Sanctum (The After Light Saga) (8 page)

“He’s alive, but weak.
He’s badly dehydrated. Everyone, drink as much as you can. It’s better to do it now. We can worry about finding more water once we get into the town,” Dr. Banks said.

We all grabbed our canteens
and drank. My parched body was thankful. The small amount of water seemed to bring my body back to life. I still had a throbbing headache and felt a little dizzy, but the water helped.

The doctors made sure the patients and soldiers were well hydrated before we moved on.

Finn had taken the weak soldiers spot, carrying the injured.

Tina turned back
to me, her face was red and tears welled in her eyes. Her body was shaking. “I don’t think I can make it.”

“Yes
, you can,” I urged, knowing if her mind gave up, her body would quickly follow. The mind could either make or break you. We needed to stay focused, and not allow our minds to be weak.

Tina had never been pushed far enough to test her true grit. I could see it wearing on her.
Fear, exhaustion, desperation, pain…it was painted in her red, swollen eyes. She was starting to fall apart, and if I didn’t do something to help her, she would crack.

“
Tina, look at me. I know you can make it. We have to get to the town. Once we do, we can rest and call for backup.”

“Abi, I can barely
stand. My body is shaking so badly, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

“Then lea
n on me. I’ll help you.” I pulled her to my side and wrapped my arm around her back for support. “We’ll do this together, alright? Hell, I’m not leaving your ass here, so you better pull yourself together and get moving.”

Tina cracked a smile and nodded.

I turned back. “Dr. Banks, is there anything to help stop Tina from shaking?”

“
She just needs more water,” he answered.

I nodded and took her canteen from her sid
e and unscrewed it. It was almost full. “Tina, have you been drinking water?”

“Yes, but I needed
to save some. We still have a full day tomorrow,” she said.

“Well, you need to drink.
Doctor’s orders. We can deal with the water issue later. Right now, you’re seriously dehydrated, and that’s the main reason why you’re feeling so crappy.”

I pl
aced the canteen up to her lips and she took a sip.

“Drin
k,” I ordered. She grasped the canteen in both hands and began gulping the water.

In a fe
w seconds, she had emptied half of its contents. Her eyes were closed and she let out a sigh.

“Feel better?” I asked.

“Much,” she exhaled. “It’s almost like magic. Water really does give life to everything.”

I smiled. “Yes, it does.
We’ll take it slow, but we need to keep moving. You alright?” I asked.

“Still shaky, but I think I can do it,” she sighed.

“No, you
can
do it,” I said.

We slowly trudged forward, following
the pilot through the agonizing heat. My legs felt extremely weighted, and my feet were throbbing and stinging from new blisters. There was no way to quench the extreme thirst. I felt like a dried up mummy, and if I coughed, dust would fly from my mouth. My eyes were burning, and the pain in my head was not subsiding. This was the worst, most intense heat I’d ever had to endure.

T
he sun slowly descended behind us, bringing our shadows to life. I focused on mine, using it as a guide. It was keeping perfect time, not too fast and not too slow, leading me to safety. With every step, the shadow covered more ground, and before I knew it, we were within a few miles of the town.

It was
sitting in the middle of nowhere. There were no other buildings around, as far as the eye could see; just some small hills and a few mountains in the far distance. It was secluded, and looked as if there were no more than fifty buildings.

“What town is this?”
Tina asked.

“
I’m not sure. It’s not on the map, but we are somewhere in southeast Montana,” the navigator answered.

As we drew closer
a feeling of hope and accomplishment surged through our company. Everyone seemed to have a renewed bounce in their step and almost rushed forward. We’d made it. At least we had a place where we could finally rest and take shelter for the night.

“I told you we
’d make it,” I said, nudging Tina. My words were slurring, because my tongue was so swollen from the heat.

She gave a faint nod and a half grin. “Thank you,” she whispered.

I glanced back at Finn. He’d wrapped his outer shirt around his head. His arms were bright red and burned, but through his pain, he smiled and winked at me. My heart fluttered. It was comforting to have him here with me. Yet another obstacle we’d endured together. I knew once we came out of it, we’d be even stronger.

