Before the Darkness (Refuge Inc.) (23 page)

lungs. Far in the distance, about twenty yards

away, a chain linked fence with coils of barbed

wire on top surrounded what looked like the

of icial entrance into the side of the nearest

mountain; a wide metal archway which lead

deeper inside the immense rock. The dark

archway lit up with several rolls of lights on

inside walls.

Near the big white medical tent a man in

a similar white uniform raised a bottle of water

in his hand and waved them over. Adam took

Elliot's hand in his and interlocked their ingers,

ignoring the pain in his other arm and the

uneasy feeling in his gut. "Ready?"

Elliot nodded excitedly and they moved

toward the tent.

A speaker sounded in the distance near

the metal archway. The words it repeated

echoed off the surrounding mountains in a

casual male voice. "Your contribution is essential

to a promising future. We cherish your support.

Your involvement is a vital asset for a better

tomorrow. We cherish your support." And on

and on it went, repeating the same sentences.

They quickly walked hand in hand

toward the waving man in the white uniform.

Upon approach, the man handed Elliot the bottle

of water and pointed to Titan as the dog panted,

its tongue dangling out the side of its mouth.

"The dog won't be allowed to go inside

the compound." The words were barely

recognizable, muf led by the white facial mask

covering the man's nose and mouth. "They have

a special place for pets to go." He placed his

hand on Adam's shoulder and quickly led them

inside the medical tent, Titan on their heels.

"Names?"

"I'm Elliot and this is Adam." Elliot helped

Adam along as they closely followed the man to

a small black laptop computer that sat on a small

metal desk in the corner of the tent. "He tried to

look past the mask at the man beneath it but all

he could make out were dark eyes; dirty, pale

skin; short, well groomed hair, and the blue

latex gloves on the man's hands.

The man leaned over the computer and

quickly pecked the keyboard with both index

ingers. "Elliot what?" His voice rushed and

muffled.

At irst Elliot had no idea what the man

was asking, but then his mind clicked into gear.

"Uh, Stewart. Elliot Stewart."

The man continued a steady peck at the

keys. Once inished his eyes shot to their

interlocked hands and his eyebrows dipped

when he looked back up at them. "And your

friend?" He jerked his head toward Adam, hands

hovering millimeters above the keyboard.

"Adam Weber." Elliot answered. He

glanced around inside the tent. It was spacious,

clean and empty. No people being treated as he

expected. "Are you medical? Do you work for

the government or something? He really needs

some help and quick. A car—"

"All your questions will be answered

inside the compound." The man stopped typing,

again his fingers rested in midair. "Occupation?"

Adam cleared his throat. "Do you really

need this information right now? Can you get us

some help first?"

"Yes, I need this information before we

can treat you." He rolled his eyes and shook his

head as the look of impatience took over his

body language. "Occupation?"

"I work … I
used
to work as a customer

service rep." Elliot's words rushed together as

he rapidly spoke. "At Food Plus, I didn't—"

"Occupation?" the man interrupted,

looking to Adam.

Elliot didn't mind that the man cut him

off. Maybe he had other people he needed to

help too. It was the way the man looked at him

that made him uneasy.

Adam cleared his throat again, his eyes

low and bloodshot. "I worked as a … as a …" he

cut his eye to Elliot. "A police of icer for

Phoenix."

The man continued to slowly click at the

keys. Elliot took the moment to give Adam a

questioning glance, but Adam looked like he was

in too much pain to care what Elliot thought

about him lying anyway.

"Don't have any way to pay for this,"

Adam added. "That recording is talking about a

contribution—"

"Sure you have a way to pay for this," the

man said. He turned his head slightly toward

them, eyes locked on to Adam's. "Everyone

does."

Adam and Elliot exchanged an awkward

look. Elliot spoke first. "What do you mean?"

The man stopped typing and stood erect.

He sighed. "Why do you think I need all this

information before we can treat you? You

provide what you can offer and we give

accordingly. Simple as that. Now hand me the

bag."

Elliot brought his hand to the strap

around his shoulder. "Wait, this is our stuff. We

need this."

"We have more stuff inside," the man

said. "Plenty of stuff. If you don't want to

cooperate stop wasting my time and go back to

where you came from. If you want our help," he

held out his hand, "give me the bag."

Elliot looked to Adam as he slipped the

backpack from his shoulder. "What is this place

exactly?"

"Your salvation." The man snatched the

bag from Elliot's grip then reached across the

small desk to unlock a little black box. Once

unlocked and opened he pulled out a plastic

cartridge. "Your hand?"

Elliot held out his hand. "What is this?"

"You sure do ask a lot of questions." The

man turned his hand over and stamped the

word
Pod 4
onto the back of his hand with what

looked like black ink from the cartridge. He did

the same to Adam, except Adam's hand read
Pod

6
. "Go through that archway there and they will

treat you inside. Just show them the stamp on

your hand. I'll have someone take the dog to the

vet inside." He snapped his ingers and another

person in a white mechanical suit, face mask and

blue latex gloves appeared behind them with a

collar and leash. "In the meantime, it'll be in the

canine nursery with other dogs."

