Escaping Darkness- The Complete Saga

by E S Richards

  “You all right, my friend?”

  “Yeah,” Leo nodded, “I think so. We need to get him out.”

  “Agreed,” Vic replied, already wrestling with his seatbelt so he could free himself and go to Blake’s aid. As Leo unfastened himself from his seat and managed to get the passenger door open so there was a way outside, Vic dropped down to his friend, stopping himself just in time. Using all his strength, he unbuckled Blake and started to heave the man out of the cab, pushing his heavy body up through the passenger door while Leo pulled, the pair of them working together to free Blake from the doomed vehicle.

  “Come on, my friend,” Vic murmured to Blake as he started to stir, his head lolling around on Vic’s shoulder as the Ukrainian man tried to orchestrate the escape by himself. “Help me out a little here.”

  With a stroke of luck, Blake seemed to be lucid enough to understand what Vic needed from him, lifting his arm up and latching on to Leo with enough strength for the teenager to pull him completely out of the cab and get him down to the ground. Vic followed the pair of them and quickly placed an arm around Blake’s shoulder, supporting his weight and letting his friend rest on him.

  “Easy does it,” Vic encouraged him. “We need to get off of the streets.”

  “Ugh,” Blake groaned. “Where?”

  The question was a veiled one, all three men aware that the building they had just crashed into was the office building where Jackson’s rebel faction had previously been located. The fact that no one had emerged from the building following the crash told them that it was now empty—the rebels had moved on and found somewhere new. None of them were surprised, but it left them at a bit of a loss about where to turn to next.

  “This way,” Vic announced, taking the lead and helping to steer Blake away from the truck and down a side street. “Follow me.”

  With the rebel faction nowhere to be seen and the Authority potentially aware of their location following their rather loud and unavoidable arrival, Vic knew they all needed to get out of sight as quickly as possible. There was only one place in the city that Vic knew was definitely safe and no matter how far away from it he was, something always managed to guide him back. His store. The key to his beloved little corner store hung on a chain around his neck like it always did. Vic was never without it, so he was never without a place to call his own. His store had saved him and Blake when everything began; now it would have to do the same again. Supporting one side of his friend’s body while Leo took the other, Vic fought his way there, confident that if they could make it to the store, they could make it through anything.

  Chapter 15

  “Please give me some good news,” Jackson urged, starting to feel an itch of worry snaking around his beating heart. “Is there a clear way out?”

  “I wouldn’t call it clear.” Joel shook his head, disappointed that he couldn’t give the rebel leader better news. He and Rylan had been up to the roof of the office building under Jackson’s orders, scoping out the nearby streets and the fire escapes to see if there was a way down and out of the surrounded building. There was, but it wouldn’t be without causalities. And it wouldn’t be easy.

  “There’s a walkway over to the next building,” Rylan started to explain, still determined to try and impress his father and make the man proud of him. “If we can get over that unseen, we can get down a fire escape on the other side. There are fewer people in the streets below that way. They might still spot us crossing over the building. All it takes is someone looking up at the wrong time.”

  “A walkway?” Jackson asked, running a hand through his stubble as he thought about it. “Have you been over?”

  Rylan and Joel both nodded in unison. “Yeah,” Rylan answered, “it’s easy. So long as you don’t look down.”

  “Okay.” Jackson thought for a second longer, considering his options quickly. Unfortunately, it seemed like going up and over onto the neighboring building’s roof sounded like the best bet. They might have defended the second floor through the night, however they were still no closer to getting out of the office building and with several people now injured, Jackson knew they needed to move fast. The Authority would only get stronger the more time they had to regroup down below. Letting them overpower the building and take everyone prisoner—or worse—was just not an option.

  “Okay,” he repeated. “Let’s do it. Spread the word. Everyone who can move is going over the roof. Leave the injured to me; I’ll deal with them. Tell people to start gathering their belongings—only take what they absolutely need—and head up to the top floor. I’ll come up and give the word when it’s time to actually head outside. No one goes without my command. Got it?”

  Rylan and Joel looked at each other, then back to Jackson, nodding again in confirmation. “Got it,” they echoed, before turning on their heels and jogging off to do exactly what Jackson had asked of them. As a leader he was firm but fair and he had earned everyone’s respect one by one, rather than just expecting the new arrivals to treat him that way because everyone else did. That was why he was so rarely questioned: the whole rebel faction knew that he was working to everyone’s best interests and didn’t have any kind of hidden agenda.

  Watching his second son walk away, Rylan really coming into his own since his older brother left, Jackson allowed himself to pause briefly and think about Mike. He had been back inside the pit for a few days now, and while Jackson had only received one status update, he was confident his eldest son would be holding his own in there. He was incredibly proud of Mike for going in, and despite how much rested on his task, Jackson knew he wouldn’t have been able to hold it against his son if he refused the request. He could only imagine what it had been like in the pit for the children at first, and returning to a place like that showed an immense amount of bravery on Mike’s part.

