Sanctuary

by Pauline Creeden

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Actually, I found Jennie downstairs. Some strange things are going on around here, so I escorted her up to find you and your wife. You’re looking for your wife?”

  Jennie’s dad nodded, his eyes darting as if he didn’t want to stop looking. “She was in the surgery prep room when she…” An intense look in his eyes measured the pastor as though unsure he wanted to expose a family weakness with someone outside of the family.

  Pastor Billy seemed to get the hint. “Anything you tell me will remain between the three of us.” He nodded toward Jennie. “Call it pastor-member privilege.”

  Dad’s eyes grew softer, and he sighed in defeat. “Apparently, Maggie attacked the anesthesiologist and grew suddenly wild. I was in the waiting area outside of the surgery center. She ran off. No one could stop her. I’ve been looking all over but can’t seem to find her in the building. She couldn’t have gone far, right?”

  Pastor Billy nodded. “This only happened about twenty minutes ago?”

  “Yes, how’d you know?”

  “It seems that all of the bite victims are having a strange reaction to the alien saliva. Like rabies or something. They are not acting like themselves.”

  “I’ve seen some strange things going on in the hallways. What you say makes sense. I haven’t had a personal encounter with any of the victims, but I’ve seen the nurses and doctors trying to restrain several people.”

  “My wife took Mickey over to the church. Maybe it would be best if we all headed over there?”

  “I can’t leave Maggie.” Dad’s eyes pleaded with the pastor.

  “I don’t know that your wife is acting like...herself. She has on a hospital band?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then if the staff here find her and get her restrained, they’ll contact you.”

  Her father set his jaw and met the larger man’s gaze with a cold look. “I will not leave my wife like a stray dog.”

  “I didn’t mean it that way.”

  “That’s fine. Look, I’m glad that you kept my daughter safe. I’m glad that your wife is taking care of my son. Now, I need to secure my wife’s well-being before I can possibly think about my own comfort.”

  Billy nodded. “I understand. I’d like to come with you, but I don’t believe it would be safe for Jennie.”

  Both men looked at her. She felt like a bug under a magnifying glass.

  Her dad sighed. “You’re right, Pastor. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine—just take care of Jennie.”

  “Okay, Jack. I’ll take Jennie over to the church with Mickey and my wife. We’ll wait for you there on one condition.”

  “What’s that?”

  “It’s about eight hours until the sun sets. Look for your wife, and we’ll pray that you find her. But it’s dangerous right now while it’s light outside. Lord only knows what it will be like after dark. My one condition is that whether you find her or not, you’ll be at the church by sunset.”

  Dad’s eyes moved back and forth. “I’ll find her, and I’ll be there.”

  “Also, avoid the injured people. Don’t try to help them. Jennie and I have seen these people attacking others and trying to bite them. It really is like they are rabid.”

  “That’s two conditions.” Her father smiled, trying to lighten the mood. “But I’ll avoid being attacked as best I can.”

  “Okay.” Pastor Billy nodded and stood a little straighter. He looked less defeated than he had the moment before.

  Normally, Jennie would have protested their talk about her like an object and not an opinionated nineteen-year-old. But under the circumstances, she just wanted to go home and hide her head under the covers. She needed for someone to hold her hand and tell her everything was going to be all right. Without a single thought of protest, she took the pastor’s hand.

  The pastor pushed his glasses up his nose and tried to smile in a reassuring way. “Okay, Jennie, where’s your car?”

  ONE BY ONE, THE NEWS channels faded from the air. No one went to work. No one left their home. The Shisa could be found anywhere, and you’d risk your life trying to run from one building to the next. But if you did it right and waited until the droning was far enough away, you might survive.

  Hugh scratched the three-day growth on his chin and flipped through the radio stations on his Sansa player. His iPod didn’t pick up stations; his TV had nothing on but sitcoms and other re-runs; he couldn’t leave. Or maybe he could.

  What was really stopping him? Fred? Fred was nothing more than a tough-talking coward. If Hugh confronted him, even threatened him, he could get him to unlock the front door. Probably. Wasn't it worth a try?

