Where Light Dies

14. Nowhere to Hide

"What's wrong Matt?"

"Darks... Darks everywhere."

-- Dayton Base Camp -- 2015 --

"Mrs. Dayton!" Screamed a guard, slamming through Sarah's front door.

"What is it?"

"Darks... North entrance," he huffed.

"Alert everyone you see. Get 'em out through the western gate!" she screamed, gathering guns and ammo from her room. "Prime the charges in the northern corridor! Now!"

Claire stood there as still as a statue, completely numb to what was going on around her.

"Snap out of it! I'll tell you the rest later," Sarah shouted at the girl, throwing her a pistol.

There's more?

She shook her head, clearing her mind to focus on the task at hand. "Which way?" Claire asked, her senses slowly coming to.

"North gate entrance."

"Where's Rey? and Mark?" she asked, suddenly feeling her heart race.

"Trust your pack Claire," said Sarah, loading her gun. "Lead the way sir."

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"What the hell is going on here?" snapped Reyna, glaring sharply at an officer who had come running into their tent completely out of breath.

Mark rolled uneasily in his sleeping bag. "Shut up Rey, before you wake up the kid," However, Anne was already up, as was the rest of the pack, peeking at all the commotion outside.

"We need a pack at the northern entrance. ASAP!" the officer wheezed, grabbing his own shirt in his fist.

"What the - why?"

"Darks, lot of 'em," he replied, staring at the Harringtons before him. "There isn't another camp for miles around here. Please, I can't lose my home," he begged, cracking up soon after.

"You heard the man. North gate. Pronto!" Reyna snapped, setting the pack into action. She bent down to the man who was now at her feet, patting him on the shoulder.

"We're not losing another home either."

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"No! NO! MATT!"

"GET OFF ME YOU SHIT!" Matt screamed as he kicked Greg off his feet. The screaming boy was soon dragged into the shadows, his voice disappearing into the darkness. Matt scrambled to his legs, tripping over every small obstacle in his way. An all-consuming darkness had swallowed the sewers behind him, chasing his footsteps. A multitude of demons clicked and groaned from behind as he ran for his life, screaming.

The tunnel was getting narrower. In his blurred vision, he could see the circle of light, the platform for champions who rose to the surface. The light was the only thing he could follow, unable to see anything else in his pitch-black path. Within the circle lay piles of rubble, remains of what had been their centre of trade. Closing his eyes in blind faith, the boy ran with all that was left within him.

The light seemed to be drawing closer, and the echoes slowly fading to silence.

I'm gonna make it. I'M GONNA MAKE IT!

Suddenly, his foot slipped on a pipe, sending him crashing to the ground. Matt screamed as he held his twisted leg, the audible crack of it breaking sending echoes through the near silent hall. Instantly, all other sounds stopped. Desperate to live, he shuffled backwards, dragging his injured form into the safety of light.