John stared numbly at the spot Nilly had disappeared. The crowd buzzed with whispers and murmurs over what had transpired and a few sobbed in fright. After a few moments John felt the arms and hands slowly release him.
“Are you alright John?”
He ignored Atim and continued staring at the opening. Dark thoughts entered his mind, but these were directed at the abominations that had taken her away and towards the crazed individuals who had offered her up.
A thought occurred to him and he turned to Tim intently.
“Who was that man?”
Tim’s expression darkened considerably as he looked around the crowd. He gently grabbed John’s shoulder and steered him into an open space away from everyone to speak.
“I don’t know his name or what his life was like in the real world. But down here he’s something of a boogeyman.”
“What do you mean?”
“Over the last few weeks he’s been spouting some nonsense that the fleshy thing is the Unborn. A god that is trying to enter our world and is gathering strength to do so or something. The basic idea is that the man is crazy and more and more people are joining him in his craziness.”
John recalled the old man lying in the water as he was being attacked rambling about his flesh being offered up. Unfortunate images of the feeding entered his mind and the kneeling woman spouting her nonsense as the thing grabbed her.
“One of the larger groups attempted to choose him and his people as they started to gain more followers. The next morning the man and half of his group were lying in a pool of their own blood. Since then the other large groups have been tolerating their craziness and more people seem to be converting.”
With a huff he shook his head and looked around.
“Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if a large number of people here were believers. Acting as informants to weed out the unbelievers who won’t accept what they preach.”
“He was the one I woke up next to when I first got here.”
Tim’s eyes widened.
“Kept saying I was lucky and would be lucky if I followed his advice. I might have pissed him off a little when I told him to go to hell.”
“Can’t say I blame you,” Tim said slowly, “but honestly I’m shocked your alive considering you didn’t buy into what he was selling.”
When he fell silent John turned to look back at the opening.
“This feels wrong.”
“Bit late to be having that insight.”
“I mean standing here doing nothing feels wrong,” said John growing angry, “thugs are rounding up women to serve as their sex slaves, crazed cultists are picking off people, those…wall people are starting to grab people to do who knows what to, and the thing eats us one by one. It’s all wrong.”
“And let me guess, you want to do something about it?”
John met his gaze wondering if he was being mocked.
“I’m with you, but what exactly can any of us do?”
“Fight back.”
“Against which group and with which army,” growled Tim, “the people who fight back here don’t live very long. The only reason I’m still breathing is because I keep my head down and stick with people I trust and can rely upon.”
“To what end,” John snapped back, “are you hoping someone will come and save you? That this thing will suddenly open the doors and let everyone out? What’s the point of living in relative safety if nothing comes of it?”
“So I should go on some suicide mission and die sooner?”
John was about to retort back but realized he didn’t have a good answer. Part of him genuinely believed what he was saying and the other part agreed with Tim. While he was thinking of what to say Atim approached and placed a hand on John’s shoulder.
“We’re not doing nothing my friend. We are gathering information, building our numbers, and looking for any opportunity to do good.”
“And what happens in the meantime,” John said as he balled his hands into fists at his sides, “we watch people die? Watch more women suffer horrific cruelty? Watch as the cult convinces more crazies?”
“We protect who we can, we stay alive, and more importantly we convert people to our side with hope.”
John pointed at the opening of the wall.
“We can’t even keep our own people alive, much less anyone else.”
Both Atim and Tim looked past John to stare at the opening. He could see the conflicting looks in their eyes and knew that he’d made a point.
“If we can’t even keep our own people alive, then what on earth is the point of what we’re doing?”
After several quiet seconds Atim was the first to break it.
“We can’t help anyone if we die as well.”
Shaking his head, John knew there was nothing he could say to convince the men to act. Though if he was being honest, he wasn’t sure what the plan would have been if they agreed and wanted to do something right then and there.
Looking around he was met with empty stares, hungry glances, and frightened eyes as people took a mild interest in their conversation. In a brief moment of clarity he realized that everyone of them were down here trying to survive and were doing what they thought was best.
