Survive
This is a little story that I wrote some time ago and never got a chance to share it. There are deffinately some problems with it, and if you'd like to give some pointers then please do. Well here is one of my earlier works that I hope will be enjoyed by all of you. Also currently, this is a one shot. I could open it up to a sequel if there is enough interest.
The screams echoed in my mind as I reached the door. I ran through it quickly then closed it. There was a man in the room who stared at me with a grim look.
"They'll break through eventually." he said, "There's a sanctuary further in the building. If you hurry you'll make it before the doors close. They'll only let people that have a token in." He took a couple steps toward me and held out his hand. There was a golden coin in his hand. "Take it, and don't worry 'bout me." I took the coin quickly and ran towards the only other door in the room.
The halls went on for what seemed like forever. When I finally reached the sanctuary I was tired and out of breath. Though I heard none of the things on the way, the screams still echoed in my mind. There was a metal double door that stood at the end of the hall. The walls were covered by metal sheets and it gave the hall an industrial look. I ran up to the door and banged on it a couple of times. A slide opened up about halfway up the door. It closed as quickly as it opened and a tray slid from out of the door.
"The coin." A voice sounded from the other side of the door. I hastily put the coin on the tray and watched it slide away. It felt like hours passed before the door opened up. I walked into a room that seemed to go on forever. "A marvel, isn't it." A girl's voice came from my side. She had shoulder length blonde hair and hazel eyes.
"Shush, Laura. We don't know how safe he is. You know what some survivors are capable of." I turned to my side and saw a girl and a man. The girl looked to be in her teens while the man seemed to be in his upper forties. I presumed them to be father and daughter. "Now, as for you." He said turning towards me. "Go over to that building." He pointed to a metal shack that had a person standing inside it.
"A new arrival." The man in the shack said, "Looks like you're the last one. Now, we need to know about you. So write all the information needed on this paper." He handed me a piece of paper with questions on it. I picked up the pen that was on the counter and began writing.
They asked for my name, I wrote 'Zaine Soen' down. It being my name after all. They asked for age, I put seventeen down. All the questions were as if it was a test, I filled them out quickly and handed the paper back. By this time a crowd had gathered around. The man from the door stepped forward and looked at the man in the shack. "How does he check out, John. Has he said anything."
"No, but that's usual for people that have survived this long out there. They forget how to speak 'cause of the trauma. He's fine from what I read. Marvin, you should take him for a psyche test." The man from the door nodded and motioned for me to follow. I followed him to another metal building, but this one was house like. He stopped at the door and let me through. He stayed there as a man walked up to me.
"Well let's get started." The man said, "My name is Dr. Bane, and yours is..." I stayed silent and pointed to the paper the guy named Marvin was holding. "I see. There's no point trying to get a voice out if you don't want to." He handed me a piece of paper and a pen. "Write what you feel to these pictures." As far as the tests he put me through went I was at ease. I was away from all those people though Marvin was staring me down as if I was one of those things. "Ok. You check out fine. Marvin, let someone show him around. And keep him away from crowds. You know how some newcomers get."
"You sure doc?" The doctor nodded. Marvin sighed and walked back towards the entrance to the sanctuary. I followed him there and he turned and looked at me. "They say you're fine, so I'm going to let you out of my sight. But everyone one of us is watching you, so don't try anything." I nodded and looked around. The only person nearby was the girl he called Laura. "Laura, show him what he needs to see. Nothing more. Understand?"
"Okay Pops. I'll be back in no time." She said with a smile. When she turned towards me with the same smile, my stomach turned. I thought it was sickening to see a smile. "Follow me." Laura walked down a path and since I had no choice I followed.
I stared at all the buildings; some were house like while others were more industrial style. Though all were made out of metal, there was uniqueness about each one. I was half listening to Laura as she took me around. We were in the center of the room, when she turned around and pointed straight up. I looked and saw the sky through a small hole in the ceiling. The hole was just big enough to see through, but the idea of having an opening was beyond me. I frowned as I turned my attention back to her.
"I guess you wouldn't understand." she said, "If there's no outside scenery some of us would go crazy. Especially those of us that were here before it got so bad outside. But the Wraiths can't get through and the metal is strong enough to hold them back." I racked my brain for a second then figured that it wouldn't help. If there was an opening the 'Wraiths', as they called them, would find a way in. She could obviously tell I didn't like the idea, and she quickly spoke up. "You'll see how important it is one day. But since you don't like it, let me show you where you'll be staying." She turned to a bigger building that resembled a lodge. "Go there, it's the boys housing." She smiled and ran off between two buildings.
