Eden (36 page)

“
There are more of us,”
Avian started.  “We’re only part of a fairly large
group.  Half are still back east.  The rest of us are
hidden about sixty miles from here.”

He watched us warily and I
knew what he was thinking.  He was trying to determine if we
were human.  “You’re coming with me.”

We glanced at each other,
knowing we were going to have to be careful.  Who knew what to
expect.

It was then that we
noticed the vehicle that was parked behind him.  It was much
more rounded than all the other cars I had seen.  The front
seat where the driver sat was encased with a custom looking glass
bubble.  The rest of it was a bed similar to the one on our
truck.  As I climbed in I understood its set up.  In case
they ever ran into any Fallen and were tricked, they were safely
separated in the bubble.

I was confused as the man
started down the street.  I was expecting the normal engine
noise I knew a vehicle should make.  This one was
soundless.

“
Electric,” West said when
he saw my confusion.  “Now I believe you owe Avian and I an
apology?”

“
For what?” I asked,
furrowing my brow.

“
For doubting, for telling
us we were wrong.  There’s people here.  Apparently more
than one considering he said ‘we’.”

I just shook my head and
watched the buildings as they whipped by.  Avian, who sat
smashed against my side in the tight quarters of the small vehicle,
slipped his hand into mine.  The familiar feeling of peace
immediately started sinking into me, but even that wasn’t enough to
reassure me that everything was going to be okay.

Eyes watched us as we sped
down the crumbling streets.  I watched for signs of other
life, surely this man was not alone out here.  But I didn’t
see any, just the sad reminders of the empire the human race had
once had.

“
Where do you think he is
taking us?” Tuck asked.

“
It will be somewhere
incredibly secure,” I said as I continued to observe.  “They
probably don’t have enough CDU’s to give to each of their
scouts.  I’m sure he’s taking us wherever there is
one.”

Avian’s hand tightened
around mine and I noticed how he readjusted his hold on his
rifle.  Unease washed over me.  Not for fear that I might
be shorted out in the next hour, but that Avian might do something
stupid trying to protect me.

“
Don’t,” I whispered to
him, though keeping my eyes straight forward.  I shook my head
just slightly.

“
I’m not going to let them
do anything to you,” he said as he too kept his eyes
forward.

“
But I’ll never forgive
you if you get yourself killed because of me,” I said quietly,
giving his hand a small squeeze.

“
Same goes here,” he said
as he glanced over at me for just a moment.

We drove for not more than
ten minutes when I started seeing them.  Humans, standing on
top of the towering buildings, watching us from above.  Each
was heavily armed and looked like they knew how to use their
weapons.  But despite the fear I knew they must be feeling, I
saw the light in their eyes.  Was it true that they hadn’t
seen any other outsiders in over a year?

We slowed down as we
approached a building that had levels upon levels and spanned
massively in both directions.

“
A real hospital,” Avian
breathed as he studied it. 

The vehicle we sat in
pulled around to the back of the hospital and straight into a huge
door.  As we stopped inside, it closed behind
us. 

There were five armed men
just inside the door.  They each looked as surprised to see us
as the first man had been. 

“
Where’s Royce?” the man
who had brought us here asked as he climbed out of the glass
bubble.  He indicated for us to climb out, his gun pointed at
our backs.  I wondered if he realized how ridiculous he looked
with his one single shotgun when we each had at least three
firearms on us.

“
He’s upstairs,” one of
the men answered him.  He stared wide eyed at me.  I
wondered if anyone could tell that I was different just by looking
at me.

“
That way,” he said as he
prodded West in the back with the barrel.  We started
walking. 

As we walked I noticed
that there were rows and rows of vehicles in this concrete expanse
of a room.  Each of them were shiny and beautiful.  They
had picked through the best of all the cars, trucks, and vans they
could find.

We walked to a large
silver rectangle in the wall.  The man pressed a button next
to it and as it depressed into the wall, it lit up.  A few
seconds later I jumped, my hands grabbing my hand gun, when the
silver wall suddenly opened.  I calmed down slightly when
Avian and Tuck both stepped inside the box that had opened. 
The rest of us entered as well and the man pressed another button
inside.  We started rising.

