Sanctuary Read online

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  Bryce finally reached the fire watch station around dawn the following morning. He took the time to pack all his belongings into his ford explorer, as well as; food, water, some tools from the sheds, and a few jerry cans of gas just in case. He had no idea what was going on, but there was no way that was the only one of those creatures. With no means of contacting the outside world for the past month, if something bad was happening out there, he had definitely been left out of the loop. He locked up the cabin and tool sheds and got out of the explorer once he had driven through the gate to chain and lock it behind him. Partially because he didn’t want to be blamed for any trespassing or theft, and more relevantly because if there was some virus or plague infecting humanity, this would be a good place to hold up at. He got back into the ford and reloaded his rifle, making sure it was ready to fire at a moment’s notice, and set it next to him. As he began to pull away, he thought about his family again. “As soon as I report this crazy shit, no matter what’s going on out there, I’m coming to get you guys. Just hold on.” He thought out loud as he pulled onto the small, dirt path leading back to the road.

  CHAPTER 2

  ​Alejandro walked across the second story catwalk of the Roseville mall, mindlessly rubbing the palm of his hand against the glass and metal guard rail next to him. He looked down at his Beretta 9mm service weapon and the black holster that it sat in, the holster and gun gently tapping against his outer thigh. Looking at the weapon now it reminded him of his days in the army, he had a very similar sidearm back then. His thoughts trailed off as flash images of past wars resurfaced in his mind. He felt a massive hand grip his shoulder, snapping him out of the oncoming flashback. He turned his head around to face his partner, Sam. A 6”5 dark-skinned black man wearing the same uniform, holster, and bullet proof vest as himself. GARDA was inscrolled across the vest in big, white letters. The mall’s LED lighting seemed to reflect perfectly off the dark-skinned man’s clean-shaven head, causing it to twinkle like a star in the night sky. The thought of Sam’s head being a midnight light source made Alejandro chuckle slightly.

  ​“You even listening to me?” Sam asked as the pair stopped walking.

  ​“Sorry, I was zoning out again. What’s up?”

  ​“You remember that chick I brought home from the bar like two weekends ago?”

  ​“Yeah, what about her?”

  ​“I think that bitch might have given me something man, I need you to check me out after work.”

  ​“Fuck no. Go to a doctor you dirty bastard.” Alejandro shook his head and turned away from Sam, continuing to walk through the mall.

  ​“C’mon man you know our health insurance is shit, besides, you’re a doctor with no co-pay or judgment. Just hook me up.”

  ​“I’m not a doctor, I WAS a combat medic, there’s a big difference. I can’t tell you what genital rotting disease you have and prescribe antibiotics. I’m not looking at that fucking thing in your pants man.”

  ​“Hey, don’t even joke about my shit rotting off. That’s not cool.”

  ​“Let’s just get back to the van already, I hate making these mall cash grabs. Too many crying kids and single moms. Ask Craig to check your shit out when we get back down, I’m sure he won’t mind. I think he’s got a thing for what’s hiding in your pants anyway.”

  ​“Hold up.” Sam grabbed Alejandro’s shoulder again and turned him back around. “First of all, how you gonna complain about single moms? Second of all, is Craig gay?”

  ​Alejandro started to laugh. “Dude, he asked you to brunch last Saturday.”

  ​“I’m straight and I like brunch.” A woman’s scream interrupted the two men’s friendly banter.

