Sanctum (The After Light Saga) (16 page)

Realization
slammed into me.

I gasped and grabbed Finn’s arm.

“Finn,” I whispered.

He turned back. “Are you okay
?”

“
Yes, I’m fine. But, what if those creatures knew we were coming?”

“How the hell would they know that?”

I tapped the side of my head and raised my eyebrows. “They must have known we were coming. Why else would they not be here?”

“Oh,
I know they’re here, somewhere. There is no other place for them to go, with miles of desert around this town. They’re hiding out, which means we need to be extra careful.”

The thought made m
y stomach twist. Right now, I could be the weak link, and could very well be putting everyone’s lives in danger. But leaving Finn wasn’t an option. I needed to clear my mind, and not think about anything that could possibly give us away.

I
began filtering my thoughts around my father, mother, and our life in our old hive. That was the safest and happiest place for my mind to be.

We continued to clear out the buildings, immediately surrounding Sanctum.

All were empty
.

Rhett an
d his group were optimistic, hoping they’d chased the monsters out last night. But, I agreed with Finn. They were still here, waiting for us.

“
Rhett, come in. This is Finn
,” Finn radioed.

“
What’s up?
”

“
Be careful. They’re smarter than we think
.”

“
If they’re still here, they’d better prepare for a reckoning
,” we heard over the waves.

C
heers and yelps erupted from his three groups.

We started to clear the next set of building
s, which put our teams further from each other.

We cleared the next five
buildings quickly. All empty, but as we made our way toward the outer barriers, my head started to ache.

I paused and Finn immediately noticed.

“Abi, are you okay?” Finn asked, grabbing my arm.

“
This happens when they’re close. My head, it starts to ache. It seems to get worse every time I come into contact with them.”

“
Shit, Abi. Your nose is bleeding,” he noted. “I think you should go back to Sanctum. I don’t want you being out here when you aren’t one hundred percent.”

“No,” I said,
wiping my nose. “I’ll be fine.” I tried to suck it up because there was no way I’d leave him again. Not after the nightmare I’d had, or seeing him so close to death.

“Abigail, y
ou aren’t well. You need to go back,” he said more forcefully. I knew he was serious, because he never called me by my full name.

“No. I told you, I’ll be fine. My head is already starting to feel better,” I lied.

His eyes studied mine. I tried my best to keep a straight face, and hide the pain.

“You are so damn stubborn,
” he said, shaking his head.

“A learned trait
,” I countered.

He grinned
.

“Alrigh
t, but if I ever feel you aren’t up for this, I’m personally going to tie you up and carry you back. Your well-being is much more important to me than clearing this damn town.”

I smiled at his concern.
He truly cared for me. Our relationship was constantly being tested outside of the hive, and it kept growing, strengthening, and blossoming to a whole new level.

We now had come to the point we couldn’t see any of the other teams, but we were relieved when they each radioed in with an “
all clear
”.

I prayed everyone would be careful and safe
. Human kind was quickly diminishing. We were now an endangered species, and our mutant counterparts were the ones responsible.

They were a part of the
aftermath in which human kind were directly responsible. Karma had literally come back, and mutated only to bite us in the ass—and it was lethal.

The
pain in my head wouldn’t subside, and the closer we made it to the outside of the perimeter, the more excruciating it became. I kept my thoughts on my parents, and all the years I spent growing up in the hive. Finn and I in schooling, training, and the countless hours of talking, swinging, and gazing at the painted sunset in our fake park. There were so many wonderful memories, way too many to remember. So much had happened since then. It seemed so long ago, a faded dream.

I kept my eyes on Finn
and the areas he wasn’t able to see, as we headed to the second floor of our building.

The
walkie suddenly went off.

“
Help! We need Help!
”

“
Laura?
” Rhett answered back. “
Laura where are you?
”

“
Old Smith house. Hurry!
”

Gunfire,
screams, and growls echoed from across the town.

“Go, go, go!” Finn yelled.
We all ran out from our building, toward the shots, as fast as we could.

Rhett’s team was firing into one of the buildi
ngs, trying to cover Reed, who came running out. His arm was bloodied, and it looked like there was a large chunk of flesh removed.

Oh God.

Rhett pulled him to safety and moved forward, firing wildly into the building.

