The Ark of Asylum (The Ark Series Book 1) (15 page)

Shots ring out from the woods, striking the man in the truck bed, forcing him to drop his rifle just as the driver grabs his shoulder and dives back into the truck. The man on the other side of the truck ducks, takes cover, and then shoots at Dave, Jason, and Simon, who fire back. The man with the cigar pulls out his pistol and ducks behind the door and shoots at Dave.

As the man on the outside of the car falls to the ground, the cigar man jumps back in the truck and yells to the driver to get the fuck out of there. As the driver puts the truck in reverse and slams on the gas, bullets shatter the windshield and pepper the hood. The truck drives in reverse until it spins around and drives away as fast as it can. They all stop shooting and wait for the truck to get out of view before lowering their weapons.

Dave yells over the radio, “Is anyone hit? Is everyone alright?”

Jason checks his chest and soon feels a searing pain shooting from his arm. “Fuck, I’m hit. They got me in the arm.”

As Dave goes over to check on his brother, Kelly vaults over the fallen tree and runs as fast as she can toward her husband. “Jason! Jason, are you okay? Are you okay?” She runs up to him and drops her rifle on the ground and grabs his arm. “How bad is it? Let me see!”

              “It’s fine, damn it. If you’d stop grabbing my arm! It’s just a flesh wound. It didn’t hit the bone. I’m fine.”

              Kelly rips his shirt and starts crying as blood runs down his arm and onto the ground. Dave takes off his pack, pulls out some paracord, and gently moves Kelly over. He takes the cord and ties it around Jason’s arm above the wound, tying it fairly tight. Simon takes a roll of bandages out of his pack and throws it to Dave, who wraps it around the wound.

              “That wound needs to be cleaned and stitched up, but we can’t do it here. They might come back with reinforcements. Get the two girls, and let’s get the hell out of here. Now, let’s move!”

Peter comes running up to the group and looks at the two bodies on the ground and then up at Jason. “You guys, we need to get out of here. I heard some movement and rustling of leaves behind me in the trees. I think there’s something moving toward us through those woods and very fast. We need to leave now!”

Simon goes over to the car door and looks in the back seat at the two girls still crying, shaking, and holding each other, obviously traumatized. “Girls, my name is Simon. I’m sorry about who I assume were your relatives, but we need to get out of here, and we can’t leave you two behind. Those men might come back, and we don’t want to be here when they do, okay? Grab what you need, and let’s go.”

The older of the two young girls sits up and wipes her eyes. She grabs her sister’s hand, and they step out of the vehicle. They look at the dead man lying ripped apart on the ground. “Daddy! No! No!” The younger one lets go of her sister’s hand and begins to run over to her father.

Simon lunges for the girl and grabs her by the waist. “No! Don’t touch him! I’m sorry, honey, but he’s been infected. You can’t go near any of them. I’m sorry.”

The girl cries and struggles to get away from Simon so she can get to her father, but Simon doesn’t let go. The older sister rushes over and grabs her, pulls her close, and hugs her.

Dave goes over and opens the trunk of the car and pulls out some suitcases that look like they would belong to the two girls. “Are these your bags? We need to get out of here. Girls, are these your bags!”

The older sister looks up and nods her head yes and then puts her head back on top of her sister’s.

“Alright then, let’s go!” Simon puts his hand on the older girl’s back and starts to move them. “Crap! Wait, the samples. I almost forgot all about them. I still need to get some samples!”

Dave lets out a sigh and looks up at the sky. “Damn it, that’s right. Alright, Kelly, you get the girls and help them get their belongings. Peter, you just help my brother out with getting to the back of the house. We’ll all head back to the truck together shortly. I’ll keep watch. Simon, you get those samples, and get them fast!”

