Helga exchanged glances and didn’t say anything.
“You want to know what we’re doing out here guys? We are fighting for our people. We are fighting for our friends and everyone back home, okay? And there are people that need our help right now, because they may be low on food, water, or they’re fighting like hell against zombies or bandits. We’re gonna help them and we’re gonna do that by stepping into that forest and go looking for them,” I explained.
Danny and Helga remained silent. Danny rubbed his eyes while Helga looked up at the stars sighing.
“Now . . . if you two are confused about what we’re doing or if you feel that you can’t perform the duties that you are required to do then please let Captain Noir know so that we can find someone else that can,” Patch stated.
“Oh, is that what you’re doing? Your duty?” Danny asked.
“Yes, Danny, that’s what we’re doing. Like it or not, we are soldiers, whose job is to protect our people. If we don’t, who else will? Now are you two in or out?” I asked.
Danny and Helga looked at each other again.
“We’re in,” Danny said.
“Yeah, we’re in,” Helga added.
“Are you sure? Can we count on you?” Patch asked.
“Yes! You can count on us,” Danny said very sternly.
“Alright, we leave at sun-up.”
We walked back to the hotel and as soon as Danny and Helga were away, I felt I needed to ask.
“Do you think they’re solid?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Let’s tell Captain Noir everything, including that idea to get the wounded somewhere safe with those working vehicles,” Patch replied.
“Agreed.”
As we walked back, I saw Ellen sitting on an old bench looking at the moon and the stars.
“Go ahead to Captain Noir, I’ll catch up later,” I said.
Patch nodded and went ahead while I sat down next to Ellen. I could tell by the look on her face that something was wrong.
“You alright?” I asked.
“I’m just . . . processing that I . . . that I killed a human for the first time ever, killed several actually,” Ellen answered.
“How do you feel?”
“Strange . . . and not in a good way. It’s different than killing a zombie. Zombies are already dead, so you don’t feel bad, but . . . humans are alive, so it’s different.”
I nodded.
“I owe you an apology. Two years ago, when we first lived in our house back at the Fort, I said awful things about you killing someone to save another person’s life. I don’t know why I said those things,” Ellen said.
“It’s alright. Just words,” I said.
“Words hurt though, and I was angry and took it out on you.”
Ellen and I gazed at the moon for a while until she broke the silence.
“How did it feel – your first kill?” Ellen asked.
I rubbed my forehead and my eyes before answering, “I was ten years old when I killed my first zombie and that was right after all this started. Then, when I was twelve, I killed my first human after he shot two soldiers in the back of the head. I threw him off the roof and he was eaten alive by zombies. My first zombie kill felt bad, but that was back when we were living a normal life. After so much has happened, my first human kill . . . it felt like winning.”
Ellen turned to look at me, “Winning?”
“Yeah, I felt bad after that.”
“Yeah well, don’t be sorry about it. Better the enemy dead than us, right?”
“Yes, that’s exactly right. When you have people to protect, you do whatever it takes to keep them alive. You don’t feel sorry for the dead and don’t you forget it.”
Ellen nodded.
“I appreciate you helping me and now that I think about it, that’s all you’ve been doing. Since day one, you’ve been helping me, my mom, and my family without ever asking for gratitude or some kind of reward. I’m not sure why you do it . . . but I’ve treated you like shit,” Ellen said.
I started, “Ellen—”
“You’re not my brother, I know. Even if you were, I wouldn’t deserve to be your sister.”
“I don’t think you should be doing this, Ellen. It’s enough you know I just wanted to help.”
“Maybe, but I’m still a bad person,” Ellen said, looking away at the moon.
“You’re not a bad person, but even if you were, you can change that. You can’t change other people, but you can change yourself,” I stated.
Ellen looked at me.
“You’re right. No one is gonna make me a better person – only I can do that. I’ll try. I have, too,” Ellen said.
“Great,” I said.
“By the way, before today’s shootout, when we were at the hotel. Ashley said that there’s a storm coming like the one you were born in. What did she mean by that?” Ellen asked.
I sipped some water from my canteen.
“I was born in Seattle. At the time, it was going through a drought. They’re rare in the northwest, but they do happen. Then, on a lazy Saturday, my mom’s water broke and by the time they got in the car, it started to rain. Halfway to the hospital it was like a monsoon and by the time they got to the hospital the thunder and lightning started,” I explained.
Ellen showed interest as I explained the story.
“My dad swears by it that he never saw a more active storm in his whole life. He said I was the lightning in that rain, that I must have been the storm itself. When I was finally born, the clouds broke up for the sun to come out. That’s how I got my name, Sonny, but with an O instead of a U.”
“That’s an interesting story,” Ellen said.
After a period of silence Ellen got up.
“I think I’m gonna go to sleep. Goodnight, Nate,” Ellen said.
“Goodnight. One more thing, Ellen,” I said getting up.
Ellen stopped and turned around. I got close and looked around to make sure no one was around, and I spoke almost in a whisper tone.
“There’s gonna be eighteen of us going to look for Kate, including Danny and Helga. We need to keep an eye on them, I think they’re starting to have doubts about what we’re fighting for,” I explained.
“You say that like it’s unusual. Don’t you think a lot of people do that? Especially kids in the Black Shadow?” Ellen asked.
“Yeah, but here’s the thing. They suggested that we secure one of the cars the bandits left behind and ‘use it to get the wounded out and back to the Fort.’ Which isn’t a bad idea, but the way they said it, it was like an opportunity . . . you know.”
Ellen raised an eyebrow with a glint of suspicion in her eye.
&n
bsp; “Are you saying they might cut and run?” Ellen asked.
“I don’t know. I’m just letting you know to be careful around them. I don’t know if they’ll try anything and Patch is already letting Captain Noir know. I’m just saying keep your eyes open like you always do, but keep one eye on them,” I said.
Ellen nodded in understanding, “I’ll keep my eyes peeled. You do the same.”
Patch came jogging with a soldier and four other teen Black Shadow recruits. The soldier and two of recruits went to the bandit vehicles while the other two recruits went with Danny and Helga.
“Patch?” I asked, as he approached me.
“I’ve told Captain Noir everything. He said he’ll get those vehicles working and get the wounded out, and regroup with some Pacific Army Rangers and maybe they can get them to the hospital in time. Two Black Shadows will guard the vehicles so no one gets tempted,” Patch explained.
“Yeah? And what about those two?” I asked, pointing.
“Those two are gonna bring Helga and Danny to the two skippers and give them a good old fashioned ‘You need to get your head and your ass wired together properly or I’ll rip your head off and shit down your neck,’ speech. Anyway, we need to rest up. We’re gonna leave bright and early to find Campbell and the other Black Shadows.”
“Alright.”
We walked back, passing the others patrolling. Some were sleeping inside the cabins.
“What do you think? I’m right in the middle, so I don’t know,” Patch said.
“If they would cut and run, they probably would have done it by now. I don’t think they’re cowards, I think they’re questioning what’s the point . . . maybe they’re just worn down,” I replied.
“They are right about this being crazy, but running isn’t a solution to that problem. What’s out there for us? Not much, except for a whole ocean of danger, death and dying, that’s what.”
“Yeah well, like Cave Johnson said, ‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,’ or get super pissed and make a combustible lemon that’ll burn people’s houses down,” I joked.
Patch chuckled, “Oh my God, that’s right! J.K. Simmons is the best. Actually, why not do both? Let’s make lemonade for ourselves and combustible lemons that’ll burn the zombies. That way, everyone wins . . . well, except the zombies.”
The Dark Days Series | Book 2 | Sanctuary Page 30