The Ark of Asylum (The Ark Series Book 1) (8 page)

Maggie closes her laptop after finishing her test just a little bit sooner than everyone else, she notices. Her mind is still racing from such a stressful exam, yet she feels confident that she did well. After the rest of her classmates finish up, everyone is released from class, and Maggie walks to her house in Boulder, eventually joined by both of her roommates. A mile later, she parts ways with Heather, who has an errand to do, but Kristie follows her into their house.

Maggie’s boyfriend Eric and his two friends, Nate and Todd, are crashed on the couch, smoking weed out of a bong while playing
Call of Duty
on a PlayStation. Maggie walks into the living room, waving her hand in front of her face and coughing,         

“Can you guys please do that at your house—”

“—Oh, don’t worry. We do!” Nate laughs as he blows out his hit of Sour Diesel.

“—and not in mine!” Maggie finishes.

The other guys chuckle a little as Eric jumps up off the couch and gives her a quick kiss. “Hey, beautiful, sorry about the guys here and us smoking weed, and yes we should be using the Vaporizer, but I also wasn’t expecting you home for a couple of hours.”

“Clearly,” Maggie responds as Kristie walks by them and sits down next to Nate. She bumps into him, thus making him miss his shot and get killed.

“Aw, come on, dude. You just made me get shot!” He throws up his hands and looks at Kristie and then gives her a light kiss.

Kristie playfully pushes him back. “Please don’t call me ‘dude.’ You know I hate it when—”

Todd gets mad and abruptly turns around and interrupts Kristie then looks right at Nate. “Come on, dude! We’re getting our asses kicked. Let’s pick it up, and stop dying!”

“I’m not trying to! I’m just really stoned, and Kris just messed me up, so chill. And it’s just a video game, ya nerd!” Nate yells back.

As they continue to argue, Maggie grabs Eric’s hand. “Can I talk to you for a second?” She leads him into the kitchen and then turns around and faces him. “You guys gotta go. I have more exams to study for, so you guys can’t stay. Alright?”

Eric gets close and presses her up against the island. “What! Oh, come on, babe. We’ll be quiet. I promise we won’t bother you.”

Maggie pushes him back and walks over to the refrigerator. “Hell no. You said that last time, and your jackass friends bothered me all night hollering at that stupidass videogame, so no way.”

“Alright, fine. We’ll leave.” He drops his head and shakes it. “Just in a little bit, okay? Thanks, hon.”

Maggie takes a bottle of Acai juice from the refrigerator and takes a sip to dodge his attempted kiss. She then walks into the living room and sits on the far end of the couch.

Eric walks in and sits right next to her and says to everyone, “Maggie’s kicking us out in a little bit you guys, just so you know.”

Todd turns toward them. “Oh, come on, Maggie. That’s so weak! We’ll behave. Please don’t make us leave. We live in a shithole; your place is so nice.”

“Thanks a lot, Eric. Jerk,” Maggie says as she punches him in the arm.

“Hey, I’m just keeping it real, babe. Is that not what you said?” Eric rubs his arm in the hopes of gaining a little sympathy.

“Sorry, guys, but I have a huge exam tomorrow, and I have to study, and last time I let you guys stay, you disrupted my concentration numerous times. So sorry, but you can only stay for a little while longer.” Maggie takes another sip of her juice and slumps further into the couch.

Nate tosses his controller on the coffee table. “We will, Maggie, and sorry about last time. I know how premed exams go; they’re brutal. Hell, I’m just glad that someone is taking interest in their studies. I wouldn’t want to make whoever flips the bill on this place mad. How do you afford such a nice place anyway?”

“Her crazy, rich-ass uncle bought it for her. This place has like a bomb shelter and everything. It’s sick, dude! ” Eric said.

“Damn! Your uncle pays for this crib? That’s crazy. Who is he? Bill Gates or something?” Todd looks around the room.

“No, he’s—” Maggie abruptly stops as Eric cuts her off.

“Dude, her uncle is that uber-rich dude in the news lately, John Angelite. You know the guy that bought a mountain and basically built NORAD out of it? You know who I’m talkin’ about?”

Nate replies, “No shit? You mean to tell me your uncle’s the guy who built that mountain paradise the feds have been trying to get into for like months now?”

Maggie fakes a smile. “Yep, that’s my uncle and my entire family along with a couple of hundred other people, who are almost overrun by the ATF to be precise.”

