All Dark

by Boyd Craven

  “Why don’t you do something? You were a cop before.”

  Jessica looked down. Never had I seen her look so defeated. “Because it would put my whole family in a bad position.”

  I nodded, understanding that completely.

  “So, what are we going to do?” Emily asked, looking between me and Jessica.

  “With all these people near my grandparents, I need to be there,” I told them.

  “Wes, how are the four of us and three dogs going to escape? I just don’t see it working.”

  “You’re coming too?” I asked her, grinning despite the grim situation.

  “I know you’d go to hell and back to take care of your grandparents. I’m not going to let them use me to get to you. Hell, they’ll probably try to use my parents to try to get me to get to you, so I might as well leave now. You have room for a former MP and some mutts?”

  I grinned, then Emily got up from her couch and plopped down beside Jessica and gave her a big hug. “We can do this.”

  “When?” I asked aloud.

  “I don’t know. Henry is coming back tonight or tomorrow. Apparently, you mentioned all the stuff you can do with bleach to my mom, and he’s excited for you to get started.”

  “Like I said, I don’t mind helping,” I told her. “Maybe I should get started on some stuff. I can help with the anesthetics if chloroform is ok? I’ve got no way of making narcotic anything…”

  “And we wait for our opportunity?” Emily asked.

  “I guess?” Jessica said softly, wiping her face before turning to me. “What do you need exactly?” she asked.

  “My chemistry books from my grandparents’ place, some glass containers to mix in and store stuff, something glass to stir with, light, and different chemicals.”

  “What kind of chemicals do you need?” Jessica asked me.

  “Depends on what they want me to make. How about… bleach, ammonia, vinegar, turpentine, acetone, hydrogen peroxide, and ethanol… er… high-grade moonshine…”

  Would anybody be able to suss out what I was thinking? I was asking for way more than I actually needed to make a simple chloroform. There was so much I needed to effectively do this, but I was developing an idea on how to get out of here. I just had to get my hands on the ingredients and get everyone outside. If I only had me to worry about, I’d have taken off right now and taken my chances. If I did that though, it would put Emily, Mary, Jessica and her parents in a danger I wasn’t sure they deserved to face because of me.

  Things were confusing, but I was starting to form a plan.

  17

  I hated not being at one hundred percent. My shoulder ached, but I was able to work. I’d made some chloroform in small batches until my chemistry books were brought over from my grandparents. They didn’t lay out what to use and how much like a cookbook would, but I could look at things, refresh my memory, and suss out a way of experimenting without blowing myself up or burning the joint down. I didn’t want to do that. Not yet.

  “Oh man, how can you stand the smell?” Emily said, coming in the ‘mail room’, the place with the metal chute they’d used to lower me down here.

  “I’ve got a gas mask on,” I reminded her, pointing to my face.

  “Uggg, ok. I’ll go find one,” she said and turned to leave.

  I made sure the fan was blowing fumes up and out, and that the reaction was finished before following her and closing the door behind me. The door clicking startled her, and she turned as I pulled my mask off.

  “Boo,” I said.

  She smiled at me, like she was suddenly shy.

  “I was wondering if you’d like to take a walk with me. Outside?”

  “Where’s Mary?” I asked her.

  “Working with Jessica and the dogs,” she said, which also answered my next question.

  “Dave and Linda?”

  “We’ve got the joint to ourselves.” She playfully punched my good arm.

  “Oh, what trouble we could get into.” I kept my face and my words deadpan.

  Her eyes got big and then she busted up laughing. “You’re kidding me again,” she said.

  “Only a little bit. Sorry.”

  “No, no. I spent my entire adult life around one guy, most of it in isolation. I’m just… and you know…”

  “I know,” I told her. “I don’t mean to be flirtatious,” I admitted, punching her on the arm lightly. “Besides, I’m pretty sure my girlfriend could beat both our asses at the same time.”

  “She’s a badass. I think she’s really worried about her parents. What’s their deal? Why don’t they fight back against this Henry guy?”

