Desolation by Mark Campbell

the hell is going on.”
Krystal vacantly stared at the wall, oblivious to the mayhem
uncoiling around her.
Andrew ran out into the hall, pistol ready.
People were milling around in the corridor, looking at each other,
frightened.
The alarm started blaring from the overhead speakers.
“Attention,” a recorded pleasant soft female voice announced
overhead, “An emergency has occurred. Please stay inside your quarters and remain
calm. Help is on the way. For your safety, all residential buildings will now be sealed.
Thank you for your cooperation”
Everybody in the hallway turned their heads towards the archaic
sally port as the light above it switched from green to red. The motor
above the sally port door made a horrific grinding noise and threw a
shower of orange sparks out into the hall.
“ Emergenc-c-c-c-c [STATIC] procedures ac – [STATIC]. Seal-al-ling
portal-l-l – [STATIC ]” the sally port’s robotic male voice sputtered out.
The door motor started shaking violently and then erupted. Pressurized
oil shot out from the cracked motor hull and splashed the civilians
gathered near the end of the hall, coating the floor and ceiling. “Lockdown
procedures com-com-om-om-plete. Thank you for your cooperation-n-n– [STATIC].”
The sally port threw another shower of sparks and the oil ignited.
The hallway lit up in orange flames along with the unlucky bystanders
who got spritzed.
People started panicking and trampled one another to get away
from the fire. Others ran out from the flames, flailing, screaming at the
top of the lungs as they batted at the fire covering their bodies. Black
smoke filled the air, the heat from the inferno started to peel the crackled
paint off of the walls.
The flames spread quickly along the hall and from room to room,
roasting multitudes as they slept.
The fire alarms chimed. The white wall strobes flashed. The
sprinklers did not activate. Lacking maintenance or care for so long, they
were now just for show.
“Holy shit,” Andrew muttered as he stared at the stampeding
crowd headed towards him. He ran back into Krystal’s room and
slammed the door shut behind him.
Jerri looked at him with her mouth hung open. Jacob shrieked in
her arms.
Andrew stood against the door with his back pressed against it,
holding it shut. He looked at Jerri and shook his head, lost for words.
“Let me in! Let me in!” someone shouted as they tried to open
the door, coughing violently.
After a few seconds, the person gave up and moved on to the
next room.
Black smoke started to billow into Krystal’s room from
underneath the door. The doorknob slowly started to glow red.
“We have to get out of here. Now,” Andrew said, pistol shaking
in his hand. “Your sally port just turned this place into a goddamn
inferno.”
Krystal sat on the cot like stone, no expression, and no comment.
“Jesus Christ…” Jerri quickly replied. She looked around the
windowless room frantically and then looked up at the skylight in the
ceiling. “There! Up there!”
Andrew ran his hands through his hair and let out an aggravated
sigh.
“You’re right, that’s the only way,” he said. “Stand back and
cover the baby’s ears.”
Jerri stood next to Krystal and covered Jacob’s ears tightly.
Andrew pointed his pistol up at the skylight and fired four shots
in rapid succession. The glass shattered, pelting the carpet with small
broken shards.
He holstered his pistol and ran over to the dresser in the corner
of the room. Grunting, he slid the dresser underneath the shattered
skylight and climbed on top of it. The dresser creaked and swayed with
his weight.
Flames started to eat their way into the room underneath the
door, blackening the carpet.
Andrew jumped up and grabbed the skylight frame. He gritted his
teeth together as jagged glass cut into his palms. Struggling, he pulled
himself up and out onto the roof.
He wiped as much blood off of his hands as he could using his
pants and turned towards the window on his