I thought it was weird that all these buildings were in a bigger building, and that there was all this room. I did notice, however, a bunch of knocked out walls and could tell that the upper floors had been knocked out. How the building was still standing I couldn't figure out. But I didn't really feel like questioning it. I walked towards the housing I was part of, I couldn't tell how many people were outside it or their age, but I knew some of them wouldn't take all that kindly to me. I steeled my nerves before I walked through the crowd of boys. One of them moved in front of me. He wasn't a kid, like I thought at first.
"You're Zaine I'm guessing. I'm Keith, I look after everyone in this housing. I hope you get along with everyone. I know that's too much to ask though. Now, follow me and I'll show you where you're bed is." I followed him into the lodge and to a bed in the back of the room. "This is you're bed. It's not comfy, but none of them are. Hopefully you'll get used to it." A laugh came from behind me. I turned around and saw a taller but younger looking boy.
"My bad but I can't help but notice that you haven't said a word." He laughed again and turned and walked away.
"That's Sam. He thinks he runs this place. Don't let him get to you." Keith said before he walked away. I shook my head figuring that Sam had been here before the Wraiths got so bad. I got into the bed and let sleep take over.
The claws ripped through the wooden walls as everyone huddled together. They knew it was the end, but they didn't want to be one of the Wraiths. They each had a pill that they took passing around water so each person could take theirs. A teen stood at the door with his back to it. A claw came through and impaled him straight through the stomach. His scream was shrill like a banshee's. The people in the wooden house were horrified as the Wraiths poured in from the door. Another teen darted from the group and past the Wraiths. He made it through and ran into a building, the screams of everyone being slaughtered were heard as he ran down a hallway.
I woke up and saw everyone gathered around me. It took me a second to register that I was screaming. I stopped myself as quickly as I could. Sam was standing at the side of my bed, glaring at me.
"So you're not a mute. Leading everyone on like that isn't too smart. You'll get kicked out easy." Keith came pushing through the crowd. With him was Marvin, John, and Dr. Bane. I thought hard about what Sam had said as Marvin drug me out of my bed. I could here Sam's laugh as I struggled against Marvin's grip. I broke free and turned towards Sam. Keith quickly grabbed me, knowing what I was going to do. He kind of threw me towards the door and I ran out. I could here the doctor yell for me. I didn't care, the screams and Sam's words echoed through my mind. I kept running towards the middle of the building. Now that there was daylight shining through the hole I realized I was in a closed in slum, not a sanctuary. There was a voice to my side, I turned and saw Laura. "You're not safe. Just like Pops said. Why did you come here." A frown came across my face.
"I came for sanctuary." I said, my voice hoarse from lack of use. The light from the hole suddenly disappeared. Laura screamed as a Wraith fell from up above. I didn't know what I was thinking, but I dove at her knocking her out of the way while I barely avoided the falling Wraith. The thud of it hitting the ground was sickening. And I thought of how it could've been her or me that was under it. I looked up and saw more falling from the hole. "Is there a way out." I looked at Laura but she was too terrified to speak. I stood up and started to run off. The sound of Laura screaming made me turn around. The Wraith that had nearly crushed her was now standing over her, its skin was ripped and metal was sticking out of it. I ran up to it and hit it in the chest. To my surprise, it actually fell backwards. Laura had passed out and the screams of the others told me that the other Wraiths weren't dead either. I picked her up and ran down a path that led to the door I had came in from.
I sat Laura down on the ground and ran to the door controls. I quickly looked over them but I couldn't make sense of it. There were footsteps behind me. I turned around in time to see a Wraith lunge at me. In an instant I had rolled out of the way and the creature had slammed into the door controls. A siren sounded and a flashing red light above the door lit up. The door began to slowly open. I ran back to Laura, who was waking up now. She looked around in bewilderment. When she saw me, she scooted back quickly.
"Stay away!" I looked at her with a grim look on my face. I pointed towards the now fully open door.
"That way to live." She looked shocked then got up and ran back towards the middle of the sanctuary. I grabbed her arm and pulled her away from another Wraith. Her scream was shrill as the Wraith's claws sliced down in front of her. "Are you insane!" I yelled. "Do you not care for yourself." I could see tears in her eyes, as it occurred to me that her dad was down there. He could be seen, actually, or half of him could. I grabbed Laura's arm and began to run past the door and down the hall. She struggled at first, but she began to run with me. I let go of her arm so that she could run at her own pace. Not to my surprise, she began to fall behind. I slowed my pace so that she was ahead of me. I could hear footsteps behind us though I didn't know if it was man or creature, or how far it was behind us. There was an opening in the wall to the left, so I grabbed her arm again and threw her towards it. She saw it and crawled through. I was quick after her. There was open air and daylight on the other side. Laura had stopped and turned towards me.