  “I’d almost forgotten, but Dave had some kind of heart surgery, then a stent put in the month before the big blackout.”

  “Oh… so he’s really not that healthy?” she asked.

  “No, and he’s got his own stockpile of medicine, but it won’t last forever. If they don’t get into the medication the pharmacist had squirreled away in the community pile of stuff…”

  “He’ll die without it, won’t he?”

  “I think so,” I told her as we entered the large semi-circular room.

  “No wonder they’re all scared stiff. In danger of losing their house, in danger of losing Dave. I was really pissed at Linda.”

  “I was too, until my head cleared, and I talked to Jessica some. Then the puzzle pieces started to fit together. They’re as much prisoners here as I am. I really wish you’d take little Mary and head for my grandparents’ place.”

  We started up the stairs, and I was using my left arm to hold the railing. Food, light physical therapy, and rest had done wonders to get me back on my feet. I was still prone to dizzy spells, but Carter told me that, in time, those would probably go away. The fact that I’d even woken up was a miracle in of itself. Since I’d finally woken up and confronted Henry, a few days had passed. I’d been working nonstop, giving the products of my labor over as soon as I was done. I’d even hand copied instructions I was planning on using to isolate some penicillin I was growing.

  The process was simpler than I had imagined. I’d used hydrochloric acid, a byproduct from making chloroform with bleach and alcohol, to lower the PH of water to about a five or five point five. What I’d done then was allow bread to get moldy in a sterilized container until it was full. Then I would pour the water over it to make sort of a slurry. I’d add in enough to completely cover things. After a week, the penicillin would float to the top. Or, at least, whatever mold grew. It was highly inaccurate but isolating what killed bacteria in a homemade agar mix would allow us to further separate and refine the process and strains until we came up with a good strain to keep and keep feeding.

  I honestly didn’t mind helping spread that knowledge around. I’d done enough biochem in high school and college that this was right up my alley now that I had changed my entire way of thinking about chemistry. With a pang, I wondered what life would be like for me if the solar storms had never happened, and I’d gone to work in a classroom setting.

  “I can’t leave you here. I owe it to you to see you clear,” she said, taking my hand for a moment, giving it a squeeze and then letting it go.

  “But you could be putting your daughter in danger too,” I said, bringing up the old argument again.

  “If I thought she was in danger, I’d leave. Somehow, I don’t think anybody here would be capable of hurting her, physically or emotionally.”

  I’d met some of the families here in the last day and a half. It was at a communal dinner and campfire, but the talk was strained, and I’d gotten lots of strange looks. Some folks who were more open were those I’d met before. Carter, some of the folks who went into the fire to free the women and children. One thing they had in common though, was none of them had kids who were younger than their teenage years. Mary was quite literally the youngest and smallest of all. Plus, she was as cute as a button and hugged everyone she met.

  “I hope you’re right, but I wish you’d ge
t on down the road,” I told her quietly.

  “Worried about paying off my debt?” she asked, bumping me with her hip.

  I grimaced after bumping the wall, but the pain was nothing like it had been. I turned, and she had taken three fast hops to the landing ahead of me.

  “Listen, I—”

  “Got you,” she said, laughing, and took off running.

  I sighed, but I was smiling. She was playful, and now that everyone knew she had a thing for me, everyone was joking with Emily and I about it, including her. Most of the time Jessica was pleasant, but sometimes I got the impression she wasn’t so happy; as the bruises on my side where her fingers had dug in the other day showed.

  The stairs went up two landings before a third stretch of stairs brought us to the main floor of the small bunker. I figured the facility was maybe forty feet tall overall, with both floors and some mechanical space between them. I made it to the top floor, breathing a little heavy, and looked around. The team who’d brought me here were standing near a roll-up door that had bars welded across the back, holding it locked shut. Access was through a plain looking steel door. There weren’t as many lights on this level, casting much of it into shadows. Large fuel and water tanks were left behind, and an area where something mechanical had leaked oil set, the metal brackets inlaid into the cement.