  ​“Help! Get him away from me!” The woman screamed as she ran through the crowd on the catwalk opposite of them. The crowd began to open as everyone backed away from the woman, looks of fear and confusion spreading across their faces as no one intervened to help. A balding, older man with a short, gray beard wearing a knee brace swiped at the injured woman’s back, just barely out of reach. Even from this distance, Alejandro could tell something was wrong with the man, that he was ill and deranged. The woman held a bleeding wound on her left collarbone as she tried to get away from him. She tripped from her rushed and panicked movements, and fell onto the side railing, catching herself as she did so. The man fell upon her with what little momentum he had and began gnashing at her face. She brought up her hands to block the incoming teeth and Alejandro could see the man bite down on her appendages and thrash about, taking a finger or two with him as he shook his head violently back and forth. Spurts of blood splattered those around them who were unsuccessfully trying to get away from the gruesome scene unfolding, being stuck in the large crowd. The woman fought to stand and the two began to wrestle as she tried to get away. Alejandro could see the man’s injured knee give out and the two of them toppled over the railing and hit the tile of the first floor with a wet smack. The woman’s head broke open like a watermelon when it crashed into the floor and blood began to pour out like rushing water. He could even see her brain peeking out from inside of her cracked open skull. Her body violently convulsed and urine drenched her jeans as she began the horrible throws of death. The man’s legs were broken and bent, shards of bloody bone sticking out, but he showed no sign of caring as he crawled after the shoppers on the first floor. The man let out a horrible shriek as he slashed open the calf of the closest person to him, a young, teenage girl. Screams of horror and shrieks like that of the broken man began to sound out from different locations across the mall, and Alejandro could see people running from every possible direction, trying desperately to escape the horrors and barreling into each other. He could even see some people being knocked down and trampled over in the chaos.

  ​“What the fuck?” Sam spoke as he and Alejandro simultaneously drew their pistols, disengaging the safeties. Haunted images from war time in Iraq and Afghanistan flooded Alejandro’s mind, but with them came resolve, and combat awareness that he hadn’t harnessed in many years.

  ​“We need to get to the van, now. This place is a fucking slaughterhouse.” Alejandro said with a stern, loud voice to be heard over the chaos, dropping the bag of cash he was carrying.

  ​“I’m with you brother, let’s get the fu-.” Sam’s words were cut off as a small figure jumped onto his back. The infected little girl shot forward with her mouth, digging her teeth into the side of Sam’s neck and tearing away a stringy hunk of bloody flesh. Sam instinctively threw back an elbow, the hard bone cracking into the young girl’s ribs. The force of the giant man’s arm sent the kid flying backwards and rolling across the floor. Sam reached up with his spare hand and put pressure to his ripped open throat as he spun around, aiming his 9mm at the young girl as she scrambled back to her feet and rushed him. He put a round into the girl’s cheek, just below her right eye. Time moved in slow motion as Alejandro watched the girl’s eye begin to sag and lose its position. Blood and bits of other bodily matter erupted from the exit wound and coated her long, brown hair. When the girl finally crashed to the floor, Alejandro turned back to Sam, seeing the big man had turned back to him as well. He could see arterial blood spraying out from in-between his partner’s fingers as the big man clasped his hand tightly around his neck. Sam began to wobble and fell to one knee. Alejandro rushed to his friend’s side and caught him before he hit the ground, gently leaning him back.

  ​“Let me see it.” Alejandro said as he tried to pry Sam’s hand from the wound. Sam’s grip wouldn’t budge, he was clearly in shock. He gripped his neck with all his strength, trying desperately to stop himself from bleeding out. “Let me see brother, I’m going to stop the bleeding and get you the fuck out of here alright? Just do what I say and you’re going to make it.” Sam was still conscious enough to understand his trusted friend and released the wound. As he did, arterial spray shot out onto Alejandro’s face from the gaping hole, and at the same time, Sam’s mouth began to fill wi
th blood. Alejandro knew he was dead, only a matter of moments now. So, he did as he had done several times before, put pressure on the wound and said, “It’s just a flesh wound, you’re going to be alright buddy. Just have to slow down the bleeding before I can move you.” Alejandro kept pressure on Sam’s neck until he could see the man lose consciousness and smell his voided bowels. Sam had been his best friend for years, he knew this was going to hit him hard later, just like every friend he had lost overseas, but right now, he had adrenaline and a very urgent need to fight and stay alive. The time to mourn would come later, as he tried to sleep, but right now, his only impulses were to live and to kill.

