Sanctuary

by Blake Brown

  ​“Sure.” Matt said with a shrug, walking over to the bed and falling onto it. Looking up at the roof with his legs bent over the edge, his vision started spinning out of control. He lay there for a few minutes in silence, trying to get his eyes under control, when he heard Sarah starting to cry. He shot up and looked at her, sitting there with her head in her hands. He put a hand to her back and started to rub it. “What’s wrong?”

  ​“Everything! Our parents are dead and we’re going to die soon too. We’re just kidding ourselves pretending that we’re safe at this place.” She blurted out, crying more intensely now.

  ​“I won’t let anything happen to you or Tara.” Matt replied with confidence and resolve.

  ​“You can’t protect us, you’re just a kid, we’re just kids. Bryce and the others might be able to defend themselves, but we’re fucked.” She said, looking up at him with tears streaming down her face.

  ​“That’s not true!” Matt yelled as he stood up and punched his open palm. “You say Bryce might make it, and I punched that dude in the face. Pow! Blasted him. I’m strong and so are you, we’re going to survive this.” He finished with determination.

  ​She grabbed his arm and pulled him back down to the bed. “You are kind of a badass.” She said with a sarcastic laugh.

  ​“Don’t laugh, you know it’s true.” He said, sticking his tongue out at her. She smiled and when he pulled his tongue back into his mouth, she leaned in and kissed him.

  He kissed her back for a few seconds before she broke the contact and stood up. “Are you a virgin?”

  ​He blushed. “Uh.” Was all he could say, too embarrassed and caught off guard to answer the question.

  ​“Me too. I don’t want to die a virgin, and I’m guessing you don’t want to either.” She said, taking off her shirt and then pushing him down, getting on top of him.

  ***

  ​Bryce awoke in the middle of the night, glimpses of the horrible nightmare he had just awoken from flashing through his head. Images of the members of his group screaming in horrible pain and terror. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked over to Tara who was sound asleep. He smiled, happy to see the girl safe and sound. He slowly and quietly got out of bed, realizing that everyone was probably passed out drunk and that he should go on watch to make sure his mysterious nightmare didn’t become a reality. He holstered his .45 and then grabbed his rifle before making his way out of the room, shutting the door behind him so that Tara could sleep in peace.

  ​When he walked into the living room, he was surprised to see Byark, Lauren, and Grunt all sharing a bed on the floor. Byark seemed to have fallen asleep with a mug of beer next to his head, and his arm was draped across Grunt and Lauren. Grunt had his behind facing their faces, which made Bryce suspect he had snuck into the bed after the other two had fallen asleep, and he seemed to have fallen asleep while chewing on a large bone from the buck they had killed earlier that day. Lauren was sound asleep with a smile on her face, which made Bryce happy that she was recovering from all the awful things that had happened to her since the outbreak started.

  He quietly made his way outside and concluded that the others must be sleeping soundly in their motor homes. He paced around the yard, observing the garden and all the other new additions the group had added since they arrived here, genuinely making it feel like home. Since he didn’t see any threats, he walked back into the cabin and made a cup of coffee, deciding to have a cigarette for the first time since he had graduated college. He stood on the porch, taking turns between inhaling the smoke and sipping from the mug of hot liquid, staring off into the forest that surrounded them. He thought deeply about all that his group and himself had been through in the past few weeks, as well as the loss of his family, which brought tears to his eyes. He then thought of the new family he had gained from all this chaos, and how much he began to care for the group around him. He took a huge gulp from his coffee and a huge drag from his cigarette, deciding that even though he would never forget those he had lost, he would try to spend his time thinking about how fortunate he was to have gained the family he had now.

