Out of the Dark: An apocalyptic thriller (47 page)

     “Time to go,” Stephanie exclaimed as she rushed by him. She held out a hand and Shane grabbed it.

     As he followed her into a run, he gasped, “Thanks.”

     “Don’t mention it.”

     When they burst out of the building, the siren wailed as though it mourned their leaving. Darcy had already replaced Leila in the car seat in Shane’s vehicle and started them all. She pressed the van’s accelerator toward the floor as Stephanie practically vaulted into her front seat. Shane was mere steps behind her.

     All three vehicles peeled out of the fire station lot before they saw anything–normal or corrupted–being summoned by the call of the siren.

     “Good job, guys!” Darcy said into the walkie talkie. Neither of them responded. Darcy let the walkie talkie fall to the center console and repeated quietly to herself, “Good job.”

     The marina was approximately a twelve minute drive from the fire station. Shane had seen it enough times on his GPS to have the route memorized. Even though he’d never been there in winter, he knew the road signs that would lead him to where they needed to go.

     The marina came into view and Shane saw where the firetrucks had been taken.

     The tall fence that surrounded the marina had been reinforced with vehicles parked all around it. The firetrucks were only the largest. Shane corrected the thought when he noticed that two semi-trucks pulling large trailers had been pulled in first and now barricaded the main building of the marina. The docks were protected. Unless the vehicles were moved, nothing was getting into the heavily defended area.

     “There are people!” Shane shouted into his walkie talkie.

     Well-armed people patrolled atop the vehicles and along the fences. Most of them carried flashlights but actual torches had been put up all around the area. It was like a military-occupied fallback in a warzone.

     Someone approached their vehicles when Shane, Darcy, and Stephanie pulled up. He made gestures ordering them to roll their windows down and Shane heard him speaking before he’d even fully complied with the command.

     “…people you have with you?”

     “There’s five of us, including two infants,” Shane answered. “We thought to get to one of the islands, try to wait out what’s going on.”

     “Did you turn on the siren?” one of the other men asked as he approached the convoy.

     Shane nodded. “We thought it would draw some of the corrupted away so we could get onto a boat or something without drawing too much attention to ourselves.”

     “Mother fuckers haven’t bothered us today. We gave them hell yesterday and the day before,” the first man said as he raised his gun up a bit and wiggled it. “We have a ferry working. We’ll move some of the trucks and you can drive through. We got as many of the immune to the island as we’ve been able to. Those of us who are only partly affected are guarding the marina entrance.”

     “Jesus,” Shane breathed out. “What a system.”

     The first man waved at some of the others and Shane heard one of the vehicles inside start up. The sound was quickly followed by the revving of three more engines.

     “We can talk more once we get you inside.” The apparent leader of the group addressed the others in the marina, shouting, “Okay, let’s do it quick and slick.”

     The vehicles parted way for Shane and the others and were replaced against the fences just as quickly. Using hand gestures to lead them, the first man who’d approached them directed them right to the ferry.
     “I’ll go with you on the boat and then come back here after,” the leader said as Shane parked the truck and stepped out. He went around to release Leila from her car seat and held her tight to his chest. He finally felt as though they had a chance to be safe.

     “So, what’s been happening with you guys since the world ended?”

Chapter Forty

Armani’s Journal    

     The coming of the dawn brought the end of the siege upon our world. Any who were full corrupted–whether they were protected from the sunlight or not–burned with the return of light. Any who were held in the grasp of only half of the affliction had the demons exorcised from them. As soon as it had begun, it seemed, the wave of terror intending to drown our world subsided.

     Those of us who had found a safe haven began to consider those places as the nexuses of rebuilding. Whatever the corruption was, it had destroyed what we had built almost completely. Much of our communication technology was now as reliable as paper cups and strings. Satellites that had been orbiting our world for decades crashed to the ground. Try as we might, it was almost impossible to restore communication in any way that would connect us as we were once connected.