"Why save me?" she said in between sobs. I shook my head in bewilderment. I had just saved her life, and I get a why. Truth be told, I didn't know why it just seemed like a good idea. Thinking back on it, it was a completely stupid and reckless thing to do. I shoved those thoughts aside and said what I thought was important to surviving.
"Never be alone. You may hate me for whatever I've done, but I need someone with me out here. And now that you're out here you need someone also." A frown came across her face and her sobs continued but to a lesser degree. "There's shelter over there." I said pointing to another building. I started walking towards it, until I felt a sharp pain in my side. I looked at Laura, but she had already made her way to the building. On my other side was Dr. Bane, holding a syringe. I didn't know what was going on but I couldn't move. He grabbed my arms and dragged me to the building that I had pointed to. By the time we reached the door I was out cold.
"Are these restraints really necessary." I could here Laura talking. "I mean, he did save me and all."
"He's also part of the reason all this is going on." The doctor said. I forced a loud cough out so that they knew I was conscious. "Well, well. You're up. Looks like I can continue with the operation now." I tried to move but as Laura said there were restraints. My eyes opened and there was the good ol' doctor standing over me with a scalpel.
"What do you think you're doing." I mumbled out. Whatever I was injected with had messed with me a great bit. Dr. Bane had a crude smile on his face. I knew exactly what was going on, and I also knew that the doc had gone crazy.
"I'm only trying to save my race." He said, "Of course you wouldn't understand that. Being as your race started this." I could only wonder what he was talking about. I could see the scalpel going down to my chest. Laura could be seen to my right, and the look on her face was one of horror.
"One thing." I said quickly, "Before you cut me open." The doctor looked at me strangely. "If you do this you won't be able to live. There's too many of them, and both of ya'll have been in that sanctuary for so long, ya'll won't be able to survive without me."
"Oh, I think I'll do just fine. As for her I don't know. She's been exposed to you and your curse. I might have to dissect her to see if she's been tainted for sure. But unlike you I'll put her back together." A horrid laugh escaped his mouth as the scalpel ran down my chest. There wasn't enough pressure to cut just yet, but I knew he was just toying with me. I closed my eyes as he lifted the scalpel to my neck. Suddenly I heard a clang and a thud. When I opened my eyes Laura was undoing my restraints and the doctor was on the floor.
"I was right next to you, bastard." Laura said to the unconscious man. When she had finally gotten my restraints off I tried to sit up. The drug was still in good effect though and I couldn't move as well as I'd liked to. In my current state I was weak enough to be pushed back down by Laura. "I still don't trust you. You might have saved me back there, but the doctor is right about you and your race."
"Look, I don't care if you think I'm not human. But if you don't trust me, you won't survive." I said, putting it bluntly. "Out here there is no easy life. You might've lived in that sanctuary for your life or a couple years but your life has been a hell of a lot easier than mine. What you've seen today was only a glimpse of your future. There's more to come and without me you won't survive." She was staring at me with wide eyes, and was starting to tear up. I sighed and tried sitting up again but she pushed me down.
"I just saw my dad die and you want to talk about surviving. Why couldn't you have died?" She was in tears at this point, but I couldn't feel sorry for her. It was life out here and there was no way around it. I shook my head to get her attention.
"Kill me then." I said. "You want me to die, I know you do. Take that scalpel there and kill me." I watched her move towards the scalpel. She reached out for it, then withdrew her hand. "What, can't do it?" I taunted. She picked the scalpel up and turned towards me, her movements were jerky and slow. I focused my eyes at hers. She was about a foot away from me when she raised her arm. "You're gonna need to get closer if you want to kill me. And don't try and lunge either, its not effective, especially how you have your arm." Her sobs were echoing around the room as she inched closer. The scalpel gleamed in the little light that was shining through the cracks. "Come on. Don't be afraid, I can't move right now. Take your chance while you have it."
"Shut up!" Her arm shot straight out. A thud was all that I heard. I turned my head to the right and saw the blade was about three inches from my neck. "Why? Why can't I kill you?" I looked at her. She was shaking uncontrollably. I tried to grab the scalpel but she pulled it back. It fell out of her hand and she tried to grab it. I was able to pull her arm away before she cut herself. She pulled her arm back and stared at the floor. I realized that I was able to move normally now. I sat up on the table and swung my legs over the side. Laura just stared at the floor as I stood up, my balance still off a bit. I was able to stand without falling and looked around.