  CHAPTER 8

  ​Jason and McGowan shot out of their beds, startled awake by Peterson’s intense screaming. They painfully blinked the sleep out of their eyes, standing in the now illuminated cell that they shared together. “On your feet boys, we got a mission!” Peterson finished his string of insults with the actual reason he had woken them. The two men made their way out of the cell and were grouped up with half a dozen other inmates before being led outside of the prison and forced to pile into a military transport vehicle. Jason held a hand to his still healing rib cage as he slowly set down, wincing from the pain of his wounds. The truck pulled away from the prison and the prisoners started to whisper back and forth, wondering where they were being taken. Eventually the truck stopped, and everyone was ordered to pile out. Their destination appeared to be a small, three story hospital and they were all ordered inside. There were freshly killed infected littering the first floor as well as a handful of old, rotting corpses that seemed to have been killed at the start of the outbreak. Fresh and dried blood mixed and coated the floors and walls, painting the scene of the original massacre that took place here and the battle that recently happened between the soldiers and infected.

  ​“Listen up girls!” Peterson called out to the group. “We captured ourselves a real-life military scientist that has some knowledge of this here outbreak. The boss decided that he needs a place to properly conduct his research and some of those infected bastards to do it on. As you ladies can clearly see we’ve killed all the infected on the first floor and secured the area. What we need you to do, is detain and knock out the remaining infected on the second and third floor and hogtie their asses for us. Afterwards, you need to clean and secure the entire hospital and report back to me when you’re done. Sound good?”

  ​“How do you expect us to do that?” A young, light skinned black inmate that was about eighteen or nineteen years old asked. Jason recognized the young man; his name was Connor.

  ​“All of the cleaning supplies are right here.” Peterson replied with a smirk, holding his arms out to some janitorial supplies and cleaning products.

  ​“How do you expect us to detain all of the infected?” Connor said again, clearly trying to control his temper.

  ​“Well, unfortunately certain supplies are in short demand and ex-cons are not, so you only have a few options.” Peterson said as he pulled out a tranquilizer gun. “First off, we have this bad boy and ten shots for it.” He then picked up five syringes from the receptionist counter. “Next, we have these bad boys, not really sure what’s in them, but the doc said they should do the trick. Finally, as a last resort, we have these.” Peterson finished, picking up a wooden baseball bat and a shovel. “You’re to try the tranquilizers and syringes first, but when those run out or if they don’t work, then you are permitted to use the baseball bat and shovel to knock them out the good, old fashioned way. However; we need as many infected as we can get alive and you will be punished for killing any of the creatures.”

  ​“How do we decide who gets what weapons?” One of the other inmates called out.

  ​“Well, unfortunately for you sorry bastards, Jason and his old lover here are the only ones who are permitted to use any of it.” Peterson said with a laugh.

  ​“What the fuck are we supposed to do then?” Connor asked.

  ​“Well, be the bait of course, and try to hold the fuckers still for them.” He said with a large grin.

  ​“That’s fucking suicide man, I’m not doing this shit.” One of the other prisoners blurted out.

  ​“Look buddy, you got two options; either do what you’re told and maybe survive and get on the boss’s good side, or don’t, and me and my boys will put you down right now. Your choice.” Peterson responded, holding out his arms in the direction of the few other soldiers in the room.

  ​“Let’s just get this
over with.” Jason said, stepping forward and slinging the tranquilizer gun over his shoulder before pocketing the spare darts. He then pocketed a handful of zip-ties and grabbed the baseball bat. McGowan followed the other man’s lead and pocketed the syringes before picking up the shovel.

  ​“Easy for you to say.” Connor said, hatred burning behind his brown eyes.

  ​“See, these are my good boy’s. That’s why they get the cushy jobs and all of the fun toys.” Peterson said as he walked over, quickly scratching McGowan’s chin before the older man pushed his arm away. “Meet back here when you get them all down so that you can start your cleaning.” Peterson laughed. “That is, if any of you make it back alive.” He walked away.

  ​The eight men made their way into the stairwell and up the first flight of stairs. “We should come up with some sort of plan before we go in.” Jason said as they reached the door to the second-floor lobby.

