ARC1/C1 – Incoming

We had a block or so to go before we got back from the military checkpoint to the 2nd tent city – the normality of a week ago seemed like a million years ago, and Sam was oh so pleased to be going home – the best place for my parents was home, right now. He didn’t say what was written on his mind to my sister, but he was sure she felt the same way, too, as they walked back in silence together.

VOOOMM!!

The world was shaken as something of earthquake proportions hit the city – sending debris crashing all around them as the nearby buildings threatened to break apart, making ominous sounds.

They quickly rushed the beds, to the center of an open plaza, trying to avoid anything falling from the surrounding buildings. Then had second thoughts as they saw just how much glass was showering down from the many tower blocks above. And so instead, got their parents off the beds, and tried to protect them as best they could behind some benches that were facing away from the buildings. The glass rained down carpeting the walkways, in a hail of razor-sharp shards.

BOOOMM!! BOOM! BOOOMM!!

More thunderous shockwaves hit the city. They waited like statues listening for any sound. But after a few minutes, no more explosions could be heard. They peeked out from their hiding place seeing only dust rising from the pavements around them. The tower blocks near them still stood, only having shed a small amount of masonry to the plaza below.

“Quick!” Sam said, keen to get moving again before there were any more explosions. For that’s what he was sure they were. And he had noted they had all come from slightly different directions around the city.

He hurriedly pulled one parent up at a time, though he found that in all the chaos of moving them, one of the oxygen masks had come off – it was my father’s.

Sam looked down helplessly; how could he have been so negligent? He could no longer contain his strained emotions and let out a howl of grief as he held his now-dead father in his arms. What nightmare could this be!? He thought now in deep anguish.

He was answered a few moments later when his shout was echoed by an unearthly chorus of animal howls. His heart almost stopped in disbelief. Was the world ending!? Had the pits of hell opened up to swallow them all?

The tumultuous noise grew louder all around the city but far loudest in the direction they were heading. Sam’s instincts kicked in telling him, that way spelled death.

Sarah had already got her mother onto the bed, and they started to head off. Sam thought about his dad cradled, still in his arms then dropped him onto the other bed

They hurried out of the plaza, but Sam stopped as he heard the bed Sarah was pushing, with its jangling metal wheels, had stopped moving. Turning he saw he had not been far wrong earlier – a demonic pack of slavering giant dogs stood, their hackles raised, standing at the far side of the plaza, only temporarily halted by the massive amount of glass on the ground.

The tent city was a block away – Mom was still alive, Dad was dead – nobody was about to appear and save them. Sam had to make the split-second decision; looking at the beasts’ powerful limbs. he could see they would outrun them in a heartbeat, and with nowhere to hide. He bent down slightly, picking up his mother and her ventilator.

Sam could see the terror etched into my sister’s face but also the grim finality as her head tilted with a tiny nod. And they made their way in a half run, not turning back to see their father’s grizzly fate. It was the hardest thing he’d ever done in his life.

He who had given all of his life to raising them would make one last sacrifice in death.

***

Sarah’s adrenalin spike helped her overcome the fatigue that had taken over her body, as her muscles screamed and she ran, trying to keep up with her brother. Every howl spurred her on, making her run like an Olympic athlete. The howls were like nails on a chalkboard sending shudders down her spine as water streamed from her eyes. She had no idea what her brother was planning, but as always, she just did her best to keep up – he had always been her big brother, someone she looked up to. If anyone could help them survive the day, it was him, she felt.

Her brother stopped as they reached the tent city and made his way to the center of the tent, placing his mother on a soon-vacated bed. Still no doctors. What now?

She followed her brother, then stopped as he started tipping people off their beds in a frenzy.

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“Sam?!” she said, startled.

“It is do or die.” Said Sam as he continued to pile up bodies, making a pile around his mother – are, she saw now, making a barrier between her and them. Bile rose in her throat as she thought of the foul creatures, and she stepped to the right side of the bodies, some moving feebly, some definitely dead.

“I don’t know how long we will have to stay camped here before we can make a break for it. We don’t know how many and how fast other packs will get here. We’ll just have to wait it out a while,” Sam said quietly to Sarah.

We also used the beds as best we could as some kind of screen – though a more flimsy barrier she could not think of, it did at least help to pile the bodies up without them falling over.

They didn’t need to wait long before their unwelcome guests arrived, noisily howling – these ones from the direction of the plaza, they’d just left – they lay low, trying not to breathe, listening intently for more packs to arrive.