              Simon pulls off his pack and rips it open, grabbing his test kit. After he puts his gloves and mask back on, he then kneels down next to one of the infected and cuts off a tissue sample and takes some blood. He then tries to gather some saliva but has no luck there because of the head being half taken off. He looks at the other bodies, but they are all in the same condition. He proceeds to take the same samples from the girls’ father when he jumps back. “What the fuck? He just moved! His body just moved!” Just as he gets finished saying that, the body lets out a gurgling sound and begins to twitch its feet.

The older girl turns around and lights up with hope. “Daddy? You’re alive, Daddy?”

Dave walks over to the girls and pushes them along. “Get them out of here, now, damn it!” Kelly hurries the girls around the side of the house to head back to the truck.

Dave walks over to Simon and looks at him, and Simon looks back up at him, not knowing what to do. The body begins twitching all over and moving its hands. Dave pulls out his knife and looks at the body. Just as it opens its eyes, Dave thrusts his knife into its skull. The twitching stops. He pulls the knife from the skull and then goes over to the other man’s body, not waiting to see if it exhibits the same behavior, and plunges his knife into its skull. Simon watches silently as Dave once again pulls his knife out of a skull, wipes it off on the corpse’s clothes, and puts it away. He walks over to Simon, who simply nods in acknowledgement. Dave grabs him by his shirt to help pull him up. “Let’s go.”

Simon grabs his gear, and they move in the direction of the rest of the group. They abruptly come to a stop as they hear branches breaking and leaves crunching behind them. They turn around just as a small group of infected appear out of the trees no more than fifty yards from them.

Dave looks at Simon, and they start running. “Contact! Fifty yards behind us. Everyone move it, now!”

As the rest of the group hear the call over the radio, the girls start running into the woods, but Peter and Jason stop at the edge of the trees, fan out, and crouch down, pointing their weapons toward the side of the house. Simon and Dave soon appear around the back of the house, running in a full-out sprint toward the trees.

The first of the pursuing infected turns the corner of the house, and Jason and Peter open fire, taking it down quickly. Just as Dave and Simon run past them, the rest of the pack of about a dozen infected turn the corner. Peter and Jason begin firing again. Some fall, but most keep coming.

Once Dave and Simon get about twenty yards behind them, they spread out and crouch down and yell “move” into the radio before they begin shooting. Peter and Jason get off the ground and run back into the woods.

As they run past Dave and Simon, Peter yells, “About a dozen, moving fast.” Dave and Simon continue unloading round after round. The infected hit the tree line and are falling rapidly, but some make it through the shots. Peter and Jason stop at a tree and reload as quickly as possible.

“Ready to fire! Move!” They begin firing again just as Dave and Simon get up and run. When they get to Peter and Jason, they stop and crouch down next to them.

Dave reloads and looks around the tree. “Hold your fire. Hold your fire. I think we got them all!” They all stop shooting and listen and look for any movement in the trees. They hear a little rustling around but see no movement.  Dave gets off the ground and takes a few steps backwards.

“Everyone back to the truck.”

They all get off the ground and run for the truck. Dave follows behind, still moving backward to look for any pursuing infected. He soon turns and runs as well. They finally get to the truck to find Kelly kneeling in the back of the truck bed, pointing the rifle in their direction, and the two girls in the backseat of the truck. They all double over, trying to catch their breath.

Jason reaches up toward his wife when she yells out, “Get down!”

They all four hit the ground and turn around to see an infected sprinting at full speed right at them. A shot is heard as they fumble for their weapons, and the head of the infected snaps back, sweeping it off its feet and sending it flying to the ground no more than ten feet from them. Kelly continues to point her gun in its direction as the four men get off the ground and look at it and then at her in complete amazement. Kelly’s eyes look surprised, but she grins at them.

Jason puts his hand on her rifle and slowly lowers it. ”Great, baby. You got it.”

Dave shoulders his rifle and walks back to the truck. “Nice shot, sis, not bad at all. Now, let’s get the hell out of here.”

