Starting Over Chapter 4
Chapter 4: The Sanctuary
**Planet: Earth
Location: Greenlake Valley, S.C.
Time: 10:30 pm
Date: July 4th, 2010**
"The Sanctuary? More like The Shithole!" Pvt. Hawkins says then proceeds to laugh hysterically.
The Sanctuary, before all of this, was a mall/ hotel built for tourists with an attached three level parking structure. It was a popular place to go and hang out, the mall part anyway; it had a lot of good stores and a decent food court. Now it was a makeshift base, metal of varying sizes and shapes had been used to blockade most of the entrances and all ways in were guarded.
The first floor of the parking structure was completely blocked off to the point that you can't see in form the outside. A pulley system was created to allow the metal blocking the entrance to raise and lower and was home to all the vehicles that had been driven in and ones that were being made.
To anyone who had come from a spaceship it probably would look like a shithole, but to anyone who had survived this far into the infection it was a symbol of safety. Some people have actually started crying when they realized that they were safe here. It was also a symbol of hope that one day humanity might just take the world back.
The entire squad, except for Thomas, saw the way 13 glared at him in the rearview so Lucas turned to him and said, "If you know what's good for you you'll shut the hell up before they shoot you dead and leave your corpse in a gutter to rot."
It shut him up, for about a second, "They've probably never shot at a living person before, and they sure as hell don't have the balls to shoot me!" Thomas bellows then begins to laugh harder.
"You have no idea how wrong you are dude." 13 says after giving the road his undivided attention again.
Suddenly a CB radio sitting on the dash crackles to life, "13? Shamrock? Is that you guys?"
Shamrock picks up the microphone and says, "Yeah it's us Cat can you lower the gate and arrange a meeting with The Council."
"What did you guys find more survivors?" Cat asks
"Hey dude ask her if the party's still on." 13 says to Shamrock
Shamrock raises the mic and says, "Yeah we found some survivors, sort of and is that party still going on."
"That's great! And the party's still active why?"
"Why did you want to know anyway?" Shamrock asks
"Because you hate meetings with The Council, and Cat has obviously been waiting for you to get back since she usually don't stay on watch this late. So while I deal with The Council you go out and have a fun time, got it?" 13 replies
"You sure?" Shamrock asks sounding skeptical
"Yeah, besides I owe you one for the time we raided that music store." 13 says back. Then he turns to face the squad and says, "Y'all might want to put on your helmets so as to not freak anyone out, and don't come out unless we tell y'all to, Okay?"
"Okay, But who's the Council and why do you have to speak to them?" Lucas asks
"They run the place, helped build it and they were voted to various positions when it was decided that a governing body was needed." Shamrock explains, "There are three positions, Head of Security, Head of Food and Head of Social. The first two are self- explanatory, Head of Social is the guy you talk to about sending people like us out to get clothes, computers, ipods, stuff that you don't need but will help you get through the day."
They were now waiting for the parking gate to rise up enough for the Hummer to fit through. It was taking a very long time.
"Cat, what's with the wait we could've been chomped to tiny bits by now!" Shamrock says into the radio
"Sorry about the wait boys, the generators been screwy lately, I meant to ask you two to get another one for us, but I forgot."
13 grabs the mike from Shamrock and says, "We'll remember that next time we go out."
"You two talk like you know the person on guard." Allen said
"Yeah we know her; she's one of the people we saved a while back." 13 says back
The gate finally rises up enough for them to fit underneath. When the car comes to stop a young blonde female walked toward the vehicle. She had on a bulletproof vest over a black long sleeved shirt, black cargo pants with regular tennis shoes on. Weapon wise she had an AR- 18 and what looked like to be a .357 Magnum in a side holster. 13 and Shamrock exit the Hummer closing the doors behind them. The three humans began to talk but Samantha could not hear what they were saying.
