Dark Space

Chapter Three; Truth Of The Past

We pulled over on the side of the road, finding the gates of the military base closed. Soldiers were atop the fences with fully automatic rifles and sniper towers were built into the fences every fifty feet. it was heavily guarded. No bandits, no corpses, no danger. As far as we knew. We all made our way up to the gates and found soldiers stopping us before we entered.

"Stop right there. Give us all of your weapons, we'll put them safe. You all submit to a small blood test and then go into the decontamination showers. We'll provide you with fresh clothing until your current clothing can be returned to you, repaired and laundered. Understood?" one of the soldiers said. We all nodded and vocally agreed, and we were allowed one by one into the base. I was first.

"Give me your arm, please?" The doctor said, sat behind a table with blood testing equipment. I sat down and gave him my arm and he took a pint of blood. There was a small sharp beep and the doctor nodded to the soldier behind me excitedly,

"Alright, son, please move into the decontamination showers, leave your clothes and shoes in the container outside" The soldier said. I got to my feet and walked over to a long tent with shower heads inside. I stripped off my t-shirt, my boots, my socks, my jeans and my underwear and walked into the tent. Thankfully, there were no windows in the tent whatsoever. I might have been muscular and fit, but I was highly self-conscious about my body. the showers sprayed me with warm water that had been mixed with different chemicals and disinfectants. It felt amazing. A set of clothes had been left for me outside the shower area. A grey t-shirt, a black sweatshirt, grey jogging bottoms and white socks with a set of combat boots. I got dressed and didn't bother putting my boots on. I was escorted from the tent and taken to a much longer tent with triple decker bunk-beds. It seemed like a refugee camp, but then I remembered that's basically what it was.

"Grey joggers, not really your style, are they?" a voice came from behind me. I turned and found Corey dressed in the exact same outfit. I smiled at him,

"Not exactly your style either" I chuckled. I kissed him softly and pulled away as I noticed Michelle walking in with the same outfit again.

"I don't think anyone could pull this shit off. I'll be glad when I get my own clothes back" she scoffed.

Hours later, we were all reunited with each other. The survivors from the bandit's warehouse thanked us for saving them and went their own way. it was once again just Darcie, Corey, Jamie, Michelle, Maria, Abbie and I. we chose beds close to each other and decided to stick together.

"This place isn't perfect, but I feel like it could be alright for surviving in" Abbie said, sitting on the bottom bunk of the second bed inside the tent. Corey and I were on the third bed. Thankfully, the beds were just big enough for two people so Corey and I could share a bed. Jamie and Maria were thankful of that too.

"Well, it looks good enough. I hope they make use of the food we brought" I smiled as Corey ran his fingers through my hair softly.

"Me too. I'm not entirely sure, but I think there was several ounces of chocolate pudding" Michelle said, teasing me, knowing that chocolate pudding was some of my favourite food in the world.

"Well one thing's for sure, this place is secure. That's the best thing that's happened to us since this mess started" Corey said, putting his head on my shoulder. Suddenly, we heard screams coming from the outside of the tent.

"Babe, hand me my boots. The rest of you stay here, please?" I said as Corey set my boots down at my feet. I put them on and raced outside, finding a man running around yelling at the top of his lungs.

"This place is not what they say it is! Get out! Get out NOW!!!" he screamed. He saw me and began running toward me, still rambling, "You have to-" he began as a bullet ripped through his forehead. He dropped dead in front of me.