  Conduit and wires were all across the wall and ceiling, but they told me that when the facility was abandoned, everything was disconnected and scrapped out. Emily ran ahead and was kneeling at Mary’s side, whispering to her. Mary was holding Jessica’s hand as she’d been working with the dogs, but away from the group of men and women who were eyeballing my approach.

  “Done for the day?” Henry called.

  I waited and walked the two dozen steps until I answered. Three walls were made of cement block, the one facing the outside was a mixture of steel and block.

  “Yeah, I have to wait for things to separate out, but you should have enough chloroform to perform several surgeries. Dosing with it and administering it… well, I hope your docs know what they’re doing. I can’t really make you heavier stuff unless you get me something with a narcotic base or you have some kind of poppies planted somewhere.”

  “You know how to make that kind of stuff?” Jessica asked suddenly.

  “No, but in theory, yes.”

  “Good, I’ve got a list of things we’re going to be needing. We’ll talk more about it tomorrow,” Henry told me.

  I noticed somebody I hadn’t seen in a while. “Hey Jimmy, how you doing?” I asked him, walking forward and holding my hand out.

  “Great, hoping to do some horse trading with you and your grandpa soon,” he said, a smile on his face, his hand outstretched.

  I took it and shook, seeing Carter with the group along with Linda, Dave, Henry, Duke, and some of the crew I’d met already.

  “How’s my grandma doing?” I asked Jimmy, hoping for news, because if I didn’t get some soon, I’d insist on using somebody’s radio.

  “I dunno,” he said. “I dropped her off, what… few days, a week ago?”

  My body went cold, my arms breaking out into goose bumps.

  “Who’s staying near my grandparents while I’m here?” I asked.

  “I don’t—” Jimmy started but Henry interrupted.

  “We’ve got things under control, don’t worry about it,” Henry said, both hands up.

  I could feel the weight of the pistol in the small of my back. I’d gotten my clothing back and laundered, so I was in my jeans and shirt, and had my flannel unbuttoned and hanging loose, covering it. Despite the layers, I felt a chill again and fought off a shudder.

  “Who’s watching over my grandparents?” I asked the group at large.

  Jessica looked between Henry and me, and took a step to me, putting her arm on my shoulder. She was about to talk but was beat to the punch.

  “Wait, you pulled Jimmy and his guys back? I thought you were going to have Marcus and Bird watch them after Jimmy came back?” Duke asked, his voice a low rumble.

  “Marcus and Bird have been in the communications shack,” Linda said suddenly. “They’ve been there nonstop while the big group has been moving through the area.”

  “I’ll ask one more time,” I snarled, my voice quiet. “Who is with my family while I’m here working on your shit?”

  “They are in no danger, so I pulled our men in close in case we come in under attack,” Henry said shortly, his face turning crimson.

  “I guess I’ll have to see about that.” I tried to keep my cool, but the end came out a snarl.

  “You aren’t going anywhere,” Henry said.

  I broke away from everyone. Jessica tried to hold onto my shoulder, but I shrugged her off. Emily and Mary stayed where they were for a few heartbeats then followed me. Raider bumped my side, letting me know he was there and ready to give me his support. The gun felt heavier and heavier.

  “Watch me, asshole,” I said without turning, pushing through the crowd.

  Raider stopped walking with me, probably to wait for Emily and Mary to come. He’d catch up soon; he was never more than sight distance away from me unless I told him to stay away.

  “Stop!” Henry thundered, his voice seemingly amplified.

  I turned around and saw that Henry had pulled a pistol from his belt and leveled it at me. The group was deathly silent, and a corridor of bodies was on either side of our line of fire. I was caught flat footed almost a dozen feet or more from the main door with Emily, Mary, and Jessica way too close. I looked at them and saw them all looking back and forth, fear in their eyes. Jimmy, Carter, and Duke were looking back and forth in confusion. Raider? He had trotted slowly nearer to Mary, probably to make sure she didn’t walk in the middle of what was going to turn into a very ugly situation. Probably close to six feet away from Henry. An idea formed.

