Rebuttal

  I sat up instantly and punched the man in the jaw. He grunted in surprise as he fell over the back of his chair. Dean stood up and nodded at me. Shit, we let the stranger close the front door. I heard it open and desperate footsteps rang out loudly throughout the house. No time. Dean grabbed a backpack sitting on the kitchen bench he had prepared earlier and started running. Black coat billowing behind me, I followed. We slammed open the sliding backdoor. Crisp night air filled my lungs as I ran. I jumped, vaulting on top of the fence. Dean threw his backpack upwards, I caught it and climbed down the other side. A moment later Dean jumped down beside me.

  ‘You good to carry that thing?’ He asked quickly. I nodded, and we continued to run. Dean knew the forest much better than I did, and with the heavy backpack slowing me down I followed him as close as I was able. He cut a jagged path through woods, jumping over roots and dashing through the thick willow trees. Despite his impressive athleticism so far, Dean was pushing fifty, and after a few more minutes of running he slowed down, nearly collapsing on a tree.

  ‘I hope your questions were worth it Tom, that little fun run just took five years off my life.’ Dean spat out between breaths.

  ‘They knew where we lived anyway, you saw them crowding outside. We’d have had to leave at some point.’ I responded

  ‘Yeah, but we wouldn’t have had to run.’ he replied, giving me an aggravated look. I gave a hum of agreement and, feeling out of breath myself, sat down on the grass.

  ‘Fuck it’s cold out here.’ Dean swore. I thought for a moment.

  ‘The sun’s been gone for days, it should be a lot more than cold, shouldn’t it?’

  ‘Forgive me if I’m not grateful about freezing temperatures in fucking August. Let’s hope this outdoorsman guy isn’t much of a tracker because we’re going to need a big fire to keep ourselves warm.’

  A glint, off in the distance. What was that? Metal?

  ‘Dean, look over there. Do you see that?’ I pointed. Dean followed my gaze, and his eyes widened slightly. It was a small concrete box, with a satellite dish attached to the roof.

  ‘We’d sure be a lot warmer in a shelter.’ Dean smiled. ‘Maybe we’ve finally caught some good luck.’

  He began walking towards it, and pulling my coat tighter as I sat up, I followed him. The closer we got the more peculiar it seemed. It was only a few weeks old it seemed, the concrete was fresh and the vegetation had only started to creep towards it. The corrugated steel roof was free of rust, though ice and snow had started to build atop it. Looking around, we found a door with a padlock. I grabbed a rock and smashed it. It fell down onto the snow without a sound.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

  ‘Do you think there’s anyone in there?’ I asked hesitantly. Dean shrugged.

  ‘Best to be prepared right?’ He said, taking out a knife. I grabbed my axe. Slowly, I turned the handle and pushed open the creaking door. Inside it was dark. Absently, I fumbled across the cold concrete wall until I found a switch, I turned it on, and the lights flickered to life. The building was sparsely furnished, the interior was predominately taken up by a large room where a bulky computer system was pressed against the wall. It looked haphazardly put together, heavy duty, what here needed that much power? On the opposite sat the necessities of life. Metal bunk bed frames with thin mattresses for comfort. A small fridge and a TV were placed to the right of it, with a dirty sofa faced towards it. A metal wood stove for heat stood in the corner.

  ‘Looks like this place was built off the grid if it still has power. There must be a door in the back to get to the generator.’ Dean commented approvingly. I wondered if his bug out spot was anything like this. There was a basket with wood and a lighter next to the stove. I started the fire and sat back on the sofa with a content sigh as heat began to diffuse around the room.

  ‘Ha! Someone left their beers in the fridge’ Dean laughed. He grabbed two and joined my on the couch.

  ‘Jesus, think we needed this after that run.’ He grunted as he sat down.

  ‘Agreed. But I’m still wondering what this place was? I’ve lived here for years and I’ve never seen this.’ I remarked.

  ‘I’ve been through the forest more than a couple of times. Think I would’ve remembered seeing it. Looks like a research base to me, pretty quickly built too.’ He said frowning. I hummed in agreement. Hopefully this place was remote enough that the strange priest and his flock wouldn’t find us. From what it seemed back at Dean’s house, he could guide them somewhat, but they still acted mostly mindless. I wondered how Dean was doing. The loss of his wife doubtlessly still wore heavy on him, but there inner survivalist inside made him think purely rationally for the time being. I told him I was going to check outside quickly to make sure we weren’t followed and he nodded. Opening the door and exiting, I felt the cold wind sap my body of heat. I pulled my overcoat tighter, but it was pointless. I would be warm when I went back inside anyways. In front of the door was a small concrete extrusion that was part of the foundations of this base, I sat down and exhaled. The moon was behind me, blocked out by the satellite dish, so for the first time since this ordeal started, I looked up. Without light pollution to darken the sky, I saw hundreds of stars, twinkling little pinpricks of light, only briefly obscured by the white mist I exhaled. The inevitability of this whole event permeated through me. The world had ended. Even if this strange cosmic occurrence was to disappear, there was no chance of everything going back to normal. How many normal humans were out there? Were there more of those strange priests? The air tasted clean and fresh, and the forest was beautiful at night, gently blanketed in that pale moonlight. The itch that told me to look up had almost entirely faded. Perhaps I was growing used to it. I sighed as I stood up. I couldn’t see or hear anyone or anything moving. I thought it was about time to go inside and get some sleep.