Adam and Elliot's irst and last names

were written on a dog collar in black marker

that was placed around Titan's neck. As soon as

the leash was attached, the mysterious person

led the dog out the backside of the tent.

The man glanced behind them, picked up

a bottle of water from a box of bottles on the

loor and raised it in the air, waving with his

other hand simultaneously. Pivoting, Elliot saw a

group of three people covered in dust

approaching the tent.

"I got work to do." The man mumbled,

shooing them away with his hand. "Go inside

and they'll help you."

Elliot and Adam followed a newly paved

road toward the metal archway. Upon approach,

the tall and abundant lood lights which gave

light to the surrounding area heated the paved

road beneath their feet. The smell of hot tar

mingled with the overpowering rotten smell

Elliot had gotten used to. As far as Elliot knew,

the paved road led deeper inside of the huge,

dark tunnel with thick metal walls. What lay

beyond the tunnel he didn't know. Although the

uncertainty of what lay ahead rattled his nerves,

it fueled him as well. It seemed to fuel Adam too

as his pace quickened with his determination.

"We did it." Adam gripped his injured

arm to his body with his stamped hand. "I admit,

the past few days . . . crazy. If we never found

each other things would've been different. I'd

probably be dead if it wasn't for you."

Elliot placed a comforting hand on the

small of Adam's back. "I couldn't do any of this

alone." Nearly inside the tunnel, large round

lights alongside the walls of the passageway

lighted their way in the darkness. "Feels like

we're crossing into a new beginning for us,

huh?"

"Something like that." Adam held out his

hand and Elliot took it. "Yeah, a new beginning."

THE END

Amid the Darkness Excerpt

Refuge Inc., Book Two

Excerpt

When the heavy, rusted metal door to the

compound closed, Adam knew it would be

closed for good, trapping him and a couple

hundred people underground and away from

the devastation on the other side.

The word
trapped
came to mind only

because

it

perfectly

described

the

claustrophobic feeling that overwhelmed him.

He'd thought he'd gotten used to being in such

close quarters with so many injured and

frightened people. He was wrong. For nearly a

month, it never really felt like the salvation he

heard on so many people's tongues.

He made his way through a crowd of

people who stood crying, praying and staring at

the thick latched door as if they just attended a

funeral, mourning the loss of their previous

lives. For many, that was exactly what it was. For

others—the women and men in ine clothing

and who harbored every necessity they could

ever need and more—Adam was sure it was the

beginning of a new life. The glass half full

concept.

The skin on Adam's arm itched under its

cast, but he distracted himself by touching the

cold metal door with his good hand, a silent

goodbye to the hellish world beyond the

barrier, a world so familiar yet altered.

A warm hand on his shoulder stole his

attention. He pivoted to stare into worried

brown eyes with eyelashes that

luttered

uncontrollability like a small winged insect. He

smirked.

"What are you doing?" Elliot glanced over

his shoulder repeatedly, paranoid. "These

people are gonna go nuts any minute and try to

knock that door down all at once. You're asking

to be trampled. Come on."

He allowed Elliot to grab his hand and

pull him to the back of the crowd and down the

hall which led to Pod 4. The long metal corridor

echoed with the sound of their footsteps as they

made their way to the large shell shaped area at

the end.

"The speakers said we'll have to get used

to our own pods and—"

"I know what the speakers said." Out of

the six rooms in the pod, Elliot pulled Adam to

the irst room on the left and pushed the metal

door open. It creaked and whined on its hinges,

and echoed back through the corridor. "I'd like

to know who's behind all of these stupid

messages before I start obeying them."

"They're just trying to help ease the panic

by answer questions and keeping order." Adam

walked into the small chamber and instinctively

looked up at the lone rectangular sound speaker

that hung from the corner of the cramped room.

There were two twin beds in the room, each

with a mattress and a box spring on squeaking

metal frames with wheels. Just like his room.

Adam sat on a bed, looking around at the boxes

piled in a corner. "Are you ever going to go

through your stuff, get organized?"

"Get organized?" Elliot glared. "Look at

us. We're wearing hospital scrubs in an

underground bunker that's just been sealed off

from us ever leaving, and, and you're thinking

about being organized?"

"They're not scrubs."

"We look like mental patients." Elliot

stood and paced the narrow space between the

two beds. "I don't like this. Not at all."

"Who likes it?" Adam scoffed. "We're not

supposed to like it. We're surviving and it's not

easy to do."

"It'll be easier if they let us wear our own

clothes at least." Elliot continued to pace.

He was right. Adam didn't understand

why they took their personal items and gave

them boxes of necessities from their own

supplies. Toilet tissue, toothpastes, even on the

left breast pocket of the scrubs they wore was

all labeled with a blood red R and a shiny silver

halo around it.

Static broke over the small speaker in the

corner of the room, and then a monotone male