Ashley and Sarah were dealing with three bandits. Sarah pulled out her sword, sliced one bandit, and then stabbed another, but the bandit she sliced tackled her, causing her to drop her sword. Ashley’s bandit had her in a headlock, so she pulled out her KA-BAR knife and stabbed him repeatedly in the leg until he let go, she then stabbed him in the side several times before stabbing his throat. She rushed over to Sarah and stabbed the bandit in the back, grabbed him by the back of his hair, and stabbed him deep in the throat. She pulled the knife across the throat; blood was spurting out everywhere before Ashley ripped the blade out of the throat.
Ashley helped Sarah up and said, “Thanks.”
“No problem,” Ashley replied.
Scarlet let out an angry cry as she struggled with her bandit. Sarah pulled out her Estwing Camper’s Axe from her back, ran up, and swung it into the bandit’s shoulder. The bandit screamed in pain, with blood already running down his chest and back. Sarah pulled the ax out causing the bandit to fall on his back and then Sarah swung down right in the bandit’s chest. He let out one last cry of pain before dying. I picked up Sarah’s sword and stabbed him in the temple before returning it to Sarah. Scarlet pulled her Filipino Bolo sword and sliced at one bandit’s leg when he tried to strike at her head with a crowbar. When he fell to his knee from that slice, Scarlet swung hard at his throat – his blood whipped against the wall and sprayed out as he fell backwards. By the time it was over, everyone had blood on their hands, chests, and faces.
“Is everyone alright?” Cody asked.
“Yeah . . . I think I pulled something, but I’m fine,” Clark said.
“Let’s go!” I said.
We ran down the hall to the skywalk that led to the other building. As soon as we got through the doors, we smelled blood. We looked down the stairs and saw Ellen with Kate and some dead bandits – one of them was missing his head.
“Hey! Are you alright?!” Corporal Wade asked.
Ellen looked up, “Yeah, we’re fine.”
“Where’s my sister?! Where’s Nathan?!” Ashley asked.
“They’re down that hall,” Ellen pointed.
I ran down there first, with the others following behind. Nathan was with Carrie and Molly at a classroom with a lot of dead zombies. Nathan was holding Carrie and Molly close in comfort while they silently sobbed. We looked down and saw two dead Black Shadows.
“Guys? What happened?” I asked.
Nate looked up at me, “We lost two. Danny and Helga are dead.”
“Oh God,” Sarah spoke.
“Oh no,” Ashley uttered.
“You gotta be fucking kidding me,” Scarlet said.
Ashley went over and hugged Nate and the girls. I marched over to the windows and tore down the tarps. Corporal Wade helped me wrap both Danny and Helga in them, and set them in a different classroom away from the undead.
“We’ll bury them when the storm’s over,” Corporal Wade said.
“Fuck no. We’re bringing them home,” I said.
“River,” Cody spoke.
“We’re not burying here . . . not this horrible place.”
“Alright River . . . alright.”
Captain Noir called on the radio, “Corporal Wade, this is Captain Noir. We found Philips and Jones. They’re okay. We got one wounded, but he’ll live. Have you found the others? Over.”
Corporal Wade responded, “Affirmative. We found all of them. We have no wounded, but we got two KIA. Danny Sutherland and Helga Barnes—”
“Three KIA,” Carrie corrected.
“McKenzie Fitzgerald,” Sonny added.
Corporal Wade looked at us then spoke in the radio, “Correction, three KIA. Danny Sutherland, Helga Barnes, and McKenzie Fitzgerald. Over.”
“I’m coming over. Over.”
After they left Nate, the others rejoined Ellen by the stairs.
Chapter 20
Nathan/Sonny
“No one can own a life, but anyone can own death.”
– Unknown
“Have you checked this building?” Corporal Wade asked, from the balcony.
“No, not yet. We were just gonna do that,” I answered.
“We gotta find that fucker, Greg,” Carrie said.
“A bandit?” Clark asked.
“Yes, he’s armed and dangerous, so be careful,” I answered.
“Always am. We’ll take the right, you take the left,” Corporal Wade said, before going with Clark and Cody.