I quickly glanced
up to the third floor. In one of the windows, standing way back in a dark corner, I saw the reflection of two white eyes staring back. Then, they disappeared.

Immediate
, searing pain shot through my head, completely incapacitating me. I dropped to the ground and for a moment, blacked out.

“
Abi! Abi,” I could hear Finn’s voice calling to me, but I couldn’t respond.

A
ll I could hear, loud and clear, was the chanting of the mutants in my mind.

Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill
. Kill.

Their voices were like
a war drum, overpowering, reverberating through every cell in my body. I thought there would only be a few dozen, but I was wrong. It sounded like there were many, many more.

“Finn, we need to leave. Now!” I screamed. It took every ounce of energy left in me to yell those few words. Blood dripped from my nose. I could feel liquid running down the side of my neck. I wiped it and realized my ears were bleeding.

“
Shit, Abi. I’m getting you out of here,” Finn urged. “Rhett, we need to get out of here. Right
now
.”

“I n
eed to get the rest of my teams. Please, take Reed and Peggy Sue back to Sanctum.”

“Where’s Jamie?” Reed asked. “Where’s my wife?”

“She’s getting Laura,” he said. “I’ll make sure they meet you there.”

“I’m not leaving
without you,” Peggy Sue scolded Rhett.

“I’m ordering you, not as your h
usband, but as your leader. Take Reed back to Sanctum and tend to his arm.”

“You better follow
right after us, Rhett Miller. Don’t you dare die being a hero.”

“I’
ll be right behind you. I promise,” he assured.

“Pike, Tim…let’s move,” Finn urged. I was suddenly swooped up into his arms and we were running away. Peggy Sue and Reed were right behind us, followed by Tim and Pike who were covering us. The further we ran from the creatures, the pressure in my head started to ease. By the time we made it back into the walls of the sanctuary, the pressure had almost completely subsided.

“
They need help. They’re surrounded,” a man from the lookout yelled.

“I’m going back,
” Peggy Sue said. She helped Reed sit on one of the old pews, then tied a handkerchief tightly around his arm to stop the bleeding.

“Were you bit?” I asked Reed.

“No,” he said, but I wasn’t sure if he was lying. “My arm got caught. Tore the skin.”

Finn carefully set me down.

“Billy, how many are there?” Peggy Sue yelled up.

“Too many to
count, but they are surrounded,” he confirmed.

“Do you have a sniper rifle?” I asked.

“Yes. There’s one set up at the window,” he yelled back.

“Go get ‘em
,” Finn said, taking me into his arms and kissing me quickly. He then turned and ran back out, following Peggy Sue. Tim and Pike followed after him.

“Finn!” I
yelled after him. He quickly turned back. “Be safe.”

“I will,” he promised.

My heart hammered, as I quickly scaled the stairs toward Billy. Now that Finn was out in the open, I needed to get to that rifle as quickly as I could. In the safety of Sanctum, with my head clear, I would be able to fight from a distance.

“Where’s your rifle?”
I asked, as soon as my feet hit the top stair. The room was round, about ten feet in diameter, and there were four windows facing each direction.

“Right there.” He pointed at the window
facing the front.

I ran to the weapon
and glanced out the window, spotting Finn and the others running toward Rhett and the remaining nine team members. Billy was right. There were at least seventy or more Arvies. Most of them stayed within the buildings under the shade, but there were about twenty-five who braved the heat and surrounded them.

Where did they
all come from? It seemed like we’d killed so many over the past few days.

As soon as my eyes saw the rifle, I
sighed in relief. It was an M110 semi-automatic, with a scope already mounted. I’d shot one of these several times in the hive. I was thrilled I didn’t have to re-load after every shot, and it appeared they already had a twenty round magazine loaded and ready.

“Do you have extra ammo?” I asked.

“Yes, we have a box of them right over here,” Billy said. He pulled out a medium sized box and dragged it over to me. They had enough ammo to kill at least a thousand Arvies.

“That’s a lot of ammo,” I noted.

“Well, we never really had to use any of it,” he shrugged.

“
Do you have any extra magazines?” I asked.

“Only one,” he answered.

“I’ll need you reload as soon as I’m out. We’ll just keep switching off, alright?”

“You got it,” he said.
Billy set the box of ammo to the side of me, then placed a stool next to it, and sat down.

I turned quickly to him. “It’s nice
to meet you. My name is Abi.”