     After the first few months of what came to be known as the Corruption Event, most of us stopped trying. As a nearly unspoken agreement around what remained of humanity, we decided to turn away from the path we once pursued with such fervor. Perhaps in the years and decades to come, that goal will once again become viable. As it stands now, we are almost relieved to be cut off from most of our fellow man.

     The dark is still the enemy. We have only theories and whispered stories but some of us have seen the remnants of what destroyed what we were. Though gone from our own minds and souls, the darkness still exists here, where it doesn’t belong. We have to protect what we have, lest we end up with only memories of what we’ve lost.

     Eric and I established a safe zone in Lower Michigan. Our community grows day after day, gathering men and women of all types and talents. When the spring comes, we will have our work cut out for us. As with many of the others, I am simply glad we are here to continue the work.

     No one found this journal on my dead body, after all. I now have hope that it will be regarded as a piece of history from what we encountered, and what we overcame. I’ll be a part of that history and, through my words, so even will Jess and the others we’ve lost. Molly. Gwen. Brooke and Ivy. David, Kimberly, and their son, Alec. Kirby. We especially need to remember Kirby.

     If not for them, if not for him, neither of us would be here. It sounds arrogant of me, perhaps, but I find myself thinking, maybe none of us would. Something wanted the uncorrupted; wanted them gifted to the darkness by human hands. Instead of turning us over, instead of losing himself to the darkness, Kirby gave his life to save us. We have to remember that, and the others who were saved and sacrificed.

     We have so far to go. We have so much to do. We’ve won our world back for now but what will we have to do to keep it? I’m afraid none of us have the answers anymore. I’m almost certain none of us ever did.

Amy’s Journal

     Nick and Don were only the first of the soldiers who decided to reclaim the abandoned base as a trustworthy fallback point for uncorrupted humans. Any of us able to get here found safety and others like us. We’ve protected each other and will continue to do so as the world returns to something of what it was before everything happened.

     Sam and Trevor made their way to us days after they sent us to the base. They said they found Austin, or rather, his body. Someone shot him in the head. Laura wasn’t there and she hasn’t come back to us yet. I wonder if someone killed him and took her.

     Other parts of me wonder worse things.

     Trevor doesn’t remember anything of what happened from the day of the Onset until the Event ended. I’m glad he doesn’t have to live with that, with what that thing did while it was inside of him. I hope he never knows.

     Both of the kids have nightmares, though. I do, too.

     I don’t know what we’re going to do. Sam says that in a few months, when the snows are gone and some stability has returned, we’ll go to Washington. I need to know what happened to my parents, no matter what. I at least have to try.

     People have been more confused than anything since the darkness left us. They still feel threatened. Some who go into dark places like the forest or simply stay out in the night are killed or disappear. I haven’t told anyone what I think but I think I know what’s happening.

     I have a dog now and his name is Rocco. When I found him, it made me think. The corrupted killed dogs–many of us saw it happen. They didn’t care about other animals but they killed the dogs.

     I think an endgame was planned all along. The beasts didn’t die or vanish when the dawn came on the last day. They’re still out there but not in humans. They’re in the birds and the bugs and the fish. We’re still fighting, even if everyone wants to forget what happened. They can’t forget. There’s too much left to fight for.

Shane’s Journal

     The island is safe. The world…we aren’t so sure yet.

Look forward to a second adventure in the world of Out of the Dark. Ashlei hopes to take you Into the Dark within the next few years.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ashlei Hawley is a writer of paranormal, erotic, and horror novels. She is the author of All Purpose Exorcisms (book one of the Cameron Connelly series), Seared, Pierced, Scorched, A Whisper In the Dark, and the New Night Novels.

Ashlei lives in close proximity to her amazing family with her son and his father. She awaits the zombie takeover or other apocalyptic event with some excitement; though she feels woefully unprepared for such an occurrence.

Please find Ashlei’s work at amazon.com/author/ashleihawley

She also occasionally posts synopses, ramblings, and short stories to ashleidaylen.wordpress.com

Her author Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/authorashlei