"So where are the new arrivals?" Cat asks
"Inside the Hummer, we told them to stay inside unless we signaled them." 13 replies
"Why?" Cat asks
"It's complicated and you can believe us on that." Shamrock says
"We got time, the guy taking over for me won't be here for a few minutes and The Council hasn't got back to me on whether or not they can see you two today, they might even say that they can't stay here." Cat says back
Shamrock looks over to 13 and shrugs. 13 sighs then turns towards the Hummer and signals for the squad to get out. After the squad had gotten out and walked over to the trio Cat was shocked, but then again who wouldn't be after seeing five soldiers in all black combat armor with guns that hadn't been seen before.
"Whoa" was all Cat managed
"Wait 'till you see this, ditch the helmets guys." 13 says to the squad
When Cat saw their faces, and it registered that they weren't human, she nearly fainted. 13 and Shamrock gave the story of who they were, why they were here and how they met.
"So 13 and Shamrock told us you were one of the people they rescued from out there." Samantha says to Cat.
"Did they now," she began, "because that's nowhere near true I'm afraid. Now who wants to tell them what really happened?" she asked the two
"I suppose I will." 13 volunteered, "So 2nd month of the infection me and Shamrock are driving around..."
"What in the hell are we searching for?" Shamrock asked 13
"First off we gotta go to Circuit City to get those guys ipods and stuff, then a Blockbuster for movies, want me to continue?" 13 replied rhetorically
"I just don't like being used." Shamrock muttered looking out his window.
"Neither do I, but they assured us we could stay if we do stuff like this for them." 13 said back
They stop at the Circuit City and retrieve the demanded items. On the last loading trip the two are rushed by a mob of zombies and are forced to flee through the streets. Halfway down one street Shamrock pivots to shoot some of the group when 13 says, "Go left" as he begins to run towards his left. Shamrock runs towards his left, the opposite way of 13. 13 begins to say something but can't because of a group of zombies beginning to chase him so he shouts, "Get to The Sanctuary!" and then starts to head up a fire escape.
13 makes it to the top of the building with the attached fire escape but is still being chased. He begins to run along the rooftops since they're close together. The row of buildings comes to an end and it's a 15 foot drop down to the pavement. 13 drops down and his free runner instinct takes over, when he hits the ground he lands with the front of his foot and rolls. During the roll, however, 13 losses his gun, an MP5, and silently curses himself for doing so as he sees more zombies come around a corner at him. He turns in the other direction and takes off at full speed. He sees a zombie running towards him as he rounds a corner, 13 pulls out a knife with serrations on one side and a blade edge on the other and holds it in his right hand pointed back as he runs towards the zombie. When it looks like they will collide 13 goes to the left side and stabs the zombie in the side of the head with his knife then continues to run from the group behind him.
He sees a dead end, but continues to run towards the end and when he reaches it he jumps to the left wall, pushes off and grabs the top of the wall and pulls himself over. Keeping a steady pace, 13 leaves the alley and finds himself back on a street, but something doesn't feel right so he takes the knife and puts it back in its sheath and pulls out his sword from across his back. No sooner than the blade leaves the sheath a window of a store across the street blows outward and two zombies come at him. 13 charges at the zombies and push kicks the first causing it to double over. While it's stunned 13 brings the sword down across its neck severing the head from the body. The other zombie grabs his left shoulder, but 13 spins the other way and hits the zombie on the back of the knees with his right arm causing the zombie to fall backward. 13 turns the sword around and drives the blade through the head of the fallen zombie.
His rest only lasts a second as the crowd of zombies he lost emerges from an alleyway farther down the street. 13 sighs, puts his sword back in his sheath and begins to run the opposite way.
13 ends up running through five more alleys and killing twelve more zombies before seeing the sanctuary down the street. He goes up to one of the entrances that can allow people in and hits the metal a few times before hearing, "If you're alive say so now!"
