by Crist, J. D.
Chapter 14
Emily woke on the small sofa and, for a moment, forgot where she was. The air around her was warm, and the sofa was much more comfortable than the back seat of the SUV. Emily stretched and pulled herself up into a sitting position. She looked around the room and saw that Marley was still sleeping in front of the door. Emily looked over at the table and saw the book that she had found on the dead man, but the rumble in her stomach would not allow her to read right now. Emily looked outside to see that the sun was shining brightly. She must have been asleep for quite some time. Emily stood from the couch, and as she did, Marley stretched and stood to join her. Emily reached for the duffle bag that she had dropped on the floor, pulled out Marley's food, and poured it onto the floor. Dishes were not a luxury she was able to manage quite yet. Emily pulled out a few granola bars for herself and sat while she and Marley crunched away on their breakfast.
As Emily finished, she grabbed a bottle of water and took a few sips. She did not even have to look down to know that Marley was staring at her. He was waiting for his drink. She scanned the room and saw nothing that would work as a water bowl for him. She stood and walked towards the door, carrying the open bottle of water with her. As she opened the door, Marley ran out onto the platform and relieved himself on the wall. When he returned, Emily made sure to have his attention and slowly poured the water from the bottle onto the ground. Marley lapped at the stream, and when the bottle was empty, he licked at the ground a few times. She could only hope that it was enough to tide him over for a little while. They headed back inside, and she sat down at the table with the book she had found the day before.
Marley took his position back up by the door and watched as Emily picked up the book and looked at the heavy cover. On the cover, the word "Sanctuary" was written in a fancy-looking script. She opened the cover and began reading:
Humanity has always been fascinated with the next big thing and immortality. However, this fascination could lead to their very destruction. I was part of a research team studying several different types of genetic projects. I can say that I had no idea how the information we uncovered would be used. When they showed their true intentions, I took as much of my research as I could and ran. I was a man of means, and science was my passion. Now I must use every resource available to me to help ensure that humanity will survive. When they release what we created, it will not do as they hope, and the few people who survive will need a place to be protected. That is what I will build here. The closest town is small, and it is grateful for the income my project will provide. I feel confident that I can keep it off the radar of those who would try to stop me. Perhaps the name Ronald Devow will be known for something other than his part in the attempted extinction of all humanity.
Emily finished the words on the first page and could not hide the shock she felt. The corpse that she had drug out of here the night before had played a part in the flash. Emily tightened her grip on the book, resisting the urge to go outside and kick the corpse just for good measure. She forced herself to turn the page and continue reading the journal. The entries seemed to have been made every day for the past two years, before the flash. Ronald documented everything he had done here, including buildings that he wanted to be built, the number of houses, and his plan to run a society inside these walls. He referenced several times that the wall took a year alone to build. According to the journal, Emily was impressed at its height and thickness when she first saw it, but it was in the ground just as deep. As she continued through the end of the journal, she could feel the remorse Ronald felt for his part in what happened. He discussed trying to find a vaccine several times against what he had helped to create but had been unsuccessful so far.
Emily sat for hours, turning the pages and learning more about the man who wrote them. She had only a few pages left when she read;
"It happened early. I should have had one more year, but the damn fools did it early. The light filled the sky, and I watched as several members of my crew felt the effects immediately. I have closed the gates, but there are very few still inside, and some of them may show the effects in the next few days. This was not the plan; I don't know what more I can do."
Emily turned the page and continued to read on:
It is over. I can not make it work. Everyone has died, and I hide on top of the wall like a coward from their walking corpses. I can't live by myself; I can't send those below to their final rest. I just can't. I am opening the gates. Perhaps someone who can make something of this place will find it. Once the gates are open, I will join the permanently dead. If someone finds this, know that if you wish to continue to fight, here is yours. The gate can be closed with the default code. The instructions on the gate and walls can be found under the couch. May God Have Mercy On Our Souls.
Ronald Devow
Emily closed the journal and ran her hands over the lettering on the cover, "Sanctuary." This seemed to be precisely what she was looking for though, perhaps, Mr. Devow had grander plans for this place than just a single mother and her child living here with the family dog. He had wanted a community to live here. He wanted life to be as close to how it was before the flash. However, Mr. Devow could not have known about the evil that would be awoken in the people that continued to live. She would stick to her vow never to let anyone near her child, and this would be their home. Emily made her way to the couch and reached under it. She pulled out several books and stacked them on the table. She looked through each quickly, attempting to figure out how to close the gates. This had to be done first. Those men could still be looking for her. If they found this place with the gates open, that would be the end of this.