“Isn’t that part of what we’re protesting tomorrow at Occupy?” Kristie asks.

Nate takes a sip of water and hands the glass to Kristie. “Kind of, babe. That and a ton of other issues are all part of the Anonymous-slash-Occupy protest in Denver tomorrow . . . Well, there and in every other state that legalized marijuana. You know how this damn new Republican president is clamping down on the states that legalized pot and enforcing federal law? Arresting and shutting down legal cannabis users and dispensaries? Tomorrow’s actually supposed to be the largest mass nationwide protest in U.S. history.”

Todd shakes his head. “Such bullshit.”

Nate nods his head in agreement. “But we’re also protesting the standard protest issues like the skyrocketing unemployment rate, corporate greed, police brutality, and of course a corrupt government that basically wants to someday inject us all with microchips!”

Kristie looks at him like he’s an idiot. “Microchips? Whatever. You’re such a moron sometimes!”

Nate gives Kristie the same look in return and replies, “Haven’t you ever seen the
Zeitgeist
movies?”

Todd turns toward the group and throws his arms up. “Stop fighting, you two! Hey, anyway, I heard that something like over half the population is supposed to occupy every major city in the country. And we’re going to be there!”

Kristie shakes her head while she throws a pretzel at Todd. “You are such an idiot. Half the population is not going to show up for a protest, and I‘m pretty sure you’ve officially smoked yourself retarded.” Kristie waits for a response from Todd, but he just laughs as he picks the pretzel off his shirt and pops it in his mouth.

“That was funny . . . but no, dude, seriously, didn’t you hear? Almost every police department in the country is out of tear gas because of all the protests that have gone on lately. Seems like there are more now than ever. But anyway, ah, oh yeah, they have to use some kind of new tear gas that’s supposed to be like ten times stronger and covers a much larger area than the usual stuff. Hey, didn’t Eric say you have a bomb shelter in this place? Can we check it out? It may have some gas masks we could borrow!” Todd bites down on the pretzel and almost chokes when he jumps out of his chair.

Eric waits for Todd to stop coughing but then looks right at Maggie. “It does have gas masks and all kinds of shit like guns and stuff. I’ve seen it. It’s pretty sick!”

Todd again coughs and grabs a drink to wash the pretzel down then looks right at Maggie. “Can we please check it out? Please? Pretty please?”

Maggie exhales loudly and then sinks back into the couch. “I have to study. I don’t have time. Maybe another day,”

“Oh, come on, please. I promise we’ll leave as soon as we’re done. Just give us like ten minutes, please!” Todd gets on his knees and begs.

Maggie looks at Todd and rolls her eyes. “You promise you guys will leave as soon as you check it out?”

All the guys say yes at the same time and wait for Maggie’s response. She sighs. “Fine, ten minutes. That’s it!”

All three guys shout and jump off the couch and run toward the basement door with Eric in front. “Come on. Follow me. I’ll show you!”

The two girls just sit on the couch and look at each other, shaking their heads. “So mature,” Kristie said while trying not to smile.

“Boys will be boys, just the thought of guns gets them all fired up. Quite pathetic. Oh well, come on. They can’t get in without me.”

Maggie gets up and puts her hand out so Kristie can grab it and pull herself up. They walk downstairs to the basement where the guys are staring at the large steel door. Maggie pushes her way past all three guys and walks up to the computer and puts her hand on the screen. It proceeds to check her palm print and scan her retina. The door opens, and a rush of air flows out, catching the guys off guard in their hazy state of mind. Lights strike and illuminate the cold steel room. They stand there for a second then all at once look at one another and sprint into the now fully lit bomb shelter.

“Holy crap dude!” Eric abruptly stops to gaze on such a sight.

It was like something out of a movie: rows and rows of food, water, medicine, and, of course, guns, an assortment of assault rifles, hand guns, shotguns, hunting rifles, and thousands and thousands of rounds of ammunition. All three guys stand in front of the weapons depot and gaze upon it like one would look upon a gorgeous naked woman or millions of dollars in cash, just in a way only a guy could gaze upon something with more want than imaginable. Eric grabs an assault rifle off the rack and holds it up. “Dude, I think this is an M4 or something. This thing’s badass!”

Todd grabs a gun off the rack and responds, “Dude, I’m pretty sure this is like an ACR or a Scar or something!”

