Desolation - An Apocalyptic Novel (From Below Book 2) Read online

  One of the creatures howled. I could hear them scampering out of the destroyed church.

  Then, there was nothing. Just us standing there frozen like marble statues.

  “Let’s go,” Austin said opening the door. The hinges creaked as he peered out.

  There was movement in the basement but it didn’t sound like they were coming for us. Not that we could take a risk.

  We stepped out into the darkness, holding onto one another. It was like we were afraid if we let go, we’d float up into the atmosphere never to be seen again.

  I turned around and looked at the mostly destroyed church. There were parts that were still standing but much of it was not. The lights probably wouldn’t work and if they did, it likely wouldn’t be sufficient.

  We needed to make it to the SUV.

  Our footsteps sounded loud as they pounded across the pavement. There was more movement in the shadows not far from where we were. The sounds from the church wouldn’t be loud enough to help keep them away.

  Somewhere in the distance one of the creatures called out a howl unlike any I’ve heard before. The rustling in the shadows dissipated. I could hear the creatures running this way and that, disappearing from the area.

  We stood absolutely still as they ran toward the cries in the distance. It was like they were being called.

  “They’re leaving?” Mallory asked as something dashed past us in the darkness.

  Austin held up his gun but he didn’t need to use it because the creatures kept running. It seemed like they didn’t care about us any longer.

  “What’s going on?” Noah asked.

  “Not sure,” Austin said. “But let’s keep moving. They might change their mind and decide they’re still hungry.”

  It had felt like we’d traveled miles. A wave of relief washed over me when I saw the SUV still in its spot.

  We all climbed inside and the familiar smell made me tear up. Hints of my mother were still there.

  “Where do we go now?” Mallory asked cozying up next to Marty.

  It was going to take a while to adjust to seeing my brother with his arm around Mallory. When he caught me looking at him, he just shot me a smile. He was happy to be back in our mom’s SUV too.

  “Anywhere we want,” Austin said.

  “Far away from here,” I said.

  Austin shifted the SUV into drive and pulled away from the curb and sped out of town.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  My eyelids fluttered open. The sun had been up for at least an hour but Austin hadn’t woke me.

  I looked over my shoulder into the backseat. Noah was stretched out on the middle seat with his cap over his face. Marty was slouched to the side with Mallory sleeping on his chest.

  “Good morning,” Austin said softly.

  “Is it?” I asked.

  He reached over and took my hand into his. Austin smiled at me and I couldn’t help but grin back. It felt good to be away from the church.

  “You must be tired,” I said nodding at the steering wheel. “Want me to take over for a bit?”

  “Nah,” Austin said. “I don’t even know where I’m going.”

  I noticed the gas gauge was low. “We’re going to need gas soon.”

  “Right now, I’m just enjoying the country scenery,” Austin said. There was a partial silo standing and I wondered if he was thinking about his extinct home.

  “We’ll figure it out later,” I said spotting one of the creatures holes in one of the fields. “Do you think they’re gone?”

  Austin shook his head. “Don’t get your hopes up.”

  “It was weird though, right?” I asked.

  “Yeah, it was.”

  We drove a few more miles in near silence. The heavy breaths and light snores from the others were almost enough to put me back to sleep. It was amazing that Austin was able to keep his eyes open and the SUV on the road.

  “What’s that?” I asked pointing at a black dot in the sky. It looked like it was moving toward us.

  “Hmm,” Austin said squinting at the dot. “Is it a helicopter?”

  As it grew, I could both see and hear that he was right. “Is it coming for us?”

  “I’m not sure,” Austin said glancing in the rearview mirror as if he were afraid we were being followed. A trap. But there wasn’t anything behind us. “Wake them up.”

  I nodded as I reached back and hit Noah on the knee. “Wake up, Noah.”

  “Go away,” he groaned.

  “Hey,” Austin said. “There’s a helicopter.”

  “Huh?” Noah said. He sat up and pulled his hat over his wild, messy hair. “What is it doing?”

  Austin shook his head.

  The helicopter had moved fast and was almost above us. Noah reached back and woke Marty and Mallory.

  “What do we do?” Mallory asked. “It’s just hovering there.”

  “It’s military,” Noah said.

  “That doesn’t mean anything,” Austin said. “Haven’t you learned anything?”

  Noah shrugged. “I know, I’m just saying.”

  The helicopter started to descend into a field to our left.

  “What should we do?” I asked gripping Austin’s hand tighter.

  Austin swallowed hard and slowed the SUV. He shifted into park and turned to face all of us.

  “I can floor it and try to get us out of here or we can see what they want. Let’s take a vote,” Austin said.

  Noah stared out of the window. “There’s a pilot, co-pilot and two men getting out. They’re armed and they’re coming this way.”

  “We’re armed too,” I said flicking my eyes toward the men. They didn’t look like they were up to anything. Their guns were on their shoulders but they did seem hesitant. “It looks like they are afraid of us.”

  “Stay here,” Austin said checking his gun before he placed his hand on the door handle.

  I grabbed his arm and pulled him back to me. I pressed my lips to his and then, let go.

