Sanctum (The After Light Saga) (20 page)

Finn grabbed hold of my hand and squeezed. I turned to h
im and he winked, making my insides flutter.

“We’ve got this,” he said.

“I know,” I returned.

We
all made our way back up the stairs. Rhett, Revek, Tim, and two of their other men carried the five bombs. They would be lit and thrown in five specific buildings around Sanctum. Then, they would throw torches to the others. The goal was shoot-to-kill as the Arvies ran from the burning buildings. Meanwhile, Finn, Pike, and I would make our way outside of the town and head toward the chopper.

We could do this. We could definitely do this.

“Alright, before we go out does anyone have any questions or concerns?” Rhett asked.

“No!” everyone said in unison.

“Are you all ready?”

“Yes!”

“Just remember to pick your targets. Make sure you are firing at the Arvies, and not each other. Aim for the head or the heart. Now, let’s go out and clear our town!” he yelled.

“Finn, should I wait behind, so they can’t read my mind?” I whispered.

“No way.
You
are staying right here, next to me,” he said patting his side. “Just think about what you’ll be wearing to our wedding, and who you’ll invite to the ceremony.”

I smiled
. I could definitely do that. I handed him his shotgun.

“The sun is just about to set, so let’s go pa
int the town red.” Synchronized clicking from guns chambering their rounds, sent a rush of excitement through me. Rhett nodded and then threw the door open. The first five lit their fuses and ran out. We followed slowly behind, just enough so we could see the Arvies if they came out for us. Finn raised his shotgun, and I grasped Hellfire.

I
had to focus. I had to blank my mind. I thought about red roses, and a long white gown with the most beautiful sparkly beads. I pictured a garden, filled with the most beautiful flowers of every color. The ground was carpeted in the softest, greenest grass. I glanced at Finn, and imagined him in a suit, with his dark hair combed back.

I always imagined I would get married one day, but living in the hive, I never really thought about the details. I
would like it to be simple, yet elegant. I wanted a dress like Cinderella. It was one of my favorite stories growing up. My mother read it to me at least a few hundred times. I dreamed of my Prince Charming, not realizing he was already with me.

I envisioned a princess gown, but hidden beneath, I would have Hellfire strapped to my leg, and I’d be wearing
combat boots. The best of both worlds. A blend of who I was, and who I’d always dreamed of becoming—even if it was only for a day.

Boom!

I was knocked back into reality as th
e first bomb went off, and then the next four simultaneously. The blasts were so loud it shook the ground around us. Rhett’s teams ran with lit torches toward their designated buildings. They lit the oil left from the earlier mission first, then threw the lighted torches into buildings.

Suddenly, I felt it…pain. Excruciating pain. I grabbed onto Finn’s arm.

“Don’t let them weaken you, Abi,” he said. “You are much stronger than they are. You need to block them out. Don’t let them in.”

I focused on him. On our love, and what our future could be without the
Arvies. Then, I felt something strange. Fear. Suffocation. Heat. Torment.

Loud screams echoed around us as the flames grew. It was almost strange, how beautiful fire was. The way it twirled and danced effortlessly, licking, then devouring everything in its path. Black plumes of noxious smoke began to billow, slowly strangling the air around us. Intense heat radiated as the ferocious and unrelenting flames devoured the town. The buildings cracked and popped under the intense heat. Swirls of wind sent glittery specks of fire and ash to float down around us. I was mesmerized, until I reached out to touch one.

Arvies
screamed in pain and began to rush out from the buildings. Gunfire echoed across the town as Rhett’s men picked them off, one by one. Finn threw me behind him and began firing. Buildings surrounded us, and so did the Arvies. They charged out from their hiding places, pissed, and ready to take revenge.

I
focused and stood back to back with him. I already knew, if we had to, we circle right. The dark grey smoke worked its way through the streets, making it nearly impossible to see.

Then I saw them, milky white eyes, headed directly to
ward us. In a split second, I raised Hellfire and pulled the trigger.

Two
Arvies dropped to the ground.

“Finn!” Rhett c
alled. “We’ve got this. Go!”

“Are y
ou sure?” Finn called back.

“Oh yeah!
We’ve definitely got the advantage,” he said, with his goggles on. They exchanged a thumbs up.

“Pike, you ready?” Finn called.

“Ready. I can’t breathe,” he coughed.

Finn grabb
ed hold of my hand and we made a dash down the street, toward the exit. Pike stayed right on our heels.

I heard another scream from the side of me. The smoke was so thick I could barely see it.

Bam!