I had my Marlin rifle out and ready, but before I left with my friends, Kate spoke.
“You’re an animal,” Kate said, in a grim tone.
I stopped and paused for several long seconds before turning around. This got everyone’s attention. A flash of lightning lit the room and was followed by a loud boom of thunder.
“What?” I asked.
“I said you’re an animal. You’re worse than a bully, or any asshole jerk. You’re a wild fucking animal. You and your kind . . . you belong out here!” Kate yelled at me.
I was struggling not to get angry. I could feel it starting to boil. The corner of my eye twitched.
“My ‘kind?’ People like me?” I asked with a glare, as I marched toward her.
“Yes, that is exactly what I’m saying! You people are fucking animals! You don’t deserve the Fort! You belong out here with the rest of these savages,” Kate stated.
Carrie looked like she wanted to give Kate a beating as she marched toward her with her fists clenched and a sharp glare in her eyes – Ashley saw it, too, which is why she stopped her.
Carrie spoke in a tone of pure loathing, “You ungrateful bitch. Do you have any idea what we all went through to find you and your group?! How dare you!”
“Oh, shut the fuck up!” Kate shouted back.
“You fucking piece of shit!”
“Carrie, stop!” Ashley said, holding her back.
River walked up to her giving a steely gaze while standing next to me.
“Animals huh? And what does that make you sweetheart? Hmm?” River asked.
“Nothing like you! You people were animals the moment you walked into the city and you’re still a bunch of wild animals!” Kate yelled.
There was a long pause before I asked, “Does that include her?” I pointed to Ellen.
Kate turned to Ellen to see she had her arms crossed and an unfriendly look.
“No, not her! She’s nothing like you!” Kate shouted.
“Really? I’m not like him or his kind? He’s an animal, but I’m not because . . . you say so?” Ellen asked.
Kate turned to Ellen, “You’re taking his side?!”
“Jesus Christ Kate, it’s not a contest! He’s my brother!”
“No, he’s not! He’s not even related to you!”
Everyone’s eyes slightly widened with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, I know the whole story, so let’s not pretend!” Kate stated.
“Wait, she knows? You told her?” Ashley asked Ellen.
“Why the fuck would you do that?” Carrie asked.
“She’s my best friend, I needed someone to talk to!” Ellen defended.
Molly scoffed before speaking, “Well, shit Ellen! Why don’t we just tell everyone back home, huh? Let’s defeat the whole purpose of him helping your family out!”
“Un-fucking-believable,” River scoffed and rolled her eyes.
“You think I would break my promise to her? You think I’m that kind of person?” Kate asked.
“I honestly don’t know what kind of person you are, Campbell, and frankly I don’t want to know. What I do know is, I’m putting more trust in his sanity more than yours.” Molly pointed to me.
“I didn’t ask for your help and especially not his!” Kate shouted.
“No . . . but she did,” I stated, pointing to Ellen.
“Why did you bring them here?!” Kate asked.
“You think I would have made it here by myself?! Of course, I asked for his help!” Ellen defended.
“I can’t believe this! This is bullshit!” Kate roared.
“We came all this way for you! Does it really matter that he’s here?!”
“Yes! Because he’s the worst! You saw what he did to McKenzie and the others that day! He broke his nose and attacked everyone! He cut a dude’s head off with a sword! And now McKenzie’s dead because of him! You can’t tell me that—!”
Kate stopped talking and tried to take several deep breaths.
Then she spoke, “No . . . no way. Not like this. You can’t do this. You can’t side with him. It’s him or me!”
Ellen stared at her with this confused look.
“Him or you? You’re making me choose?” Ellen asked.
“Yes! Whose side are you on?!” Kate yelled.
Ellen’s confused look turned to disgust, then dread.
“So . . . you can’t be on my side?” Ellen asked.
Kate’s glare disappeared.
Ellen squinted her eyes, “It’s all about you? So, I have to be your friend, but . . . you can’t be mine?”
Kate didn’t say anything. She looked around to see everyone staring at her.
