Indulgence

Human. That's what I am. It was a flawed species that were going extinct as we speak. I knew the world was going to end, but not this soon. Not like this. Bodies littered the ground and the skies were dark from the debris and ash falling from above. I couldn't believe this was the end, and I was chosen to survive this hell.

Looking away from the carriage window I began to cry knowing all my friends and family were killed by the missile. The carriage came to a quick stop jerking me slightly. The door opened and one of the men in the black grabbed my arm, pulling me from the carriage. The first thing I see coming out is a large maze-like building in the middle of an open field. Surrounding it were black gates and what seemed to be security systems.

"Where in the living hell am I?" I whispered while walking towards the oddly shaped building.

Once we got inside of the black walls of the building they used a key card to open a door. I stumbled as I was pushed through and was greeted by plague doctors. There was this ominous energy around them that made them more frightening than they really were. I felt the space we were in going down, so I assumed we were in an elevator. The elevator then stopped and its door opened to an oval-shaped room. I was the first one to take a step out. I suddenly was sprayed from the ceiling with what seemed to be some type of gas. I squealed, putting my hand over my heart trying to calm down. I took off the radiation suit, and another door was opened showing a spiral staircase. I walked down to see a woman dressed in black Victorian clothing.

"My name is Wilhemina Venable. Welcome to Outpost 3."

Looking at the woman I automatically knew she was the authority here. The way she dressed and carried herself screamed power. Her very presence radiated dominance. I tried to be as proper as possible treating her with respect. I could see her smirk and I already knew I wasn't going to like her. She showed me all of the rooms of the outpost and gave me the rundown of the rules whilst I lived here. The rules had been reasonable until she told me no sexual activity was allowed. I don't plan on doing such a thing in a time like this, but what about couples that could be here, if there were any. I opened a door to a nice sized bedroom with candles already lit.

"Get dressed and meet everyone else in the music room. Dinner will be served soon," she said, leaving me to get ready.

I let out an exasperated sigh, emotionally and physically tired of everything that has happened today. Walking to the wooden closet there were purple Victorian dresses. My jaw dropped at how beautiful and elegantly made the dresses were. I had never worn anything that looked this expensive in my entire life. Once I had the dress on I admired it for a moment. There was also a piece of jewelry set on a small coffee table to go with the dress, but I decided to keep my necklace for it held more value to me. I don't remember how I obtained it, but I knew it was special. It was a black onyx heart covered in silver leaf designs. Making my way to the door, I open it with eagerness to meet the other survivors. Hopefully, they aren't so bad.

I managed to find my way to the music room and was greeted by a group of Purples and a few Gray's that guarded the entrance to the hallway leading to the music room. I continued walking slowly into the music room not sure what to expect from the group. One of the women in purple noticed me and told everyone to be quiet. All of their eyes were on me now. I took a few steps back not liking all the attention I was being given. An older African American woman came up to me and put her hand on my back.

"We have some more new blood! Welcome to the group. What's your name?" she asked.

"My name is Chenoa."

"Nice to meet you, Chenoa. I'm Dinah Stevens." I nodded, shaking her hand. I looked to the others in the room, listening while they all introduced themselves.

Ms. Venable rang the bell and we all met in the dining room. I sat in between Dinah and Evie. I didn't like Evie much, the energy around her was very negative. I was more comfortable being next to Dinah. I could tell she was a very nice person. After a few minutes of waiting, we were given our meals. I looked down to see that it was a nutrition cube. I took my fork and started to eat. On the other hand, Coco had some complaints about eating the same thing for the past few weeks and she was instantly silenced by Ms. Venable's hand. I looked the other way not wanting to see the painful expression on Coco's face. Dinah put her hand on my shoulder to reassure me that everything was going to be okay.

Ms. Venable then returns to the spot she was in with Ms. Mead by her side. She then started reading off of a small paper.

"There are no more governments. Only rotting mounds of corpses, too many to bury. Starving people kill for a piece of bread. Three outposts have been overrun. We are the last vestiges of civilized life on the planet." she said, setting the paper down. I inhaled slowly not expecting to learn this much information in one day.

"There's a problem. We've detected a spike in the background radiation, centered in this room." That's when everyone started to blame one another.

"It's Chenoa!" Coco yelled. "She's the one who just came from the outside."