“Man, shut up, you idiot. This isn’t
Call of Duty
, jackass. That’s not an ACR!” Nate grabs the gun and looks it over. “Looks more like a ‘you have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about’ kind of gun, ya moron.”

Todd puts back the rifle, trying his best not to laugh. “Fine then, I’ll just grab this little pistol over here, and oh yeah, suck it.”

Maggie and Kristie walk up behind them, both placing their hands on their hips as Maggie clears her throat. “Ah—what are you guys doing?”

Eric quickly puts his gun back then grabs the pistol and the rifle out of Nate and Todd’s hands and places the guns back on the rack. “Sorry, babe, we were just checking out the arsenal of weaponry just for inspection and quality control protocol, ah, purposes.”

Maggie waves her palm in his face while shaking her head. “Save it, GI Joe. Just put everything back and grab a few gas masks off the wall so you guys will go home, okay?” All three guys hang their heads and mumble “okay” under their breaths as they make their way over to the gas mask wall.

Todd springs to life and grabs a pistol off the rack. “Holy shit! Is this a Glock? Sweet!” He turns it to the side and points it at Nate. “Freeze, muthafucka!”

“PUT IT back!” Maggie yells in annoyance. “You guys have ten seconds to get your masks and get out of here. Got it? Or you guys don’t get any masks at all!”

Todd puts down the gun, and they all three walk over and grab a gas mask off the wall. Maggie grabs Kristie’s hand and leads her out the door while pressing the panic button just before leaving and yelling ha-ha to the boys as the door closes.

Once the door closes, the locks engage, trapping the three guys inside. They run to the door at once and start whaling on the steel and yelling to let them out.

“This isn’t funny!” shouts Eric.

Maggie presses the touchpad’s intercom button. “Now, do you guys promise to go home, or do we have to leave you guys in there so you can jack each other off all night?”

Eric presses the intercom button and responds, “You better let us out or we’re gonna blow this door down with some grenades or something and blast our way out! You hear me, woman?”

“Go ahead. Blow yourselves to pieces trying to destroy a two-foot steel door! So be my guest. At least I’d get some studying done!” Maggie shouts the last few words into the intercom.

After a short period of silence except for Todd’s loud breathing, Eric presses the button. “Alright, seriously, babe, it’s a little creepy in here, and I think Todd’s claustrophobic or something because he’s starting to act like a little bitch. We promise we’ll leave. Just open the door so we can get out.”                                          

Maggie again places her hand on the screen as the retina scanner confirms and opens the door. The three guys walk out; all toting their gas masks and thanking her for letting them borrow them. They leave the house, and Maggie walks up to her bedroom, closes the door, and studies.

The next day, Maggie wakes up to her alarm and then gets up and walks over to her laptop while pulling her hair back into a ponytail. She logs into her email and is surprised by an email from the university stating that because of today’s large protests, all testing would be postponed until a later date.

She closes the top, feeling a little relieved but at the same time somewhat perturbed because she really wanted to get the tests over with. After getting over her frustration, she eventually decides to walk downstairs and get some breakfast.

She’s surprised when she walks in to find Heather, her other roommate, already cooking up some breakfast. “Smells good. What ya cookin’?”

Heather turns around and smiles. “Oh, hey, girl, good morning. Want an omelet and some home fries?”

“Sounds wonderful!” Maggie walks over to her roommate and gives her a hug. “So how was your night?”

Heather sighs and then turns back around and flips the omelets. “Lame. I met up with this guy after class and ended up spending the night with him, so I pretty much just got home.”

Maggie walks over to the kitchen table and lays her head down then suddenly pops her head up. “Wait, you didn’t sleep with this guy did you? Wait, how well did you even know this guy?”

“I didn’t sleep with him. What kind of girl do you think I am? And I met him in my sociology class. He was cute and rich, so I said, ‘What the hell?’”

“I know exactly what kind of girl you are. That’s why I asked the question.” Maggie puts her head back down on the table.

“Ha ha, very funny. Alright, fine. Maybe I slept with him a little bit, but that doesn’t make me a slut. Anyway, what’s wrong with you, beautiful? You seem kinda glum. What’s wrong? Boy problems? Here, have some tea.” Heather pours her some hot water and puts a scoop of matcha tea in it. “You know I can tell whenever you’re upset.”

