Blindness - Metric

Just because I actually had two stored up that I never got around to posting….. Yeah, go back and check the post below this one. Surprise!

Unfortunately, that just means it will probably be a while before the actual action scene.

I know. I'm mean.

The Promised Land: (Part 32)  Blindness

Once they reached the bottom of the staircase, Eden realized they were in some sort of subway system. An old subway car sat on its side, halfway into the station, blocking one end of the tunnel. The car on the other side looked as though it had been torn apart in the middle and each side was used to block both ends of the tunnel. As a defensive position, in looked pretty sturdy. Whatever “monster” they were trying to keep out, they made sure it had a hard time getting in.

Caden went to the middle of the platform, where a large map stood, and took a pamphlet from the side. Sitting on the concrete ground, he opened the pamphlet and traced his fingers over a map of the underground tunnel system. “This is where we need to go,” he said while pointing to a blue circle close to the left edge.

“Where are we?” Eden asked. Her voice echoed louder than she expected.

Asher pointed to a red circle close to the middle. Eden followed the red line until it connected with the blue line then followed that until it reached the circle Caden pointed out. There were a lot of other lines crossing the path they needed to take.

“We’ve got a long way to go. Hopefully we don’t get lost.”

Caden nodded to Shiloh’s light, “Once that dies out, don’t use another one. We’ll be in monster territory then. They’re extremely light sensitive. We don’t need to give them a reason to hate us.” He looked over and Asher and muttered, “Try to restrain yourself.”

“Monster?” Eden echoed.

“They’re more like werewolves,” Caden replied in annoyance. “We just don’t have another word for them. We should get going.”

Eden grabbed a couple extra pamphlets in case they got separated while Caden tucked away his map. The twins hopped down onto the track with Eden and Asher right behind.

“So these monsters…” Eden whispered hesitantly, “…werewolves?”

“Not exactly,” Asher replied. “They’re more of a wolf and coyote hybrid, but much bigger. Long, sharp teeth, creepy eyes, fur and skin in patches so they look like the dead brought back to life. They stink too.”

“And how many have you killed?”

“Just a couple dozen.”

“Liar,” Caden interjected.

“Ok, I’ve never killed any. They’re too dangerous to handle by myself. They hunt in packs and they almost always stay underground, unless they need food.”

Eden shivered. “So where’s the good news?”

Asher thought for a moment. “They burn well. So what’s your gift?”

“My… oh, I … uh…”

“She doesn’t have one,” Caden tilted his head back to Asher. “She’s a pure.”

“Ah, makes sense why you don’t have a tag. Do you have a sword or gun on you… or something?”

“Not really,” Eden muttered to her future relative.

Looking confused, Asher turned to Caden. “Shouldn’t she have a shotgun or something? She can’t be wandering these tunnels without a way to defend herself.”

Caden shrugged. “She’s done fine so far. She can’t even shoot.”

“Really? She’ll have to learn quick if we get mauled to death.”

“I don’t trust her aim. Might get one of us killed. Besides, how do you know she won’t get eaten first?”

Eden narrowed her eyes at Caden. “Your words of comfort are exhilarating.” Even though she expressed annoyance, she couldn’t help but be all the more terrified of their situation.

“Here,” Asher reached into his rucksack and pulled out two black sticks. He gave one to Eden and held the other in his hand. The top of the rod was made of metal, though had a rubber handle.

“Watch this.” He swung the baton down to the side of his leg to extend the rod. He pulled up the extended baton and waited for Eden to do the same. She swung the baton until hers extended. Lifting it up to inspect it, Eden noticed that the extended portion had ridges all the way to the tip.

“I wouldn’t touch those,” Asher commented. He pointed to a button on the rod. As he pressed it, the baton instantly came to life with electrical energy. The rod sparked and crackled with a blue glow. “It’s got a safety trigger you hold down,” Asher explained as he let go of the button and handed the rod to Eden.

“You’re just going to give these to me?” she asked in disbelief.

“Just until we teach you to aim,” Asher winked.

“That is super cool. Thank you!” Eden turned on both rods and swung them around a little.

“Ok, you have your glow sticks, can you keep it down?” Caden whispered. His look of annoyance quickly turned to high alert when they heard something skitter across the tracks. “We’re producing too much light.”

Eden turned off and collapsed her batons. Shiloh threw his light source back the way they came. They walked along in silence. Eden’s eyes eventually adjusted to the dark, but she would still bump into someone occasionally. At one point, they climbed on to the platform of a station, went up a set of stairs, and crossed a bridge. It felt like they had been walking for hours when Caden suddenly stopped.

“Wha-” Eden was shushed before she could finish her question. A putrid stench hit her nose.

“Pack,” Blitz barely whispered. “About thirty, at least.”

“Where?” Asher squinted into the darkness, but he couldn’t see any more than he did before.

“Clustered. Center of platform. Dormant. We can go around. Stay quiet.”

He led the way to the edge of the platform and slid off without a sound. Shiloh and Asher followed. Eden held her breath and carefully descended the platform. She couldn’t see the individual monsters, only a large mass on the platform. The smell intensified as they snuck by the pack. They didn’t risk stumbling over the monorail, but continued forward. They were almost in the clear when a sharp CRACK echoed through the tunnel.

