Dusk of Defiance (The Era of Ensemble Book 1) (21 page)

The station was empty. Just pieces of rubbish and a few limbs scattered across the floor. The doors slid open and Luke bolted out of the tram. He took cover by an overturned bench. Still nothing. He stood up steadily and jogged quietly to the doubl
e doors which lead towards the Bastion.

There was movement ahead. Two figures sprinted in the hallway before him. Luke slowed and hoped they would pass without noticing him. One turned
its head and saw Luke standing alone. It growled at him, but left him. It sprinted off to catch up to the other cannibal.
Why did it leave me?
Luke didn't have time to think about it. He had to hurry. He had to make sure his sister was okay.
And Juan.
There was a scream in the distance, but not from one of the infected. It was a person. He screamed again. Luke heard the pain in his voice. The man was in agony. Luke ran down the hallway and turned towards the screams. He heard more voices. He was closing in on them. He turned around another corner and found a man being feasted on still alive. The man shrilled with overwhelming volume. Luke grabbed the carbine which was fastened around his neck and aimed it at one of the cannibals. The man bellowed out again in pain.
He's going to attract every flesh-eater on the ship.
Luke aimed his rifle and shot the man. The screaming subsided. The only sound left was the ripping and tearing of flesh.

“
Why did you do that?” A voice whispered from within a doorway.

Luke glanced in the direction the voice came from. He could see a small group of people. Three males, two adults and a child. The child was no older than ten. His hair was long and wavy, his face covered in freckles and his eyes frightened.
“He was going to attract a lot more of those things. It's not safe here, you should move.” Luke began to move away from them and head for the Bastion.

“
Wait.” One of the men whispered again. He waited for Luke to stop. “I wouldn't go that way. There are hundreds of those savages. They're predators. It's not safe, we have no chance.”

“
I need to get to the Bastion. My sister is still there...” Luke wanted to sprint away from the group and ignore them. “Keep him safe.” He said looking at the small boy, and then he hastily jogged away.

Luke knew he wasn't far from the
camp. He was tiring though. “Are you helping that group we passed?”

“
I am watching them.” Novalee replied. “I will do what I can.”

Luke was concerned with the artificial intelligence's answer, but he had no time to question it. The
Bastion was close. He could hear the fighting. There were still people alive. He approached the double doors to the fortified cafeteria. They had been sabotaged. They wouldn't close. He stepped through them and walked into the large dining area. The overturned tables and furniture had been knocked down in places. They missed key structural components.
Darryl must have sabotaged that too.
Luke noticed cannibals still climbing over the makeshift walls. The gate was still locked, and two snipers were still in the towers. Only one was shooting though. The other looked too traumatised.

“
Hey, you!” The sniper called down to Luke. “You need to get in here. You need to help us evacuate people.”

“
Okay. Can someone open the gate for me?” He replied as he checked his rifle's magazine.

“
Can't do that. Those creatures will just pour in. We'll be overrun in a matter of seconds. You'll need to climb up the walls, like those beasts are doing.” The sniper reloaded his weapon and continued to fire into the Bastion.

I can do this.
Luke took a deep breath, and then began to climb up the unstable wall. There was an infected person ahead of him. It climbed with ease. He felt the structure wobble. He closed his eyes and held on tight. There was a bloodthirsty brute below him. It climbed much faster. He retrieved his revolver from its holster and shot at it. His bullet hit the abomination’s hand and it fell down to the ground. It tried to climb back up, luckily it was much slower with just the one hand. Luke returned to his own climbing and took another step upwards. He was too slow. He'd never save anyone at this speed. He breathed out quickly, began to bounce slightly up and down, and then leapt upwards. He clutched at the top of the ledge above him and steadied himself.
I did it.
He thought victoriously. The ledge dropped an inch. Luke's heart began to pound ferociously. He pulled himself up, as fast as he could. The ledge dropped again and he stumbled as he climbed to his feet.
It's falling.
Luke jumped over to the next section of the wall. He landed, the structure wobbled, but it didn't fall. Luke heard a crash behind him. He turned to look. The wall had collapsed, and it took a couple of the cannibals with it.

Luke watched over the wall and looked into the
Bastion. It was in complete chaos. People ran, leaving others to fight the infected on their own. Others hid in their tents, too afraid to do anything. The few weapons the camp had were put to good use though. The man in the sniper tower had a good aim. He took out several flesh-eaters who were closing in on a group of people.

I need to get to Megan.
Luke made his way down the wall to the ground of the Bastion. He grabbed his rifle, ready to shoot anything that got in his way. An abomination spotted him. It lunged for him, but fell backwards as Luke unloaded a round into its chest. There were other creatures around, but none were paying much attention to him. It was a frenzy.

A fire had broken out somewhere in the camp. Smoke had begun to fill the room.
I have to find them quick.
Luke stumbled as he tripped over a body. The body moved. It was a man, he was still alive, but barely. He looked at Luke. Pleaded with him. “I'm sorry.” Luke said and jogged away from him. He could see the tent he had left his sister in.
I hope you’re still here.
He picked up his speed. An abomination ran in through the entrance of the tent. Luke's heart stopped. He sprinted as fast as his legs would let him. His muscles ached, but he battled through the pain. He reached the tent and entered it, his rifle held high, ready to shoot anything. The creature turned around as it heard Luke's breathing. He panted loudly, out of breath. It shrieked and opened its blood covered mouth wide. It was missing a few teeth, but it still found a way to feast. Luke raised his rifle and shot the infected brute in its left eye. The beast flew backwards. Blood covered the floor as it seeped out of the creature’s eye socket. Luke glanced around the tent.

