RATH - Inception (7 page)

Bright orange, the thick cotton coveralls were at least two sizes too big. The guard reached into the bag and handed Sarah her black socks and a pair of tattered leather boots. Moving to Lauren, he looked into her eyes, reached back into the bag and pulled out the exact same items, only her coveralls were dark blue in color. Her eyes narrowed with curiosity as she turned to Sarah.

“What do you think the different—”

As the guard turned his attention away from the next person in line and took a step back toward Lauren, Sarah placed her index finger over her mouth and shook her head. The guard didn’t acknowledge the actions of either woman, stepped back, and went along passing out the assigned items.

Waiting for the guard to move a safe distance down the line and in something just shy of a whisper, Sarah talked out of the side of her mouth. “Lauren, we’ve made it this far without any trouble. Let’s see how this plays out.”

Without the same discretion, Lauren twisted to the right and in a slightly intensified tone, she said, “What’s with the different colors? Are they splitting us up?”

The truth was probably the right thing to offer, although at this point the peacemaker in her took over. “I’m pretty sure it has something to do with them separating us, although I wouldn’t worry too much, your outfit is much more appealing than mine.”

For the first time in the nearly ten hours that they’d been together, Lauren smiled, if only for a moment, before her nervous energy reclaimed control. “What are they going to do with us?”

“I’m not sure,” Sarah said, “Although, we were the last to be brought down here yesterday. Before they threw us in these cells, I only counted fifty-two who were as lucky as we were to leave the sand alive. That means they killed nearly half of those we were brought here with. They can put me in whatever color they want to, I’m ok with that if it means I get to see my husband again.”

“Do you think we will?” Lauren’s gaze moved to the unsympathetic concrete floor underfoot. “Do you really think I’ll get to see my Chloe again?”

A booming voice emerged from the overhead speaker, echoing through the lengthy concrete corridor. Startled, Lauren dropped the items assigned her and as the guard finished his duties at the far end of the line, she quickly scrambled to pick them up. Sarah helped Lauren back to her feet as three additional guards entered the corridor and the instructions began. “All new members please pay close attention. Your entry details will only be given once.”

This is where it gets bad
, she thought. If he were here, she would have someone to lean on, someone to get her through this, although he wasn’t. Self-talk was the only thing Sarah had left at this point. These people, whoever they were, had finally decided to open a line of communication and she figured what came next was meant to break her… her and those remaining in this concrete rectangle. She told herself,
Sarah, just stay focused and in the moment… he’ll find you
.
He will
.

Two seconds of static prior the actual voice coming through the speaker indicated that they were about to be subjected to a previously recorded set of instructions, which meant this was something of a routine for these people. She prayed they’d done it so many times that it had become overly predictable and that she’d find their Achilles heel.

“New members… you have been assigned the clothing that you will wear for the duration of your stay and will continue to utilize once you are relocated to your permanent residence. The footwear assigned will also be worn at all times; we realize it may not be the perfect fit, although that is of no consequence. You may continue to wear your own undergarments and those of you not making use of any will have to go without.”

This should be just great, fifty stinking bodies crammed together in this hole. Absolutely perfect
.

The recording continued as the guard nearest her continued to shift his weight from one heel to the other. “You will be escorted to your room by one of the guards and this will be your room for the duration. There will be no substitutions or exceptions. Once in your room, you will disrobe and change into the assigned clothing and footwear. Also, your modesty is of no concern and the least of our priorities.”

Without turning, Sarah whispered to Lauren. “Do whatever they ask, don’t cause a fuss. I will find you.”

As the final directives of the recording played out, the guards appeared to ready themselves. “Once inside your room and dressed, you will be seated on your cot. Meals will be served at regular intervals, the first coming in just over an hour. Our last and certainly most important reminder, there will be absolutely no interaction with anyone unless you are asked a question. This is by far the most important and severely enforced decree. I will warn you now against making the mistake of taking this lightly... there will be no second warnings. Do as you are told and you will live to see tomorrow.”

Within five minutes, the guards had directed most everyone to their rooms. As they came for Lauren, Sarah bit her lower lip and hoped the woman she’d been unofficially partnered with would make things easy on herself. As the guard rounded the corner and moved toward Lauren, she could be heard at both ends of the hall. Her audible gasp carried farther than she’d hoped and the man in black assigned to help guide her away from the main corridor and into the temporary home, simply shook his head and pointed to the far end of the hall. “Let’s go.”

She was next and the overwhelming urge to recall every detail of their capture and confinement had her questioning every nuance. Who were these people? What did they want? Why had they decided to keep some alive and eliminated others? Why the different coveralls? What was this underground facility? She thought she’d remembered her husband speak briefly about a place similar to this, although that had to be a coincidence. Sarah kept reminding herself to lay low and wait for her opportunity; although the longer she waited, the less likely it was that her opportunity would ever come.