"Yeah I'm alive and possibly being followed by a group of zombies, so let me the fuck in!" 13 shouts through the metal
"What the hell is a freerunner?" Thomas asks
"Freerunners are people who practice parkour, some people say that 'freerunning' and 'parkour' are different, but they're both arts of movement." 13 explains
"And what the hell is parkour?" Thomas asks
"Where a person seeks to traverse their environment as efficiently as possible." 13 says
"So what happened after that?" Samantha asks
"I went to the food area to get a soda before cleaning my sword and to wait for Shamrock." 13 says
"Except I was already there." Shamrock says
"How?" Lucas asks
"That's where Cat comes in, see I ran down that street then took some side streets and I come out onto this big road. I hear some loud sound around a corner behind me so I raise my rifle and a freaking Titan APC with blacked out windows comes around the corner. I stand there shocked for a moment or two before a door opens up and a guy with an M4 asked me if I knew where The Sanctuary was, I nodded and navigated while they drove me back here." Shamrock said seeming proud of himself.
"In other words, he got lucky while I ran back here slashing zombies as I went." 13 says
"Another way to put it would be me and my dad saved Shamrock." Cat said
"So what happened to the stuff you were sent to get?" Allen asks
"We went back and got it of course or else we wouldn't be here." 13 says
Then the sounds of footsteps begin to echo towards the group. 13 looks back to the squad and says, "Quick put your helmets on!"
The squad just barely got their helmets on when two brutish looking teenagers come down the ramp leading to the second level. Their conversation ceases immediately and the bigger of the two says, "So you two punks are still alive, why don't you guys go and do everyone a favor and get your heads chewed off."
"You wanna get your ass kicked again keep talkin'" 13 says back to him. Then he turns to Shamrock and asks, "You think you can park the Hummer?"
"Yeah I can handle it." Shamrock says and 13 gives him the keys
13 turned to the squad and says, "C'mon we gotta see The Council 'bout y'all."
As they walked up the ramp Thomas walked closer to 13 and asked, "You really beat that guy in a fight?"
"3rd round KO, you see here things have Thunderdome rules, except both come back out."
"Thunder-what?" Samantha says
"Right y'all ain't from around here, Thunderdome was a place in a post-apocalyptic movie series, Mad Max, the Thunderdome was in the third I think, anyway in the movie two people go in and the fight goes until one is dead and that's the end of it. Here, both people come out, but whoever wins, wins the dispute." 13 explains
"And you fought him once before?" Lucas asks
"Said so didn't I." 13 says back with a hint of annoyance
"Over what?" Alison asks
"He was just saying shit about me and Shamrock, me I don't care about, but you don't talk crap 'bout my friends or I will get in your face about it." 13 said proudly
The group was now approaching an elevator guarded by two people wearing all black combat armor and carrying machine guns. When the group got close the guard on the left, a human male, muscular, seemingly short and wearing a balaclava says, "Do you have an appointment?"
"Technically yes and no, I asked for one but never got a reply, so if you guys could just let us up..." 13 started
The guard on the left, a human female, average height and physique with blonde hair shook her head and said, "Sorry 13 you know the drill, no appointment, no ride up."
"Aww c'mon this, and by 'this' I mean them," he said while pointing behind him at the squad, "are really important, like life changing important."
The male guard was about to say something but a small earpiece crackled to life and the guard nodded to whatever was being said. When it was over he looked at 13 and said, "Good news, The Council will see you, head on up."
The group steps into the elevator after the doors had opened. Samantha looked at the numbers for the floors, there were 45.
13 looks at the group and says, "We're going to the top so ask your questions now."