              They all load back into the truck and drive away, leaving a trail of bodies behind them. Just as they pull up to the road, three jets fly overhead, and they stop the truck. Dave and Simon get out.

They all watch as jets fly east toward Denver. Soon after they see the jets drop a payload of napalm on the city, which sounds an explosion and sends it up in flames. Three more jets scream overhead and follow in the release of napalm on the city. They jump back into the truck and speed away and back to the house.

John sits with his family under the massive sunlight lamps, enjoying the peacefulness while making sandcastles with his kids. He thinks to himself how it almost feels like the real sun. He wonders how long they will have to stay in the Ark to be out of danger and safe. The country has taken a turn for the worse, and it sure seems like it’s not getting any better.

Will they be down here for days, weeks, months, or maybe even years? Can they survive down here for that long? Has he and a handful of others thought of everything to survive for an extended period of time? What if the builders or the engineers or what if even he himself made some sort of miscalculation or misjudgment somewhere along the way? Maybe they didn’t even choose the right materials for the Ark. The threat of nuclear attack aside, what if the Ark doesn’t even last or if everyone involved just plain screwed up!

John sits there getting more and more nervous with every thought that enters his mind. There are a lot of people’s lives at stake, including, most importantly, his family’s. Sweat trickles down his forehead, and he’s not sure if it’s from the sunlamps or his stress level rising. He is second guessing every move he’s made pertaining to the Ark, and his sandcastle begins to crumble.

Erica looks up from her sand wall she’s building and furrows her brows at her father. “Daddy, what are you doing? You’re ruining the sandcastle. Now we’re going to have to start all over.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. Daddy’s just got a lot on his mind, that’s all. Here, why don’t you start over without me, okay? Daddy’s got some work to do.”

              He stands up and brushes the sand from his pants and steps out of the sandbox. He kisses his kids each on the head and walks over to his radio sitting on the bench. He presses the button for Adam, and his face appears on the screen.

“Yes, sir? What can I do for you this afternoon? Would you like an update on the Denver and Boulder situations?”

              “No, no, updates every few hours is fine. Right now I want you to get the operations manager and meet me in the recreations area as soon as possible. We need to go over a few things.”

“Copy that, sir. I’ll get Sasha, and we’ll meet you down there in about thirty minutes, okay?”

“Copy.”

Just as John lowers the radio, he sees Stacy and Bill walking briskly in his direction. He’s pretty sure this is going to be about Maggie and how to help her, considering it would be about the tenth time.

              “Stacy, Bill, how are you two holding up? I haven’t heard any new news on how she’s doing, and as far as I know, nothing has changed in her situation. She and her friends are still safe and sound in the bunker. Last time we spoke she was going to meet with the military that was moving into the area, so they should be very safe.”

              Stacy lowers her head and lets out a deep breath. “John, now, I know you worry about our little Maggie just as much as we do, so I don’t need to reiterate how worried we are about our little girl. But damn it, John, we just can’t stand around and do nothing while our little baby is out there and in danger! We’ve got to do something, John. We’ve got to go out there and get her. Damn it, it’s the only way!”

              “Stacy, now you know that’s not possible right now. We just don’t have the means or the intel to be going out on a rescue mission. Now, that doesn’t mean that it’s not being thought about because, on the contrary, it most certainly is. Let’s just say the wheels are in motion, and we’re working on a way that we can retrieve her and her friends in a safe and effective way. But it’s not that easy, and it’s just not possible right now. That bunker they’re in was built to withstand a massive attack and enable her to outlast any prolonged duration of time down there. She’s got enough food and water for her and her friends to last for over a year. So try not to worry so much, okay? And rest assured I’m working on getting her out of there.”

              Stacy grabs his hands and begins to cry. “I know you’ve got it under control, John. You’ve done wonders for all of us by building the Ark; I won’t question that. But you have to understand how it feels when your only daughter is out there in harm’s way. It just tears my heart out. So, please, whatever you have planned, just please do it as fast as possible so we can go out there and rescue her from the evil that surrounds her. She might be safe for now, but we don’t know how long that will last. So I just want my baby back home safe and sound, that’s all, and I’m willing to do anything and everything it takes to make that happen.”