"Got it!!" She yelled as she looked through a book with a diagram of the metal control panel. The instructions said to enter the default code and press a button that looked like two rectangles next to each other. In the margin, Emily saw "1,2,3,4,5,6" scribbled in Ronald's handwriting. Emily ran to the panel in just a few moments located the button. Emily punched in the code and then pressed what she assumed to signify the closed gate button and jumped as the metal grinding sound echoed out around her. Emily ran back outside of the building and to the edge of the outer wall. She watched as the door closed, and the sound of it closing echoed around her. "Thank you, Ronald," she whispered to herself. She then went to look over the other side of the wall that looked into the town below. She watched as a few dead walked into the street and headed towards the door. There were two men dressed in jeans, white shirts, and work boots. Emily felt that they must have been part of the crew that helped to build this place. The woman was wearing a pink business outfit and heels. One of the heels was broken, and it made her zombie walk even more awkward.
Emily moved back inside to gather up her knife and crowbar. She would need to put them to rest and search the town for others who may be roaming. Ronald had said that very few were inside, but she had a feeling that these three were not the only ones left. Once armed, she made her way back outside and down the metal steps. The zombies had stopped their movement and were standing almost still in the street. The woman was at a reasonable distance from the men, but the men were reasonably close together. Emily would have to be smart about this, or they could quickly overtake her. They may both be dead, but they were quite larger than she was, and from experience, she knew they were strong. She slowly made her way up the main street close to the buildings and being as quiet as possible.
Soon she was close enough to act. She snuck up behind the first one and buried the knife in his disheveled sandy blonde hair. As the body fell limp on the ground, she took her crowbar in both hands and swung on the second. The first blow made him stagger, but he was still up and was now angry. Emily acted quick and swung again. The large man fell to the ground but was already trying to get back up. Emily could see the woman further up the street now beginning to make her way towards her. Emily swung hard and fast at the head on the ground, breathing a sigh of relief at the crunch that signaled that the skull had br
oken and the body no longer moved.
The woman was still a reasonable distance away as Emily turned and pulled her knife from the first man's skull and placed it back on her belt. She then walked with confidence towards the woman, she struck her hard with the crowbar, and once the woman was on the ground, she buried her knife in the woman's long brown hair.
Emily did not take time to celebrate her victory. She quickly removed the knife and began to scan the area around her. Marley stood quietly by her side, appearing to be doing the same thing. No movement came after several minutes, but Emily did not relax. She needed to get an idea of what she was dealing with here. She and Marley headed back to the metal steps and back up to the top of the wall.
The morning was bright and clear, and this would give her the best idea of what she was dealing with here. Once at the top, she stood close to the inner edge and began to walk the wall. She looked as she moved, noting buildings and landmarks and look for more signs of the dead. At her slow pace, it took her hours before she reached the front again. This place was much larger than she had expected, and it looked like it was designed to grow. Outside of the wall on the west side were shipping containers and stacks of materials. The materials seemed to be the same that made the wall. The only houses that appeared to be complete were those on the few streets around the main street. The further away she went, the more there were half-built houses, frames, or just empty spaces. The east side provided something Emily found most interesting. There was a farmhouse and several plowed fields with crops growing. Emily had stood and stared at this for a long time and could have sworn she heard cows in the barn. She did not know if barnyard animals could be affected by the disease, but she would want to check that out as soon as possible.
Her walk had not allowed her to see any more dead but she could only see close the wall. There may be some towards the center that would have escaped her view, but she could certainly say that there were no big groups. She stood looking down at what she was calling the main street to look at the different buildings. Everything on this street served a purpose. There were several store-type buildings, and Emily could see that they were fully set up and stocked. There was a building that looked like a government building from the outside. A two-story building that simply said "School" in stone above the door. At the end of the street was a large house. It looked to be modeled after a colonial-style type of home. It was the only house directly on the main street. Emily thought that it was probably meant for Ronald, the planned leader of this place. If he had stayed there, it might hold more of his notes and information about what was going on.
"Well, boy, I think I picked out our new house. What do you think?" Emily looked down to see the dog wagging its tail. "Glad you like it! We should probably head down there. I don't know about you, but I am getting hungry." With that, Marley let out a little bark and started down the stairs. Emily walked back inside the small control building for just a moment to grab her duffle bag and place the books inside. They walked up the main street slowly, keeping an eye out for any signs of movement. As Emily looked in the storefronts and restaurant windows, she could see that everything was stocked on the shelves. The town looked like everyone had just disappeared.
Everything was clean and tidy, and there were no signs of any fights or people being eaten. She was sure that if she went inside, everything probably had a nice layer of dust, but from the outside, it looked perfect. As they approached the house, Emily heard a dragging noise coming from the side yard. She snapped her fingers, signaling for Marley to stop, and they waited. After a few minutes, a medium build man wearing jeans and a plaid shirt walked into the front yard. Emily would have thought that he was still alive if not for his slow walk and milky white eyes. His clothes were clean, and he looked to have just been working on the yard when she walked up. Emily knew that no matter how nice he looked, he still wanted to eat them. She motioned for Marley, who ran towards the man, staying just out of his reach, and got him to turn around. Emily then used her knife to put him in his final rest. She pulled the knife back out and turned back towards the front door.