As we neared the town
, one of the patients started screaming. His medication must have been wearing off.

“Shut him
up,” the pilot said, grabbing for his weapon. I glanced down to Hellfire. She was still holstered in my side, and I knew if I needed her, I could pull her in a second.

“Put him down,” Dr. Banks ordered. The soldiers placed
him on the ground, while Dr. Fox rushed to find the medication. Meanwhile the patient continued to scream obscenities and vile words. Spit flew from his mouth. His eyes were glazed over, and bright red.

Everyone started to get nervous. One of the
soldiers quickly placed his hand over the guy’s mouth, in an attempt to try and quiet him.

“Ahhhh,
” he yelled, pulling his hand away. Blood was flowing from a deep bite wound. “He bit me! Shit, that hurts,” he said through gritted teeth.

Dr. Lee checked his wound. He motioned for him to sit down, while he
rummaged through one of the bags. Each bag was labeled on the outside, so they would know which medicines were inside. He poured what looked like iodine over the wound to clean it, then took out a small packet and sprinkled something over it. Almost instantly, the blood stopped flowing, and he bandaged him up.

“Thanks, doc
,” the soldier said.

Dr. Lee nodded. He was doing extremely well for an elder
ly man.

The patient was still s
creaming, threatening to push everyone over the edge. Dr. Banks was trying to calm him while Dr. Fox desperately searched for his medicine.

This was becoming a nightmare. We were
paused, out in the open, with the sun quickly setting. The patient was like a blaring alarm. If there was anything within the town, they would know we were coming.

“You
need to shut him up now, or I’ll do it,” the pilot demanded. He was quickly becoming agitated and restless.

“We’re working on it,” Dr. Fox said. He finally had his medication,
but his hands were shaking so badly, he couldn’t get the needle into the small bottle.

Dr. Banks finally took the syringe
, extracted the medicine, and quickly stuck it in the patient’s arm. He then covered his mouth with his shirt and pressed until he quieted. I was so glad he was here with us. My father would have been proud.

“
Good job, Dr. Banks,” Finn said.

Dr. Banks nodded,
and then quickly checked the next patient. He seemed to be fine at the moment.

“We need to get moving
and find shelter before the sun sets,” the pilot urged. His eyes were wide with fear.

“We’re
ready back here,” Dr. Banks said.

T
he soldiers lifted the injured patients, and we headed into the small town.

It was
strange. So quiet and eerie. There were so signs of life, but we still had to be on guard. Most of the buildings had large windows which had been broken, making the insides unsafe and easily accessible. The streets were littered with shards of glass, and a few of the buildings were charred.

This
was proof there was life here at one point or another. Hopefully, whatever was here had moved on.

The shade provided from the building
s immediately helped, and it felt like the temperature dropped about ten degrees. Tina even let go of me, which was a good sign.

“Thank you, Abi. No one I know would have done what you did for me. I’m glad you’re here,” she said softly.

“Hey, that’s what friends are for, right?” I answered.

She smiled and nodded.

As we made our way through the town my stomach began to twist, sensing a lingering air of doom. The hair on my skin stood on end, and the air began to feel thick. My head was throbbing, first in my left eye, then it radiated everywhere between my temples. It hurt so badly I wanted to scream.

“Abi, your nose
,” Tina said, rushing to my side.

I touched my fingers
to my nose, and when I pulled back, they were covered in blood.

“What the
? It must be the heat. My body isn’t used to these extremes,” I said.

“Abi, are you alright?” Dr. Banks asked.

“Nosebleed,” I answered.

“Put pressure on it. I’ll check it once we find a place to rest,” he said. I nodded, and pressed my nose.

Meanwhile, I had a sinking feeling something was going to happen. I just hoped my instincts were wrong. Nevertheless, Hellfire was ready. I was wondering if I should make sure everyone was prepared for anything. I thought of my father, and knew if he were put in a position and felt threatened, he’d make sure everyone was prepared, regardless if anything happened or not.