Growls, clicks, and soft thumps suddenly arose from the cluster.

“RUN!”

Whispers in the Dark - Skillet

So it's not that I forgot. Well, maybe I did a couple times, but it's been in the back of my head for a while. 

Lots more life updates, of course. 

Being married is awesome. Seriously. I married a pretty great guy. 

Anyway, we went through another semester. He had school and work while I just had work. Then summer vacation hit and we both got new jobs. 

So now in my spare time I do chores or play video games. Or help set up ladies' days, gospel meetings, or help out friends. 

The family's back in the states, so that's cool. 

All in all, staying busy. The new job has pretty good hours and weekends off, so hopefully I'll be able to get more posts out. That'd be cool. 

On to The Promised Land. 

The Promised Land: (Part 31) Whispers in the Dark

Backup generators kicked into gear and a string of blue lights lit up along the walls. Most of the civilians were crouching or lying on the ground with their heads covered. Not that such tactics would have done all that much good if the ceiling collapsed. Shiloh sat up with a wince. His side was throbbing, but he stood up anyway. He helped Eden to her feet.

“What was that?”

Instead of answering her question, he led her to the nearest wall and opened a box filled with emergency equipment. Shy took out a six-inch light stick, cracked it in half and shook a couple times to get the white light going. Taking Eden’s hand, he twisted his way through the area littered with terrified people. Whether she minded or not, he didn’t know. Part of him hoped she would overlook the gesture. The other part just really hoped she wasn’t offended by it. Why should she be? This was only the third time he held her hand. Not that he was counting… He played it cool nonetheless.

They went down one of the hallways and into a room. It had bunk beds on both sides, but the back wall was lined with lockers. People were hiding in here as well, in the beds, under the beds, and on the floor. While the blue lights did a good job of lighting up the smaller rooms, the light stick made it easier not to trip over some of the curled bodies. Shiloh made his way to a bed and pulled out two bags from underneath. One was a backpack and the other was his violin case. He took the backpack and went to one of the lockers along the back wall. Opening it, Shy stuffed all the contents into his bag before returning to the bed. He pulled on a grey hoodie, put on the backpack, put the violin case on over his bag, took the light with one hand, Eden’s hand with the other and left the room.

It was time to go. The attack felt like a typical air raid, but it was far too close. The Atari were closing in fast on the secret location of the base. Maybe it wasn’t so secret any more. It was hard to tell how much information they had now and how many of their spies were still active. Shiloh headed back to where he last saw his brother.

“Caden will likely want to finish the mission as soon as possible, but what do we do after that?” Shy thought. “Maybe he’ll finally stop trying to be the hero. If he doesn’t, he might get us both killed. I like helping people as much as the next guy. I would even go out of my way to help my friends, but the resistance has their own men for this. They can take over from here. I want to go back to living a normal life.” Sure… a normal life. Life wouldn’t ever really be normal again, but at least he would have the option of daily risking his life. Shiloh had thought about what he would do if they ever got out of the resistance.

“Boomer.”

Maybe stay with Hope and help her out with the orphanage. Seems simple enough. Probably too boring for Caden, though he would enjoy the company.

“Boomer?”

Maybe Shy could find his own place up in the mountains or someplace where plants still tried to grow naturally. He had thought about setting up his own greenhouse. Trade in bullets for seeds. Maybe start his own restaurant. That would be pretty cool. Maybe Eden could-

“BOOMER!”

He stopped walking and looked at Eden. She pointed to something behind him. Realizing he was still holding her hand, Shy let it go and turned to see Asher coming to meet them.

“Glad to see you two are still holding up. I just saw Blitz at the office. He’s been looking for you.”

A number of people were up and about again, checking to make sure no one was injured and leading some back to the barracks. Even so, they were much quieter than before.

Asher spoke as he led them back down one of the halls. “We figure they knocked out our power source. The overheads should have lit up by now, but we’re still on generators. Cyrus sent a team out to fix it. Everyone’s spooked. The boys outside say it was just a drone, but they’re getting closer. Our guys are in position in case there’s a second assault.” Asher turned to Shiloh. “Blitz said you’re heading west. Seeing as I’m between jobs at the moment, I thought I’d join you. I don’t want to be stuck here if another wave shows.” 

“How often does this happen?” Eden asked.

“Too often.” Caden pushed his way past a few people and stood before them. “We have permission to leave. Immediately.” He looked to his brother. The two shared an unspoken conversation with only a glance and nod.

“What will happen to the people here?” Eden asked quietly as they headed back to the exit they came through the day before. None of her companions answered for a long time. In fact, not another word was spoken or signed until after they were in front of the woman with the clipboard and goggles.

“What do we have that’s fast?” Caden asked.

“Except for the usual cars and cycles, not much,” she replied.

“What about the monorail?”

“That’s been out for months. Several of the tunnels collapsed.”

“What about the ones to Westgate?”

“That one should still be intact, unless it was hit in the last hour.” Caden was about to leave when she spoke up, “I wouldn’t advise going down there unless you absolutely have to. Monsters roam those tunnels now.”

“No choice.” He kept walking.

“Stay on your guard.”

The crew headed to a section of the corridor Eden hadn’t noticed before. Through a set of doors in the wall, they went down two levels of stairs. Shiloh cracked another light stick as they entered to keep them from utter darkness.