Before the Darkness (Refuge Inc.) (2 page)

function well on panicky. This was true from

experience. Besides, several hours ago had been

early morning and the sun hadn't peeked over

the horizon then. What did he know of asteroids

and earthquakes anyway? All he knew was that

they could kill and he didn't want to think about

death right now.

That poor, blonde little girl.

No more looking back east. He wouldn't

look up at the sky again, for that matter. Not if

he valued his sanity and mental strength or

what was left of it. He gave the eerie darkness

one last glance and continued walking west.

Though, something caught his eye. He paused

and pivoted to see what looked like a young

man walking along the road far in the distance.

Adrenaline raced through his body. Was he

seeing correctly? The man walked head down as

if he carried more than the world's burden's on

his shoulders and had already given in.

"Hey!" Elliot called out.
Please be real.

Please be real.

The man looked up, stopped in his tracks

and even from the distance between them he

knew the man was excited to see him too. The

man began jogging toward him and he jogged in

the man’s direction. His heart pitter-pattered

with excitement and pure relief. He was
not

alone.

When the tall, it man approached, he ran

up to him with a huge, bright smile and arms

outstretched. Elliot hugged him as if he were

hugging a dear friend. And the feeling wasn't off.

His relief resembled that of seeing a good old

buddy again after so many years, and just in the

nick of time. At the exact moment he needed

him.

"My God." The man squeezed tighter,

nearly collapsing under Elliot's embrace.

"Thought I was the only one alive. So happy to

see you."

"You have no idea how happy I am to see

you
." He separated their bodies. "I've been

dragging my feet for hours looking for someone

else to keep me sane."

The man chuckled. Even with the

devastation around them Elliot managed to

make the poor guy chuckle. He didn't want to

take credit yet, they both seemed immensely

happy to not be the last person alive.

"Adam." He placed a calming hand on

Elliot's shoulder.

He sighed. Instant comfort. "I'm Elliot."

"Elliot." Adam huffed, catching his breath.

"Been walking forever and have no idea where

I'm going."

"Yeah, I'm just as lost. Phoenix doesn't

look much like Phoenix anymore, huh?"

Adam nodded again and sighed. "Just

knew I was out here alone. But
now
it should be

easier to get out of this mess. Right?"

This mess? This
disaster
was more like it.

Elliot attempted to smile.

"Two heads are better than one." Adam's

breath seemed to return to normal.

Elliot lifted his bottle. "You need some?

It's water."

"No, thanks." The small pack on Adam's

back bounced slightly as he turned. He slid it off

his shoulders and took out the water bottle he

had tucked in there, along with some granola

bars still in their individual packages. Elliot

hadn't eaten since he began his trek, maybe

even a couple hours before then and those bars

looked appetizing.

"Do you mind?" He pointed to the bars.

"It's been a long while."

"Oh, sure, sure." Adam handed him a bar

and took one for himself. "Eat up."

The package contained two crunchy

granola bars but they both were crumbled

within the wrapper. Elliot didn't mind. He

already felt some energy returning to his

exhausted body.

Adam bit into his bar and watched him

eat with bright green eyes and a tiny grin on his

dry lips. Even with a layer of dust and dirt

coating Adam from head to toe, Elliot could

easily make out his handsomeness. He was

fascinated by the way Adam talked too. With the

start of every sentence he never said
I
or
you
. It

sounded a little funny at irst, almost as if he

didn't want to waste time with unnecessary

words no matter how small. However, Elliot

could understand wanting to get to the point

quickly.

Elliot was covered in a layer of dirt and

dust as well. He brie ly looked down over

himself. He must've looked crazy wearing a pair

of camou lage cargo shorts and his black
Made

with Pride
T-shirt with rainbow-colored letters.

"See that dark color on the horizon?"

Adam pointed to the east, suddenly looking

somber. "That's a wall of smoke, ash, dust and

who knows what else, and it's coming our way."

"What? What do you mean?" A bit of

panic began to stir in his stomach like a bowl of

his mother's spicy and overly greasy chili. He'd

thought the worst was over.

"Ever heard of impact winter?" Adam's

green eyes pierced his and neither moved.

"What's headed for us isn't good. We're gonna

have to take shelter somewhere and fast before

it blocks out all light and it gets so dark we won't

be able to tell which way is up. Can't run from it

either," he added, as if predicting Elliot's next

question. "Been watching it for a couple hours

now and it's moving pretty fast."

"What do you mean it's going to get

dark?" He knew he looked like a wide-eyed idiot,

but he didn't care much about his appearance at

the moment.

"Let me put it this way. Once the sun sets

we're not gonna see it rise for quite some time.

That wall of soot headed our way is so thick it

will block out the sun. It will take months, maybe

years, for all the crap to fall down."

"Are you sure?" He dipped his eyebrows

suspiciously. "How do you know all this?"

"When those assholes inally told us that

an asteroid might hit, I went looking for info

about anything to do with asteroids hitting Earth

and that's what I found out. We need to ind

some shelter."