“
Everyone please be on guard,” I said.

“
Why, do you see something?” the pilot asked.

“N
o, but we should be prepared for anything,” I said.

A hot wind
whipped and whistled through the dilapidated buildings, picking up dust and spinning it like a mini twister in front of us.

One of the younger soldiers
suddenly yelled, “Holy crap. Is that what I think it is?”

He placed his end of the stretcher on the ground, and took off running towards one of the buildings
off to the right side of us.

“Get back here,”
his partner yelled.

“
Hot damn! It’s grass. Actual
grass
, growing right here on the ground. This place can sustain life,” he was smiling from ear to ear. He bent down and brushed his fingers over it.

I had to blink a few times, just to make sure I wasn’t h
allucinating. But he was right. A small patch of green, about a foot wide, was sitting under an old rusted water pipe. There was life in the middle of the destruction.

“Why is it onl
y in that area?” Pike asked.

I looked at Dr.
Banks, and he had a smile. “I’m not sure. But it looks like it was sitting under that pipe? Maybe this town was far enough from the radiation zones and wasn’t directly affected. We’ll have to mark this area and let the leaders know. This looks like a great area to rebuild a community.”

Then, the one thing I ha
d feared the most, happened. A familiar, hair-raising scream pierced the air. As heated as I was, the sound sent a cold shiver down my spine.

“Arvies,” I screamed, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Tina turned to me with wide, horrified eyes.

“Stay right behind me, Tina. Don’t run. Everyone needs to stay together. If we separate, they will pick us off.”

T
he soldier near the grass stood, and something grabbed him, dragging him behind the building. All we could hear were his screams of pain.

Finn took off
running in his direction.

“No! Finn, don’t,” I screamed. I knew it wasn’t going to help. Once he set his mind to something, he wasn’t turning back.

“Tina stay here. Pike, stay with her. I’ll be back,” I said, taking off after Finn. Another soldier started running after me. I couldn’t run fast enough to catch Finn.

We ran around the building, just quick enough to see
him disappear behind another building to the left. I followed him, Hellfire gripped tightly in my hand. My heart hammered so hard it hurt. With every step, a shooting pain throbbed in my head. It was almost unbearable, but I wasn’t going to let Finn be alone.

Agonizing screams from the captured
soldier echoed through the street. I glanced down at the dry earth and saw a thin trail of blood. If the soldier had been bitten, there was no way we could save him.

“Finn,” I screamed.

There was a gunshot. My breath and heart seized.

“Finn!”
I yelled again. We quickly rounded the building. About thirty yards ahead, Finn was standing over the soldier’s limp body. His right ear was gone, bitten off. Blood poured from the wound.

A
bout ten yards ahead, a lifeless Arvie lay between two buildings, face down, with a gaping hole in its back.

Scr
eams and growls echoed all around us. From the sounds, I knew we were outnumbered, and the sun was quickly setting.

Finn knelt
and felt the soldier’s neck. When I reached them, I saw the soldier had been bitten twice. His ear, and there was a large chunk of his neck missing. Blood poured from his wounds. I wanted to throw up.

“Finn?”

He looked up at me and shook his head. The soldier was dead.
This was the first time I’d actually witnessed a dead body. A few minutes ago, this soldier was full of life, talking, laughing, and filled with hope, as his fingers brushed the soft, new grass.

“He’s
dead?” his fellow soldier’s voice shook.

“Yes, and we
will be too if we don’t get back to the others,” Finn urged.

“We can’t leave him here,” the soldier
said.

“We have to,” Finn said.
“There is nothing we can do for him. He’s gone.” Finn reached down and pulled the soldier’s tag from his neck and handed it to his friend.

The soldier took the
bloodied dog tag and placed it in his pocket.

Finn took the dead so
ldiers weapon and extra ammo. “Let’s get back. The others will need our help.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me with him.

When we made it back to the group, they
all looked completely terrified. The Arvies had awakened, and sounded like they were ready for war. We were in their territory. I just hoped we could find shelter in time.

“What happened to the soldier?” Tina asked.