  A crash out in the hallway followed by a high-pitched laugh like a hyena broke into his thoughts. Hugh stepped to his door and looked out the peephole. Nothing happened in the four-feet section made visible through the distorted circle. But a female giggle made him unbolt the door.

  He opened the door wide and stepped into the hallway. In the narrow corridor, four teenage boys pushed each other and laughed, hauling a flat-screen TV between two of them. A twelve-year-old girl followed them with two bags full of cans and other groceries. The door to the apartment diagonally across the hall stood open with the door jamb splintered. Hugh called out, “Hey, what are you guys doing?”

  The teen group stopped and stared at him. One of the boys with a hat cocked sideways on his head freed his hand by wrapping the Xbox controller around his other arm. He pulled up his oversized jean shorts. “Look man, we don’t want no trouble. We figure no one is using this stuff, and since the building’s on lockdown, no one’s coming or going…”

  Hugh blinked hard at the kid who looked about fifteen or sixteen. His face was familiar; he’d probably seen him in the hallways of Warwick High. “So you’re only breaking into the empty apartments?”

  The kids nodded. The girl held one of the bags toward Hugh. “See? What else are we supposed to do? We can’t even go to the grocery store. We’ll starve, if we don’t do something.”

  Hugh crossed his arms in front of his chest. The kids were right. What else were they supposed to do? He always respected other people’s property and hated to see these kids taking what didn’t belong to them. But if the owners never came back, was there really any harm? At least these kids weren’t behaving like punks or hoodlums. They were more respectful than Hugh could have imagined. A sudden thought occurred to him. “Wait. How many rooms have you guys broken into?”

  The kids looked at each other, and then the girl looked at the boy in the sideways hat and asked, “What do you think, Jose? About three or four apartments per floor, and we’ve done the top four floors so far?”

  Jose shrugged.

  “There are ten apartments on each floor. Are you saying that more than a third of the apartments are empty?”

  “I guess,” Jose shrugged, pulling up his pants once again.

  “What floor do you guys live on?”

  The girl piped up. “Jose, Rory, and I live on nine. Aaron and Tion live on eleven.”

  So that explained why they were starting from the top floor down. “What are you guys doing with the stuff you’re taking? The cable is out, and the TV is hardly getting a signal.”

  “The TV is for the X-box,” one of the boys holding the corner of the flat screen answered. He shifted the box in his hands to gain a better grip.

  Hugh nodded and decided to let them go. There was nothing else he could do. He certainly couldn’t police the place, and the kids were generally behaving well. “You kids be safe, and keep out of trouble.”

  A smile revealed dimples on the little girl’s face. She shoved one of the bags toward him in an offering. “Thanks, Mr. Harris. We’re finding lots of food, and you know you’re going to run out eventually, so why don’t you take this one?”

  Letting the kids get by with their Robin Hood style thievery was one thing, but accepting the spoils was another. Hugh shook his head. “I’ll be all r
ight.”

  The girl shrugged, and the group headed for the elevator. Mr. Lee came out of the room with the broken door, and Hugh did a double take. The little Korean man sorted through the bag in his hand. He looked up at and nodded in greeting. Hugh blinked hard.

  Jennie

  “WHEN’S DADDY COMING TO GET us?” Mickey tugged on Jennie’s sweater, as she stood in the tall window of the church and watched Pastor Billy pull into the driveway.

  The rumble continued to drone in the distance, but she couldn’t help but search the surroundings for any monsters. It was no longer just the aliens she searched for.

  It had been two days since she’d last seen her father. Two days since she’d last taken a shower. Two days since she’d slept in her own bed. She refused Pastor Billy’s offer to take them to the Crawford’s house. Honestly, she feared going anywhere, since her father promised to pick them up at the First Free Will Baptist Church. Besides, Pastor Billy didn’t want to leave them alone at home with all of the dangers going on right now. He felt that the church was a defensible position, and by staying at the church, they could help any members who came in need.

