Dawn: Final Awakening Book One (A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller)

by J. Thorn

  “Well, we can’t exactly stay here, son?”

  “Don’t call me, ‘son,’ old man.”

  Dax stood still as Isaac and Neil shouted back and forth. Others in the room joined in until the basement was full of yelling.

  “That’s enough.”

  The room went quiet, and everyone looked at Chloe.

  “Arguing isn’t going to do us any good. You’re both right. There could be dead bodies in there, or we could come out the other side right next to the guards. But we have to try something. We’ve got kids down here in this wretched place. We need a plan.”

  Dax stepped up and stood next to Chloe. “Chloe’s right.”

  Chloe flashed a quick smile at Dax, which he returned. Isaac caught the exchange between them, even in the darkened room.

  Isaac looked at Dax. “You’re a police officer. Shouldn’t you know what to do?”

  He caught a sarcastic edge to Isaac’s question, and Dax felt as though the kid almost wanted him to fail and look stupid in front of Chloe.

  Dax looked around the room as everyone turned their attention to him. The children looked at him with hopeful, trusting eyes.

  I don’t want to lie. But it’s for their own good. They have to believe in something. Someone.

  He sighed, putting his hands on his hips as he stared at the hole in the wall. “I say we wait until nightfall and then make a run for it. Chuck’s gang probably goes out and does most of their bad stuff at night, like the rest of the city, so there’s a good chance there’ll be fewer people hanging around if we wait.”

  “I agree,” Neil said. “My watch still works. One of those you don’t ever have to wind. I’ll know when it's dark out there.”

  “What we need to do now is get those boxes stacked back up in case they come down here again. Then we’ll start putting together a plan of how we’re going to get out of here.”

  Dax, Isaac, and Neil, stacked the boxes against the wall, covering the entrance to the tunnel. When they were finished with the task, the group gathered in the middle of the room and listened to Dax’s plan to get everyone out of the basement. Monica sat next to Chloe. The younger boys, Kevin and Darius, sat on the other side of Monica.

  One of the thugs brought them a dinner of water and a loaf of stale bread the size of a deflated football. Dax gave his share to Monica, who divided it up amongst the boys.

  Dax insisted that they wait another two hours after dinner had been served, to make sure it was definitely dark outside. “All right, everyone. Stick to the plan.”

  Dax and Isaac moved the boxes away from the wall yet again.

  “Chloe and Isaac will lead the children through first, while me and Neil will wait behind to make sure everyone else has crawled out of the basement.”

  Chloe dropped to a knee and wrinkled her nose. A light air current came through the hole and Dax could smell a hint of natural gas and burning plastic.

  The tunnel has got to come out somewhere else, either in the sewer system or an adjacent building.

  Dax grabbed Chloe’s shoulder. “Be careful.”

  She nodded. “You, too, Officer.” Smiling, she crawled into the tunnel.

  Isaac looked at Dax and then began directing Darius and Kevin through the tunnel.

  “I might be a kid, but I can protect her. Don’t you worry about that, Officer.”

  Dax could almost taste Isaac’s sarcasm, but he didn’t have time to deal with the kid’s teenage issues. He had to get these folks out before the thugs came back.

  The boys treated it like a game. They scurried through the hole in the wall, giggling and grabbing at the ankles of the person in front of them.

  Dax kept looking back at the locked door and then to the tunnel. He felt beads of sweat forming on his forehead and noticed the way Neil had begun looking at him. The man’s eyes buzzed in their sockets, and he kept licking his lips.

  What the fuck you doing, Dax? You survived Katrina by protecting your own life. Prison is better than dead, right?

  When Monica crawled into the tunnel, Dax looked to Neil. “All right. Go ahead.”

  Neil nodded, his eyes shifting from Dax to the door. He’d dropped to his knees and begun crawling through the hole when the pounding of boots on stairs came from the other side of the door. Neil’s eyes went wide. He stopped his body half in the basement and half in the tunnel.

  “Go, Neil. Hurry.” Dax ran to the door and put his shoulder into it. The sound of a key entering a lock came from the other side.

  Neil remained frozen, looking at Dax over his shoulder while down on all fours. Dax silently waved Neil into the tunnel. Neil nodded once, and Dax saw the soles of the man’s shoes disappear into the dark.