On a dark level he even acknowledged the cleverness of the monsters who were corralling the women. They were surrounding themselves with strong men and women who wanted what they had to offer; safety, numbers, and pleasure and they needed frightened submissive women to do it.
The cultists were doing the same on a twisted spiritual level and the lunatics mumbling and laughing in the crowd had mentally curled up and hid from the world. In those eyes, even the calculating stares and rolling orbs, he saw frightened people trying to find different ways to survive.
John realized then and there that the people who would be willing to fight and willing to do what was right, were likely few in number. Most would be afraid, most would want to keep their heads down, and unfortunately many would be willing to do whatever was necessary to keep breathing. Even if what they were asked to do meant losing their souls or their sanity.
“John?”
John turned to Atim and saw the man was searching his eyes, trying to gauge how he was feeling. On some level John admired the man’s attempts to do the right thing by giving others hope and being a comfort to those who were struggling. But in this dark and violent place he wondered if that would be enough.
“Let’s rejoin the group,” he said gently touching his arm, “you’ll feel better with some rest.”
Shrugging his hand away John shook his head.
“I need a moment. I’ll come back, but I need a moment.”
Atim nodded sadly and John wondered if the man was assuming the worst. To be fair those dark thoughts had started prodding the back of his mind.
John turned and walked away from the crowd. Once he was several yards from anyone he sat in the water and stared at the opening in the distance, his thoughts churning darkly.
#
There was no telling how long John was there before the dark thoughts faded and nervousness started to settle in. He realized as his anger left him that being alone in the chamber surrounded by dangerous people probably wasn’t a good idea.
As he stood he hiked his jeans up and turned to his group. Some were lounging against the wall or in the water and Tim sat on the edge watching him. It occurred to John that it was supposed to be his watch tonight.
“I’ll take tomorrow,” he said to himself irritably, “assuming there is a tomorrow.”
Walking back he noticed two individuals some distance break off from the group and start approaching him. Panic filled him as he picked up his pace, to his horror the two also increased their pace to intercept him.
He was prepared to make a mad dash for the crowd when one of them waved and called out.
“John?”
Coming to a stop he squinted in the dim yellowish light at the two figures approaching. They were both dressed in black and seemed very fit.
“John it’s us!”
Recognizing the voice he was instantly flooded with emotion and ran towards them.
“Nel!”
Splashing towards them he was so caught up in the moment he realized he had been planning on going in for a hug. Within a few feet of them he slowed and awkwardly stopped as conflicting emotions fought for control over what he should do.
Nel had no such qualms and promptly bear hugged him.
“You have no idea how worried we were.”
John laughed as Nel released him. He glanced over at Sasha who gave him a warm smile.
“Sorry, no hugs from me.”
Looking over them he saw that their uniforms were relatively clean. At least when compared to his own clothes that were water logged and stained.
“Looks like you’ve been through the wringer,” stated Nel coming to the same realization.
“You have no idea,” he murmured, “how long have you been here?”
“We woke up inside a room,” said Sasha, “then the walls went up, everyone freaked out and stood in the center of the room, nothing happened, and then those freaks came out of the wall.”
John shook his head in disbelief.
“How long have you been here?”
“A bit longer than that.”
“How is that possible?”
“A friend I made in here thinks that time doesn’t operate as it should. There are people who’ve been here for weeks and claim they were swallowed by the Anomaly when the outbreak at Darkshield first happened.”
“That was at only two days ago.”
“I know.”
Nel shook her head and looked around the room.
“So maybe you can give us some insight into what’s going on?”
John scoffed a bit.
“I’ll do what I can, honestly the friends I made will be able to tell you more.”
As if summoned Atim approached them.
“Hello John,” he smiled at the two women, “friends of yours?”
“Absolutely.”
“Glad to hear it. I’ll be glad to meet the two of you, but we’ll be safer back with the group.”
He gestured with an open hand and began walking back towards the group. John started following when he noticed a group of people emerge from the crowd some distance away.
To his bewilderment he saw several rough looking men shoving some women towards the center of the chamber.
“Atim.”