  Mrs. Crawford and Pastor Billy grabbed bags from the back of the van, but their eyes still darted around the area. Jennie stepped over toward the door and unlocked the double bolts to let them in. A gust of wind picked up and blew the fallen leaves around the yard of the church. July? It definitely felt more like October.

  “I said, ‘When is Daddy coming to get us?’” Mickey stamped his foot.

  “The answer didn’t change from the last time you asked. I don’t know. But he’s coming, okay?”

  Mickey scowled and narrowed his brown eyes at her. “He better come soon. I’m tired of sleeping on these wooden P.U.’s”

  Jennie smiled at him as the Crawfords stepped up. “Hey, Jennie. Anything happen while we were gone?”

  She shook her head and helped take a few of the plastic bags from his hands while he held two paper ones to his chest. Mrs. Crawford stepped up with a wide smile of her own and two big, folded quilts in her arms. She grew serious, as she said, “We drove by your house on the way, Jennie, and didn’t see your father’s car there.”

  The large white doors closed out the breeze that had built up, and Jennie shook off the chill as it faded. Pastor Billy turned the locks.

  Jennie looked at them both. “What are we going to do?”

  The Crawfords exchanged another of their married-couple glances before Pastor Billy continued. “We were listening to the emergency band on the radio while we drove. The Shisa, as they are calling the aliens, don’t seem to swim. So, they are quarantining off Fort Monroe and blowing up all the bridges except for one.”

  Jennie blinked hard. “Seriously?”

  Pastor Billy nodded. “They believe it will take three to five days to clear the island. Langley and Fort Eustis are building up their walls and defenses as well, blocking off all of the entrances. In a few days, they are going to open up all three bases to uninjured civilians so that we can all find safety.”

  “I know the bases are big, but is there enough room for everybody?”

  Wiping sweat from his brow with a handkerchief, Pastor Billy paused before continuing. He watched Mrs. Crawford take Mickey toward the kitchen at the back of the church. Her brother swung a plastic bag in his free hand as he helped her carry the items to the back. Once they were out of earshot, Billy leaned in and lowered his voice. “Since the aliens attacked the sun and water supply, the population of the whole world has decreased. Too many people got sick or just gave up. Here on the Peninsula, you have to have noticed the decrease in people?”

  “I thought they were just holing up indoors all the time like our next door neighbors, the Cassels.”

  “It’s true that some are, but humankind has taken a hard hit even before these Shisa started attacking people two days ago.” He wiped his brow again and coughed before he continued. “I used to perform two or three funerals a month. But lately, it had been as many as four a week.”

  Jennie shook her head. Her voice quavered. “They didn’t say anything about this on the news. My dad was watching it all day long, every day, since the aliens came.”

  “Sometimes the news doesn’t give us the whole story because they are afraid of how the general public will respond.”

  Furrowing her brows, she said, “That sounds a bit too much like a conspiracy theory.”

  Pastor Billy shrugged and grabbed the paper bags he’d set on the pew and started in the direction Mrs. Crawford had gone. Jennie followed. She didn’t know anyone who had died. A couple of the houses in the neighborhood a street over had incidents, but she didn’t know them—just of them. On Facebook, people had been putting up memorials and such, but it all seemed so distant.

  As the two reached the kitchen, a banging started on the main door of the building. Her hair stood on end, and one look at Pastor Billy’s flushed face told her that he was afraid of who it might be as well.

  Mrs. Crawford lifted Mickey up and set him on her hip. “Want to help me make some cookies?” she said cheerfully, but the look in her eyes told her worry.

  The banging on the door continued, and Jennie jogged down the aisle after the pastor. Approaching the windowless door, Pastor Billy called out, “Who is it?”

  A shout came from the other side. “Hey, Billy, it’s me, Jack Ransom!”

  Jennie thought her knees would buckle. “Oh, thank God.”

  Part of her wanted to be mad that her father had just left them there. He was supposed to be here two days ago. But when the doors opened to the old wooden church and her father stepped in, still wearing his flannel pajama bottoms, Jennie couldn’t help but rush over and pull him in a bear hug. Tears welled in her eyes, and she sobbed into his chest.

