Sanctum (The After Light Saga) (11 page)

“
Well let’s hope there are a lot more survivors out there, like us, with lots of weapons,” he said.

I agreed.

We finally made it into a large room which had one long table, almost like a picnic bench, filling the center of the room. The room was about thirty feet by twenty feet. This must have been their dining hall. The smell of spices filled the air and tickled my nose.

“Beans and rice never smelled so good, huh?” Rhett said.

“Oh yeah. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Come. I want you to
meet my wife.”

He led me through a door at the far side of the room which led into a small hall. To the right wa
s another swinging, salon-style door. He pushed his way through and I followed.

Inside were three women.
One was much older and had dark hair and a pretty face. The other two were younger, maybe in their mid-twenties, and I could see the resemblances.

“Hey, babe,” Rhett
said, walking up to a thin, dark haired girl. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. She smiled at him and turned to me with a cautious look. It was the same look I’d received when I first arrived at the other government bunker. I just had to remember I was the newbie and the first person, other than the people in their hive, they’d seen in over thirteen years.

“Hi,” I said ex
tending my hand toward her, but she didn’t oblige. She glared at me, like I was some kind of diseased mutant.

Awkward.

“Excuse her rude behavior, Abi.” Rhett gave his wife an admonishing look. She matched his gaze and then huffed. “Apparently, my wife doesn’t take well to strangers.”

“Well, you
just had to rescue the young pretty one, didn’t you?” she said loudly.

I couldn’t tell if she was joking, or really not happy about me being
here. I felt completely uncomfortable, so I tried to settle the situation.

“
You’ll all get to meet my boyfriend soon,” I said, drawing out the word boyfriend a little longer than I should have.

She glanced at me for a few moments,
and then her face relaxed.

“Peggy Sue,” Rhett sighed.

She exhaled loudly and then turned to me. “I’m sorry. We haven’t had contact with the outside world in a long time. I don’t trust outsiders, especially pretty ones.”

“I don’t blame you,” I said.

She wiped her hands on her apron and walked over to me with an extended hand.

“Welcome, Abi. My name is Peggy Sue,” she said with a smile.
She had a bit of a southern accent.

“Hi
, Peggy Sue. Thanks for taking us in.”

“So how did you find our town?” she asked.

“By accident,” I answered. “We were on our way to a landing zone about thirty miles southwest of here when, our chopper went down. We walked approximately fifteen miles to get here. We came here hoping to find a secure place to rest, but when we entered the town, we were attacked by the Arvies.”

“
Arvies?” she questioned.

“I’ll explain it to you later,” Rhett said from the corner.

“Yes, the monsters outside,” I said.

“So h
ow many are with you?” she asked.

“We had fourteen
, but lost three before we were rescued.

She nodded. “Well, let me introduce you
to the others.”

She held her hand out, addressing the older
woman.

“This is my mother, Nely. She was, and still is, the best
cook in town.” Her mother looked to be in her fifties, and had raven black hair which was twisted into a tight bun. She smiled and nodded at me, but her eyes were distant.

“
And, these are the other women of Sanctum. My sisters, Jamie, Laura, and Shelley.

“
Hi,” I said, waving, feeling a bit out-of-place.

“Hi,” the three of them echoed.

“Shelley is the youngest. She was a few months old when we came down here. She’s thirteen now.”

She reminded me so much of my cousin Lily. She had the same
long, dark-brown hair, and dark features, but Shelley had dark brown eyes. Lily had beautiful blue-violet eyes. The thought of her made my heart ache, and made me realize how much I missed her.

“I love that
you’re all sisters. I don’t have any siblings,” I said.

“Well, we have kept it all in the family.
Jamie is married to Rhett’s brother Reed, and Laura is married to his cousin Revek. They actually had a dual ceremony a few years back. It was beautiful, considering our circumstances.”

“That’s awesome.
So how long have you and Rhett been married?” I asked her.

“
Rhett and I fell in love before we came to this place, when I was still young. My daddy allowed me to marry him as soon as I turned eighteen. That was eleven years ago. We couldn’t wait, if you know what I mean,” she grinned.

“
Yeah, we were glad the two of you finally got a room of your own,” Jamie teased.

They all burst into laughter.

“So where is your dad?” I asked.

They all turned to their mother, who didn’t look up.

“Please excuse me,” Nely said, and then walked away. The room became deathly silent. Jamie, Laura, and Shelley kept their heads down, slowly stirring their pots, but Peggy Sue turned to me and spoke softly.

“When we first went topside, we
never expected to encounter those monsters. We lost two wonderful men. My father was one of them.”

My heart suddenly sank, and I felt horrible. “I’m so sorry,” I
said, shaking my head. No wonder. His death was still fresh and new.

“It’s alright. You didn’t know. My father was our world, but he was
also very sick. He was battling what we believed to be cancer, and had become very weak. His dying wish was to see the topside one last time, and he did. His wish was granted, but when we least expected it, we were attacked. It was dusk, and we thought we were alone when those monsters came up behind us. My father and our priest rushed into the middle of them. They died saving us.”

I didn’t know what to say,
or how to answer.

“They both sound like amazing men. Your father
must have really loved you.”

“He did,” Peggy Sue answered
. “He will always be our hero.”

I nodded.