“Ellen,” I spoke.
Ellen turned to me.
“I’m gonna go check out the classrooms on the second floor and give you some privacy. Guys, come on. Let’s go,” I said.
My friends followed me upstairs and we checked the second-floor room by room, but each one was as empty as the last. It was depressing seeing all these dusty and decaying classrooms like this. These rooms were once filled with students . . . people just being people. Kids learning stuff – some useful, some useless – a time when we had the luxury of things mundane and less relevant. Things that didn’t threaten your life and mistakes that didn’t cost you your life. I wonder how many of them cared about what they were learning? Where are they now? Dead or alive somewhere and struggling like us to survive someplace. Then, we heard some noises coming from a classroom down the hall. River was the first to approach the classroom with her sidearm out and ready, but as she opened the door, it swung open with the door hitting River. It was Greg as he burst through the door, shooting at us while running down the hall. Immediately, when River landed on the floor she shot at Greg, but not scoring any hits. Greg ran around the corner down a hallway.
“Fuck you, bitch!” Greg shouted.
“Don’t you fucking run!” Carrie yelled back.
“Come and get me bitch!”
“I’ve had it with this asshole!” Sarah yelled.
We chased after him down the hall. Ashley was running ahead of us, with Carrie right behind her. Then Greg ran into a classroom, closed and locked the door just before we could get to it. River shot the lock several times and kicked it open.
“You’re gonna pay! All of you! I’ll kill each and every last one of you!” Greg hollered.
As River and Ashley entered, Greg was throwing chairs and chemical flasks at us. Ashley and River ducked while covering their heads as shit was flying at them. A glass chemical flask hit Ashley in the hand, causing her to drop her Ruger and it slid under a desk.
“You bunch of no good shit-eating, piss-drinking, bastards!” Greg ranted.
Sarah tried shooting at Greg, but couldn’t get a clear shot as he was throwing things at her and River. Greg was heading toward a door that led to the classroom next door. I ran down the hall with Carrie, Shaun, and Scarlet to the door to the next classroom to cut him off. By the time we got to the other classroom door, Ashley ran up to Greg and shoved him hard against the whiteboard. She punched him several times in the side hard while keeping him pressed against the whiteboard grunting angrily. Greg grabbed Ashley’s arm, headbutted her face, shoved her against the whiteboard, and tried to choke her.
“I’ll fucking kill you, bitch!” Greg yelled.
Sarah was out of ammo, so she ran up to Greg with her KA-BAR knife. Sarah attempted to stab Greg backhanded, but Greg saw her coming and caught her knife arm while still choking Ashley. I ran up, Greg turned to me, and I hit Greg hard in the face with the buttstock of my Marlin rifle. He fell to the floor releasing Ashley – I thought about shooting him, but I was too angry to give this prick a painless death. I could feel the red-hot anger as it pumped me with adrenaline. I grabbed the back of his head and his shoulder firmly, roughly brought him to the teacher’s desk by the windows grunting angrily, slamming his face hard against the desk. I pulled his head back, slamming his face again several times, and then threw him to the side. He tried grabbing a broken wooden chair leg, but Shaun kicked it away and then kicked Greg in the face. I held him face down, used my knee to keep his arm down, grabbed his wrist with both hands, and pulled hard, breaking his arm. Greg screamed in pain. Finally, he stopped struggling. He just laid there writhing in pain with blood coming out of his broken nose and busted teeth. River, Shaun, and Scarlet kept their guns on Greg. I looked over at Ashley to see that she was okay. She was coughing while catching her breath. Sarah rushed over to her.
“Are you okay, Ashley?” Sarah asked holding Ashley’s face.
Ashley spoke with a slightly straight-up hoarse voice, “I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
“I’ve been through worse.”
“Here’s your gun,” Warren said, handing Ashley her Ruger SR40.
Greg finally sat up and looked at us. He was bleeding badly from his nose and mouth along with several cuts all over and his broken arm was hanging motionless. The room was dark, with the dim light from the storm outside. His eyes and chest were shrouded by shadows.
