Beyond the Horizon(An apocalypse novel)

Chapter 30: Sentry

"Your scheduled broadcasting has been interrupted by the National Security Association under direct orders from the President of the United States of America, in light of events deemed critical to national security."

Miles held a breath as he stared at the TV, waiting to see if the principal would do anything in reaction to it.

Nothing.

The presidential seal on the screen shook, then glitched, pausing on a distorted frame.

"Stand by for a message from your president."

The screen changed to a video feed, showing Ryan Johnson once more. He looked to have aged a decade since his last broadcast, with his greyed hair frayed and messy, while he rested against the podium for support.

He coughed harshly, before looking down onto an unseen script and speaking.

"My fellow Americans, truly a catastrophe of proportions unknown in all our history, and perhaps in all of human history, has befallen our great nation and the world as a whole."

"This morning, a blizzard of magnitudes unheard of by our scales of measurement engulfed the world. Affecting all countries, on all continents as far as we can tell."

"Its initial wave is believed to have killed anyone who had been outside a shelter at the time, converting them into what can only be described as living corpses, demons, or ghouls, as some have taken to call them."

The man adjusted his mic, looking at the camera.

"On any other day, those would have seemed like the words of a lunatic. But many of you, including myself, have seen these monsters and the chaos they have wreaked upon our homes."

"Beyond that, there have been reports of strange occurrences, of powers and so-called anomalies from citizens all over the country. Most have been confirmed true by our sources, only worsening the scale of the crises we currently face."

He flipped a page.

"We have lost contact with all our allies in Europe. We have lost contact with all signals coming from Russia, from Mongolia, from the Central Asian states, and even Northern China."

"The situation has devolved rapidly in Southeast Asia, on the Indian subcontinent, in South America, and in Africa. We’ve received little in the way of organized responses from most governments we have tried contacting."

"Those that have contacted us, such as the Canadian, Brazilian, Japanese, and Korean governments, are far too crippled to function."

With that, he completely closed the script. He looked directly at the camera.

"My fellow Americans, your government has been similarly affected by the crises. More than half of Congress still remains unresponsive. Many generals, secretaries, and chiefs of staff have proven unreachable as well, further complicating any efforts at presenting a unified response to this situation."

The president closed his eyes, gritting his teeth as though considering something, before opening them again. They were solemn this time.

"In light of all this, I, your president, as well as those still remaining in Congress, have decided to declare a state of indefinite martial law."

"During this period, the nation will be led by a specially made task force: Sentinel."

"A team consisting of your president, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, heads of the NSA, DHS, and CIA, some generals from the Army Corps, along with specialists from the Navy and Air Force."

"All coordinating in an effort to expedite the speed at which decisions can be made."

"My fellow Americans, your government is working tirelessly to ensure your safety. We cannot do this alone. Follow the instructions given on the broadcast, follow all orders given to you by government agents, and most important of all, stay safe until we get to you."

"This has been your president. God bless you, God bless America."

The broadcast cut off there, returning to the shaky image. Yet in place of the presidential seal was the icon of a simple shield, with two wings attached on either side.

At the bottom of it lay a single word.

Sentinel.

"Your scheduled broadcasting has been interrupted by the National Security Association under direct orders from Taskforce Sentinel, in light of events deemed critical to national security."

’That’s not normal, is it?’

But then again, none of this was normal. He could only imagine what had happened in Europe to have made it go entirely dark.

In the end, it was a rather pointless endeavor.

Regardless of what was happening in the outside world, they were all still stuck in this school. He doubted that new task force would be showing up here tomorrow, or even the day after.

If they couldn’t make it out tomorrow, their chances would only continue dropping.

At least the broadcast confirmed that they weren’t the only ones facing anomalies.

Sighing, he pushed thoughts regarding it to the back of his mind as Mr. Morgan finally got someone to turn off the now looping TV.

The man snapped his fingers, drawing everyone’s attention to himself again.

"We can concern ourselves with that when we get out. For now, it’s best to get some sleep while you can. It’ll be done in rotations, three in total, just in case anything happens. The first group will be..."

Mr. Morgan read out a list of names. Miles heard his name among them.

Grimm was in the same group.

Chloe, Brandon, Mrs. Kathy, and the rest were spread out among the two other groups.

The vice-principal listed out a few more details, like the hours of each watch, when they should all be up, and what to do if anything happened during the watch.

The man added one last thing before dismissing them.

"You can drop the ’Mr.’ when referring to me. There’s not much use in it. The same goes with Kathy."

He turned to face the woman, to which she nodded, indicating it was fine with her.

With that said, Morgan left the circle, Ryan in tow, leaving them to their own devices.

Miles wasted no time in digging into the food before him. Luckily, it was all unwrapped, so he didn’t need to ask Chloe to help him open them.

The meal did little to calm the hunger in his stomach. But it was something at the very least.

He looked at the closed cap of the water bottle before him, then at his arms again. Before he could even say anything, Chloe grabbed it, unscrewed its lid, before placing it back in front of him.

’Again.’

He thought, clearing his throat before whispering.

"Thanks."

"It’s alright."

She wasn’t laughing now. Turning, he found her staring intently at him.

The moment their gazes met, she turned away, unhurriedly, looking forward again. She sighed quietly.

"How do you do it?"

Miles’s brow perked at the question.

"Do what?"

"Swing, I mean. Back in the hall, in that illusion. It all felt real. Yet you still attacked those ghouls."

’Oh... she knows they’re called ghouls?’

It only took him a moment to remember her ability.

Still, he shrugged a little.

"I don’t know. I just kind of did it. Wasn’t thinking about much else besides the situation."

She turned back to face him.

"Weren’t you scared?"

He thought back to the ghouls, to the memories that flashed through his mind back then, before shaking his head.

"A little, I guess. But what else was I supposed to do?"

Chloe let out a weak laugh at that, only confusing him.

"Right... right..."

She fell silent for a few moments before whispering again.

"Do you think it was all worthless? We’ll never be going back, will we?"

Miles couldn’t answer her. So she continued.

"It’s all gone, you know? All those nights, all my efforts, everything. It’s all gone."

Her voice cracked at the end, making her realize she had gone on a spiel. She hurriedly stood up, rubbing her eyes, before whispering.

"Sorry."

She walked off, leaving him alone.