I shook my head. “He didn’t make it,” I whispered.

“He’s dead?” Her eyes were wide with horror.

I nodded. She lost her last thread of composure and fell into Pike’s arms.

“We need to get out of here
,” the pilot yelled.

“
We need to stick together,” Finn said. “They’ll easily pick off any stragglers. Didn’t you see what happened to the other soldier?”

“H
e’s right,” Dr. Banks said, coming to his aid. “We need to stay together.”

Finn stood next to me, his arm brushing up against mine. He bent
down and whispered in my ear, “I’ve got your back…and your front,” he winked.

“And, I’ve got yours—both,
” I winked back.

“
You better,” he grinned. “Stay alive, alright?” His lips brushed my cheek, and despite the horror around us, my heart skipped a beat.

“
Alright,” I agreed.

“How’s your leg?”

“Fine. How’s your head?”

“Fine,” I lied. It was still throbbing.

“We need to move
faster
,” the pilot screamed. I could tell the horrifying growls of the Arvies were getting to him. He was losing it.

A cloud
covered the sun, and suddenly milky eyes appeared, glowing within the pitch-black darkness of the buildings.

The pilot’s
eyes became wide with horror, his breath was rapid. It was obvious he’d never come into contact with Arvies before. It was breaking everyone who hadn’t previously experienced them firsthand. Even those of us who had, were still completely terrified. For we knew what we were up against, and what was behind the hair-raising screams.

We
moved at a quickened pace.

I
held Hellfire up, ready to shoot at anything that came at us.

“Finn,” I called
, drawing his attention to an abandoned building ahead of us, where dozens of illuminated eyes, glared at us.

“I see them
,” he said. “Just stay right next to me.”

Tina
held on to Pike’s left arm with a death grip. In his right was his weapon, drawn and ready to fire.

I didn’t know how many there were, but t
here were dozens of pairs of eyes watching our every move. I tried to steady my breathing, wondering why they hadn’t attacked yet.

Dr. Banks
and Dr. Fox had taken over responsibility of carrying one of the injured. We needed all the soldiers and guns as we could get.

Dr. Lee was
in no shape to carry anyone, or shoot a gun. He looked very frail, and I was surprised he had made it this far. I guess I totally underestimated him. He had some kind of super inner strength.

“Hey,” I said to one of the
soldiers. I noticed he had two weapons. “Could she use one of your guns?” I pointed to Tina who was ahead of me.

“Yeah
. She should be able to handle this one,” he said. While we were still moving, he unholstered his Glock 26, and gave it to Tina.

“I can’t
,” she said, pushing it away.

I ran up and took the gun from his hand and held it out to her.

“Tina, if one of those Arvies comes at you, I want you to aim this at its head or in the middle of its chest, and pull the trigger. Remember, if one of them sinks its teeth into you, it will not only hurt like hell, but you will slowly change into one of them. If you change, I’ll have to shoot you, and I seriously don’t want to do that. So, please. Take the damn weapon, and use it.”

I stared intently at her
. This wasn’t a game. We were in the middle of a life or death situation. I needed her to be strong, and be with me. I needed to keep her alive.

Tina
sucked in a deep breath, swallowed hard, and took the gun into her hands.

“You can do it,
Tina,” Pike assured. “I’ll cover you, but if I need to reload, I’ll need you to step in.”

Tina nodded
, exhaling loudly.

“Hey,
remember how you said you’ve always wanted to shoot a gun? Well you’re in a real battle now. Show them you’re not just a damn cook,” I said.

“Yeah. But cook sounds so much better right now.” I saw the tiniest grin on her lips
.

Pike quickly showed her how to use
her weapon, and made sure she knew exactly what to do before he handed it to her. “Like I said, just stay behind me. If anything gets past me, use it,” Pike reassured her, and she nodded. He gave her a side hug and kissed her forehead.

Their affection made me
smile. The monsters lurking in the darkness couldn’t kill our desire to live, to love. This was
our
planet. It wasn’t our fault it was dead. We were survivors, and ready to do whatever it took to save her. The small patch of grass was proof she was giving us signs. Mother earth was ready.