              “I know you will, Stacy, and you know I will too. Like I always say, sis, that girl is like a daughter to me, and I will do everything possible to get her back here safe and sound. You have my word.”

They both hug and cry a little, wiping their tears as they let go. He looks up to see Sasha and Adam walking toward them.

“But, hey, I’m really sorry, sis. I hate to have to leave you like this, but I’ve got some things I have to take care of. And try not to worry; I’ll be sure to update you guys on the situation as soon as I can. You’ll be first to know. But for now, just have faith that God is watching over her and keeping her safe. And our prayers are the only thing that will help with that.”

“I know, John. I know, and I pray every day. Thank you, and I love you, little brother.”

“I love you too, sis, but I don’t want you to worry so much, she’ll be alright. She’s a smart, strong young woman, and she’ll make it through this just as we will.”

John hugs Stacy again and then Bill. He wipes the tears from Stacy’s face and smiles at them just as Adam and Sasha slowly start to walk up. Stacy and Bill give a smile and nod and walk away.

John shakes both Sasha’s and Adam’s hands, and they start to walk. “Thanks for meeting with me. I appreciate it under such short notice, and, you know, for the fact that we just spoke a couple hours ago. But a lot of things have been on my mind lately, so I want to learn about the basic diagnostics and monitoring of all of the systems within the Ark. I’m pretty confident in the security details I’ve been receiving from Adam, so Sasha I need for you to just walk us through the day-to-day operations that go on around here, okay? So . . . wherever you prefer to start.”

Sasha fumbles for some words, obviously taken off guard by the inquiry. “Ah, okay, most certainly, sir. Well, ah, since we’re right here in recreation, let’s start here, shall we?”

“Nah, I already know everything there is to know about this. Let’s move to something else.”

“Ah, sure, okay. Then follow me. I know just the place to start.”

She leads them to the elevator, and they go up to a level John has never been on. They exit the elevator and follow Sasha into security, where they are processed and sent through. They walk into a control room filled with monitoring equipment.

“Welcome, gentlemen, you are now standing in the Ark’s central monitoring control systems, where we monitor every operational aspect from within the Ark. Everything from monitoring the main power supply to checking to see how the thermal heating system is working. This will know if anything is wrong with our air or water quality long before we will. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, sir. We’ll know if there’s an earthquake nearby, or even if the earth’s core is heating up, all while constantly testing the structural strength and integrity of the Ark. And, of course, everything is tied into the security station, which I can go into more detail about if you’d like?”

John just stands there smiling for a second before he looks at Adam. “Did you know about this place?”

He slightly smiles and chuckles a little. “Of course I did, John.”

“Oh, well that’s good. But ah, no, Sasha, that’s not necessary. This place is great. I just can’t believe it’s my first time in here, but I guess you don’t really think about the inner workings of most things; let’s move onto something else.”

“Ah, certainly, sir. We’ll take the elevator and go to the farms and grow houses. How does that sound?”

“Fine, let’s go.”

When they exit the elevator on the farms and grow house level, they are met with the pungent smell of the farms.

“Okay, well, as you can probably already smell, we are in the farm area. We have basically everything that you’d find on a standard farm, anything from chickens and cows to corn and wheat. The farm level actually spans about three levels, but a lot of that is the grow houses, which we are entering now.” They all walk into a very large and very humid grow house. “This grow room actually emulates the rain forest and grows many of the super foods you’d find only in the rain forest and South America. This grow house and the one next to it grows things like Acai, Camu Camu, and Gogi berries, just to name a few. And it is one of the first in the world that’s been able to grow these fruits out of their natural environment, quite amazing if you ask me.”