“Nice to meet you, Abi,” he smiled.
“My name is Billy.”

Billy was an older man, his face was weathered, he had dark hair and dark features. He looked like he was in his late sixties, maybe early seventies.

“So, are you related to Rhett?” I asked.

“Yep. I’m his Uncle. When their father died, I helped raise the boys,” he said.

“That was nice of you.”

“Yeah. I’m still alive today because of them.”

I nodded. My fingers were shaking, trying to work quickly and efficiently. Knowing Finn was out there, without me, had my insides twisted in knots. I paused for a few seconds, closed my eyes, took in a few deep breaths, and focused on what I had to do.

“
Billy, have you fired this rifle before?” I asked.

“I haven’t, but Rhett has a few times.
It seems to be pretty accurate,” he stated.

I adjusted the scope, focusing on the greatest threat
.

“I sure hope you can shoot that gun,” he said.

I smiled, took in a deep breath, and whispered, “So do I.”

If I remembered correctly, the maximum effec
tive range of this rifle was eight hundred meters or eight hundred and seventy-five yards. Finn and the others were less than two hundred yards away. I could do this.

I slowed my breath.
Steady.

“One shot, one kill,” I whispered to myself.

“You ready, Billy?” I asked.

“Oh yeah,” he said.

Rhett a
nd the others were firing on the Arvies that surrounded them. They were dropping a few, but I could tell they were firing blindly, and it would be a matter of time before they ran out of ammo.

I lined up my first shot. It was an Arvy off to the left, coming in a little too close.

Bam!

I hit it in
the neck, nearly severing its head from his shoulders.

I was aiming for his head, but it still worked.

Finn, Pike, and Tim had caught up to Peggy Sue, but they were still about fifty yards away.

Then I noticed something
none of them would have been able to see from the ground. Dozens of Arvies were crawling on all fours in the shadows of the buildings behind them. The bastards were stalking, surrounding them.

Dammit! Even if I yelled
as loud as I could, they were too far to hear me.

Right now, I
was the only one who could see them. I could feel the pressure inside me mounting, threatening to shut me down.

No.

I sucked in a deep breath.

I wasn’t going to allow my anxieties
overcome me.

Finn
’s life was now in my hands. I
had
to save him.

The
Arvies were around a hundred and seventy-five yards away. I lined up my next shot, aiming for the Arvy closest to them. I targeted the center of its back, the widest part of its body. I wasn’t going to take any chances.

I said a l
ittle prayer, held my breath, and pressed the trigger.

Bam!

The bullet hit the left side of its back, pushing him forward, leaving red splatter on the building. It screamed and dropped to the ground, flailing its body in pain. The others around it didn’t know what the hell happened.

I quickly aimed
at the next Arvy and pressed the trigger. The bullet entered its chest from the right side. It was dead instantly.

I
needed to kill as many as I could before they found out what hit them.

I aime
d again.

Bam!

Its head flew sideways with the shot, and half of its brain splattered on the building and dripped down to the ground.

The
Arvies became crazed and started screaming in their blood curdling high pitch.

Finn, Pike,
Tim, and Peggy Sue heard their screams and turned, readying themselves.

A
t least they were now aware.

Paybacks a bitch
, you bastards.
I wondered if the Arvies could read that thought. I hoped they could.

As quickly as I lined up
the shots, I pressed the trigger. Before I knew it, twenty Arvies had dropped by my hand.

I detached the em
pty clip and handed it to Billy, and he handed me a full one. I clicked it in.

With three
more presses of the trigger, three more Arvies dropped. The buildings were becoming textured with blood and brain matter. In a few more seconds, three more were down.

“Hot damn!
You’ve got a pretty amazing trigger finger, for a girl,” Billy noted.

“Thanks,
” I answered. But I had to stay focused. I had to make sure Finn wasn’t in any danger. He was my main priority.

There were a few more stray
Arvies moving a little too close around Rhett’s group, so I quickly took them out.

The next magazine was empty.

After I loaded the new one, I lined up my next shot.

“
What the—?” I gasped, frantically searching through the scope.

T
he Arvies were gone. Vanished. Within a few seconds of reloading they’d completely disappeared.

Finn, Pike, Tim,
and Peggy Sue had finally reached Rhett, and helped them take out the rest of the Arvies immediately surrounding them.