Since there was no threat now I decided to walk around and size up the building. We were in a shack that had a hallway leading to a room with a cot. I walked down the hallway noticing that the walls were made of stone. I smiled as I realized that this was probably one of the safest places. I turned around and saw that the doctor was coming to. I ran into the room and picked him up with ease. He was surprisingly light for a grown man. I slammed him down on the table and snapped the restraints on him. I figured that when I slammed him on the table I must've knocked him out again. I looked around and realized that Laura was looking at me with wide eyes.
"What?" I said with an annoyed tone. "There's no reason to not have him restrained. He's gone insane, you heard what he was talking about. Another race. A curse. What the hell, you know? That's pure insanity."
"It's not insane. It's the truth." She said shaking her head. "You don't know, because you weren't in the sanctuary for more than a day. But the Wraiths are a stage of evolution from the humans. It was a forced evolution by your race. Ya'll came from the sky about twenty years ago." I was smiling at this point, she was reiterating a child's tale. She continued on, "Don't you think it was weird how you knocked that wraith down. The doctor told me that you just punched it. If someone else did that, they would've hurt themselves." I thought to myself for a second then dismissed everything she was saying as the rambling of a traumatized kid.
"Look, get those child's tales out of your head. Or don't, just don't let it get in the way of surviving. Like I said earlier, we need to work together." Laura shook her head and ran into the other room. Laughter came from behind me. When I looked Doctor Bane was looking at me. "What's so funny?"
"What she said is true. The aliens exist. You're proof of it. Where else would those abominations come from." I looked at him feeling sorry, if this was what madness could do to him, I'd hate to see what it would do to other people from Sanctuary. The thought of Laura going insane crept into my mind. She really believed it, more so than the doctor. I guess he saw me flinch or something, because he laughed again. "I'll let you in on a secret though. Kids believe anything in reason, and to them that reason must stay within their own reality. Those words should help you on keeping her able to help you. Don't be too hard on her though, she just turned fourteen the day you got to Sanctuary. She's still a child." I got distracted by the doctor talking and didn't notice that he had freed one of his arms. When I saw that he had the scalpel again I jumped back. As it turned out I didn't even have to move an inch, as the doctor slit his own throat. I looked at his neck pouring blood and decided to throw his body out before Laura could see it.
After I had gotten the body out and the blood cleaned up I walked into the other room to check on Laura. She had fallen asleep on the cot. I sat down with my back against the wall facing towards the hallway. I figured that I could get some sleep before she woke up. I closed my eyes and sleep slowly engulfed me.
The person at the front of the line shouted something unintelligible. All the others ran in different directions as wraiths swarmed the area. They had come out of nowhere and more seemed to come. A group of people ran into an alley. Their screams were short lived. Another group ran into a wooden house, the last person slammed the door shut. On the ground laid a person holding onto a machine. Her thumb hit buttons on the front and side of it. A low pitch noise sounded from it. The ground seemed to shake as a building collapsed. Most of the Wraiths looked towards it and scurried away. The Wraiths that didn't go investigate were crowding around the wooden house.
I woke up with a start. Looking around I saw that there was nothing out of the normal. Laura was still asleep so I walked down the hallway. There were no windows in the house and I didn't want to open the door. I figured it was night again. Since she was still asleep I decided it'd be a bad idea to scout out the area. If I was gone when she woke up she might freak out and get herself killed. I sat down on the table and sighed thinking about what the doc had said. Fourteen? What good will she be? Maybe I should leave, or I should stay and die trying to protect her. I didn't know what to do. But by daylight I'd have my decision made. And one way or the other I would survive. Whether she lived or not was no concern to me. I shook my head and thought long and hard about this. I decided to go ahead and leave. I got up and walked to the door. I heard movement behind me. I turned around slowly, I was met by Laura staring at the table where Doctor Bane had been.
"Where is he?" she asked in a scared voice. I shook my head and pointed to the door. "What did you do?" Her voice was cracking and I could tell she was about to cry.
"Listen, there was no hope for him. And it wasn't my choice to take him outside." She was staring me down, doing her best not to cry. "He wanted to leave bad. I let him go on his own. All you can do is hope that he lives. Me, on the other hand, I hope he finds peace." Laura's eyes were clearing up now and she nodded. "Listen." I said, "I'm gonna go out there and look around. I want you to stay here. Understand?" She nodded and went back to the cot. I turned around and walked out the door.