“
Megan? Juan? You in here?” Luke said as he rested his hands on his knees.

“
Luke, is that you?” Megan replied from within the makeshift fort. She opened the entrance slowly and peaked out. She saw Luke and excitedly leapt out of the child like fort. “I'm so glad you're okay.” She jumped into Luke, like an excited, clumsy dog.

“
Where's Juan?”

“
Juan, it's okay.” Megan returned to the fort. “It's Luke, he's come back.” She smiled and held out a hand for Juan to take.

“
Is my dad back?” Juan asked as he emerged from the fort.

“
He's...” Luke stuttered as he tried to think. “He's going to meet us at a new place. A safer place. We can hold out there until we reach Earth.”

Juan nodded and smiled briefly, but the noises from within the camp made him clutch onto Megan.

“Where are we going?” She asked, holding onto Juan's hand.

“
There is a cryogenic room still in operation. We're going to sleep this thing out.”

“
Who's going to protect us? How do you know about it? Are you sure it's safe?” Megan asked a string of questions without letting Luke answer any of them.

“
I will be able to keep it safe, but you need to hurry.” Novalee's voice sounded.

Who's...
?” Megan stopped as Luke interrupted her.

“
I'll tell you later. We need to get out of here.”

Luke led them out of the tent and into the streets of the
Bastion. The fire was growing. The smoke was filling the room. He covered his mouth with his arm and grabbed Megan's hand with his free hand. He saw a few other people running away from the entrance. “This way.” Luke said as he followed the people.

“
Is that Kara?” Megan questioned, more to herself than to anyone else. “Kara!” She shouted.

The woman turned around.
“Megan?” Kara squinted, the smoke made her eyes water.

“
We don't have time for this.” A member of Kara's group spoke as he grabbed her and pushed her through a passage in the wall.

“
A secret passage?” Luke said and jogged towards it. Dragging Megan and Juan with him. “Megan you go first.”

“
Okay.” She nodded and squeezed through the gap. She held out her arm for Juan to grab. He took it and was led through the passage.

Luke began to cough.
“Is everything okay on your end?”

“
Yeah. I see a doorway leading into one of the residence sections.”

He waited for Juan to clear the wall, and then he attempted to fit through. His rifle blocked his way. He backed out and took the rifle off the strap around his neck. He passed it through the hole.
“Megan take your carbine.” The gun disappeared through the passage, and then he reattempted to crawl through it. It was a tight fit, and he scratched both his left and right sides, but he managed to get through.

“
What now?” Megan enquired, watching Kara escape through the doors.

Luke pulled up his wrist and checked his device. A map appeared with directions to a room not too far away.
“We go this way.” He nodded to the doors. “And then we turn right. We follow the corridor until we reach a fork.” He led them through the doors and into the corridor. They could still hear screams and cries for help, but there was little they could do now. Luke glanced back to make sure Megan and Juan were keeping up. Juan held Megan's hand tightly.
He's afraid, and he doesn't know he'll never see his father again.
Luke sighed deeply.
I will tell him when we get back to Earth. I'll tell him the sacrifice his father made so we could live.

They reached the fork and Luke checked his wrist device to be sure what route to take.
“It's down this way.” He led them into the darkest hallway. The further they walked, the quieter the screams of agony became, and then all they could hear was each other breathing. Luke was the loudest, he felt exhausted.
I could use a sleep. Maybe even a lie in... For a year or two.

The journey was longer than Luke had first anticipated, but they eventually made it to the point on his wrist device.
“This is it.” Luke said, standing in front of the doors.

“
Why aren't they opening?” Megan questioned.

“
I am scanning for any other personnel. Please be patient... You may now proceed.” Novalee finished her sentence and the doors slid apart. A rush of cold air hit Luke's face. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensation. Megan and Juan entered the room.

“
Look at all the people in deep sleep.” Megan stated, glancing around the large rectangular room.

Luke entered and looked at all of the cryogenic chambers.
“They're all in use.” He said, walking past several chambers. They all had people inside of them. “How long have these people been in deep sleep for?”

“
The latest entry was twenty days ago.” Novalee answered the question instantly.

“
Wait...” Luke tried to wrap his mind around the situation. “Why have you brought me here? If you haven't added anyone else into deep sleep in nearly three weeks.”

“
There are a combination of reasons. You are a great asset. You have managed to navigate inside the ship successfully, mostly on your own. You are also very effective at dealing with infected people. If this virus was to be released when we get back to Earth, you would be needed.”

“
So we're the only additions for three weeks. Why wasn't anyone else brought here?” Megan joined the conversation, still unsure about Novalee.

“
I have tried to include more people, but many died on the way. The ship is large, and this is one of the two remaining cryogenic rooms still functioning. There is the odd cryogenic chamber still working, outside of these two facilities. As you already know, Luke.”

“
So what now?” He replied.

“
I am preparing three cryogenic chambers as we speak. You will enter them. I will awaken you when we reach the docking platform in orbit around Earth.” The three chambers opened their glass doors as Novalee finished her sentence. “Please enter when you are ready.”

“
Are you sure about this, Luke?” Megan sounded unconvinced.

“
I don't think we have any other option. We have to stick to this.”

“
Okay.” She smiled at him, reassured.