Quicker than she would have liked, he came for her. Well under six feet, maybe an inch or two taller than her, the man clad in all black was built like a rocket. One hundred-ninety pounds and not a stich of fat anywhere noticeable on his body, he walked with an unshakeable confidence hard to come by in this new world. As he motioned for Sarah to follow him, she thought she detected a hint of empathy.

As they descended the three flights of stairs alone, Sarah counted every step and made a mental note of every turn they’d made since entering through the ten foot blast doors, buried along the treacherous hills they’d fought to climb an hour before. Coming to the landing at the lowest level of the underground complex, she waited as he moved around her and opened the door. Her room, the concrete floors, and single bed reminded her more of what she remembered a prison cell to be, although not quite as spacious.

As the guard followed her into the room, Sarah moved to the cot and sat down. He paused momentarily, looked into the hall, and took a deep breath as if attempting to recall his next action. He waited another two seconds before speaking. “He doesn’t know you’re here… but he will.”

Sitting her on the ground, Rath took what he needed from her pack and loaded it into his. He rigged the straps from her bag to offset the additional weight and scooped her up. Cradling her, he pulled her in close in an effort to conserve body heat while also attempting to shield her from the frozen wind. Easing his way along the rocky descent, the straps pulling his shoulders forward, he was reminded of the numerous injuries he had sustained in the last twelve hours.

By the time they’d reached District One and now into the valley, she’d stopped responding to his questions. Pulling his coat away from her face, a line of sweat was apparent along her brow and just above her upper lip. Lowering himself while supporting her head and neck, he sat on the smashed retaining wall and pulled the water from his pack. Her mouth dropped open with little resistance and he slowly poured in a mouthful, waiting as it gradually disappeared down her throat.

In the last few hours, he’d made time on the storm and appeared to be slightly ahead of it. With temperatures now in the low fifties, Rath checked her pulse and wiped the beads of sweat from her face. Her fever yet to break, he checked the skyline for their place in time and once again was back on his feet.

The devastation at District One had surpassed anything he’d seen to date, with more than fifty residents slaughtered just inside the front gates and every single structure burned to the ground. A few were women and children, although the majority of those slaughtered were men, and if the pattern held true, these were the leaders of the District, people of influence.

Those responsible were becoming more brutal with each attack. Most victims inside District One simply had their throats cut and were left to die in the streets. The tyrant was getting sloppy, almost as if he’d put a timeframe on eliminating the people he originally helped save and in walking away from the area, Rath wished he knew why.

With Extinction just over an hour away and the sun racing him to the horizon, Rath pushed his pace and forced himself to remain focused on Sarah and Chloe. The pain of his exposed lower arms had long since abated and gone numb, his right foot feeling as though it was encased in ice.

Finally locating the main highway still lined with the rusted out vehicles of three decades before, Rath cleared out the bed of full size pickup truck, gently laying Chloe down to stretch his back. As tight as an overstretched guitar string, Rath bent at the waist, giving reprieve to his road weary back and hamstrings. Small arm circles and the quick side to side twisting motion made short work of the rest.

Once he’d finished flushing the lactic acid from his body, Rath moved back to Chloe and was startled to see she had opened her eyes. His palm to her forehead told him her fever had spiked and along with the clammy skin, her rapid pulse renewed the severity of their situation. While still coherent and in between bouts of consciousness, he poured small capfuls of water into her mouth.

The storm still pushing him forward, he rewrapped his nearly dry jacket around Chloe and slipped into the makeshift harness, her weight less of an issue after the short break. Trying to keep her with him, he attempted multiple times to get her talking. For the first two hundred yards, as he navigated his way through the maze of forgotten vehicles, she’d yet to respond to any of his questions.

As the city came into view, she raised her head off his arm and in shielding her eyes from the colorless afternoon sky, asked a question of her own. “Rath… am I going to die?”

“No, I’m taking you to your mother. By tomorrow, all this will seem just like a bad dream. I want you to think of her.”

“Okay,” she said, dropping her head and again slipping from consciousness.

A short sigh and a moment of self-doubt was all he’d allow himself. He’d reach the city in twenty minutes and deal with her symptoms there. The thought of waging war against another tribe of Andros did little more than annoy him. His thoughts were only on Chloe and how he’d ever justify these events to her mother, or for that matter Sarah… or himself.

Increasing his foot speed to just short of a sprint, he was close enough to make out what remained of the perimeter, built shortly after the fall. Whoever wanted this place for themselves definitely sought to make a statement as they overthrew the city.