  “Get away from the fucking door. Right now.”

  Dax ignored the command coming from the other side. He slid his shoulder down and dug his heels into the cracked concrete, hoping to keep the thugs out of the room for as long as possible.

  Chloe went first. She should be out of the tunnel by now.

  “Yo. Get down here, y’all. The motherfuckers are blocking the door.”

  Dax felt the pounding of the man’s fist on the other side. More shouting came from the floor above.

  “If you don’t get out the way right now, you’re dead. I swear to God, you’re dead. All of you.”

  The pressure released from the door. Dax heard the man calling out for help. He stepped away from the door, and it opened a crack. Peering through, he saw nothing but the steps. Dax turned and ran for the tunnel. He dove at the opening like a runner trying to steal second base. Dax had to push and squirm his way in, as his broad shoulders barely fit through the opening in the wall. He looked back and saw the halo of light from the candles fading as he went deeper into the tunnel. The men had not yet returned, probably assuming they didn’t need to hurry—their captives had nowhere to go.

  Dax crawled as fast as he could in the darkness, sharp edges biting at his clothes. The ground sloped upward, and Dax remembered some of the history he’d learned in school. New Orleans had a sordid past, and people had created tunnels beneath the city for many reasons over the past couple of hundred years. He was most likely crawling through one that bootleggers had used to move illegal whiskey during Prohibition.

  He felt something cold dig into his cheek, followed by the warm trickle of blood. Dax kept going and saw an opening iris ahead, a dull light at the end of the tunnel. A hand reached out to him.

  Isaac grabbed Dax and helped him out of the tunnel and into the room where everyone else waited. Looking around at the circuit boards and network panels, he realized they had ended up in a utility closet. Chloe, Monica and the boys had gathered at the exit door. She had a box of cold medicine in her hand and was examining jugs of antifreeze on a shelf.

  “What is that stuff?” Neil asked.

  “Ingredients used to make crystal meth.”

  Isaac ran his hand along the wall and then stood by the door. “We think this door leads outside. Come on.”

  Dax took a look back at the tunnel, wondering why the thugs hadn’t chased them yet. Why weren’t they crawling through the tunnel to reclaim their property?

  Either they think we’re still in the basement with nowhere to go, or they know we went through the tunnel. . . and where it ends up.

  He moved across the room, pushed the bar and headed through the door. Dax looked up and down the alley, which intersected a street at each end.

  “This way.” He led them to the right as gunshots rang out and people continued to shout.

  “Where are we going?” Monica asked.

  “Keep moving,” Chloe said to her. “Officer Dax is going to get us to safety.”

  Dax looked down and saw a metal pipe sitting next to a dumpster. After picking it up, he led the group down the alley, constantly looking over his shoulder for the thugs but seeing no sign of them.

  We’re going to make it.

  They reached the end of the alley and Dax put a foot on the sidewal
k. He’d turned and taken a deep breath just as three men appeared in front of him. The thugs pointed their weapons at him.

  “Stop.”

  Dax looked past Chloe, Isaac, and Neil. Footsteps crept up from the dark alley as another contingent of their captors came from behind, trapping the group.

  A bright light flashed into Dax’s eyes, and he shielded his face, turning away.

  “You’re really starting to piss me off.”

  Dammit.

  “Get them back in the basement. And for fuck’s sake, someone fix the wall.”

  13

  They tossed Dax into the room. His knee smacked off the floor, and he heard Monica gasp. Kevin and Darius whimpered, but none of the adults dared speak.

  He looked up at the rows of fluorescent lighting overhead, the bulbs gray and dead. Long, wooden tables had been pushed to the walls, and the captives had been ushered into the middle of the room. But Dax couldn’t see the end of the room. It stretched into the darkness.

  Dax rubbed his knee and had started to stand up when Chuck approached. The thug flashed a gold-toothed grin at Dax as if the two were meeting for a beer after a long shift in the factory. Chuck drew his right leg back then and delivered a stiff kick to Dax’s ribs. When Dax leaned forward, coughing from the boot to his midsection, another blow glanced off of his chin and snapped his head back. Dax spat a wad of bloody phlegm on the floor, unsure if the blood came from his stomach or his mouth—or both. Two guards yanked him up by the arms and dragged him back over to Chuck.