I frowned saying, "No it wasn't me! I swear"

"Silence! Put your hands on the table. Don't move."

We did as we were told. Placing our hands on the table not moving an inch. Ms. Mead made her way to my side of the table and started to scan everyone. She came to me and waved the wand over my body. The machine hadn't spiked at all.

"Clean." She said moving to the next person.

I let out a puff of air. Thank the heavens, I was safe. When Mead passed over Gallant and Stu they weren't so lucky. They both panicked and demanded to be let go. We all yelled for the guards to bring them back, but our demands fell on deaf ears. After they took Stu and Gallant away, they told us to go back to our rooms. I found my room after a little searching and opened my door. I walked in exhausted from today's events. It was going to be a very long time before I got used to this place. I changed into some pajamas found in my closet and got into bed. It was comfortable, but not as cozy as my old bed back home. As time passed my eyes started to get heavy and sooner than later I was fast asleep.

The next day everyone went about their normal routines, except for Andre. He had still been mourning his lover. I did my best to comfort Andre, but he just wanted to be left alone. There wasn't really much to do, but listen to the same song over again or read a book. So I grabbed a book that was familiar to me and started reading. I must have been reading for hours because the next thing I know Ms. Venable is ringing the dinner bell. I memorized the page number I was on and set my book down on the coffee table, swiftly moving from the couch to the dinner table.

"This is a difficult time for everyone. As a small consolation, we have a special treat."

Ms. Mead rolled out a cart with a steaming pot. Everyone looked at each other in awe. Despite everything that has happened I didn't feel too good about the food that was being presented to us. Where could they have gotten the meat from? Weren't we short on supplies? These questions lingered in my head unanswered. Before I came to the outpost I was a vegetarian, but now I guess I'm going to have to eat meat to survive. Raising my hand to grab my spoon I am stopped by Andre's sudden outburst.

"Oh, the stew is Stu!"

Everyone jumped from their seats and moved away from the table. Those who ate the stew regurgitated the meal. I back away from the table, losing my appetite immediately. I was petrified at the thought of eating a human. I covered my mouth, trying to keep whatever was in my stomach from coming out.

"For heaven's sake," Ms. Venable said," there are lines that can never be crossed. Not eating people is of the first rank."

To some extent, I believed her, but I didn't want to take any chances. We all hurried back to the music room trying to calm each other down, but Evie stayed and ate the stew. I stood in a corner quietly, still trying process the whole ordeal. Andre was on an emotional rampage calling all of us cannibals. But it couldn't have been Stu, because he was contaminated, right? They wouldn't feed us contaminated meat.

"Everyone shut up!"

We all looked at Emily wondering why we had to be quiet. That was until I looked at the music box and it finally registered in my mind.

I moved towards the music box saying, "The music it stopped playing."

The music box then plays a new song. Gallant got up from his seat and start to sing the words of the song. He shouts, "Hold on - Through the night - Through the night. We have a chance. Don't you get it?! It's a message! Aah! Let's keep on looking for the light. The Cooperative is trying to tell us something! They're saying, 'Hang on'"

A wide smile spread across my face and I was grabbed by Mallory and we twirled around full of hope and happiness. We would be saved.

Though days became weeks and weeks turned into months. I was tired of hearing the same song over and over again. I have memorized the song in every way possible. I've even read at least one-third of all the books on the shelves, and I am still bored out of my mind.

Ms. Venable comes into the music room to announce that dinner was ready. All of us moved from our spots to the dining room to take our seats. I didn't really care what we ate at this point as long I was putting food in my stomach. I lost a lot of weight being here and I can feel myself losing more by the minute.

"I have an announcement. This will be our last breakfast." Ms. Venable paused." We're cutting back to one meal a day,"

I looked at her as if she was insane. One meal a day? How would we survive on half a cube? I looked down at my plate knowing that we would soon die if we didn't have the proper nutrients we needed to survive. Everyone then started arguing about slowly dying and that they should take their chances outside. All of this arguing has become a normal thing and I just can't take much more of it. Getting out of my seat I dashed passed to my room.

Once I made it to my room, I sat on my bed enjoying the silence. I closed my eyes to try and meditate. I've started to do this more often to help center myself. Just beginning to relax I was disrupted by alarms blaring loudly. That's when I felt it. A dark presence.