  The second he closed his door, I placed my hand on my door handle. “Wait here.”

  Marty groaned and hit the car seat as I exited the SUV.

  Austin glanced back over his shoulder and shook his head. “I told you to stay in the car.”

  “I know, but you might need me,” I said.

  The men stopped about ten feet away from us. They didn’t take their eyes off of us.

  “Are you armed,” the man on the left shouted.

  “We are,” Austin said.

  “How many survivors?” the man asked.

  “Five counting us,” Austin said.

  The men exchanged a surprised look. “We’re U.S. Military and we’re here to offer help. We have a base ten miles north. There’s food, water, shelter, and the place is fortified.”

  “We can take you,” the man on the right said gesturing toward the helicopter.

  Austin shook his head. “We don’t want to leave our SUV.”

  “I can see why,” the man on the left said. “Quite the setup.”

  “We’ve had some difficult times,” Austin said flatly. “We’re not interested.”

  “We can help,” the man said.

  Austin chuckled but it probably hadn’t been loud enough for the men to hear. “We’ve heard that before.”

  “The choice is yours,” the man said as he pointed at the road. “Follow this road, make a right on highway KK and the military base is on your left. You can’t miss it.”

  “This isn’t a trick,” the second man said. “If you want to survive, your odds will be best with us.”

  The first man nodded along with each word. “I don’t know what kind of hell you’ve endured but you’ll be safe. There are nearly two hundred survivors at the base. We will win this war and rebuild.”

  “We’ll think about it,” Austin said and the first man raised his hand.

  “If you go, and I hope you do, tell the men at the gate you spoke with Sergeant Sparks,” he said pointing at the name patc
h on his chest. He waved and took a step back. “We hope to see you again soon.”

  Austin nodded. We stood there watching them as they walked back to the helicopter.

  “What should we do?” I asked taking his hand into mine.

  Austin let out a loud sigh that dropped his shoulders. “We haven’t had much luck going places have we?”

  “Maybe it’ll be okay. If they wanted to, they probably could have forced us to go with them,” I said as my hair started to whip around my face from the wind created by the helicopter blades. “They didn’t.”

  “Let’s see what the others think,” Austin said as he led me back toward the car.

  After Austin told them everything, the SUV was silent as they contemplated our choice. No one had the slightest idea of what was the right thing to do.

  “We can take the risk,” Austin said.

  “You want to go?” Noah asked.

  Austin shook his head before he finished speaking. “I don’t know what we should do. But we don’t have a lot of options. We can’t drive around forever, can we?”

  “They said there are two hundred survivors,” I said glancing back at Marty. I wanted to keep him safe but I wasn’t sure I could do that on my own in the SUV that would eventually run out of gas. “I think we should check it out.”

  “Let’s vote,” Austin said. “Raise your hand if you want to go.”

  I raised my hand. Mallory locked eyes with me and raised her hand with a smile.

  Austin flicked his head toward Noah but looked away as he raised his hand.

  “It’s three to two then,” Noah said. “Guess we’re going.”

  “Nah,” Marty said raising his hand. “Four to one.”

  “Why don’t you want to go?” I asked biting my cheek as I stared into Noah’s eyes.

  A short breath escaped from between his lips. “I can’t do that again. I don’t want to fight with people. I never want to use my gun again.”

  “Me either,” I said. “But if we stay out here, I think odds are good we will have to.”

  “I’m just tired,” Noah said. He flapped his hand at the road. “Let’s go then.”

  “Noah,” Austin said. “I don’t want to make you do something you don’t want to do.”

  “I’m just scared,” Noah admitted.

  “We all are,” Austin said. “But I think they were the real deal. They didn’t force us to go with them. They could have. I know it’s scary as hell but we’re together. We’ve made it this far, we’re not going to give up now.”

  I smiled. “We need the vote to be unanimous or I don’t want to go.”

  “Oh, God,” Noah groaned. “I just didn’t want to vote yes so I could say I told you so when everything goes to shit.”

  I chuckled. “You can still say that.”

  “Fine,” Noah said. “Let’s check it out.”

  “Are you sure?” Austin asked.

  Noah drew in a long breath and released it. “Yes, I’m sure.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  We pulled up to the gate and the men at the gate carefully approached the SUV. Austin rolled down his window an inch or so and placed his hands loosely on the steering wheel.

  “Sergeant Sparks told us to come here,” Austin said as they came to the window.

  The men relaxed. One of them went back and started to slide open the gate.

  “You can park your car inside, there’s a lot just to the left,” the man with the name Renard on his name badge said.

  “I’d feel more comfortable leaving it out here,” Austin said. The men looked confused. “In case we want to leave.”

  “Um, suit yourself,” Renard said with a shrug. He gestured to a spot on the dead grass several feet away from the gate. “We need to keep this road clear. Park over there.”

  Austin parked and looked like he was having second thoughts as he got out of the SUV. If he was, he kept his mouth closed. He grabbed my hand tightly as we walked back to the gate.

  Renard held up his hand. “I have to ask… are you armed?”