  “Who the fuck are you?”

  Before Dax could catch his breath and answer the man, Chuck delivered a straight jab to Dax’s stomach, knocking the air from his lungs. The two thugs holding Dax by the arms pulled him up yet again. Chuck had pulled a pistol and now placed the end of the barrel on Dax’s forehead.

  Chloe cried out. “Don’t.”

  “If she says another word, shoot her.” Chuck turned from Chloe back to Dax. “I’m not going to ask you again.”

  Dax felt his vision getting cloudy. The men wavered like asphalt on a hot summer day. Their voices sounded distant and hollow. He shook his head and tasted the salty blood in his mouth. Dax spat again and looked Chuck in the eye, trying to focus on something to keep from passing out.

  “Hold up.” A gangly, clean-shaven bald guy approached Dax. He bent down and looked into Dax’s face before standing back up, chuckling at his boss.

  “Yep. I know this nigga.”

  “You sure, Leo?”

  Unlike Chuck, Leo spoke quickly and in a high-pitched whine. His hands moved fast, and his tongue flicked over his golden grill. Hoop earrings dangled from Leo’s ears, and along with the shaved head, he looked like a magic genie—from the hood.

  Dax tried to concentrate on Leo’s face, but a dark halo had begun closing in on the edge of his vision, and he could barely understand what was being said.

  “Yeah, yeah, I know him for sure. This dude broke out of prison with me. Nigga never talked to anyone inside and then went his own way when we all ran. He goes by the name of Dax or some stupid shit like that.”

  Dax looked past Leo and Chuck to see Chloe’s people looking at him, their mouths open and their faces pale. Chloe’s lips appeared as a single thin line, and she was wiping tears from her eyes. Isaac slowly shook his head back and forth, a cold smile beginning to crawl across his face.

  Neil ignored the gang’s threat and turned toward Dax. “You were in prison?”

  “This fool ain’t no cop.” Leo laughed at Neil and then looked back to Dax. “He ain’t nothing but a prison bitch. Wait, you didn’t know that?” He laughed again, putting his hands in front of his mouth and dancing around Chloe. “Nigga played you hard, yo.”

  Chuck looked at Dax and laughed. “You mean you ain’t even a cop?”

  “You gotta be kidding me.” Isaac stepped back and leaned against the metal wall. “I can’t believe you, Chloe.”

  Isaac then turned to face Dax. “How could you play us like that?”

  Smiling, Chuck glanced back and forth between Dax and Isaac. He gestured toward his guards, commanding them to lower their weapons.

  “You don’t like this dude, do you?” Chuck said to Isaac.

  “No.”

  Chuck waved his hands at the two guards holding Dax. “Let him go.”

  When the two men released Dax’s arms, he collapsed to the floor.

  This might be it. Could be a bullet in my brain.

  Chuck took a step back and invited Isaac to step up. “Kick his ass then, kid.”

  Isaac looked at Chuck and then to Chloe, who hadn’t moved since the ex-cons had revealed Dax’s secret.

  “You kidding? I can’t do that...”

  “You know you wanna hit him. I seen the way you been looking at the cripple and I seen the way she be looking at your boy, Dack or Dock or whatever the fuck his name is. Go alpha dog on his ass. Woof woof.”

  Dax moaned and then slurred a few words together. “I’m not fighting him.”

  Chuck raised the pistol in his hand and pointed it at Neil. “If y’all ain’t gonna fight, then I guess I’m gonna have to thin the herd.”

  Leo giggled and hopped from one foot to the other.

  Chuck kept his eyes on Dax while he pointed the barrel of the gun around the room. He put the sight on Darius, then Kevin, then Monica, then Neil. His aim held on Chloe.

  “Maybe I’ll start with her.”

  “Stop it,” Isaac said, raising his voice.

  “Then hit him.”

  Isaac turned to Dax. The boy’s eyes had narrowed.

  Dax stumbled to his feet, clutching his ribs with one hand while his other arm dangled at his side. He stepped closer to Isaac, and looked into the kid’s eyes and nodded.