***

Sam heard the gunshots and knew he had made the right choice, as they only lasted a minute or so before falling silent – he had previously thought of going to the checkpoint to try, a last-ditch attempt to escape. To where exactly? That was the question.

He did definitely want to escape the city in case the authorities just decided to nuke the place or something – though he thought that scenario seemed less and less light, not least because their electronic-based guidance systems were probably as messed up as his car and phone, but also the problems here he was sure were not particular to Theta City – but the whole world, he was sure.

There followed silence; the beasts obviously engrossed in their new find. Within less than ten minutes, more howls were heard as another pack came from the checkpoint’s direction – they didn’t mess around, and he couldn’t afford to either.

Sandwiched between the two packs, they waited tensely, watching as their mother’s breathing became more labored. Sarah’s eyes watered again – she felt wrung out and hollow, wishing the day would end. Sam gave hers and her mother’s hand a squeeze then they remained like that in this now alien world. Until unexpectedly, he got up; they had to make a move, and now was as good a time as any, with no new packs having been heard joining the others.

“Is it safe to leave?!” Sarah asked, panicked. “Don’t worry. At this rate, we’ll be joining them shortly,” said Sam dryly. At this, she blurted out a laugh and then, in panic, quickly covered her mouth, then punched him in the chest. He smiled tightly, picking up his Mom and heading for the tent exit flap with Sarah in toe, holding the ventilator.

As they left, Sam quickly checked the nearby tent for any survivors – healthy ones, that is and found a man in his late forties with a shell-shocked look about him. That was not the right kind of fear; that was the fear that left you frozen, dulling your reactions and making you easy prey. He still thought it only fair to warn the guy and told him to be wary as there was a pack of wild dogs on the loose.

He had better luck in the next tent, where a woman was holding onto her relative’s hand, but clearly, the person had passed on.

“You can do nothing for her now. Are you any good with a weapon?” Sam asked on a strictly need-to-know basis.

“I have my license; I’m an ok shot, I’d say. Why do you ask? What’s going on?” said the dark-haired lady, looking at the odd couple that had walked in – with a body cradled in the guy’s arms.

“Listen,” said Sam bluntly. The woman thought Sam meant to him, but when the strange young man said nothing, she stopped and did listen – she heard that weird sound again and that smell that was worse than all these bodies crammed together. What was that?

“Tell me the worst.” She said, wanting to know, more than anything, what was going on.

“A large pack of wild animals has this place surrounded on two sides. We – me and my sister here are going to make a break for it with my mother. If you want to come along, you can; if not, good luck.” Said Sam quickly, intending not to wait any longer.

Maria wanted to ask more but instead came to a quick decision, “I’m coming, and I actually have a gun here,” she said, waving a small handgun for them to see.

“The animals are currently preoccupied, but we still need to be as quiet as possible, so no taking potshots at them if we can avoid it, or it could draw the whole pack. Also, there are quite possibly more.” Said Sam relieved at having another set of hands on the team, and the small caliber gun was a bonus.

Sam’s hope was to get back to the checkpoint without the beasts noticing - these beasts should still be busy – he just hoped no more would show up in that direction.

The three of them veered around the tent city, circling back to the checkpoint via some out skirting buildings – he pondered whether they should raid any of the shops but, as time was of the essence, quashed that idea – they at least had some water in his bag, snagged from the first tent city.

He was rewarded with exactly what he wanted – a means of protecting themselves, not that it had done these guys any good. All that was left of the guards were the blood stains in patches on the ground.

He wiped off the worst of the gore and handed over a hybrid assault rifle, body armor, and helmet, complete with a torch, to each of them. They managed to root around and find plenty of ammo and a handgun and knife – he felt so much better thinking he could at least surely take down a few of the buggers before he was taken out himself. Also, there was the added bonus, of course, of shooting themselves rather than being eaten – a grim thought but practical.

While he had been scavenging, Sarah had been keeping point – the other person on their team – Maria having helped him loot the checkpoint. At the same time, his mother had been propped up against a wall with her ventilator. Sarah brought his attention hurriedly to what she had noticed - something he had not spotted at all.

There was a ginormous pyramid structure – no, wait, there were two, he could make out now, in the direction they were going.

After checking over his equipment a final time, Sam picked up his mother again, and they headed toward the nearest structure. As Sam had now realized, this was no longer their Earth - that is unless they could somehow band together again to claim it back…