"Why do we have to speak to The Council?" Lucas asks
"Because if y'all are here to save us then they will help coordinate the whole thing." He responds
"So what will we do until The Council decides it's time to leave?" Lucas asks
"Whatever they say, off the top of my head, y'alls medic will be needed, we raided a hospital a while ago but we have no idea what some of the stuff does." 13 says
"What kind of people will I be working with and on?" Alison asks
"You'll be working by yourself, not many doctors survived, as for on mostly minor stuff, the little ones seem to think that a skinned knee is life threatening, I ain't blaming them though, they've been through hell." 13 says
"What do you mean?" Samantha asks
"One kid saw their parents killed right in front of him, if me and Shamrock hadn't of heard those shots..." 13 started shaking his head, "kid's mom got her throat torn out, blood everywhere, the dad was in about fifteen different pieces, thought I was gonna puke."
The doors to the elevator opened and suddenly everything felt differently for the squad, they realized that these survivors had been dealt the worse hand ever and they still continued to fight, to live another day in this hell that they call home.
They reached the doors to the Council Chambers when Lucas said to 13, "Go ahead and explain things to the best of your abilities, we need a second to talk."
13 nodded and went in, when the door had closed Lucas turned to them and said, "We have to get the humans out of this place, 13 can't be more than sixteen years old, god knows what he's seen, let alone had to do and he's talking about people younger than him seeing shit like that. It's not right and we're going get them to safety."
With that Lucas turns around and goes through the double doors with the squad in tow. 13 was standing in front of a table with three people seated on the other side. Upon hearing the doors open 13 turned towards them and says, "Here they are, like I said they had to talk about something amongst themselves."
The three people were, left to right, a man in his early forties with graying hair wearing military fatigues that read: Maj. Walker, his build was as one would expect of someone in the military, obviously Head of Security. The next was a more heavyset man, early twenties, with brown greasy hair, a chefs hat and apron, Head of Food. The last was a younger lady, late twenties/ early thirties, with a kind expression on her face, wearing every day clothes, Head of Social.
"The members of The Council, left to right, Major James Walker: Head of Security, Carl Russo: Head of Food and Alexandra Smith: Head of Social." 13 said giving the official introduction
Major Walker spoke first in a gruff voice, "13 said that you five were 'complicated', care to elaborate?"
Samantha was the first to take off her helmet; the rest of the squad followed her. As they stood there they got the same reaction from The Council as they had from everyone thus far.
Alexandra spoke next, "Well that sure is complicated. So it's safe to assume you five are aliens, why are you here?"
13 sat there as GySgt. Matthews explained why the squad was here for the third time wishing he could listen to his ipod. Despite being miserable this was turning out to be good, The Council didn't doubt why they were here, they were willing to help get everyone ready and the looks on their faces was past priceless. All of this was going to be announced at a gathering later that night which meant that they were going to be getting away from here soon.
Shamrock's gonna want to visit them 13 thought to himself
"13"
13 looks up at hearing his name to see who needed him, it was Alexandra, she was probably the nicest person there was in the world even before the infection.
"Yes" he says
"We need you to go down and tell everyone to clear the stage so we can make the announcements, take two or three guards so they know it is official business." She says
"Yes ma'am." 13 says, nodding to two guards who proceeded to follow him. While in the elevator 13 couldn't help but imagine how pissed everyone was going to be.
When they got to the area where the party was it was as if it looked like something you might have seen in a club, loud music, flashing lights, makeshift bars, and lots of dancing. The three of them made their way to the stage and cut the music which was met with instant boos, curses and stuff being thrown.
13 steps up to the mike and says, "I hate to kill y'alls fun but in a few there's gonna be an announcement that's gonna rock your world, so chill out for a few and wait for The Council."
The Council and the squad came down a few minutes later. Basically the whole announcement was the squad taking off their helmets and The Council explained the whole situation.
And I thought the look on The Council's faces was hilarious 13 thought while holding back a laugh, a lot of the people in the crowd looked like they were going to faint, a lot of them did.
Afterwards the party was allowed to continue and The Council set up the squad with rooms that 13 escorted them to. Each of them was going to be given a job to do until it was time to get everyone out of here, which GySgt. Matthews told 13 was going to be soon.