Adam pulls a berry off the bush and eats it. “Wow, that’s amazing, I’ve tried these once in South America, and it tastes exactly the same.”

John pulls a berry off as well. “Damn, that’s good!” They stand there for a minute just popping berries in silence.

“Alright, let’s get down to brass facts; the reason why I pulled you guys aside and made you do this was because I’ve just been stressing out about this place and if we’ve made all the right decisions toward the safety and well being of every living soul in here. I know about how this place operates. I’ve been over it time and time again, but what I’m looking for probably can’t be answered by any of us, and it can only be answered with time, I guess. Listen, in the last few years, I’ve put almost every waking hour of my life into this place, but I guess I’m just going through some kind of second guessing-slash-mid-life crisis phase, and I apologize for dragging you two into it.”

              Adam has been pulling more berries off the bush and popping them in his mouth. When John pauses in speaking, Adam interjects, “Sir, I think I understand somewhat how you feel. Sometimes I lie awake at night thinking about this place and wondering if I’ve made the best possible decisions at the time and with what I had to work with. And I quickly fall asleep when I remind myself that this whole thing you’ve done here, building the Ark, creating a safe haven for hundreds of people, this is something that was orchestrated by a higher power, something that’s bigger than any of us. What you’ve done here, sir, is quite frankly a miracle and a divine intervention if you ask me. So, when you begin to question yourself and the choices you’ve made, just remind yourself that everything happens for a reason, that our fate or our destiny was something that was supposed to happen not what just happened to happen.”

“Well, I’m speechless. I had no idea you were so spiritual, Adam.”

              “To tell you the truth, John, neither did I, not until I met you. You’ve single handedly changed my life for the better. You’ve made me see things and realize things that I didn’t think existed, and for that I’m eternally grateful.”

              “Well, I’ll be damned. I guess the teacher becomes the student because you just reminded me why I never used to worry in the past. Because you’re absolutely right. This
is
our fate. This
is
our destiny, and everything always works out for the best. Thank you for reminding me, Adam.”

John hugs Adam, and they both turn to Sasha, who looks dumbfounded. He puts one arm around Adam’s neck and the other around Sasha’s, and they begin walking out of the grow house.

              “We’re all going to be alright, and there’s no need to worry or stress out about any of this because there’s a plan for all of us; we’re just the instruments. Now let’s head up to the engineering department. I’ve got a plan I want you both to see.”

* * *

They walk back through the farms and take the elevator up to the engineering and manufacturing levels to find Evgeni. When they finally find him, he is nose deep in his computer, hammering on the keys. They let him finish his work and decide not to bother him. They know how angry he can get when he is disturbed while working, so they wait it out until he lifts his head up from his screen. He turns around and pushes his glasses back on his nose and stares at them for a second, almost like his brain is switching modes.

              Once he realizes who it is, he jumps up out of his seat and walks over to greet them. “Well, hello everybody. So nice to see you. Come sit. Sit, please.” He finishes shaking everyone’s hands, and John takes a seat, followed by Adam and Sasha.

John sits up in his seat, eager to talk. “How’s it going, Evgeni? Have you gotten anywhere with our little project?”

“Oh, most wonderful, Mr. Angelite most wonderful, very well, yes.”

“That’s great to hear, and like I’ve said in the past, please call me ‘John.’”

“Of course, Mr. . . . I mean John. Het problem—sorry—I mean no problem.  Damn Russian words sometimes sneak in, you know? So, what can I do for you today?”             

“So, tell me how things are coming? Are you making progress?”

“Oh, yes, of course, of course. I’m making very good progress. I was actually working on the schematics right now. Would you like to hear about it?”

“Yes, please, of course I would, and I think Adam and Sasha would like to know what’s going on as well.”

Adam turns and looks at Sasha, and they both shrug their shoulders. Adam then looks back at Evgeni and John. “Ah, yes, please, fill us in. We are completely in the dark on this one.”