Maggie picks her head back up and yawns. “Thanks, but no boy problems. Eric’s great. No, the tests that I’ve been studying for got canceled today because of that stupid protest going on, the ones that I guess are going on all over the country. And I thought they were going on in Denver, so why the heck are my tests canceled in Boulder?” Maggie lays her head back down on her arms.

“Yay! Now you can come with us!” Heather lightly jumps up and down with excitement.

Maggie looks up at Heather and then flops her head back down on her arms. “Oh, I guess so. Yay me.”

Heather walks over to Maggie and hugs her. “Oh yay! I’m so happy you can go. It just wouldn’t be the same without you!”

An unexpected knock at the front door startles them both, and they look at each other. But when the sound of the door opening is immediately followed by Eric’s voice echoing down the hallway, they are put at ease. He walks into the kitchen, followed by Nate and Todd; they are dressed in all black and look half-baked. All three sit down at the table, and Eric slides over to Maggie and kisses her on the cheek.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

Maggie blushes a bit and shies away. “Aw, you’re so sweet . . . and how are you doing this fine morning, handsome?”

Todd gets up from the table and sidles up to Heather. “Good morning, beautiful. How are you this morning?”

Heather doesn’t even turn around while she flips the last omelet. “Yeah right, Todd. You wish.”

Maggie shakes her head and looks at Eric. “Guess what? My tests were canceled today, so I can go with you guys.”

Eric lights up with a huge smile. “Are you serious? That’s great news! They probably knew no one would show up. . . . That’s hilarious.”

“Yeah, who knows? But I’m glad you’re excited. I’m not sure how excited I am, more nervous than anything.”

“Nervous? There’s nothing to be nervous about; these protests have been going on for years ever since the terrorist attacks let up. They usually stay fairly peaceful, and only recently have they gotten violent, mainly brought on by the police. This particular day of protesting is just supposed to be the largest mass protest in U.S. history. Something like half the population is going to be there. Right, Todd?” Eric and Nate both laugh as Todd sits back down at the table and gives them the finger.

Eric nods his head and smiles. “Anyways, but seriously, what’s really crazy is that the national supply of tear gas has like ran out, so pretty much every police department in the nation is using some kind of new tear gas. So that’s why the gas masks are going to be a lifesaver, so thanks again, babe.”

“You’re welcome, and you mentioned the tear gas thing yesterday. Good lord, have you killed off all your brain cells smoking pot? Oh, and by the way, you’re not making me feel any better about going to this!” Maggie takes a sip of her tea and then stirs it a little. “But at least I’ll feel like I’m helping my family out a little by protesting. Well, I guess I’ll grab some extra gas masks for the rest of us because I highly doubt any of these stoners even remembered to grab masks for either of the girls they knew were going?” She looks right at Nate with a huge grin.

“Ah . . . oh crap, just don’t tell Kris—”

Just as Nate finishes, Kristie walks into the kitchen looking confused. “Don’t tell Kris what?”

“Ah crap.” Nate drops his head and conks it on the table.

“He forgot to get you a gasmask.” Maggie purses her lips to contain her smile.

She sits down next to Nate while shaking her head back and forth. “Nice job, boyfriend.”

Nate picks his very red face off the table and sighs. “My bad . . . But hey at least Maggie can go with us now!”

Kristie quickly turns toward Maggie with a ginormous smile. “You can? Oh yay!”

After Heather serves them breakfast, they discuss the plans for the afternoon, finish eating, and load the car with gear for the protests like extra clothing, the gas masks, food and water, and sign-making materials.

A little after nine A.M., they drive down the Boulder turnpike toward Denver and arrive in the city about forty-five minutes later. They finally find a parking spot for the Range Rover within reasonable walking distance to the protest.

Eric turns around in the passenger seat to look at everyone. “Alright, now remember what we talked about at breakfast: We all stay together. But in case anyone gets separated, just don’t forget we’re all connected by GPS on our iPhones; just make sure you input the car location now. Now if shit hits the fan, we get the hell out of dodge and get the fuck back to the car. Alright?” They all nod their heads in agreement and get out of the car.

After walking for a short time, they eventually get to the outskirts of the protest. Everyone is shouting and waving signs in such a synchronized way that from above it would look like the ocean and how it moves in its own rhythmic perfection. They walk up to the wall of angry protesters, and Eric taps the shoulder of one of them.

“Hey, bro, can I ask you a question?”

