Sanctuary (21 page)

“Mr.—I mean Hugh, are you a doctor? I mean, I know you were the bio teacher at Warwick, but how do you know so much about this sort of stuff?”

Hugh smiled and balled up the cellophane wrapper of his finished sandwich. “I have a Masters in Animal Behavior and have been working on a PhD.”

“So you’re almost a doctor, then.”

“Sure.” Hugh flushed a little at her smile.

“Now all you have to do is wait for Phillip to wake up, prove your theory, and then what?”

“I guess the military will have one more reason to figure out how to stop the aliens from their continued attacks.”

“Do you have any theories about that one?”

“Not a one. I haven’t seen any footage of the Shisa actually exiting the ships, so I wouldn’t know the first thing about sending them back there. And from what I understand, the Shisa are similar to the infected. No matter how you injure them, just short of an explosion, they survive and continue to attack.”

“Wow that’s—” A scream from outside stopped her mid-sentence. Her eyes grew wide, and her mouth grew into a frown. The table began to vibrate with the hum of the Shisa.

Mickey dropped his spoon and climbed up into Jennie’s arms, whimpering. He looked desperate and started crying. He buried his head into his sister’s shoulder, which muted his cries. Jennie stood from the bench and backed from the open door of the mess hall.

Hugh jumped to his feet, grabbed her lunch tray, and rushed around the table, pulling her behind him. She rested a hand on his shoulder and nodded her thanks. He held the tray in both hands like a shield in front of him. The door of the mess hall was open and letting in the grey half-light of the afternoon sun. The large body of a Shisa darted past the door followed by the shadowy shapes of two others. Panic made Hugh’s heart rate rise. It pounded in his ears and drowned out the constant vibration. A fourth Shisa strolled into view, snuffling its pug nose in the air until it finally turned its head for the mess hall door. It turned and focused on the three of them. They stood with only a few tables between them and the Shisa. Behind it, the hooked, whip-like tail lashed back and forth like an irritated cat’s.

He could hardly take his eyes off the Shisa when it approached them. This close, the growl seemed to vibrate every one of the atoms in his body. His very teeth chattered, and his eardrums screamed for silence. Behind him, Mickey had begun wailing like one of the infected. His cries broke Hugh’s heart. Jennie gripped his shoulder, her nails biting into his skin. He was the only thing standing between them and death, or worse.

Adrenaline heightened his senses and filled every blood vessel in his body, and heat rose in his skin. His vision narrowed so that the alien was all he saw. It took another step forward, and Hugh followed his instincts. He gripped the tray in one hand and rushed toward it.

Jennie screamed when Hugh pulle
d
from her grip and barreled toward the Shisa. It jumped on the table they’d been at a moment before, and she was surprised at this alien’s size. When they had attacked her mother the first day, they were about the size of a large dog. This one stood about the size of the lions she saw at the zoo. One of its eyes was half closed with a scar that ran vertically from its brow to its lip.

Hugh lifted the tray he’d had in his hand and swung it down, hitting the Shisa in its pinched, flat face with the plastic tray. It fell backwards from the table, obviously stunned. She couldn’t pull her eyes from it, and Hugh grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her along the back wall of the mess hall toward the kitchen door. The Shisa pulled itself to its feet. The vibration of its growl grew more menacing and high pitched, like nails on a chalkboard. The sound made her head tilt in pain, and her ears rang.

She could hardly hear Mickey’s cries. He clawed at her, and her shoulder was wet with his tears. Tears trailed down her face as well. She’d only begun to feel safe in the small community on base, and that façade was shattered the moment the vibration began. Looking at the alien in the mess hall now, she wondered if any place would ever be safe again.

Hugh opened the silver push door of the kitchen and pulled her in with him. The vibration continued in her chest, but the high-pitched whine had softened a bit with the wall between them. He rushed over to the stainless steel, vertical cooler and pushed it toward the door. Jennie joined him and helped as much as she could with one arm. The wheels on the bottom of the cooler steered it a bit in the wrong direction, but Hugh straightened it just as the door slammed against it. The whine increased once more and was answered by a distant one.

More were coming.

Jennie backed up to the far wall and found the door to the outside. Hugh opened it and peeked out but paled and returned quickly, putting the locks on the door. “There’s more out there than in here.”

Jennie could barely hear him and wondered if she’d only read his lips. The cooler squealed as a Shisa pushed it away from the door enough to put one paw in and scratch the wall. It knocked the utensils from the countertop nearby. Hugh ran over and shoved the cooler back at the door. Its forearm was trapped. Another high pitched whine began, reminiscent of a scream. Mickey covered his ears.