  ​Alejandro stood up and forced himself to think. He wiped the blood from his face with his arm, more smearing it than getting rid of it, bent over and grabbed Sam’s pistol, put it in the back of his waistband, and then grabbed his partner’s spare magazines and pocketed them as well. Luckily for him, everyone was avoiding the small area he stood in, given the two bodies, and he couldn’t see any of the deranged killers around him. He began to jog towards the nearest exit, knowing it would be safer to circle the building once he was outside, where he had room to maneuver and avoid any attackers. He just needed to reach the van. There were a few stragglers approaching a large group in front of him that he wanted nothing to do with, so he crossed to the other side of the second story to try and get around. All around him were people being ripped apart and chased.

  Alejandro fired off a few shots as he moved, dropping a couple attackers in a futile attempt to help the other mall goers around him. He saw a portly, middle-aged woman as he ran, trying to guard her teenage and adolescent daughter from a crazed man that was rushing at them. Alejandro ran up next to the woman and raised his pistol just in time to unload a three-round burst into the man’s chest. The man looked almost confused as he looked down at the bloody, ragged holes in his chest. He then looked back up at the four of them and staggered forward. There’s no way. The man was clearly dying, Alejandro had seen enough death in his life to know that, but he was still coming at them. The shots had pierced the direct location of his heart and probably pierced his lungs as well. How the fuck is he not dead yet? The man collapsed and began to slowly crawl towards them now. “Come on, follow me!” Alejandro yelled to the woman and her children to be heard over the chaos.

  They all side stepped the dying man and began to make their way further down the catwalk, passing the dead and soon to be dead as they did so. The living became less and less frequent as they moved through the mall, which, unfortunately for them, made their attackers much more aware of the group’s presence. Alejandro had shot down several of them already as they moved, having to reload three times, and he was very aware that he was running low on ammo.

  The walkway started curving as they approached the nearest second story exit, and both paths were completely blocked by large crowds trying to get to the exit all at once. The large groups of people began to scream as the lucky few in the back of the groups turned and ran back in Alejandro’s direction. He could see blood erupting into the air from the crowds as people were torn apart and trampled, and he could see the deranged killers rushing over and through the living and the dead right for them. Alejandro steadied himself and began firing off precious rounds, hoping to cover the retreat of those running, and to slow the raging onslaught of the predators chasing after them.

  Just as the feral attackers were closing in on Alejandro, a man rushed out from a store front around fifteen feet in front of him. The man brandished a wooden, round shield laced with strips of metal in his right hand and a wooden handled axe with a shiny, steel blade in his left. The man was even taller than Alejandro’s fallen partner and more muscular at that, wearing a chainmail shirt over his clothing, with a bushy, gray beard and a long, gray braid that hung from his head and down his back, the sides of his head being cleanly shaved. The mysterious man that looked like he belonged in the middle ages charged the closest threat to Alejandro and slammed the creature into the safety railing with his shoulder and shield. Alejandro could somehow see the panes of glass lining the railing reverberate with the force of the impact right before they shattered. The massive man then lifted the creature up with his shield and tossed it over the edge, sending it spiraling down to the first floor. The man turned on a dime to block the next attacker with his shield, and then bent down and sliced open one of its legs with his axe. He then chopped into its other leg, using the almost hook like bottom portion of the axe to tear out its calf muscle as he did so. Blood erupted onto the ground, drenching the grayish carpet as the creature’s muscle flopped to the floor. As it collapsed to the ground, the man wasted no time and slammed the iron edge of his shield into its defenseless face repeatedly, crushing the cartilage of its nose at first, and eventually splitting its head practically in half with his raw power. Alejandro could see sinew, bone, and cartilage split and break as he smashed away, veins and arteries ripping as blood exploded with each hit.

  ​Once the creature’s head had become a pile of goo, the man quickly scanned around him to make sure there were no more immediate threats. He then called out to Alejandro in a thick, Swedish accent. “Over here! Get inside!”