Atim turned and followed John’s gaze. He grimaced seeing the group being corralled away from the wall.
“Looks like the choosing is resuming after all. Please we must get back quickly before we draw too much attention.”
“Choosing,” murmured Sasha, “what does that mean?”
John briefly wondered if they could do something for the women given that Sasha and Nel were now there. But looking at the half a dozen or so large men and one grizzled woman he doubted there was anything they could do.
“Quickly,” hissed Atim, “we must go.”
“John what’s happening,” demanded Sasha.
The strange man suddenly emerged from the crowd and met the group in the center of the chamber. Even from this distance John felt a chill up his spine at his eerie giggling.
“Good, good. So many.”
One of the rough looking men stepped forward warily. He gestured to the women behind him.
“With the arrival of the…children of the unborn I would like to offer them a gift.”
The strange man clapped his hands.
“What a gift! So many, we’re so lucky.”
“In exchange we ask that our people be kept safe.”
Some of the strange man’s mirth faded a bit and he eyed the man who seemed nervous under the scrutiny.
“The Children shall have what they shall have.”
“But you make the offerings. All I ask is that you choose others when considering the next offering.”
“We all make sacrifices. It’s unlucky not to sacrifice.”
“And these are my sacrifices. The most prized women I own.”
John jumped as Sasha audibly ground her teeth next to him.
“Hmm,” said the strange man as he began shambling around the women as they cried on the ground, “five is good. Plenty in good shape.”
“Enough of this,” said Sasha angrily.
Atim’s hand flashed out to stop her. With the look she gave him John wondered if he was at risk of losing that hand.
“I admire your passion, but those men will tear you,” he glanced at John, “and anyone who helps you apart.”
“You expect us to stand here,” hissed Nel.
“You do not know the ways of this place. You go out there now you’ll only join them in their fate.”
John looked between Atim’s concerned gaze and the two women’s fierce gazes. He found himself on the fence as he sided with both of them. He wanted to go out there and do something, but what were the three of them going to do against six or so large men.
That also ignored the fact the lunatics would get involved. Possibly even the Children hiding in the wall.
They would go out there, maybe take down one or two of the men, and then find themselves joining the women as the next sacrifices. That was assuming they survived the skirmish.
“Look,” John said glancing over at the women, “I want to save them as much as you, but there’s no sense in-.”
The words died on his lips as his gaze met the face of one of the women kneeling on the floor. Even before the strange man shuffled over and tilted her head back to stare at her bruised face John knew who it was.
“Kiara,” he murmured to himself.
“What did you say,” asked Sasha.
John ignored her and continued staring at the poor woman lying on the ground. There appeared to be even more bruises on her body and he felt sick to his stomach imagining what fresh horrors she’d gone through. Looking at the other women he saw that they too were in a similar state; fat lips, puffy cheeks, black eyes, and bruised arms and wrists.
Watching one of them sob he felt the darkness he’d been suppressing for some time return. This time he allowed it to flood through his body.
Not entirely aware of what he was doing John started marching towards the group.
He heard someone say something behind him but his attention was centered on the man nearest him. A brute in a button up shirt and torn jeans. The man was watching the exchange between the strange man and the leader. His eyes would occasionally drift over the girls, but never in John’s direction.
When John slammed his fist into the man’s face he was taken completely by surprise.
The women cowering on the ground started screaming as John followed the man to the ground and began bashing his face in. The other men standing guard watched in shock as John pummeled the man over and over again.
When the man went still beneath his fists he looked up and growled like a feral animal.
One of the men nearby snarled angrily and rushed him. John was on his feet ready to engage when a small figure blurred past him and tackled the man. In the time it took John to recognize that it was Sasha she had managed to knock him on his stomach and yank his arm back hard enough it crackled violently.
The man screamed as she smashed his face with her foot. It took a few kicks before he went quiet and she dropped his arm before rushing the next man.
John barely noticed the fist coming at his face from an angle and ducked underneath it. The man barreled into him and they hit the floor. Immediately John felt the man grappled with him, trying to find leverage and pin him.