Elliot looked at the dark grey horizon.

Indeed, the cloud of unnerving darkness grew

bigger, wider, closer. His heart dropped, it sank

in the pit of his stomach like a ton of concrete

rubble. "We're not going to make it, huh?" He

gulped, suddenly feeling defeated. Panic. "What's

the point in inding shelter when we're not

gonna live to see the sun again?"

Adam grabbed his hand, gave it a gentle

squeeze and let it loose before Elliot realized it

had happened. The friendly squeeze hadn't been

part of his imagination. A look of sincerity and

concern painted Adam's handsome face. "I was

beginning to think the same thing and then I saw

you. Like I said, two heads are better than one."

That gloomy horizon spelled doom.

Knowing it was coming from the east coast hit

him hard. That meant Jeff in New York, and his

mother, father and brother in Georgia probably

didn't survive. If somehow they did survive, the

darkness surrounded them like a swarm of

angry bees and they probably wouldn't live for

long. Who knew what the dark cloud brought

with it; falling ash, ire, unbearable heat? The

massive earthquakes he had experienced—the

ones that left Phoenix an unrecognizable land ill

—probably did as much damage or worse to

places experiencing the same violent quakes.

And what of the place that experienced the

actual impact?

Adam continued walking west and Elliot

followed close on his heels. He hadn't known

tears were dripping down his cheeks until Adam

looked back at him with sadness in his eyes.

Then he felt the warm wetness on his dirt-caked

cheeks and wiped them away with the back of

his hand. For so long he’d been wishing for

someone to talk to, someone to accompany him

in his search for hope, someone to keep him

strong and determined. He couldn't just break

down now. His prayers had been answered with

the presence of Adam. Now he had a reason to

move on.

Again, promising himself not to look back

east, he sped up to walk alongside his newfound

companion. Maybe engaging in conversation

would take his mind off of doom. "Why didn't

you get out of here when everyone else did?"

Adam stared at the ground as he walked.

His hand combed through his dirty, short, blond

hair. "Can't escape it. So why run, you know?"

"Yeah, I know."

Adam quickly glanced over at him. "That's

why you stayed?"

"Yeah. I didn't think I was going to make

it too far. So I said my peace and was in my

basement when the last quake hit. Could you

believe I woke up with my house in ruins on top

of me? It took me forever to crawl out. How did

you, you know, make it?"

"Was in my car in the garage." He

shrugged. "Had packed a few things, got in my

car, locked the door and put the key in the

ignition. I knew I wouldn't be able to drive

anywhere because of all the cars on the roads

and freeways. Didn't really wanna go anywhere.

I knew no matter where I went, I couldn't escape

it." He huffed, looking as if he'd rather leave it

behind him. "So I got out and started walking.

Only after I crawled out of what was left of my

garage. We're lucky to walk away from it, you

know?" Adam patted his back and smiled briefly.

"I saw a little girl back there." Elliot threw

back his thumb, gesturing behind him without

turning, without facing what had now vividly

burned into his memory. "She's dead." Why did

that image pop in his mind at that time and why

did he decide to tell Adam? He guessed hearing

about how lucky he was reminded him of how

unlucky the little girl had been. Maybe he could

shake some of his guilt by telling someone about

her. Or would it have been better to force

himself to forget her?

"I've seen some crazy stuff too." Adam

sighed, avoiding eye contact. "We'll be alright

though. See that building up there that looks like

it won't fall over at any minute?"

He looked ahead about a quarter mile at

what used to be Nice Smile Dental, a small,

standard single story dental of ice. It looked

unaffected except for a few broken windows. "I

see it."

"That's where we're going." Adam

suddenly picked up speed, damn near leaving

him in the wind. Adam must’ve been excited to

see a nearly undamaged building they could use

as shelter. Elliot sure was, even more excited

now that he had someone he could call a

companion. They were both in the same

predicament and they both wanted the same

thing…to survive.

He struggled to keep up. Walking so fast

over loose rubble made it dif icult for him to

keep his balance, and in his haste he slipped. His

leg slid against a piece of twisted, jagged metal

before he landed on his ass. "Shit!" Bright red

blood oozed from his wound as he sat on the

dusty pile of rubble. How in the hell did he lose

his balance?

Adam quickly rushed to his side. "Shit,"

he echoed. "Put some pressure on it."

He obeyed and placed his hand over the

three-inch gash on his shin and squeezed,

grimacing in pain as blood trickled through his

ingers. "I need something to wrap around it. My

hand's not gonna stop it from bleeding."

Adam pulled his shirt over his head and

took off the white tank he had on under it,

ripping it down the middle to make it one long

piece of fabric. Elliot took in Adam's waxed,

muscular torso and strong arms that bulged

with every tug and tear of his shirt. Then pain

immediately took his attention away from the

six-pack abs and directed it back to his

throbbing leg.

"Here, let me wrap this around it." Adam

knelt down and gingerly tended his wound. As

soon as he tied the last knot, he placed his T-

shirt in his pack, swung the pack over his