Extinction was home to just over three thousand souls the day the news broke. No one really remembered who it was that first released the story, although once our planet’s fate was known, little could be done to stop the chain reaction that ended with the unraveling of our civilization. Earth had waged war on its inhabitants.

Before it came to be known as Extinction, this thirty-two square mile city was nothing more than another forgotten point on the map with an annual tourist number of less than zero. Only the infrequent death of one of its residents brought visitors to this quiet, unassuming city. Mourning family members usually only stayed for the services and were on their way back to their lives before they even remembered the name of the city.

Nestled in a narrow valley between the three adjoining mountain ranges, the city saw its fair share of unforgiving weather. Twenty-four storefronts lined Main Street, with City Hall and the Police Department at one end and the Underwood used car lot at the other. Leonard Underwood sold less than two cars per month and residents speculated that was the reason he also ran for so many elected positions. “Nothing like a broke politician” was the running joke amongst those who cared. “If only he knew that there was no money in local government.”

Six days after the news broke and three days after the world had its first actual sighting, estimates of the effects were broadcast over every news station worldwide. The rogue planet sweeping through our solar system, and the possibility of it altering Earth's orbit, sent billions into an uncontrolled panic. The assessments of what this would mean to our delicate ecosystem and already turbulent weather patterns meant the earth’s ability to sustain seven billion people was in serious question.

Initial reports targeted a cross-section of land, six miles outside of Extinction, as the ideal place to ride out the cataclysmic winters that were predicted to hit within months of the first sighting. Three hours after the coordinates were made public, the town was overrun. People negotiating for space turned into conflicts over the right to set up shelter, which in turn escalated into a small riot that taxed the local police force to the point of calling for a complete shutdown of the city.

Barricades were set, riot gear donned, and tear gas at the ready. Residents were asked to stay in their homes while the incident worked itself out. These tiny precautions only exacerbated the situation and angered the crowds attempting to get into the city and find a place to ride out the apocalypse.

By nightfall, the city and adjoining highways were home to more than two hundred thousand stranded individuals. With nowhere else to go, the most devious of the group filtered into town through areas yet unsecured. They took what they wanted and as anarchy began to take hold, the first life of a resident was taken. At half past eight, Harold Bradbury was shot in the chest at point-blank range, in front of his wife and three year old son. He was attempting to move their late model sedan from a blocked parking spot and was apparently not moving fast enough for one of the city’s newest arrivals.

Once lawlessness was established, the town erupted in a violent wave of death and destruction. Estimates put the number slaughtered at ten thousand within the first week. Help never arrived for what was dubbed the last city on earth. With roughly three hundred fourteen million lives to care for, the infrastructure that assured our way of life as a nation was smashed within hours. The last official broadcast reported that of the ten major cities with populations of one million or more, nine had fallen.

.      .      .

Entering through the demolished rear wall and moving at a brisk pace up the center of Main Street, the city was dark, save for a large fire burning in the courtyard leading to City Hall.

Could be anyone… could be no one; although I don’t have the luxury of time to find out. I just have to get in.

Rath made his way up the steps and along the icy concrete leading to the courtyard. Five flagpoles, still upright after thirty-two years, no longer flew the colors of our beloved country along with state, county, city and local government. Today hanging from the twenty-five foot poles were the lifeless bodies of five Andros. Two males flanking either side, with the solitary female placed dead center. Unsure whether to regard this sign as a warning or a statement of purpose, Rath proceeded through the front doors of City Hall.

Four steps into the building and his vision began to fade. His mind had asked him to quit multiple times over the last several hours and although each time he was able to quiet the voices, it was now that his body decided it was time to stop. His legs short circuiting first, they collapsed under the added weight and sent them both to the floor, as the device he pulled from the drone yesterday afternoon spilled out of his pack. It slid along the floor and out into the middle of the lobby, illuminating the entry as it continued to blink, although now much more rapidly.

Violent spasms ripped through his lower back as his forearms folded inward under an unforgiving convulsion; the day’s events had finally evened the score.

Benjamin Rath lay motionless on the cold tile floor, the girl he vowed to protect still strapped to the makeshift harness. The sound of her rapid breathing only muted by the distant footsteps growing with each passing second, he prayed that whoever emerged from the distant hallway was bringing help, although he knew better. Hope had no place in this new world. It died along with humanity thirty-two years before.

.      .      .

Three silhouetted figures sprinted toward them and as he began to lose himself, he used what little strength he had left, in an attempt to pull her in close and keep her safe… although he couldn’t. He couldn’t keep his promise. He’d failed her.

The pain began to quietly diminish, although her memory lingered. As he began to slip into what came next he said, “Chloe… I’m sorry.”