  ​“Move!” Alejandro barked, turning to usher the girls towards the store the man had just rushed out of. He guided the girls into the store, which appeared to be some sort of antiques weapon shop, and then turned back around to back up the large Swede. He could see the man was having no trouble dealing with the threats coming from their left and was even clearing passage for a few more would be shoppers to enter the store.

  Alejandro heard cries for help coming from his right. A handful of people were frantically sprinting towards him, unsuccessfully trying to outrun a group of the once human things that were chasing them. Once again, he positioned himself and began to fire off rounds, trying to drop their pursuers and give them enough time to reach the shop. He counted off each shot in his mind, knowing he only had the magazine in Sam’s pistol after his gun was spent. 1…2…3…4…5…6… They reached the store, but there were threats closing in on both sides, and no more people that could be saved. “Time to close up shop brother, like right fucking now!” Alejandro called out to his new ally as he retreated into the store, firing off the last four rounds in his Beretta.

  ​“Agreed friend!” The Swedish man called back as he checked one last creature in the forehead with the edge of his shield, dropping it instantly as a mist of blood permeated the air. Once everyone was back in the shop, including Alejandro, the man grabbed the thick, metal shutter and yanked it down just in time to stop the approaching demons. He locked the gate as they began gnashing their teeth and aggressively pulling at it in frustration. He then closed and locked the glass doors behind them. Everyone stared at the hungry, violent faces surrounding the store front in shock and awe.

  None of them spoke a single word for hours to come.

  CHAPTER 3

  Jason stood at the bars of his cell, watching the few remaining guards as they ran around in a panic, arming themselves and attempting to take up defensive positions. They looked like a bunch of boys thrust into war with no training or guidance. Most of the guards left when the outbreak started to go be with their families and friends. While many others were killed by inmates and infected alike when the riots and spread of the sickness began in all the other cell blocks. However; a handful of the correctional officers stayed, either knowing the prison would be a safe place to hold out from the infected or having moral issues with leaving the prisoners here to die, as they were not willing to release them back into the free world.

  He could hear a steady stream of gunshots ringing out on the other side of the barred double doors that separated this block from the one next to it. We’re under attack, must be clearing out the remaining infected. The guards held their positions, aiming shotguns and pistols at the doors as the few dozen remaining inmates watched on from their cells, waiting for the action to kick off. There was silence for
about half a minute, and then, suddenly, a few very loud explosions went off on the other side of the door. Flames and smoke billowed out from in-between the cracks just before the doors both wildly swung open, one of them breaking off the hinges and crashing to the floor while the other hung limply by its one, remaining hinge. Breach charges, these guys don’t stand a chance.

  The officers began to open fire into the doorway until the senior officer in charge ordered them to hold their fire. A few seconds later a small, metal cylinder was flung into the cell block, bouncing across the concrete floor. “Oh fuck!” Jason blurted out as he turned and wrapped his arm around his face, trying to block the effects of what he knew was coming.

  ​He could hear the groans of pain from the guards and prisoners as the flash bang went off, blinding practically everyone except for himself. He turned back around just in time to see men in army National Guard uniforms armed with M4 Carbines flood into the room and spread out, positioning themselves around the blind correctional officers. “Drop your weapons now or we open fire!” A somewhat short man with buzzed, red hair and freckles covering his face barked at the guards. Out of the seven CO’s, all but two were smart enough to drop their weapons, knowing that the fight was lost before it even started. The two foolish, younger guards raised their guns and tried to fight back. The officer with a pistol was gunned down before he could even get a shot off, while the other man was able to get one, twelve gauge shot off from his shotgun before he was taken out. One of the guardsmen that wasn't wearing a facemask or a helmet, took the barrage of pellets directly into his face, exploding his features into a mess of pulpy blood and skin. He reached up, screaming in a panic as he fell to his knees, somehow still alive even though his face had just been blown apart.