Sleep

The Refuge: Part 2

"There's no one here."

Alisha kicked at the gate door, but it didn't budge.

"Help me find the control panel."

Tom crouched in the sand, fumbling with the map. This was Toronto, or what was left of it. He read the page over and over again, and he was sure that this was the right place.

"Tom, the panel. Get up."

He trudged through the sand, eyeing the gate. Carefully, he surveyed the perimeter away from Alisha, searching for something that revealed what had happened, or someone. He made his way back around the outer wall.

Alisha yelled. "Nevermind, I found it."

It was attached to the wall on the side of the gate. Alisha ripped off the panel and threw it aside.

"I need your gun."

She fired a bullet into the panel, and a cluster of sparks sprayed out onto the ground. The gate rattled and shook, the low hum of electricity suddenly silenced. Tom grabbed his gun and pushed it open, running towards the central building. It stood tall like the others, but it had no windows, and the surface was a dull grey, unlike the rest of the compound. The door was already wide open, so he wandered inside, and he felt dazed by the amount of metal stacked on the tables, the chairs, and on the floor. There was a crowded desk in the back corner, and Tom recognized it as a ham radio. Computers were hanging on the walls, their screens flickering, and there were wires suspended over an assembly of knobs, ports, and radio docks. The radios were all dead, assessed by Tom when he turned them on, and there was no static.

He went to examine the tents next. They were close to a large bonfire in the middle of the refuge. It looked like it hadn't been lit for a while. He found a few cooking pots scattered across the sand close to the tents, but Tom disregarded them and left to find Alisha.

"Alisha?"

He noticed footsteps leading out through the gate.

"Alisha, where are you?"

His pace quickened into a fast run, and he started to panic. Tom sped around the border of the complex, and his heart quickened when he found drops of blood sinking into the sand. He ran faster.

"Alisha!"

The sudden noise of a generator burst out from the middle of the refuge, except that he felt pain. His ears were ringing, and he didn't know where he was or what was happening. Tom dropped to the ground, but he crawled, determined to escape from the sound. He had the feeling that somebody was there, but he was too weak to look. The noise blinded him, forced his eyes closed, and his stomach dropped.

"Freeze."

The end of a pistol was pressed to his head, and he was kicked from the back.

"Don't move. David, the noise."

His senses immediately returned after the noise was shut off. He flung his head around, but his assailant pushed him deeper into the sand.

"Do you know who I am, Tom."

Tom spat in the dirt. "Get the hell away from me."

"I said that I would see you soon, and here we are."

Dr. Palmono reached for his shoulder and forced him up so that he was face-to-face with Tom.

"Do you know why your sister is still alive, why I let her go?"

"Get away from me!" Tom shouted, "What have you done, Palmono..."

"So she could lead me to a great prize... you. I was quite astonished to learn that you survived in that prototype pod. 10 years. And, you still look like a day hasn't passed at all."

Tom struggled in his arms, and Palmono forced his head to look at him.

"Do you see this, Tom? It's a radio. The very same that you found," Palmono grinned. "And that map, do you still have it? My troops are very good at handiwork."

"Why are you doing this... Alisha told me that you deployed the bombs..."

"Yes, I did partake in that. Too many people. Our home is dying, Tom. A combination of bombs and our pods, we could save who we can today." He went on. "Those that lived past the bombs, we took them into custody. Survival of the fittest. That.. is how the human race survives."

Palmono chuckled and spun Tom around into a chokehold. "I needed to see you in person. To see if the pod had worked on you, so we don't kill ourselves when we finally use them. And now that I know that it worked, I don't need you anymore. But I'm giving you a chance to come with us."

Tom pulled out the gun from his belt and held it up to Palmono's head.

Palmono laughed and released him from his grasp. "Are you going to shoot me, Tom? I have leverage, as well. David, if you may."

David shoved Alisha to the ground, her face streaked with tears. Palmono pulled out a small device from his pocket.

"As I told dear Alisha the day of the bombs, this is connected to your neck. I press this, you die."

Tom swept away his hair and squinted at the refuge. A blast of smoke ruptured through the sand, and he could see what looked like a giant rocket firing its thrusters.

"Space. You're going to space."

"Correct, Tom. We can live, rebuild, away from our home. And when it is time to come back, humanity will be better. Earth will be better." Palmono continued. "No governments, no poverty, no overpopulation. We can finally live in peace."

"That's sadistic."

"It's mercy. It's optimism. Now, are you coming with, or not?"

He looked at Palmono and grimaced. "Okay."

"Good choice."

Tom was tugged through the gate, and he hid his gun under his shirt. He felt hands push him into the aircraft as a group of troops followed closely behind him. The ramp started to close.

Alisha choked and looked at Tom. "I'm sorry."

She yelled and escaped the guards, leaping off the ramp. Struggling, Tom screamed as she landed in the sand, her body twitching. He wanted to escape, but he was restrained by the extra guards. Tom pushed harder... he could get to the ramp, to her. He felt a needle plunge into his arm, and calmness instantly spread over him.

"Sleep, Tom. Sleep."

--

Author's note: This is the end of my book. I've been with this book since November, and I'm pleased to see that it got the ending it deserved. Thank you to everyone who read my story. If this ever garners attention, I'll write an epilogue but I don't think I'm going to write a sequel.