Faltered light

Part 12: Faltered light

James
If I didn't believe in a god before I definitely don't believe in one now. It's been six weeks since we left that goddamned cabin. Right then and there I should have taken Calla and drove straight back to the only safe place I knew. When the hoards started chasing us down I thought we could outrun them. But nothing prepared me for what happened next.

6 weeks earlier....
Calla
"Get inside", James gently helps my through a small opening of a large house.
My fingers and legs feel numb from all the running. We ditched the car about 9 miles back and set off on foot. The car was left running only for the purpose of the noise. It'll run out of gas soon but by the time they reach the car we'll be long gone. The house is beautiful. The windows are boarded up but the structure keeps it's integrity. I'm relieved when James and Ian give the house the all clear. I'm tired of running and I need water. "Drink up", Ian hands me a bottle of water. The little boy in Violets lap was her son Jason. He had turned and when she found him she had no choice but to shoot him. We never found Bryan, we think he was out in the main town when the trouble started. James had apologised to me about a million times but I'm not ready for whatever is supposed to happen between us. Or so I told him. Now I get the cold shoulder all day everyday. I love him but I don't want to love him like this. Violet has gotten significantly better. At least she's eating and answering questions now. Losing her son and her husband was certainly traumatic and I'm surprised she's willing to go on. Getting to the base should take a few days according to James and Ian. Ian seems nice but weirdly over enthusiastic, his always telling me about James and him during summer vacations and as it turns out according to Ian, James and Violet used to, what's the polite word, have good times in the cabin. I shut out the prospect of falling into a sad depressed state because of it and inspect more of the house. The upstairs is nice and clean, it's decorated simply. The family that lived here was tiny but looked happy. "Ian get over here!", James calls from downstairs. Violet and I both run down to see what the commotion is. "help me with this", James motions to a large couch placed against a wall. Ian and James move it and it uncovers a large door. The door is large, wooden oak. "Do we open it?", the question that litters all of our minds Ian manages to voice. "Hell no!", the very expected answer from James the 'rational and safe'. "There could be food down there", I explain to James, this is the first time I'm actually talking to him but of course he completely ignores me and lectures us about all the horrid things we could find down there. A strange thin voice tears through the argument like sheer scissors and shocks us all into silence, "there could be people down there", I could've sworn hearing Violets voice was some sort of comforting. "She's right. We have to try. If it's anything bad we can always shut the door, there are four of us", Ian, Violet and I, eye James. "Fucking fine. But I just want to make it clear that I warned you", typically like all the decisions we've made so far James gets upset and threatens that his warned us. James hands Violet a cricket bat he found upstairs, I get a knife taped to a broom stick, Ian gets a tire iron and James arms himself with one of those fire pokers whatever they're called. James is going to open the door slowly because his 'stronger than Ian' and will be able to shut the door if anything tries getting out too eagerly, Ian stands first guard at the door to smack something right back if he needs to and Violet and I are back up incase things don't go according to plan. "Okay. Are we ready?", I take a deep breath and nod, Violet copies my nerve calming technique and Ian takes a very firm stance getting ready for whatever may come out of the next room. James slowly unlocks the door and a small creaking sound is make when he starts opening it. My heart is racing and I'm sure my body is pumped with adrenaline, I know the feeling too well. Nothing jumps out so he opens the door wider. The room is pitch dark and the stairs only come into view after a few seconds. Everyone is dumbfounded and James gives us that 'don't even think about it look', but it's too late because Ian has already thought about it.
We make our way down the stairs in the dark.
Halfway down Ian bumps the overhead light and snaps it on. Light floods the room. The basement is large. It has all kinds of shelves and uv lights, plants. We explore further and a buzzing sound grabs our attention. Violet goes and explores the plants and I'm curious about the sound. "What is the place?", I hear James say. "Some kind of marijuana lab", Ian giggles, "these are not..." Violet starts but just decides to not argue with Ian. We all know he can be an idiot sometimes. I find a tiny trap door but it's locked. "James?", he moves over to me and inspects it. "I think we've done enough exploring for today", "wow you'd think he'd have grown a pair by now", Ian snarks. James wants to grab Ian but I cut him off before he has a chance to. "I'm sick of your attitude and I'm sick of you hitting on my girl every chance you get", "whoa whoa who said anything about me hitting on Violet", Ian smirks and James races right past me. Before I know it James is on top of Ian.  A glass beaker breaks and Ian gets in a punch right on James' jaw. I try to pull James off Ian and Violet doesn't seem to be anywhere. "You guys I found a key", Violet completely rear ends the fight and I'm grateful. They sit there breathing heavily and she unlocks the hatch. The light buzzing becomes a roar and we're all examining the door. "What the hell do you people think you're doing!"