  “Henry, I don’t give two shits what you think. You’re not making an indentured servant of me, and I don’t care if the entire community voted to keep me here. You all can go to hell! I was promised my grandparents would be looked after while I was away!”

  “Vote?” Duke asked, looking at Carter.

  “What vote?” Jimmy asked me, turning.

  “The one where I owe you guys two- or three-weeks’ worth of my life to repay you for dragging my ass out of the state park. And he’s tacking on whatever you’re helping Emily and Mary with onto my butcher’s bill.” I worked my hand to the small of my back, my hand on the grip of my pistol.

  “There was no community vote,” Jimmy said. “I’ve been back since the day after you woke up, unless it happened while I was gone. I hadn’t heard about it.”

  “There was no vote,” Duke said, turning to Henry. “What the hell you talking about, boss?”

  “We wasted valuable time and resources on Wes and his harem!” he snarled, motioning to Jessica and Emily with the pistol, making everyone tense. “He owes the community reparations and repayment!”

  “I don’t owe you shit,” I said softly. “I would have helped you, had you asked, but you don’t force a country boy none, son. You should know better than that.”

  I pulled the pistol loose, but kept it behind my back, near my right leg. I tensed, waiting for Henry to focus on me, only me. There was a chance of ending this without bloodshed, or at least, gunfire. Raider was looking at me intently, his entire body tense, then he looked at Henry. He hunched down, almost like he was going to sit, with his entire back end wound up like a spring. Dave pulled his own pistol, but was holding it straight down, his head on a swivel looking between us two, the color leaving his face, and a vein throbbing in his neck.

  “I am working to keep our entire area safe. Part of that is keeping assets healthy and in place, where we need them!” Henry was turning so red, I thought his head might explode.

  “Which means holding me captive, not holding up your end of the agreement by somebody staying with my family while I’m gone, and basically kidnapping me so I can
work for you. I’m done, Henry.” I held the gun loosely at my side now, though his eyes were on mine.

  “You told us he volunteered,” Duke said, his voice a touch higher as the tension crept into his deep baritone.

  “He owes us so much, he has no choice!” Henry raised his gun in my direction. “What do you have to say about that?” he screamed, the gun bore looking big as it lined up with my eye.

  “Támadás,” I screamed.

  Henry’s arm wavered as he tried to process what I’d said, but Raider had broken into motion the moment the command Jessica had taught me came from my lips. Raider was a golden-brown streak, and his jaws latched around Henry’s upper arm. The older man went down hard, screaming, two shots ringing out.

  “Shoot it, Dave!” Henry shouted, his voice shrill as he was getting shaken, the gun finally free of his grip.

  I had my pistol trained on Henry now, and I was advancing slowly, half a step at a time. Jimmy, Carter, Duke and Linda jumped back. Jessica was snarling commands at her dogs, who looked like they were being rooted in place by invisible chains. I had no shot on Henry and called the halt command to Raider more than once, but the screams, snarls, and cries may have drowned me out as the sound echoed around the block chamber. I waited for my dog to get loose, for my shot to materialize.

  “Shoot it!” I heard Henry scream again.

  Who was he talking to? I looked to my right and saw Dave start to raise his pistol, and it wasn’t pointed my way, but Henry’s. Except, it wasn’t. It was pointed in front of Henry. He was moving slowly, deliberately.

  “Not my dog!” I screamed as my gun and Dave’s went off at the same time as Jessica leapt.

  My screams of horror, loss, and agony hit as the realization of what happened kicked in and I fell to my knees, my pistol dropping to the ground.

  “No, no, no, no, noooooooooooooooooooooo!”

  I didn’t know who screamed that? Jessica? Emily, Mary, Linda, me or…