On the outside it was bright. I thanked the weather and moved towards another building. From what I could tell there was no way in. I looked around and saw that the other buildings were the same. I knew there had to be a way in from somewhere. When I looked through a window, which thankfully there was one, I saw a hole in the floor. The window seemed fragile enough, so I found a pipe and smashed it. I carefully climbed through it and walked around the hole. It seemed about five feet deep and there was a rope ladder on the side. I lowered the rope, then jumped down. The landing was a little rough but I was able to move swiftly down the tunnel. For some reason I could see fine through the tunnels even though there didn't seem to be a light source. I made it to what I guessed was the center. There were multiple tunnels connecting to this center area. I walked to another tunnel and stopped cold. I could here ragged breathing. I quickly spun around planting my back against the wall. I peered around the corner and stopped myself from running to what I saw.
In the tunnel there was a person standing there. Her hair was silver and flowed down to the middle of her back. She looked young but had an air of wisdom around her. She was looking around as if she could sense me. I decided to confront her, she didn't look like a Wraith after all. As I stepped around the corner, she turned her gaze towards me. I walked roughly halfway to her and she started walking cautiously towards me. My heart was beating as if I had just found a long lost friend or family member. As she got closer I could make out her features. Her face had no wrinkles, she looked no older than twenty-four. Her eyes were a bright green like a cat's. She looked to be about Laura's height which I guessed was about five foot three. She stopped at arms length from me. I could see tears forming in her eyes. She reached out her arms and pulled me into a hug. My eyes went wide as she began to cry on my shoulder.
"I can't believe it's you." She said as she let go and took a couple of steps back. "Zaine Soen. My dear friend, where have you been?" I was speechless as I racked my brain as to who she was. I kept drawing blanks and I guess she could tell it from my face. "You don't remember me?" she said with a slight frown. "Oh well, it can't be helped. Some of us lost our memories. I was lucky not to, I guess." She was smiling again, "Anyways from the beginning, my name is Shae. You and I are here to help these people. They are suffering from a freak evolution-" I cut her off there.
"That was caused by aliens. I've heard it before, but I can't believe it."
"Let me show you then. Instead of telling you." She put her hands on my head and I felt a jolt run through my body. When she took her hands away I had seen the Renegades escape the Moon Walkers as the humans called them. I saw the Marshalls, which is what my race was called, being called upon to catch the Renegades. We chased them to Earth and shot them down not knowing that the chemicals they had stolen would force an evolution on the humans. Shae and I had been two of the agents sent to clean up the mess. The Renegades had all died and when we got there the evolution had taken up more than seventy-five percent of the Earth. "Zaine, we have to save the humans. Earth is a very important planet to all the space-faring races." I nodded then turned around and started to walk back the way I came.
"I have to go get a friend, then we can save the humans. She's not far down this tunnel over here. Then we just have to climb out and go to another building." Shae nodded and followed me.
When we got out of the tunnels and climbed through the window the sun was just starting to set. I walked quickly to the house and opened the door. Laura fell off the table and crawled under it as I walked in. Shae looked annoyed and pushed past me.
"You went here to get a human? All she'll do is slow us down." I did my best to shut Shae up but she kept going. "Do you know how frail a human is. They can't even hold their own against the Wraiths." I could hear Laura crying from under the table. I walked past Shae and crouched down at the table.
"You said yourself, we have to save the humans. Why not start by preserving their race?" Shae looked at me fiercely then turned towards the room with the cot, and walked to it.
"You're right." she said, "We should preserve the race by letting her stay here. There's no windows and the door is sturdy enough. She'll do just fine."
"What about food?" I was furious for some reason. "Laura look," I turned towards her, "I didn't know till now, but you're right about me being from the sky. But I'm here to stop this evolution. Not to urge it on."
"You're lying." Laura yelled at me. "Why don't you just turn me and be done with it." I shook my head and put a hand just barley under the table. She scurried back quickly. "Please, just go away."
"Yes let's leave now, Zaine. She obviously doesn't want our help." I could see Laura shaking violently under the table. I saw the scalpel laying on the ground. I flicked it over to Laura. "Zaine, what are you doing." I looked over to Shae and smiled.
"I'm testing something the humans call faith. Now Laura take that scalpel and kill me. I know you want to, so do it." Laura grabbed the scalpel quickly and crawled out from under the table. I stood up and backed away, giving her enough room to stand and stabilize herself. "Good, now cut my neck. From one side to the other. Go for it."
"Zaine. Stop this madness." Shae was saying. I turned and smiled at her as I felt the cold steel slice along my neck. My blood sprayed out onto Laura and the floor. Both Shae and Laura screamed as I fell to the floor. Before I blacked out I could hear Laura running out the door, with Shae chasing her. I grabbed Shae's leg and pulled her down. I could barely speak but it came out clear and I hoped that Shae would understand.
"She is the key. She must survive."