Lucid Sanctum

Chapter Three

Dex settled Cory on the small couch in the living room. He walked the house clutching his holstered pistol and the strap holding his rifle over one shoulder. The man had been ready to tear the neighborhood down looking for Leena, but it still didn't take away the anger she felt for him.

He let her go. It was his fault.

She didn't know if she could ever get over that anger, and if she could it wouldn't be anytime soon. All she could think about when she looked at him was how he'd stripped her daughter from her arms.

Hastily, he looked out each window before closing the curtains completely. He didn't even know she hated him, didn't know how close to the edge she was. Now one ever knew that.

"No!"

He spun on his booted heel and pinned her with a harsh look. "If they see us in here—"

"No. Open them up, turn the lights on."

"Are you insane?" He stepped closer, his finger pointing to the now covered window. "Enforcers are out there looking for the detoxed. If they see us, we stand zero chance of making it out of here. I'm good, but not that good. The Underground is gone, Cory. I don't know how many made it out, if any, but whatever is left come morning will be a ghost of what we had." He paused for a moment, his face reflecting his hurt. "You need to accept the fact that we're on our own."

The dark thoughts she'd pushed away came back full force. Her hands trembled, and she slid them under her thighs to hide the evidence. The thought of the Underground being gone was too much to swallow.

"Don't you dare say that! Vince and my boys are out there, and so is your wife. We have to believe they made it out or we have nothing right now." Literally nothing. If she gave up on Vince and their kids, she resigned herself to believe it was only she and Dexon left. And that would never be enough. She wanted Vince, her boys and Leena. She wanted to believe she'd see everyone she loved on the other side.

"I admire your fortitude, Cor, but the truth is they may not have. We both saw horrendous things out there, and I must keep the facts straight." Dex stepped toward her, his heavy boots thudding rhythmically. He crouched on his haunches in front of her, eyes never leaving hers. "You'd do well to remember them, too."

Cory stood from the couch, ignoring Dex's cruel advice, and stomped to the light switch, flipping them all on. "Open the fucking windows. The non-detoxed are out there in their homes right now, acting as if nothing is going on. I saw your neighbors watching television as if a helicopter wasn't mowing people down in the street."

She went for the remote then, turning the television on. Nothing was on except carefully curated programming, but it needed to be on. She hated herself for watching it when she'd been under its control, but now wasn't the time to think back on all her faults. "Sit," she demanded. "Sit down on the couch with me and when the morning comes, we'll be fine."

"You are insane. You always have been."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." He stood still and stared at her for a moment before he pulled the strap of his rifle over his head, propped it against the couch, and dropped his heavy body onto it. He didn't look comfortable at all in that uniform, but she prided herself for getting him to do anything she asked. He wasn't always the type to take advice, and was sometimes as stubborn as she was. "Now what do we do?"

She dropped herself onto the seat beside him and ran her hands over her face. "We shut up. We wait for people to die, and for the sun to rise."

When morning came, exhaustion crept in as the adrenaline wore off. It wasn't the time to sleep, now that things were calming down, but her lids were heavy nonetheless. There hadn't been a helicopter overhead in over an hour, but she didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Dexon sat slumped beside her, his eyes closed.