The protester stops shouting, turns around, and looks at Eric. “What’s up, dude? What do you want?”

“Nothing. I’m just wondering if you’ve heard any more news about this tear gas situation.”

The protestor thinks for a second. “Oh yeah, word is they’re going to shoot the gas off into the crowds if we don’t all disperse by noon. They said they wanted to send a message to the protesters because the protests were getting too violent lately.”

Eric jumps up in an attempt to see over the crowd. “Well, do you know of any way to get any closer?”

The protester looks at him and laughs. “No way, dude. These people have been here for days, some even weeks. It would take you forever to try to worm your way through the crowd. It’s impossible, bro. It’s like that all over the country; every major city is like this. Here, check it out.” He pulls out his Android phone and shows him aerial pictures of New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, and other cities all with massive crowds.

Eric thanks the protestor and walks back over to his group of friends all huddled in a circle. Once he explains the situation to them, they proceed to make their signs. Only after raising their signs and pulling down their Guy Fawkes masks do they begin yelling with the other protestors. An hour goes by, and they are now completely surrounded by fellow protesters. More and more people continue to arrive.

As noon approaches, the crowd begins to slowly settle down and stop shouting in anticipation of the tear gas attack. The six friends all move in a little closer in a bunch and pull up their masks, and then they each put on their gas masks. They notice numerous other protesters doing the same thing. The crowd eventually gets quiet with only a few whispers heard. The faint sounds from a megaphone are heard in the distance, the words too faint to hear as the chatter amongst the crowd only grows, but surprisingly no one runs off.

Suddenly, tear gas cannons erupt in succession. As the canisters fly into the crowds, screams and shouts fill the air, followed only by the spray of cloud and smoke spewing from what seems like every direction in front of them. What starts as screams and yelling in the distance now erupts into hundreds of screams getting closer and louder. People all around them begin clutching at their throats and vomiting everywhere.

Eric grabs Maggie’s hand and yells, “Something’s wrong. We need to get the hell out of here NOW!”

They all turn and run, trying to keep pace with the rest of the panicked crowd. Maggie looks behind her and is horrified by the sight of people tearing at their faces and screaming in terror. The people are getting violent. Suddenly, Todd bursts through the crowd of people behind her, pushing people aside. She turns back around just as Todd trips her, forcing her to tumble to the ground. She’s more surprised by how he just keeps on going. Eric is violently pulled backwards from having been holding onto Maggie’s hand, and she almost pulls him to the ground. He quickly turns around and gets checked by a three-hundred-pound man that couldn’t stop running. The man knocks Eric to the ground as Maggie curls into a ball and gets into a fetal position and screams. Eric gets back up and throws himself over Maggie as the hordes of people run by stepping and falling over Eric with Maggie underneath.

As the pounding finally subsides and the crowd begins to thin out, Eric slowly pulls himself off of Maggie and looks at her. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

Maggie wipes the dirt off of herself and stands up. “I’m okay. Are you?” She looks at his back and sees blood running down his shirt and onto his pants. “Oh, my God, you’re bleeding. Are you alright?”

Eric reaches around his back and feels the wet blood. “I’m fine, just a scratch, but we need to get the hell out of here. Let’s try to catch up with the others.”

He pulls her up off the ground just as two female protesters fall directly in front of them. Maggie immediately grabs one of the girl’s arms and tries to pull her up. She screams at the girls to get off the ground, desperately trying to get them up. Eric quickly turns and looks behind them to see people clawing and scratching at one another, clearly wanting to tear one another apart. After the shock of the situation passes, he immediately turns back and tries to help Maggie pull the girls up. They get them to their feet, and then he yells, “Ruuuuun!” They run again in the direction of the car. When they arrive, their four other friends are huddled on the side of the car looking scared to death.

Maggie and Eric run up to them. Kristie hugs Maggie and says, “Are you guys okay? Is anybody hurt?”

“We’re fine. Eric scratched his back a little, but he said he’s fine. I’m just glad everyone made it out safe, some I’m sure faster than others.” Maggie turns and looks right at Todd, who is clearly unaware of her implication. “Anyway, let’s just get out of here before this place really gets bad. Let’s just leave our gas masks on until we at least get back to Boulder. We don’t know how far this stuff can travel.” They all quickly pile into the car and drive off into a traffic jam and the chaos of what seems like everyone trying to get out of the city all at once.