The sun had appeared again
from behind the cloud, but in about ten minutes, it would take its brilliance and leave us in the darkness.

I was surpris
ed the Arvies hadn’t attacked yet. They didn’t seem as aggressive as the Arvies in the bigger city. The ones we’d previously encountered attacked us in broad daylight. Maybe these were just waiting, knowing they could attack us soon.

We quic
kly made our way toward the center of town. Most of the buildings were not suitable for shelter. All of the windows were broken, doors were ripped off their hinges, and the structures didn’t look sound.

“Look,
” Dr. Lee announced, pointing ahead. “Sanctuary.”

That was the first time I’d heard him speak
this whole trip. We all followed his finger, and saw a large round dome, with a long silver cross, attached to its roof. It looked like it was a few blocks away, dead center of the town. It was odd, like the structure was out of place. It was almost too exquisite to be out here in a desolate town. Resembling a mini cathedral, it also had a very dark and eerie presence.

“
We need to hurry. We need to get there,” the pilot urged. “The sun is almost gone.” He started to take off, running at a fast pace toward the sanctuary, pulling away from the rest of us.

“
Wait,” I yelled. “You need to get back with the rest of the group.” But he didn’t stop. He ran faster, getting further and further away from us.

I had a feeling, deep in the pit of
my gut; something bad was about to happen. I could almost see it happening in my mind’s eye. Complete horror.

“Sir, st
op! Please. Come back! We have to stay together,” I pleaded again. My words were useless.

A
crippling pain shot through my brain. The pressure was extreme, like a vice grip tightening around my skull, almost to the point of exploding. I nearly stumbled, but took a deep breath and focused ahead. The last rays of the sun were just beginning to disappear, as we rushed toward the sanctuary.

O
ut of the darkness, an Arvy revealed itself. Its hideous form, pale and hunched, slowly stalked toward the pilot.

The pilot
was running so fast, he tripped and stumbled to the ground. Frozen with fear, he just laid there, as dozens of glowing eyes surrounded him. Finally, he scrambled to his feet and reached for his gun. His hands were trembling so horribly, he missed every shot. Then, an Arvy jumped at his arm, sending his gun flying to the ground.

“Help! Help me!” he screamed. “Help me!”

“We’re coming!” I yelled back. We were trying to reach him as quickly as we could, but as we came closer, more Arvies started to crawl from the darkness. A white flash grabbed the pilot and threw him to the ground. It happened so fast, I couldn’t get a shot off. I aimed, but it was too risky. The pilot and the Arvy were wrestling on the ground. I wasn’t about to risk the chance of possibly injuring or killing the pilot.

“Help!
Get him off me,” the pilot screamed.

His horrifying cries made my insides turn. I had to help. I ran forward
, ahead of the group.

“Abi
,
no
.” Finn grabbed my arm.

“I have to.” I shook his
grip away, and headed toward them. But Finn was right at my side. I knew he wouldn’t let me go alone.

“Don’t go too far. We
still need to protect the group,” he said.

I
nodded. He was right. Sometimes I just did things without thinking, but he was always there to keep me in check. My verbal conscience.

A few more
Arvies appeared, but they lingered back. The sun was starting to set, and they were coming alive. They ruled the darkness, and we were trespassing. With too many bodies surrounding the pilot, my stomach turned, knowing what the outcome would be. He had pulled too far away from us.

I kept Hellfire up and ready.

One of the other Arvies screamed and tried to jump toward the pilot, who was still wrestling with the first Arvy. I quickly aimed and shot it in the side of the head. It dropped, but then dozens of vicious, milky eyes snapped toward me.

M
y head instantly felt like it was going to explode. My vision was becoming blurred, and I couldn’t do anything about it.

“Finn, something’s happening to me,” I said
, frantic.

“
Abi, what’s wrong?” He was next to me, but didn’t drop his guard.

“My head.
I can’t focus. It hurts,” I couldn’t take the pain anymore.
God help me. Stop!
I screamed in my mind.