  “For Mike,” Jackson muttered to himself, knowing that he had to keep fighting against the Authority to get his son back again. He’d already lost his wife to them; he wouldn’t let the same thing happen to anyone else.

  Striding in the direction of their makeshift hospital wing, Jackson rolled up his sleeves and began thinking about the mass evacuation. The injured people would be the most difficult to transport up and out of the building, but he refused to leave anyone behind. He doubted whether the Authority would look at an already injured rebel and consider nursing them back to health just to lock them away. No—anyone who was left behind was surely condemned to death and so to Jackson, that meant everyone was getting evacuated, whether they could walk or not.

  “How’s it going in here, Lorna?” he asked the woman who had taken charge of the sick area, looking beyond her at the various bodies that were laid out across the floor.

  “We’re getting by,” Lorna replied, “though a couple of the guys could use some higher-grade painkillers. How’s everything else?”

  “We’re planning to evacuate,” Jackson explained, getting straight to the point and waiting for Lorna’s reaction. She had been with his rebel group from the start, her two young children taken by the Authority and her husband killed in the process. Her story was very similar to Jackson’s, which had allowed them to bond at some level, though neither liked talking about what they had lost. Thankfully Lorna had gotten both her children back, the two preteens currently sitting drawing pictures in one corner of the room.

  “Oh? How?”

  “Via the roof,” Jackson continued. “We need to get everyone up to the top floor as soon as possible and I’ve been assured there’s a walkway over to the next building so we can get down to the street and away from here.”

  Lorna nodded, considering what Jackson was saying for a moment, knowing he would rely on her opinion on whether everyone in her care could travel. “Okay,” she clicked her tongue against her teeth inside her mouth, a trait she often did when thinking to herself. “We should only need one stretcher. Sammy was shot in the thigh and she can’t really walk; everyone else can make it. It’ll be slow going for most of
them, but we’ll get there. We have to.”

  “Great,” Jackson breathed a sigh of relief, encouraged by Lorna’s confidence. “I’ll get a stretcher arranged for Sammy. Thanks, Lorna.”

  “No problem,” the nurse smiled. “Where are we moving to afterwards? Is it far?”

  “About thirty minutes from here on foot,” Jackson answered, planning to take his rebel faction to the high tech campus his wife had worked at. There were several high-rise office buildings there too, but what he was more excited about was the data bunker fortified to store military projects. Naturally none of the equipment would work anymore. Even so, an underground bunker was the perfect place for his group to expand and develop their plans. If they could get there without the Authority tracking them that would be perfect; Jackson knew keeping it hidden from them would be the biggest challenge. “The Stanley Johnson tech campus, if you’ve heard of it?”

  Lorna shook her head, “I haven’t, although it sounds okay to me. Thirty minutes should be fine. Have we got enough breathing masks for everyone?”

  “Probably not, unfortunately. Some people will have to make do with cloths and scarves like the good old days,” Jackson tried to make a joke, thinking how far they’d come already since the first day of the eruption, the day when their lives all changed forever. “Don’t worry,” he continued, “I’ll make sure all the injured, old, and underage are properly protected. Here,” he tugged a couple of the spare masks he wore attached to his belt off and handed them over to Lorna. “Give these to your kids.”

  “Thank you,” Lorna accepted the masks gratefully, smiling up at Jackson and meaning her thanks to be not only for the masks, but also for everything he had done for her, her children, and the city. “I’ll get everyone sorted and up to the roof. We’ll see you up there?”

  “You can count on it,” Jackson nodded, pleased that Lorna was able to take control of the injured and leave him to concentrate on other things. Walking away, he felt confident that his group would be able to make their escape. Already people were gathering their things and starting to head upstairs, Joel and Rylan clearly spreading the message quickly and efficiently. No one stopped to ask him questions as they passed him, all simply heading toward the stairs with their heads down and determined looks on their faces. They knew this needed to be done and everyone was willing to pull their own weight.

  By the time Jackson himself made it up to the top floor nearly an hour later, almost everyone was gathered by the roof access doors, waiting for him. Six of his most trusted and loyal men and women had stayed down below, walking around and making noise so the Authority didn’t suspect they were all leaving. They had the most important and most dangerous job. If anything went wrong, they could well be sacrificing their lives by staying below. It was a sacrifice that Jackson didn’t take lightly and was incredibly grateful for. If there was any other way then he would’ve stayed down there with them, but he knew he was needed more leading the charge. Sometimes leaders had to make difficult decisions; it was how they reacted to them and how they progressed that showed what kind of a leader they were. Either Jackson would worry and wait for the people downstairs, or he could trust his team and move on with the next stage of their plan. The evacuation needed to happen, and that was what he was now on the roof to put into motion.

  “Okay,” he started to speak, everyone immediately falling silent and turning to look in his direction. It the respect he commanded was incredible, even the youngest children putting down their toys and listening for what he was about to say. “Thank you all for getting up here so quickly. I’m sure you’re already aware of what we’re about to do. This isn’t going to be easy and we are at risk of being spotted. It’s our only option and we need to get out of here. It’s either over the roof or down to our deaths—there is no other choice.”

