A New World: Sanctuary (17 page)

Her thoughts, while following the initial entry and progress inside, folds back to the events of the past.
 
She finds it hard to believe they were in class just over a week ago and her biggest concerns were what she was going to wear and what friend’s house she was going to go to after school.
 
The whirlwind adventure of this past week seem very unreal to her.
 
Or really, the time before this is the one that seems surreal
.
 
It still seems like an adventure but with terrifying events mixed in.
 
It was a lot of fun flying around and being the flight engineer
, she thinks but then turns to thoughts of her mom and friends.
 
A tear leaks out and runs down her face.
 
The thought of her mom and what happened brings a stark reality of their situation.

Bri thinks back to that terrifying morning.
 
Robert rushing into her room and waking her.
 
Her being pissed at him for waking her up early as she had stayed up late texting with her friends.

“Bri, get up!
 
Something’s wrong and we’ve got to get out of here,” Robert said with an urgent whisper.

“What!?
 
Where are Mom and Nic?”
 
She asked.

“Shhhh.
 
Keep it down dammit,” he said with a tense whisper and finger to his lips.
 
“Nic is in the hallway by the door.”

“Where’s Mom?”
 
She asked more quietly.
 
She remembers Robert just staring at her with an unreadable expression.

“Just get up. Now!”
 
He answered.

She pushed the covers off and felt the cold floor beneath her feet.
 
Her phone was on the sheets next to her where it had fallen when she had fallen asleep in the middle of texting.
 
She grabbed it and followed Robert to the door.
 
Nic was standing outside looking down the hall and stairs.
 
Nic gave her a quick hug before turning back to her focus.

“What now?”
 
Nic asked Robert.

“We need to make it downstairs and outside.
 
We need to keep quiet.
 
I’ll go first with you two right behind,” he answered.

“What’s going on?”
 
Bri asked quietly.

“There’s someone or something downstairs,” Robert answered.
 
They had all read and watched the news of the quickly escalating situation.
 
They had somewhat put the pieces together and knew something wasn’t right.
 
There was the increasing news of the flu pandemic and subsequent vaccine.
 
People were dying in droves and the reports of people attacking each other were startling.
 
The world seemed to be coming apart at the seams.

Robert started off and it was then that Bri noticed the knife in his hand.
 
It was one of the boot knives their dad had given him.
 
Seeing Robert stalking ahead with the knife had made her realize that their situation was dangerous as Robert wasn’t one to be dramatic for drama’s sake alone.
 
They made their way to the stairs and began to creep down.
 
Reaching the corner, she could see where the stairs emptied into the living room.
 
Robert reached the bottom step and peered around, signaling them to follow after a moment.

They all stepped into the living room and crept toward the locked front door.
 
The door was locked fast with multiple deadlocks and a contraption of boards against it.
 
Robert had stepped into the hallway in front of the door and a loud shriek erupted from near the back door along with feet slapping rapidly against the floor.

“Quick, into the basement,” Robert said knowing he would never get the front door open in time.
 
Throwing the basement door open, they all flew inside.
 
Robert shut and locked the door just as something big slammed into it.
 
They fled down the basement steps and hid by boxes of mementos on the floor.
 

“What was that?”
 
Bri asked.

“I don’t know,” Robert answered.

Robert’s phone vibrated and he answered, talking briefly.
 
It vibrated again shortly thereafter and, again, the conversation was short.

“That was Dad.
 
He says to be quiet, that he loves you, and that he’s on his way,” Robert said closing his phone.

“Night runner on the far balcony, second floor,” Bri hears a female voice call out over the radio, jarring her back into the present.

The radio call brings an increase in tension within her.
 
She thinks of her dad inside as he issues an order for Cressman to take out the night runner.
 
She remembers the times when her days were filled with being with her friends; missing her dad but thinking she had time to connect and see him later.
 
It was always later.
 
An overwhelming feeling of sadness envelopes her thinking of those missed opportunities and how fun it had been when they would all go to the drive-in; how free and open those times were.
 
She sends another prayer outward hoping they will see this through and she will see her dad again.

She follows the events inside with the radio calls.
 
Suddenly, shrieks emit through the entrance door, faintly reaching her ears faintly.
 
The radio calls begin to take on a frantic tone and gunshots, well, more like gunfire is heard both through the radio when calls are made and the open door.
 
Her heart beats faster and she hopes that everyone is okay.
 