  ​“Fuck you bitch.” One of the inmates replied before opening the door and running through it. Almost immediately two infected rushed the man and took him to the ground, tearing him apart with their teeth and claws as he tried to scream through the blood rushing up his throat. Jason pulled up the tranquilizer gun and shot one of the creatures in the shoulder. It immediately got up from its meal and started towards him, quickly wavering and collapsing to the ground. McGowan ran around and behind the other infected as it mindlessly tore into its fresh meal, plunging a syringe into its neck and pushing the liquid out and into the creature. The infected swung back at him, knocking him off balance as it slashed out with its hand, slicing open his stomach before falling to the floor face first.

  ​McGowan stumbled back and grabbed at his wound. “I’m alright, it’s not deep.” He said as Jason locked eyes with him.

  ​Another inmate rushed at an infected that was charging him, wrapping it up in his arms and attempting to slam it to the floor, completely underestimating the feral creature’s strength. It dug its big, meaty claws into both of his sides, causing blood to pour from his belly. The infected creature then leaned in, tearing out a nice portion of the man’s throat. It then dropped the dead man to the floor, smart enough to save its meal for later, and ran at Jason. He slapped a fresh dart into the barrel of the gun and was just barely able to get the shot off, hitting it in the chest and causing it to fall at a full sprint and slam into him. He fell hard onto his back with the weight of the infected man on top of him, having to briefly catch his breath before throwing the limp body to the ground next to him and getting back to his feet.

  ​Connor and another man managed to each grab one of the next creature’s arms and throw it to the ground, digging their knees into its back to hold it in place. McGowan ran up and injected the infected thing in the back of its neck with another syringe, causing it to go limp.

  ​An infected woman rushed out from behind a pillar right next to Connor and the other inmate, leaping onto the unsuspecting, middle-aged man and beginning to tear into him. Jason didn’t have time to reload the tranquilizer gun, so he dropped it and swung out with the baseball bat, cracking the infected woman across the temple. The deformed woman smacked to the ground and began to violently seize and convulse before dying. The man that had been attacked was still alive, but he was going to bleed out in a matter of moments, so Jason chose to ignore his squirming, bloody body and continue on.

  ​Another inmate ran at one of the creatures and front kicked it in the chest, causing it to crumple to the ground. He then mounted it and started repeatedly hammering his fists into its face. At first it seemed shocked from the blows, but then it quickly unlatched its jaws, opening its mouth into a giant pit of death. The man swung down one last time and the creature chomped down on his closed fist. The bite was so powerful, and its teeth were so sharp, that Jason thought the creature would bite the man’s hand off right then and there. The man screamed in agony, alerting another infected to his presence. The newly alerted creature rushed towards the trapped man, slicing open his throat with its claws and beginning to plunge its weaponized fingers into his body again and again, ripping away wet chunks of flesh and greedily gulping them down. Another man ran at the second creature and went to knee it in the face, but it turned at the last second, and caught his knee in its mouth. Its head shot back from the blow at first, but then it pushed its head forward, digging its teeth deep into the man’s leg as he screamed, and blood poured from the creature’s mouth. It then released his knee and shot forward, consuming his face with its massive maw before violently and bloodily thrashing the man’s head about.

  ​Jason reloaded the gun and fired another dart into one the infected creatures, dropping it on top of the lifeless corpse that it was feasting on. McGowan ran up to the infected that was dragging the most recently killed man around by his face and swung the shovel into its head. The blow let out a loud smack and blood started to pour down the infected thing’s face, but it continued to play with its dinner. He hit it again a second and a third time before it finally wavered and collapsed to the ground. Another infected creature rushed McGowan as he was busy fighting, and Jason desperately tried to get a shot off with the tranquilizer gun, knowing that he didn’t have enough time.

  ​Connor leapt onto the back of the infected woman and slammed her into the ground at the last second, pinning her arms behind her back. “Get this bitch!” He yelled in a panic as the thing fought his grip. McGowan turned around and stuck one of the syringes into the woman’s back, almost immediately putting her to sleep.