She knew that she would have to clean the house before they would be safe. The big wooden door made Emily feel small as she stood in front of it. She grabbed the handle and clicked it, and pushed it open slowly. Once inside, she closed the door with a loud thud and turned to face the large entryway. This was possibly the most beautiful house she had ever seen. She did not have time to admire all the details, though, until she was sure she was alone. "Hello! Anyone living or dead in here!" Emily smiled to herself. She felt confident that she had covered everything. After several minutes, she heard and saw nothing. It made sense. If this was Ronald's house, he would have been locked up in it until he went to the wall. To be sure, she called out one more time, "Hello! If you're living, I don't want to hurt you, and if your dead, well, I do." She waited again for several minutes and then began making her way into the house. There was a cherry wood floor spread through the entryway and into the living room. Emily could not help but feel that she was in a place that was way above her means. She started to think of how much the property taxes alone would be and then laughed at herself. If the tax collector could make it through the zombies, find her, and fly over the wall, she would just let them have the house.
Emily looked around at the living room. A cream-colored sofa and armchairs were positioned around a large television. Even Ronald could not imagine life without television, not that there would be many new shows now that the world had ended. Emily noticed that the walls next to the tv had small brass handles on them. She gripped the handle on the right side and slid the door open. Movies and television series lined the shelves. Emily moved to the other door and found the same there as well. There must have been thousands. Ronald had planned on how to fill his television addiction. Emily closed the doors and turned back to the room. How had he planned to watch them after the flash? He must have known that the power would shut off. Emily walked over to a lamp that sat on a small table and turned the power knob. She nearly jumped out of her skin as the bulb came to life, and the glow of the light filled the room.
Electricity, Emily thought it was something she would have to tell her child about like an old fairy tale, but it was real. How she did not know, but that was just something she would have to discover about this place as she went. Emily headed to the left side of the room and opened a set of French doors. Through the glass, she had seen what looked like shelves lining the walls. Once the doors were open and the light turned on, Emily felt a gasp escape her lips. The walls were lined with shelves, floor to ceiling filled with books. In the center of the room was a tidy desk and to the right of it a rack of rolled-up papers that looked to be maps of some kind. Emily turned off the light and closed the doors. There was a lot more house to search before she began researching things. The next door opened up into a large bathroom. As soon as she looked at the toilet, Emily felt a now all too familiar pressure.
"Well, better now than later. You coming in, or do you think I can handle this on my own." Emily turned to see Marley lying on the floor behind her. "Alone it is then," she laughed as she walked in and closed the door behind her. Why she closed it, she did not know. It's not like anyone else was here or would see her. It just seemed like the thing to do. Emily resolved that this was something she would have to work on, her need to close doors when it wasn't necessary. Closing the door is what had gotten her bitten on day one, and she was closing the door when those perverts found her again. She unbuttoned her overly tight jeans and fought to get them to go low enough so she could pee. Soon that struggle was over, and Emily was able to use the toilet. Once she finished, the joy she felt at seeing a fresh roll of toilet paper waiting to use was more than could be described. After struggling for a few minutes to get back into her pants, she turned back to the toilet. "The power works, but I wonder does the.." Emily pressed down the lever and watched as the water swirled and empty and the toilet began to refill. She turned back
and walked to the sink, and turned on the hot water. After just a few moments, she watched as the water began to steam as it exited the faucet.
Marley would surely bark if there were any trouble outside, and she needed this. Emily turned on the cold water just a little, and once the temperature was just right, she washed her hands and her arms. Once she rinsed off the soap, she splashed the warm water on her face several times. She had tried to remain clean these past several months, but it was not easy to do. She washed her face with some of the hand soap as well, and when she finished, she used the hand towel to dry herself. Emily avoided looking at herself in the mirror just yet. She wasn't ready to see what this world had done to her, and she had work to do still. She opened the door, and Marley stood and stretched. Emily made her way to the next door and found a large dining room. The table was cherry wood, just like the floor, and was large enough to seat twenty people. Emily stood looking and imagined a fancy dinner party happening during colonial times. Maybe she and the baby would make that a game, have a fancy dinner party once a month. They could invite eighteen high-class teddy bears to join them. Emily turned and saw a door on the right side of the room and walked to open it. Much as she expected, the kitchen was on the other side. Emily made her way through the large room, finding that the cabinets were fully stocked, the refrigerator was bare of food, but the freezer was fully stocked with snack foods. She felt her stomach protest as she closed the door and promised she would come back later.