After a short time, she hears her dad calling for teams to pull back.
 
The noise being radiated from inside is constant.
 
Looking to the sky with another tear forming, she whispers, “Please, please, anything but let them be okay.”

Nic steps over and puts her arm around her, knocking her earpiece out.
 
She doesn’t bother to put it back in as the feel of her sister’s arm around her is comforting.
 
The sounds being emitted suddenly, and without warning, cease.
 
Her heart jumps up a notch.
 
Several minutes pass and she sees soldiers appear at the door hauling limp forms between them.
 
She gasps loudly and runs toward where they are laying the bodies by the side of the door.
 
She peers anxiously at each of them but they are so ruined that she can’t make out the features well enough to identify.
 
Her stomach turns but she continues to look, hoping to find something that will tell her that none of these are her dad or brother.

She stifles a sob and looks up to see Lynn arranging a sixth body beside her.
 
Their eyes meets; Lynn’s blue eyes red from a lack of sleep and tension, Bri’s from the forming tears and anxiety.

“Is my dad okay?”
 
Bri asks looking at Lynn hopefully.

Lynn stands and wraps her in a hug, “Yes, he’s okay, sweetheart.”

“And Robert?”
 
Bri asks into Lynn’s shoulder.

“Yes, hon, they’re both okay,” Lynn answers.

Bri sobs once in relief and thanks any spirits listening for an answer to her prayers.

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The bodies of Delta are carried outside and laid by the front door.
 
The soft moaning carries throughout the building at intervals.
 
No other attacks, shrieks, or screams are heard.
 
The few minutes of violence that once filled this space will be forever remembered but it is now just a blip on the passing line of time.
 
The area will forever hold the fierce battle, the shouts, the screams, the gunfire and bloodshed that were created in this space and time but the world moves on and so does the passage of time and events.

“Red Team will join with Charlie.
 
Lynn, Drescoll, move up on the left as before.
 
We’ll try to stay in line with you.
 
We still need to clear the building.
 
Watch out for night runners that may still be hiding and for the injured ones,” I say getting ready to finish what we started.
 
“We’ll move to the corner and then you sweep the back.
 
Notify us when you turn the corner.”

“Copy that.
 
Moving out,” Lynn responds.

“Will do,” Drescoll replies.

“Echo, cover your area but you’ll be the reserve team,” I say.

“Roger,” Greg’s voice responds in the radio.

We complete the sweep of the first floor without any further large scale attacks; or any for that matter.
 
A few suppressed shots echo within as more injured night runners are put to rest with the added result that fewer moans and cries of pain are heard.
 
Meeting up with Lynn and Drescoll in the back right corner, I have them take positions on the first floor to cover the balconies while sending Horace and Watkins, with Blue and Alpha Teams, up the entrance stairs to begin clearing the second floor.
 
I take Red and Charlie up the escalator stairs, stepping over the pile of night runner bodies in the process.

The climb to the second floor is difficult as the steps are crowded with corpses.
 
We have to step on them in order to make our way to the top as no part of the stairs is visible; the bodies move and slide beneath our boots making us stumble at times.
 
Only a couple night runners still move under their own volition or moan and they are quickly silenced.
 
By the time we reach the second floor, silence once more settles within the facility.

Horace and Watkins meet up with us by the escalator and we continue across the second floor finding only dead bodies.
 
The numerous shelves are filled with camping gear, archery supplies, gun cases, and other miscellaneous outdoor equipment.
 
The far end wall behind a gun counter is lined with rifles of every sort and the glass counter itself houses handguns of all calibers and models.
 
Passing by a display rack, I point out the M-4-based DMR setup that Robert envied the many times we visited.
 
He nods.
 
The nod would have been normally accompanied by a grin but we’ve just lost a lot of friends and that weighs heavily on us.
 
We check carefully in every nook and cranny but don’t find any hidden night runners lurking within.
 
Assured that this part of the second floor is clear, I send Echo and Bravo to clear out the loading dock area.
 

Rounding the last corner upstairs, I notice a trail of blood leading away towards the restaurant set into the corner of the building.
 
It looks like one of the night runners crawled away injured.
 
The trail shows up as a dark smear in my goggles.
 
I point it out to the members of the sweeping teams.
 
Still slowly checking the aisles and tents that are set up for display, we follow the trail as it disappears into the eating area of the restaurant.
 
Setting Horace and Watkins in a perimeter around the restaurant, I step inside with Red and Charlie Team.