Another ram against the door almost knocked Hugh from his feet. His eyes darted around the room until he saw a butcher’s knife lying on the floor where the Shisa had knocked it down. He bent over to pick it up when another blow struck the door and cooler, knocking him from his feet and causing him to fall headlong into the island in the middle of the kitchen. Hugh lay on the floor, unconscious.

The Shisa slammed against the kitchen door once more, and the cooler gave way enough for the lion-sized monster to pull its body through the opening. Its heavy breathing fogged up the mirror finish of the cooler it passed. Short, tawny fur covered its back and legs. Blood dripped down its face. The left forearm that had been pinned in the doorframe hung limp from its knee. It dragged the limb and came forward deliberately. It snuffled the unconscious Hugh on the ground and whipped his limp body with the hook on the end of its tail.

The hook bit into Hugh’s back and blood grew into a crimson flower on the white coat he’d worn. Jennie screamed. The Shisa whipped its head her direction and it snarled. Its long sharp teeth were a greenish, pale jade in color. She backed herself into the corner and had nowhere farther to go. Behind it, two smaller Shisa entered the kitchen.

The first approached, and the end of her desperate rope proved too short to hold on to. She prayed silently and felt at peace for a moment, though her eyes never left the scrunched face of death approaching her. It snuffled about her, and its hot breath blew into her face. Blood and decay abided on the searing breeze. The whining subsided, but the continued growl vibrated in her chest.

It backed up a step and turned away. She suddenly didn’t matter to it. The two smaller aliens sniffed the air, and one of them bit Hugh on the upper thigh, puncturing through his jeans. The hole quickly turned black. They mulled around the room like Jennie and her brother weren’t there.

She held her breath. Mickey continued to sob into her shoulder, but he never lifted his head. Jennie was thankful for that. The room felt cold, and after a moment, the Shisa became less important to her. All she wanted was to save Hugh from them.

She stepped forward cautiously, afraid that the movement would attract their attention. After she took two slow steps toward Hugh, the aliens started for the door. Counting comforted her, so she said it to herself,
count to three, then step again. One. Two. Three
. And she took another step. The two smaller Shisa left without ever taking a look at her. But the last one stopped, and its eyes met hers for another three-count before it turned its head away and squeezed through the open door.

Dashing forward, Jennie fell to her knees at Hugh’s body. Blood was pooling on his back and from his thigh to the white tiles. Sobs racked her body, and she felt helpless. Where could she go for help? What if she left, and they attacked her or Mickey?

Fear enveloped her like a nasty, sulfurous fog. It threatened to choke her. Closing her eyes, she made a desperate plea for help, her heart groaning within her. Strength waited at the pit of her stomach, and she found it. Lugging herself up with Mickey still clinging to her, she swiped the tears from her cheeks and determined that she needed to try. They climbed over the cooler and pushed their way through the kitchen door.

Tables were turned over and benches broken in the mess hall. The door to the outside still stood open, letting in the sea breeze that mocked her with its promised safety. She marched toward it. When the first shadow of a Shisa passed the door, her step faltered. Her heart raced, and she swallowed hard. She thought of how Hugh needed help, and Mickey needed to get to safety, and started forward again.

Brad

“
How on earth is tha
t
girl doing that?” Sarah asked.

Brad gripped her shoulders and watched Jennie crossing the street with her little brother clinging like a tick to her chest. She stopped in the middle of the street once as six of the aliens passed her, separating to circumvent on both sides. After a moment, she continued forward toward the chapel. The rumbling of the bedroom window was excruciating, and in the distance, the constant popping of gunfire showed that the military base was doing something in retaliation.

Still, his eyes couldn’t be torn from the plain girl in jeans. She sidestepped from the body of a victim lying in the street. The Shisa ignored her while they rushed about attacking other people without holding back.

“How is it possible?”

Brad didn’t answer, but the same question bounced around the walls of his mind like a pinball. It didn’t make any sense. Nothing he could come up with would explain what he was seeing. He watched her until she disappeared from his sight and entered the doors of the chapel unmolested. A tank rolled down the street, ramming a crowd of the Shisa, and sending them into a retreat. He wondered how long it would be until they were able to clear the base. How long would they keep it clear then?

“Who was that girl? How could she have done that?”

“I don’t know, but her name is Jennie.”