  ​The three remaining men got together to form a defensive circle, holding their positions, expecting more infected to come rushing at them. When no more came, they stuck together, securing the rest of the floor. After they were confident that they were somewhat safe for now, they zip tied the unconscious infected by their hands and feet, and dragged them into one of the rooms, shutting the door behind them. They then made their way back into the stairwell and walked up to the third-floor door.

  ​“So, you were saying something about a plan?” Connor said, still trying to catch his breath after the exhausting fight.

  ​“None of those fucking idiots had to die, they should have just listened to me.” Jason said, frustrated with the unnecessary death of five people. “Crack open the door and get a firm grip on it.” Connor did as the other man instructed. Jason then whistled loudly, causing multiple infected to rush at the cracked door, trying desperately to force their way through. Jason and McGowan used the rest of their darts and syringes to incapacitate the infected through the crack in the door, causing a steady stream of unconscious creatures to pile up. After they used up all the needles and darts, there were only two infected left standing. Jason cracked one of the creatures across the forehead with his bat, splitting its skull open and killing it, while McGowan slammed his shovel into the top of the other creature’s head, knocking it unconscious. They tied up and locked away the creatures after securing the floor, just like they had done previously, and made their way back down to the lobby.

  ​“Damn! I really didn’t expect any of you to make it back. Did you get all of ‘em?” Peterson said with a clap of his hands as the three men returned.

  ​“It’s clear.” Jason said flatly.

  ​“Congratulations buddy, you just earned yourself a promotion.” Peterson said to Connor, slapping the young man on the shoulder. “Good work you two.” He said to Jason and McGowan. “Especially you, the boss has been keeping an eye on you and I’m sure he’ll be happy to hear you’re safe and sound.” Peterson singled out Jason. The soldiers made their way up to the other two floors and secured the infected before setting up shop. Jason and the other two men spent the rest of their day and the day following, cleaning the hospital and removing and burning the corpses.

  CHAPTER 9

  ​The morning after the party, Bryce gathered the group together in the yard to discuss his concern. “Look everyone, last night was fun and I know we all had a great time.” He said, seeing Matt and Sarah share a
n awkward look and a smile. “I realized last night that we’ve all gotten a little too comfortable here and have let our guard down. From now on, we need someone to constantly be scheduled to a guard patrol at night while we’re sleeping to make sure no infected or other people sneak up on us. Even though we’re all awake during the day and out working, I think we should still have a guard who’s only job is to look out for threats and keep this place secure at those times as well. I didn’t want to just assign people and figured everyone should pick the times they want to be on guard as well as how long their shift will be. I also think it should be a rotating shift throughout the week so that everyone shares the job.” Bryce held out a sheet to the others that he had columned off for the current week. “Every week we’ll get together and fill in the sheet and then I’ll post this on the inside of the cabin next to the front door. I’ll continue to keep watch until sunset tonight and I’ve picked three, additional eight-hour guard shifts in the week so everyone else please work out the rest among yourselves.”

  ​Everyone spent some time talking amongst themselves and writing their names down on the sheet before handing it back to Bryce, completely filled out.

  ***

  ​The next few days passed by slowly as there wasn’t much work to be done and everyone just spent their time hanging out or on guard duty. Bryce noticed that Matt and Sarah were now holding hands openly in the yard, and he was happy that the two of them were happy together. Randy and Nathan continued to get drunk and keep to themselves. Alejandro mostly just kept to himself, occasionally talking to the others. Byark and Lauren spent a lot of time together, and although they seemed to be growing very close, their relationship still seemed to be in the more innocent phase. Tara started following Bryce around most days, constantly wanting to play with Grunt. Bryce didn’t mind the girl’s company, even though she seemed to constantly have a question about something that only Bryce could answer. Grunt grew stronger by the day, and Bryce began training him specific commands and behaviors that would help when the dog accompanied him on future hunting or scavenging trips, assuring himself that Grunt would obey his commands even when infected or hostile people were around.