The Arvy dropped to the ground, his arm grabbed my leg. I screamed and jumped back.

“Got ‘em!” Pike yelled.

“Thank you.
I didn’t even see it coming.”

“No problem. I’m trying to make it even, j
ust in case you need to carry me part of the way,” he laughed.

We
exited the town and ran as far as we could, until there was no smoke.

A
bout a half mile away, we stopped for a moment and turned around to make sure we weren’t being followed.

We weren’t. There was o
nly darkness and the glow of the town. Popping sounds from gunfire echoed through the air as they fired on the Arvies. I hoped they would accomplish their mission and make it out alive.

The
town was glowing in bright and beautiful hues of orange, yellow, and red. It was an eerie feeling. The plumes of smoke billowed upward creating a veil of darkness which swallowed up the moon and star light.

“They’re doing their job
, let’s do ours,” Finn broke the silence.

“
How will we know we’re headed in the right direction?” I asked.

“Rhett gave me a compass. I’ll find it,” he said confidently.

“I don’t doubt you will,” I agreed.

We ran deeper and deeper into darkness
, resting only a few moments to drink a few sips of water. We needed to do this. We had to.

The night breeze was cool and invigorating, giving
us the extra boost to keep moving. The only sound was our loud breaths and the pounding of our feet against the dead earth. The feeling of being on the topside, free and running in a vast expanse, was a feeling I couldn’t explain. Amazing, yet tainted, knowing there were Arvies out there. But at this moment, we were safe. I knew this because my mind was completely free from any pain.

A
few hours later, I saw a faint glimmer ahead. The dim light from the half-moon above us reflected off of something metal. As my eyes adjusted and focused, I realized it was the chopper’s windshield.

“There it is,” I pointed.

“Thank God,” Pike huffed, out of breath.

“
Good job, Abi,” Finn said. Seeing the chopper shot another bit of adrenaline into us. We kept going, knowing we could rest for a while once we reached it.

It took us about
ten more minutes to finally reach our destination. Seeing the chopper resting silently on its side, in the middle of the desert, brought back a wave of emotion. It was a miracle we’d even survived. Steven really did save our lives.

When we came close, Finn
took the sled off of his back and placed it on the ground. Lifting his shotgun, he motioned for us to be quiet and to stay put. He wasn’t going to take any risks, and I didn’t blame him. We didn’t come all the way out here to get bitten by an Arvy.

He quietly snuck up to the chopper,
and climbed in. I waited, impatiently.

“All
clear,” he yelled.

I exhaled, not realizing I was holding my breath.

I jumped
in next to Finn, and Pike followed, after dropping the empty containers on the ground.

“There has to be some kind of light in here,” Finn said.

“There should be an emergency kit somewhere. I don’t think anyone took it. We were in a rush to get out,” Pike said. “It will have glow sticks, or a flare in it.”

“Well, we don’t w
ant to use a flare,” I noted. I could smell a hint of fuel.

“I hope there’s still
fuel, and it didn’t leak out or dry up,” Finn said.

“Nah, there is no way. There are h
undreds of gallons in the extra tanks. We’ll have more than enough,” Pike said.

We carefully checked everywhere for the emergency kit
. “I think I found it,” Finn said. He carried a medium-sized white box outside of the chopper. In the dim light, he opened it. “Damn, there is a lot of stuff in here.” He rummaged through the box and pulled something out.

“Hell yeah,” Pike cheered. “That’s a flashlight.
Its hand crank powered. Here give it to me. I’ve had a few of these.”

Finn
handed it over to Pike, and after a few minutes, the flashlight clicked on.

“Awesome,” Finn said.

“We even have a few glow sticks in here. He ripped open a foil package and cracked a glow stick. It started to illuminate a fluorescent yellow, and as he shook it, it became brighter.

“How many are there?”
Pike asked.

“
Three,” Finn said, handing me one, before cracking another one, and jumping back into the chopper. There wasn’t much we could take, and we didn’t want to carry anything heavy anyway.

“I think the easiest way to get the fuel
, would be to syphon it,” Finn advised.

Pike agreed.
“I think I have something we can use.” He pulled a small tube off of the front of the chopper.

I j
umped out and began untying the containers from each other, setting them up so they would be easier to fill. Pike seemed to know his way around the helicopter. He said he’d helped out on a few during training.

They found the
extra fuel tank and began to syphon, filling one container at a time until all ten were filled. They were heavy. We carefully set them in the sled, tying them together and down, trying to make them as secure as possible.

“Let’s rest up a bit before we head back,” Finn said.