But my heart started hammering, w
ondering where the hell the Arvies disappeared to?

I had to warn the
group, but firing at them wouldn’t be enough.

A sudden,
loud, painful scream came from under us, a human scream.

Billy
ran to the stairwell and looked down.

“It’s
Reed. He’s hurt!” he yelled, bounding down the stairs.

“
Billy!” I screamed after him, but I wasn’t going to leave my post. I had to keep my eye on Finn.

As
the group made their way back to Sanctum, I kept searching. Then, I saw a slight movement under one of the buildings, left of their path.

Mutant bastards.
They must have figured out I was sniping them, and took cover underneath the buildings. Little did they know, I still had the edge. Mixed within the box, I spotted some armor piercing rounds. There were at least ten on the top, from what I spotted. There must have been more, but I didn’t need much to stir them up.

I detached the magazine
and replaced ten of the rounds. My heart pounded with excitement. I’d never shot an armor piercing bullet before. Uncle Frank had some in the hive, but we were never allowed to shoot them. From what I learned, these bullets would have no problem going through the weak wood of the buildings. I couldn’t wait to see this.

I
aimed for the last place I’d seen the movement.

Slow
.

Steady
.

I prayed the bullet would find its mark
, and I held my breath as I pulled the trigger.

Horrifying screams pierced the town
.

I must have hit one.

I aimed about a foot above my last shot, and pressed the trigger again.

About ten
Arvies suddenly scrambled out from under the building. They never knew what hit them, and it actually looked like they were the ones on the run now.

Our
group immediately saw them and began firing on the Arvies, killing all they could see.

I
sighed.

They looked like they had it handled. I did all
I could do. Sniping with them so close to the Arvies was much too risky.

Below,
I could hear Billy trying to comfort Reed. Then, a sudden wave of terror washed over me. He said he wasn’t bitten, but I had a sinking feeling he was hiding the truth, knowing the final outcome.

I l
eft the rifle and sprinted for the stairs, un-holstering Hellfire. I racked her slide, feeding a bullet into her chamber.

“Billy
,” I screamed. “Get away from him!”

As I ma
de my way down the stairs, Billy was on the ground, with Reed’s head in his lap.

“Can you help him?
” Billy asked, his eyes wide with fear. “Please, help him.”

“I can’t. I’m sorry,” I said.

Reed moaned in pain, just like the pilot did. He was starting to change.

“Billy
, why don’t you go get one of our doctors? They can help,” I lied. I just needed him to get away.

“I can’t leave him,” he said.

“Billy, you need to get away from him. He’s been bitten. He’s changing, becoming infected. If he turns and bites you, you’re as good as dead.”

“Help me,” Reed agonized, grinding his teeth together.

“Billy. Get
away from him,” I said slowly, raising Hellfire.

“W
hoa, whoa! Wait. What are you doing?” Billy raised both of his arms in the air. “You don’t have to do this.”

“It’s too late. There is no cure
for him. Do you want him to suffer, or do you want him to be at peace?” I said. “Think about it. Would he want to turn into one of those infected mutants, or would he want to go quick and painless?”

“You are not going to kill
him. Put the gun down,” he pleaded.

Reed
was getting worse. His moans were loud and his body was writhing in pain. His eyes opened for a moment and were already clouded. “Get away from him, Billy!” I begged.

“I can’t
,” he said, shaking his head. His eyes filled with tears.

“Abi!
What the hell are you doing?” Rhett yelled. Before I could blink, guns were raised and pointed at me.

“
Reed was bit. He’s changing. You need to get Billy away from him,” I urged.

Jamie
burst in and ran toward her husband. “Reed!” she cried. Tears poured down her dirty cheeks.

“Don’t
! You can’t let her near him! If he bites them, they’ll die.”

Peggy Sue raised her weapon and pointed it at me. “
Drop your weapon, Abi.”

“Whoa! What the hell
is going on?” Finn said, stepping in, out of breath. Pike and Tim followed behind him with looks of confusion.

“He’s been bitten,” I said.

Finn stepped in between me and the guns aiming at my direction.

“
Abi is telling the truth. Look at his eyes. He’s already beginning to change.”

“Rhett!” Reed wailed
.

Rhett went and knelt next to his brother, and held his hand up to me, letting me know he had the matter in control. “I’m here brother. What do you need
?”