  “We are,” Austin said. “And I told that to Sergeant Sparks.”

  “I need to make sure our people are safe here. There are children, families, and to be honest with you, the guns we carry kind of freak them out even though we keep them at the gate,” Renard said with a slight grin. “Any chance you’d hand them over or leave them in your car?”

  Noah shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He looked right into Renard’s eyes. “If it weren’t for our guns, sir, we wouldn’t be alive right now. We need to keep ourselves safe.”

  Renard studied us for a long moment.

  “Keep them hidden for now,” Renard said in a low voice. “I saw my own amount of shit when I was trying to make my way here. But know that if you do anything to put these kind, innocent folks in harm's way, I’ll blow your fucking head off, understood?”

  Noah nodded and almost seemed pleased with the way the man had responded. Like it was some kind of proof that they were who they said they were.

  Renard led us passed the first several buildings. They looked like they were mostly offices of some kind. There were small sheds lined along the left side near the fence and in the middle of the large area were copious amounts of little houses. Children were playing with a red ball while parents watched them from their lawn chairs. People looked out their doors and windows as we passed through. Most of them gave us a friendly wave or smile even if they seemed apprehensive about our presence.

  “How long have you been here?” Austin asked.

  “Nearly since it all started. Some of the men in uniform were here since day one welcoming in the others. Many of the folks here like to keep busy so they work on building more of the houses,” Renard said with a smile that quickly turned to a frown. “They’re hopeful more survivors will come but it’s slowed down tremendously over the last couple weeks.”

  “Are there other places like this out there?” Noah asked.

  Renard shook his head. “Maybe but we have not heard from anyone. We’re going to do what we can to get rid of those things and rebuild.” Renard pushed back his shoulders. “We’ve eliminated hundreds, maybe even thousands and we’re not going to stop.”

  “They’re all over the world,” Marty said.

  “We’re not going to stop,” Renard repeated. “Anyway, you’ll be safe here. Everyone is kind and helpful although quiet. It’s still hard for everyone to process that everything is gone.”

  “Tell me about it,” Marty muttered.

  Renard lowered his head but his eyes raised up toward the horizon. “We’re going to get through this. Riley will give you the rundown on this place when you’re ready. She’ll assign you an empty building.” Renard placed his thick hand on Austin’s shoulder. “You guys made it this far and that’s damn impressive. We need people like you.”

  He scratched at his forehead and smiled as he flicked his finger at someone off to the side. A thin woman wave and walked toward us.

  “This is Riley,” Renard said.

  “Hi,” she said softly. Renard wrapped his arm around the woman’s shoulder and she kissed him on the cheek. “Back to the gate?”

  “Back to the gate,” he said as he saluted her.

  She watched him as he walked away. “My husband,” she said proudly. “Let me show you around.”

  Riley took us around the camp and told us about each and every building. She showed us the lighting system around the fence and told us how they’ve been surviving.

  It was sad.

  It was impressive.

  And somehow, I felt like we weren’t alone in the world.

  Riley told us about the sounds they’d heard the creatures making last night. The same ones we’d heard before they all went running.

  She told us that several people in the camp believed they went back into hibernation. She also said that no one planned to let the guard down.

  Riley gave us a key to our homes. Noah was fine staying alone
even though Austin tried to convince him to stay with us.

  “I’ll be okay,” Noah said. “You guys deserve some alone time and I really, really, don’t want to be a third wheel.”

  “We could all stay together,” I suggested and Marty and Mallory exchanged a glance. I couldn’t help but grimace.

  “That’s not going to happen,” Marty said.

  I exhaled. “If anyone changes their mind for any reason, our door will always be open.”

  It wasn’t that I wasn’t excited to be alone with Austin because I was, it was just that I wasn’t exactly comfortable with the idea of being apart from Marty. After all, it was my job to take care of him.

  Austin and I closed the door to our little house. The silence felt awkward but it was somehow different. Peaceful.

  We laid down in our firm full-sized mattress and listened to the world around us. I rested my head on his chest and I was pretty sure it was the first time my aching muscles relaxed in weeks. I sighed and Austin kissed the top of my head.

  “We’re going to be okay now,” Austin said.

  “How do you know?”

  He squeezed his arm around me tighter. “I can feel it. Can’t you? It’s different.”

  “Yeah, I think I can,” I said with a long exhale. It did feel different.

  The hours seemed to fly by. Before nightfall all five of us sat outside on the lawn chairs in front of the house I shared with Austin.

  They’d turned the lights on early so it was hard to tell when day ended and night began. And even with the brightness I still yawned.

  “Tired?” Austin asked.

  “Exhausted,” I said with a little frown. “I have no idea how I’m going to make it until morning.”

  “I don’t think we have to,” Marty said gesturing toward a couple of the houses nearby. Some of the people were making their way inside waving and wishing everyone a good night.

  The curtains closed on the nearest house and minutes later the lights inside went out. There was a light on each wall of the outside of the house, but the lights surrounding the property did a sufficient job of lighting the area for miles.

  “I don’t hear them,” I said after a long moment of silence.