Jennie

The darkness of the chapel envelope
d
Jennie, as Mrs. Crawford opened the door enough for her to fit through with her brother. Mickey reached for the pastor’s wife the minute the doors were bolted shut. The vibrations of the alien growls were muffled just a bit by the wooden doors, and Jennie sunk to the floor in tears.

Mrs. Crawford patted Mickey on the back while bouncing her body. She repeated, “It’s okay Mickey. Everything is going to be okay.”

“How did you do that, Jennie?” Pastor Billy turned from the window and looked at her with eyes wide in shock. “How on earth did you just walk through them like that?”

Jennie swallowed hard and held up a finger while she tried to control her hyperventilating. Mickey still cried, but his wailing had subsided. He had been shaking in her arms the whole way across the street. “I just kept thinking: ‘Walk by faith, not by sight,’ and determined to trust God more than the fear of what I saw.”

“That…that is amazing, Jennie. I know God makes miracles happen all the time, but please don’t trust that to work every time. God is not at our beck and call, and we cannot play with snakes and expect not to be bitten eventually.”

Jennie furrowed her brows but nodded slightly. “I trusted Him, because He answered my prayers for help. I don’t know if I could do it again right now because the peace that came over me isn’t there anymore. But, I trust He’ll be there for me again whether I feel it or not.”

Pastor Billy pulled his glasses off and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. He nodded and replaced them.

“I had no choice, really. Hugh is in there, at the mess hall. He tried to save us, but he’s been bitten and knocked unconscious. I can’t just leave him there, and I needed to get Mickey to safety. I…we…have to go get Hugh.”

Pastor Billy paled, and his freckles became more pronounced. “You mean you want to go back out there? How will we? You want me to help?”

She nodded. “Walk by faith, not by sight.”

His eyes grew with worry. He and Mrs. Crawford passed a silent moment in one of those marriage looks again. He whispered, “I…I don’t know if I can do it.”

Jennie wanted to scream her frustration at him. How could he not practice what he preached? She prayed harder and narrowed her eyes, swallowing back a sob. “If you don’t come with me, can you at least watch Mickey? I’ll go myself.”

“Of course we’ll watch him,” Mrs. Crawford said. Mickey had started sucking his thumb. His wide blue eyes were glistening with tears, and he still shook with fear.

“I’ll go.” Pastor Billy stood straighter, his jaw set.

“No, don’t.” Tears sprang into Mrs. Crawford’s eyes, and she set a hand on his shoulder. “I have a bad feeling about this. I need you.”

Pastor Billy swallowed hard, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. He pulled his wife into a one armed hug and kissed her on the forehead. “Pray. Have faith.”

Jennie started for the door and gripped the handle with both hands, silently praying again for the strength to walk through the crowd of aggressors once more. Pastor Billy’s hand fell on her shoulder and pulled her back.

“No, Jennie. You stay here. I’ll go and bring Hugh back.”

Jennie started to protest, but Pastor Billy shook his head resolutely and charged out the door. He closed it behind him in a hurry. Mrs. Crawford dashed to the window, and Jennie followed her. The pastor started slowly down the steps. He hunched his back like he could make his six foot-four inch frame shorter, so that he wouldn’t be noticed. At the bottom step, he paused for a moment, bowed his head, and rolled up his sleeves.

The pastor held out his arms to steady himself and descended the last step. One of the Shisa spotted him immediately and loped toward him. A cry escaped Mrs. Crawford’s lips. One of Jennie’s hands pressed against the glass, and it shook in a frequency with the approaching alien’s hum. She held her breath and willed Pastor Billy to stand still and have faith.

The pastor wailed but stood his ground. Just before hitting the man in the chest, the Shisa stopped and scrunched its face at Pastor Billy. It snuffled him from feet to face; the whole time the pastor shook while remaining still. After a moment, the Shisa batted him with a paw, and though the pastor faltered and nearly fell to the ground, he continued to stand. It snuffled him again and then turned and left. As it left him, Pastor Billy turned around and started up the steps again to return.

As if it heard the pastor’s retreat, it spun back toward the man Jennie had known since childhood and pounced on him. Mrs. Crawford screamed, and Mickey wailed in her arms even though he hadn’t been watching. Jennie took her brother from Mrs. Crawford’s arms and pulled him from her. He grew limp. Had he given up all hope of comfort and safety? Mrs. Crawford collapsed to the floor in a prostrate position, beating her fists on the hardwood, screaming between sobs, “Why?”