  Her father stroked her hair, and his voice cracked when he spoke. “I’m sorry I took so long.”

  Muffled by her father’s jacket, she asked, “Did you find mom?”

  Gentle hands pushed her away. His eyes etched in red around the rims and in the whites, her father looked into her face. “No, Jennie, that’s why I took so long getting to you. I searched everywhere.”

  Her heart sunk in her chest. Just like she’d gone two days without a shower, her father looked every bit like he’d gone two days without washing or sleep. Her mother was just one of the injured now, no more. If her father had given up, did that mean hope was lost? Jennie choked back a sob.

  “Daddy!” The pounding of little feet on the church’s floorboards behind her announced Mickey.

  She stepped aside to let her little brother jump into his father’s arms. Dad lifted the boy off his feet and hugged him close to his unshaven face.

  “Prickly, Daddy! You’re a cactus.”

  Dad laughed and appeared genuinely happy for about two seconds before his face fell a bit. He tried to paste on a smile as he spoke. “Have you been a good boy?”

  Mickey nodded vigorously.

  “Good. Get your things, and let’s go home.”

  Pastor Billy stepped up and put a hand on her father’s shoulder. “Jack, have you heard what they’ve said on the emergency radio system?”

  “Yeah, but I think we’ll be fine at the house. We’ve stocked up on enough food to last us a couple months, and I’ve got my 30-30 and a shotgun if we need them. I know these two will just be glad to get home.”

  “That sounds well and good, but what happens then? I don’t know if the military bases will keep taking survivors after they open the gates this one time. I’d hate for you and your family to be locked out.”

  Dad’s face grew hard, and his eyes turned cold. “We don’t know everything about what’s going on. These are just sick people out there bitten by the aliens. We don’t know if these symptoms will just wear off, or maybe a cure will be found. I’m going to my home so we can be there in case Maggie returns.”

  Pastor Billy nodded. “Well, Mrs. Crawford and I will stay here. We want to be available as long as we mi
ght be needed. But once they open the gates at Ft. Monroe, we’re going to do everything we can to get as many healthy people where it’s safe.”

  “How many people have been coming to the church since the alien ships arrived?”

  “Our numbers have been down, but that doesn’t mean—”

  “And since the biting attacks started?”

  “None, but tomorrow’s Sunday and—”

  “Look, the church has taken the stand for hundreds of years that there was no life outside of our own planet. And if those ships don’t prove the church wrong, I don’t know what does. Where is God right now? Where was he when my wife was attacked?”

  “Mr. Ransom, I know that you’ve suffered—“

  “Suffered? You can’t possibly know what I’ve been suffering!”

  “I’m sorry that you’ve been facing losses, but we can’t reject God when the going gets tough.”

  “God seems to be rejecting me.”

  Jennie didn’t like the direction this was going. Her mother and father never argued in front of Mickey or even her. To watch her father argue with the pastor about such a weighty issue frightened her. Mickey looked up at him with wide eyes and pulled the thumb he’d been sucking out of his mouth to say, “Daddy, can we go home?”

  Dad nodded and held Mickey tighter. He looked at Jennie and waved an arm in her direction to pull her into him. “Come on, Jennie, let’s go.”

  Jennie focused on the haggard face of the pastor and whispered “Thank you” to him as she welcomed her father’s arm around her shoulders. They stepped out into the faded sunlight of the Saturday afternoon and headed for the minivan. “What about my car, Dad?”

  “Yeah, I guess you should drive it and follow me.”

  “Mickey’s car seat is in the back, too.”

  Dad nodded and said, “Can you grab it and meet me at the van?”

  The incessant droning continued like white noise in the background. Its steady rhythm made her think her chest vibrated even though the monsters were too far away to cause it. They trudged through the leaves that no one was going to rake up because of the dangers of being outside. She looked steadily around for the possibility of a bite victim attack, but Warwick Boulevard was a barren street, devoid of most any life. Even the birds, themselves, were silent, their song drowned out by the static of the incessant alien rumble. Jennie’s mind wandered as she opened the door of her Civic. What kind of winter were they going to have if the summer felt like autumn?