“Do you need some help?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“No, I think we’ve got the stirring do
wn to a science,” Jamie smiled. She and Peggy Sue seemed like the talkative ones. Laura and Shelley remained quiet.

“
Well then, I won’t mess with perfection,” I smiled.

“You’re our guest, you s
houldn’t be stirring a pot,” Shelley said softly.

I turned and smiled at her.
“Thank you. Well, I guess I should head back to the rest of my group and make sure they’re all okay. They’re probably wondering where I am,” I said. “It was nice to meet all of you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” they all repeated.

“And, thanks for letting us stay here tonight. We’ll be leaving tomorrow to our pick-up zone.”

“Really? L
eaving so soon?” Peggy Sue asked. “Why don’t you stay a few days? Maybe your people can help us get rid of the monsters, so we can take back our town?”

I paused, and then nodded. “I’ll have to discuss it
with the rest of my group. We have a few wounded who need attention. I can’t make any promises, but I think that’s a great idea.”

“
Yes, that is a great idea, Pegs,” Rhett said, stepping back in the room and winking at his wife.

“I know. Someone has to have some
brains around here,” she winked back.

“Abi, y
ou can follow me if you want to rejoin your group,” he said.

I couldn’t wait to get back and see Finn.

I followed Rhett out and back dow
n the hall, where I heard Finn’s voice coming from the wash room.

“Shit! How long does this take to wear off?
” he griped, wiping his eyes. He came stumbling out of the room.

“Hey,” I said, running to him
, wrapping my arms around his waist.

“Abi, I was looking for you, but someone said you’d already come in,
” he squinted, trying to focus his red eyes on me. “Why aren’t you in excruciating pain?”

“I was rescued first
and already washed it all off. Get back in there. I’ll help you,” I said, pushing him back into the room.

“Where are the others?” I asked.

“They’ve already washed off, and have been taken to our meeting room,” Rhett said. “I’ll escort you there when you’re finished.”

“
Thank you,” I said. I grabbed an extra towel, soaked it with water, and placed it on Finn’s face. He moaned in relief.

“Finn, are you being a
wuss?” Pike teased. He and Dr. Fox were also finishing up.

“Man, I don’t know about y
ou, but I sucked up half of a canister. That bastard was melting me from the inside out,” Finn argued.

“
Wuss,” Pike laughed.

“Call it what you wil
l, but that shit is torture.”

“Give me that towel,” I said, taking it from him, rinsing it off and soaking it cold water again.

Finn pressed the towel to his face again. “Abi, you saved me,” he said through the wet towel, which made me laugh. He carefully wiped his face, neck, and arms.

“Wow
,” Finn said. He came up close to me, pressing his hard body against mine. He tossed the towel behind us into the sink.

“Better?” I asked.

“Much,” he said. He quickly wrapped his arms around me and gave me a kiss on the lips.

“Ge
t a room you two,” Pike huffed.

“I would, but I think the rest of our group invited themselves over for a slumber party.”

We all laughed, including Dr. Fox and Rhett.

“Finn, I want you to meet the leader of this hive,” I sa
id, turning his face toward Rhett. “This is Rhett Miller.”

Finn extended his hand
to him. “Thank you, sir.”

“It was our pleasure
,” Rhett answered. He then shook Pike and Dr. Fox’s hands.

“
Please, once everyone gets washed up, I’d like to take you all to the meeting room, and go over a few things.”

“Sure,” Finn answered.
“I think we’re all ready.”

Pike and Dr. Fox nodded
consent.

We
followed Rhett down the hall to a larger room. At the center of the room was an extra-large, round, wooden table with chairs set around it. It reminded me of King Arthur and his round table.

The rest of our group was already there
, but after doing the count, we’d lost four men. Our pilot, navigator, and two soldiers. My heart ached, trying to picture their faces in my mind. A few moments ago they were alive and breathing, and in a blink, they were gone. Their lives stripped away from those murderous creatures outside.

I said
a silent prayer for them and their families.

My stomach turned, and I began to feel nauseous. This world was filled with so much death and horror.

The two injured men were lying on cots and being attended to by Dr. Lee and Dr. Banks. The patient with both the casted arm and leg was moaning loudly as Dr. Banks searched though his medical bags.

“Oh no,” he
breathed. His brow deeply furrowed, and then he closed his eyes tight, looking as if he was wishing for something with all his might. “This can’t be happening.”

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“
We are missing a few of our medical bags. They are carrying very important medications, and pain killers, which are necessary to treat these patients.”

“There is no way we are going
back out there tonight,” Rhett said. “At night, those monsters rule the town. We were lucky to have brought you all back here alive. I won’t risk any lives going out into that hellhole one more time. We have some pain pills here, however they are very outdated.”

“No. That won’t work. What they
need is out there in the middle of the madness. Without it, none of us will get any sleep tonight,” Finn added.

“I’m sorry,”
Rhett said shaking his head. “We’re not going out there. Our best bet is to wait until morning, when the sun is high.”

The wounde
d man began moaning even louder. Dr. Banks tried to comfort him, but his efforts were futile. The man was in need of his medication.

“Sir, would you mind if I went out and retriev
ed the medication? I would need to use some of your gear,” Dr. Banks asked.

“Doctor, d
o you have a death wish?” Rhett asked. “These patients won’t die tonight.”