We all agreed, and sat down outside of the chopper to rehydrate.

“Holy crap. We have food.
” Finn held up one pouch of freeze-dried chili mac with beef. “And there is a flint stick, and a plastic spoon. Damn, we scored!”

I laughed at how adorably excited he was.
“Is that still good?” I asked.

“Yeah, t
hose things have a shelf life of thirty years,” Pike said. “It’s definitely still good.”

“We
ll, I’m hungry, so we need to make a fire. Like now,” Finn said.

We quickly gathered whatever we could use as burning material from the ch
opper and moved far away. There were lots of maps, and a few manuals. Pike found a small metal box which we could use as a bowl. With the flint and a little fuel, we quickly started the fire. Each of us poured some water out of our canteens, then waited and watched it cook.

“These MRE’s are great. The government bunkers are loaded,” Pike said.

“We had a bunch of freeze dried food in our bunker too,” I said. “It all tasted the same, but my favorite was the beef stroganoff.”

“Mine was the beef stew,” Finn said. “However,
Abi’s grandma used to doctor it up and make it all taste a lot better.”

“I bet,” Pike chuckled. “We had some great food growing up in the hive. Especially when the Garden of Eden started producing
. A few days a month we would get to eat fresh fruits, herbs, and vegetables. That was a nice surprise.”

“I can’t wait until we can start a garden of our own,” I said. “Seeing the Garden of Eden was like a dream. I never wanted to leave.”

“It had that effect on people. I remember my first day, it was the first time I’d ever seen fruit on a tree. I was mesmerized. Then, to actually taste it…” Pike moaned and rolled his eyes back.

I laughed.
“Oh believe me. I can totally empathize.”

“Th
at’s so not fair. I never got to experience the garden,” Finn pouted.

“Well,” I said. “I was wishing you were there to experience it with me. One day, you will get to experience it.”

“I’ve heard the next bunker has a garden triple the size of ours,” Pike said.

“Well, I’d want to experience it for the first time with Abi,” he said, flitting his gaze over to me.

A smile formed on my lips.

“I doubt tha
t would ever happen. I know in our hive, the only people who could go together were the marrieds. Singles had no say who they went in with, and it was usually their roommate.”

“Yeah, that’s why
I went with Tina,” I said. Pike smiled as I said her name.

“So, with all the time you two have
had together, have you discussed any plans for the future?” I asked him.

His grin got bigger.

“Since we arrived at Sanctum, we have had a bit of time to talk a lot about the future. I never realized how much we have in common, and how our goals are so connected.”

“I’m happy for you. You
both look so happy together,” I said.

“It’s so strange
because for all these years we had a mutual infatuation, but it never grew into anything more. I guess it was because we couldn’t show any kind of affection, in fear of her father finding out. He had the power to make me disappear,” he chuckled. “But since we’ve been out, we have had some time to talk and make goals. We want to be together, so it’s just a matter of time. But we all know we most likely won’t be able to see each other for a long time in this the next bunker. I just hope the bunker life will end soon and we will finally have a chance to start lives of our own.”

“
I know, man. That’s the same frustration we have,” Finn said. “Our situation was kind of the same. We also grew up together, and only had each other. We were inseparable, and I was truly blessed to have her there. I looked forward to seeing her bright face, every single day. She completed me. Whenever she was sick, I felt lost. But I was also terrified to tell her how I felt because I didn’t want her to think differently of me. If she didn’t feel the same way, our friendship wouldn’t be the same. I didn’t want to risk it.”

“Well it looks mutual to me,” Pike laughed, and I blushed.

“Yeah, thank God,” Finn exhaled.

“Tina told me the other night, she loves the way you look at each other. You can see the love and r
espect. It’s like each knows what the other is thinking.”

Finn and I glanced at each other, and smiled.

“It’s true. After thirteen years of being so close to him, he knows everything about me. And I never told him how I felt, because I also didn’t want to lose the amazing relationship we had.”

“I’ll bet Ava put it to the test though
?” Pike said.

“
Yes, and I’ll admit, I acted very immaturely. You have to remember, up until that point, I’d had Finn all to myself. I never had to compete with anyone else for his friendship, or feel the sting of jealousy. It was a whole new set of feelings. I guess I thought I was going to lose him and became irrational. It took me a little while to realize our friendship was most important to me. His happiness was something I treasured over mine.”

“T
hat’s why I love you,” Finn smiled.

“
You two are making me sick,” Pike moaned. “Enough with the love junk! Is the food ready?”

“It is,”
Finn laughed, stirring the pot.