Kicking and lashing out with his fists John managed to push himself away and get to his feet. The man lurched forward and tackled John. Growling at the impact John battered at the man’s head as they hit the water.
Nel appeared at his side and kicked the man off of him. Taking advantage of the respite John surged to his feet and stomped on the man’s head until he stopped trying to get off the ground.
Glancing around he saw Sasha take a blow to the face and stumble backward. He made to run to her, but another man surprised him and tackled him to the floor again. As he went down he saw Nel grappling with another.
For several seconds he struggled with the man. Once or twice John’s face went under the water and he had to fight hard to stay above it. The man noticed his plight and rolled them both so that John’s face was buried under the few inches of brackish water on the ground.
Unable to escape the man’s powerful grip or lift his head above the water John found it becoming harder and harder to hold his breath. Just as the urge to suck in air started to outweigh the need to avoid breathing the man’s weight suddenly left his body.
Shoving himself upright he gasped in air and scrambled to his feet. Once he managed to recover he was shocked to see a large man pinning the one who’d been holding him down under the water.
When the bubbles stopped the large man spat on the body and stood up to face John. He was even more shocked when he recognized who it was.
“Not satisfied with one woman you need to save them all, eh rat?”
The bloodied man, who’s cuts were scabbing over, smiled a moment before turning away to engage someone else in a fight. John coughed a moment as he panted heavily trying to recover from nearly drowning.
The chamber was absolute bedlam as the crowd against the walls screamed, cheered, laughed, and rambled. In addition to John, Nel, Sasha, and the bloodied man there were two others joining the fight. Unfortunately, it appeared another group of rough looking man, or perhaps the rest of the group, had also joined in.
John watched in shock as Kiara straddled a woman who had been standing guard. With an animalistic cry she plunged her thumbs into the woman’s eyes and pushed with all her might. John glanced away as the woman screamed before growing silent.
He turned back to see Kiara standing up from the bloody corpse. She noticed his gaze and her quivering face stilled and then smiled. John smiled back before his smile slipped into a cry of horror.
A lithe woman with ribs showing and wearing only underwear suddenly jumped on Kiara’s back. Before Kiara could react the woman plunged a small dagger made of bone over and over into her chest.
Blood bubbling from her mouth Kiara hurled the woman from her back and fell to the water in a heap. The skinny woman hissed and scuttled away on all fours in the water like a crab.
John rushed forward as Kiara’s hands shakily drifted to her chest. He quickly pressed them against the wound and put pressure with his own hands as blood bubbled up from her body.
“Hang in there Kiara, it’ll be okay.”
Kiara coughed a little blood and one of her shaky hands drifted to John’s cheek.
“Thank you.”
Her eyes then rolled into the back of her head and the hand promptly fell into the water. The hand that had been pressed against her chest went limp under John’s hands. The blood that had been surging from her started to slow.
Standing up from the body he looked down in horror and screamed. Both of his hands went to his head and firmly tugged on the strands, desperately hoping they wouldn’t be there. A flood of emotions coursed through him as he stared down at the closed eyes of the broken woman he’d only met a day ago.
Looking up from the tragic sight John saw one of the thugs approaching. The man’s eyes flickered from John’s face to Kiara’s body and back up again. When their gazes reconnected he grinned and held his hands up like a boxer.
John growled like a rabid dog and went to rush him. Before he’d taken his first step something heavy connected with the back of his skull and he lost consciousness before hitting the water.
Author’s Note:
I hope you’re enjoying Darkshield: John’s Arc 3. A new chapter comes out free every week.
If you enjoy receiving it in serial fashion than feel free to support the project through Patreon. You can find a community of readers like you who enjoy this world I’m creating and want to see it grow by providing whatever support they can. My Patreon page can be found by clicking here.
Finally, if your finances are tight right now or you have mixed feelings about the book and aren’t sure you want to support a weirdo, then keep reading for free as the chapters come out every week. I’m doing this for fun and I’m appreciative of anyone who’s coming along for the ride. Feel free to share this story with anyone you feel might find it entertaining.