  Isaac’s first blow landed above Dax’s navel, doubling him over and bringing his other hand to his midsection. Isaac came next with an uppercut which caught Dax beneath the chin, knocking his head back.

  Chuck howled, and the gang members followed his lead, laughing and taunting Dax while cheering for Isaac and encouraging him to throw another punch.

  “You better knock him down before he gets real pissed, boy.”

  Dax fell backward into the wall but remained on his feet. He saw the feral delight in Isaac’s face and recognized the look from his own time spent scrapping in the prison yard. The boy’s adrenaline had bolstered his courage. Dax winced as Isaac’s fist hit him square in the mouth.

  “Stop it,” Chloe yelled out.

  Isaac came in low and tight like a prize fighter. Ducking down, he used his head to pin Dax against the wall by his shoulder, the boy’s fists pummeling Dax’s midsection. Dax lunged forward and gave Isaac a bear hug, hoping to keep his arms locked to his sides. Isaac lifted his head, and it appeared as though Dax had him in a lover’s embrace.

  “Push me,” Dax said as they grappled, a low whisper in Isaac’s left ear. “Push me into him.”

  “What?”

  “Throw me into Chuck.”

  Isaac tried pulling his arms free, but Dax was too strong. The thugs had become restless as the fight devolved into a standing wrestling match.

  “Why?”

  “Do it now or we’re all gonna die.”

  Dax felt Isaac’s arms yank again, and this time, he let the boy go. For a split second, Dax saw doubt in the boy’s face. Isaac’s eyes went wide and his mouth opened, but he said nothing. And then he felt the boy’s hand grasp the collar of his shirt.

  Isaac had grabbed Dax’s shirt with one hand and had his belt with the other. He spun Dax around and pushed him toward Chuck. Dax used Isaac’s momentum to help propel his body at the gang’s leader.

  Staring at the barrel of Chuck’s gun as if it were a cyclopean eye, he saw the look of surprise on the man’s face, his mouth contorting into a snarl. Dax’s right hand went to the sheath on Chuck’s left hip. In one motion, he’d grabbed the knife and brought it up to the man’s throat while using his other hand to knock the gun
to the ground. Chuck’s hat flew off to reveal a clean-shaven head.

  Everyone froze while the gang members raised their weapons at Dax, who was now behind Chuck, using him as a human shield. Chuck began to laugh.

  “You so much as blink and I’ll cut your throat.” Dax looked at Isaac and used his eyes to point at the gun laying on the floor. “Pick it up.”

  Isaac obeyed. He grabbed the gun and stood up, waving it in the air. Dax pushed the blade of the knife into Chuck’s neck. A trickle of blood emerged.

  “Drop your weapons,” Dax said.

  Chuck began to mumble to himself before his words turned into deep, rumbling laughter. He tapped his hands together in weak applause.

  “Bravo, my nigga. Well played.” Chuck’s eyes moved through the room. “You heard Dax. Drop the weapons.”

  The thugs did as they were told, dropping the weapons to the ground.

  Dax spun Chuck around. “Kick them across the floor toward the others.”

  The thugs slid the weapons away and members of Chloe’s group, including Neil, picked them up.

  Dax kept the knife on Chuck’s throat. He walked the man to the other side of the room, never turning away from the gang members.

  “Lead them out of here, Neil. Isaac, stay with me and keep that gun pointed at them.”

  Neil nodded at Dax before opening the door. “Come on, everybody.”

  Isaac stood next to Dax, keeping the gun aimed at the thugs.

  “Sorry I hit you so hard.”

  “You didn’t.”

  Chuck wasn’t laughing any longer. He began to hiss, and he spat his words like venom. “You’re making a big mistake, boy. You, this motherfucker behind me, that crippled bitch—you’re all dead.”

  Dax dropped the knife from Chuck’s throat and grabbed him by the arm, pinning it behind his back. Chuck screamed, and the gang members took a step forward, but Isaac raised his gun.

  Chuck groaned, gritting his teeth.

  Dax leaned forward so only Chuck could hear what he was going to say. “I could pull your fucking arm off right now if I wanted to. And I could’ve killed all of you. You better think about that before you come after us. You got me?”