  His words were serious and sullen, perhaps words that would’ve been better suited to an entirely adult audience, but despite this people only reacted with nods and murmurs of agreement. Everyone knew Jackson was thinking of the group and the city before himself and as a result they were content to follow his orders. Their lives had been at risk since the day Yellowstone erupted; climbing out onto a walkway wasn’t going to make anyone run away scared.

  “Once we’re across, we’re heading for the tech village about thirty minutes northwest of here,” Jackson continued, sharing the new location with everyone. “I want everyone to wait on the top floor of that building so we can check it out first. Then we’ll move over together. If something goes wrong, that’s where you should aim for. Make sure you’re with at least one person who knows the way. Most of these guys,” Jackson paused and pointed to some of his closest allies within the faction, “have already been briefed, so they know the way.”

  More murmurs and nods of agreement rippled through the crowd, once again no questions or disagreements emerging. In the disaster situation, almost everyone was happy to be told what to do. It made their lives easier and took away the element of risk or threat. They still weren’t completely safe, but as a unit they stood a much larger chance than they did as individuals.

  “All right,” Jackson clapped his hands together. “Get yourselves into roughly even groups of ten: old, young, all alike, then let’s get going. First group, you’re with Kenny. I’ll bring up the rear.”

  At the end of his speech, everyone sprang into action. There was no pause for applause or for people to ask questions; Jackson had explained everything they needed to know for now and all that was left was to do it. The rebel faction was united by a hatred for the Authority and a love for their city. They were the ones who had fought to get their children back and to reclaim their homes. They had no time for squabbling or complaining, everyone banding together and demonstrating that even in times of complete peril, humanity still existed and could still achieve wondrous things.

  “You guys get over with Kenny,” Jackson spoke in a lower voice to Rylan, Joel, and his mom and sister, the four of them hovering nearby. “He knows where to go and he’ll make sure to take care of you. Go and get in his group. Now.”

  Joel and his family didn’t need to be told twice, marching over in Kenny’s direction, the former Marine and close friend of Jackson’s already waiting for their arrival. Rylan hung back however, loitering next to his father.

  “I want to stay with you, Dad,” he spoke out, trying not to sound like a needy teenager, but instead someone who was able to offer help and support.

  “I’ll be okay, Rylan,” Jackson replied, urging his son to leave. “You should get across quickly and make sure you’re safe on the other side.”

  “I don’t think we should split up again,” came the reply, Rylan already having thought this through and prepared what he was going to say. He trusted his father completely, but after losing his mom and seeing Mike return to the pit, he didn’t want to be apart from his father when he absolutely didn’t need to be. “I can take care of myself,” he continued. “I still want to go across with you. It makes no difference to anything else. Please just let me do it.”

  Jackson looked down at his son and read the teenager’s expression, impressed to see determination and courage coupled with an absence of fear. Rylan didn’t want to stay behind because he was scared of what might happen to him if he went, he wanted to stay because it was the right thing to do and because he could be an asset to his father. Seeing that in his youngest son, Jackson smiled and felt a sense of pride welling up inside of him.

  “Okay,” he answered, looking up at Kenny and nodding, giving his friend the signal to leave Rylan behind and start moving. “You’re with me, son. Let’s put an end to all this madness, eh? Let’s get our home back.”

  Chapter 16

  Linda sat comfortably in the den with Chase and Riley huddled against her on either side, both of them half-dozing in and out of sleep. It was a moment that Linda knew she should be enjoying for what it was: her grandchildren were back in her arms safely, both wearing a smile on their faces. Yet desp
ite how much she tried to make herself feel happiness over the situation or be thankful for what she had, Linda couldn’t get the image of her dead husband out of her head.

  Every time she closed her eyes, Linda saw Jerry. She saw him lying on the rug in the front room, his face pale and his eyes still open, staring blankly up toward the ceiling as the life left his body. She didn’t see him as she wished to remember him, with a grin on his face and spring in his step. Linda couldn’t remember her husband for the man he had been no matter how hard she tried. All she saw when she closed her eyes was his death, and it haunted her.

  Two days had passed since the burial, the mound of dirt that covered her husband once again firm and frozen by ice and snow. They had erected a headstone upon the grave that morning, Chase having chiseled a few words into a large slate brick from the floor of the barn. The cows didn’t live there anymore and everything they had once stored in the building had been brought into the main farmhouse. Like many other things, the barn no longer had any use to the Clarke family and so repurposing its materials for Jerry’s grave made perfect sense. Into the stone he had carved nothing more than Jerry’s name, the years he had lived, and the words Never Forgotten.

  The words had been true when the gravestone was placed in the ground and Linda knew they would be true forevermore. As long as her family lived, they would remember Jerry, the things he had done for them unforgettable.

  “Hey, Mom,” Mia poked her head around the door to the den, finding her mother tucked up underneath a blanket on the couch with her grandchildren. “Are you okay?”

  Linda nodded, trying not to move too much so she didn’t disturb either of the children. “Yes, dear,” she replied, “is everything all right?”