He spat some blood out of his mouth, “You hit hard . . . not like these little bitches.”
Scarlet kicked him in the face and he moaned in pain.
“He’s not the only one that hits hard,” Scarlet said.
“Why don’t you call us little bitches again and see how hard we hit?” Shaun asked.
Greg sighed before speaking, “Is that how you’re gonna kill me? You gonna beat my ass to death? You think that makes you so fucking tough? Huh? You think that’s impressive to me?”
“What makes you think we give a fuck what you think?” River asked.
Greg turned to her.
“You said it yourself. You were gonna kill us and that is all that matters to us. You had this coming.”
Greg didn’t say anything for a long while, “Why don’t you fucking fight me fair like a real fighter? No weapons No—?”
“Because we can’t trust you to fight fairly. We can’t trust you to not kill us. We can’t trust you not to add us to your ‘scarecrow’ collection out there,” Carrie stated.
Greg’s eyes shifted back and forth to everyone.
There was a long pause and I was the first to speak.
“It’s done. You’re the last,” I stated.
Greg chuckled, “Done? Last? There is no last. There’s always more. We humans, we don’t know when to stop, because we can’t. People like us, we’ll be reborn in a million people. I mean, look at history. We’ve been killing each other since the dawn of time . . . long before you and I came, and long after we’re gone.”
No one spoke.
“You think it’s over with me?” Greg asked.
“Probably not, but like you said, no loose ends, right?” I mentioned.
“Jesus Christ, kid! What’s wrong with you people? Don’t you get it?! We’re fucked! There’s no God! There’s no afterlife! It’s just this crazy shit over and over again! It never ends!”
Greg raising his voice got Ashley, Sarah, River, Warren, Shaun, and Scarlet pointing their guns at him.
“You're gonna kill me, then get it over with,” Greg said.
Ashley and the others looked at me and I looked at them.
“Go ahead and kill me . . . but killing me is not going to make any difference. It’s not gonna change anything,” Greg stated.
I stepped forward, “You’re wrong. Killing you will make a difference—”
I raised my Marlin rifle.
“—With you dead, it’ll mean you won’t hurt or kill anyone ever again—”
I pulled the hammer back and pointed my rifle at Greg’s face.
“—And that . . . that is worth killing for.”
For a long moment, it was steady and the silence stretched out in an uncomfortable pause. Then the lightning and thunder struck. With the flash of the lightning, I saw his face, and his eyes looking right at me . . . I pulled the trigger and he was gone. Blood and bits of brains splattered all over the wall.
“Well . . . okay,” Warren said.
“Let’s check the rest of this building to make sure there are no more surprises,” River said.
“Agreed,” Ashley said
We searched each classroom, but they were all empty. Then we heard a noise from a room at the end of the hallway. We entered cautiously and found Chase, surprisingly alive, but not well. He was bleeding out a serious bullet wound from his left leg and bleeding from a bullet graze cut on his shoulder. He was sitting in a desk chair trying to bandage his leg with a towel, but he was still losing blood. On the table, was the bullet and some tweezers – he had managed to get it out. He held his hands up in surrender as we walked.
“Aww, look who it is,” Carrie greeted.
“Whoa, hey . . . I’m-I’m not gonna do anything crazy,” Chase said.
“Chaaaase! It’s Chase, right? That’s your name?” Warren asked.
“Yeah, Chase. Chase Matthews.”
“You’re not looking so good. That is . . . a lot of your blood.”
Chase looked down at his leg, then back at us.
“Look, just hear me out for a minute. I know people will say anything to avoid being shot in these situations, but I really mean it when I say, I wasn’t with those guys,” Chase said.
“Oh, you weren’t? Is that so?” Scarlet asked.
“Yes, I’m not like Greg. I was only with him and his guys for about two weeks. They kept me around against my will as their mule – to carry heavy stuff and do what they say. I kept waiting for the right moment, but they . . . I didn’t know how sick and messed up they were. Before I got stuck here, I was with my family trying to find Fort Gold Rush,” Chase explained.
The Dark Days Series | Book 2 | Sanctuary Page 36