“
It’s called an elevator,”
Avian said quietly behind me.

The elevator made a
dinging sound and its doors slid open again, revealing a different
scene.  A hallway stretched out before us, buzzing with the
hum of electric devices behind closed doors.  More bright
lights filled the space. 

We walked where the man
told us to, stopping at a door midway down the hall.  The man
knocked, listening.

“
Come in,” a voice
called.

There were four people
inside, gathered around a large desk, looking over some
papers.  A man with well-trimmed gray hair and a beard
straightened.  I assumed this was Royce.

“
I found them on patrol,”
the man behind us said.  “They said they found one of our
signs and came to take a look.”

“
Are there more of you?”
the man asked, his gray eyes showing hints of excitement that had
given away the rest of them.

Avian nodded his
head.  “There are sixteen more of us waiting outside the
city.  The other half of our group is at our old camp. 
About 800 miles away.”

The man’s eyes
widened.  “You’ve traveled a long ways to reach us.  How
was the journey?”

“
We made it,” Avian said
simply.

“
Forgive our unfriendly
welcome,” he said as he walked around the table, his arms folded
over his chest.  “I’m sure you understand the precautions we
have to take these days.”

“
Of course,” Avian
said.  I heard the anxiety that was creeping into his
voice.

“
Come with me please,”
Royce said as he stepped around us and out of the room.  We
followed silently.

Just looking at Royce, one
would think he was a leader.  His stature was tall and
confident.  His shoulders were sure, his gait
unfaltering.  He looked like a man who knew what he was doing,
all the time.

Royce led us down the hall
and into a room that had no windows and was totally empty of
anything other than a leather case.  He opened it up as we
stepped inside.  Others followed us in.  I didn’t miss
the weapons in their belts, in their pockets, and obviously in
their hands.  And I was very aware of the fact that they had
closed the door behind us.

It looked different than
ours but it was unmistakably a CDU.  As if on cue, West,
Avian, and Tuck adjusted their stances so they were standing just
in front of me.

“
This shouldn’t hurt
gentlemen, and lady,” he said with a tight-lipped smile as he
charged it up.  The center of it glowed a brilliant
blue.  “Just a small shock.”

Avian stepped up first,
pulling the sleeve of his shirt up and offering his arm.  His
arm twitched as the device was pressed to his arm.  West went
next, followed by Tuck. 

“
Thank you, gentlemen,”
Royce said, giving them that same tight-lipped, fake looking
smile.  “My lady.”

The three of them
tightened around me.  As they did, Royce’s eyes hardened and
he stopped in his tracks.  “You know all newcomers must be
tested.  She is no exception.”

“
She is,” West said
quietly.

“
She’s different,” Avian
said, trying to keep his voice calm sounding.

As if their words had
opened up a book on their faces, Royce’s eyes widened and he took a
step back, drawing a handgun out from the belt of his pants. 
As he did, the rest of the people in the room drew their weapons as
well.

“
Hold on!” Avian shouted
as he backed further into me, holding his hands up toward our
captors.  “She’s not Fallen!  But she has cybernetic
parts in her.  She’s different from them.”

“
They’re all the same!”
Royce shouted as he aimed his gun at my head.  “She’s a danger
being here.  My scouts should have shot her before she came
within a hundred feet of this building.”

“
She can’t be infected!”
West shouted at the man.  “She was experimented on.  My
grandfather was Dr. Evans.  She was his experiment before the
infection was developed.”

“
Dr. Evans?” Royce spat
out.  “That heartless scum bag created the infection.  He
wouldn’t have bothered with a hybrid.  In his quest for savior
status he destroyed the world.” 

 “
Yes he did, but I
assure you he was my grandfather.  My father Fell early on and
someone set Eve free after everything happened.  She’s human
but he did things to her.  You can’t test her or it
will
kill her,” West’s
voice sounded pleading.

“
They are all the same!”
Royce shouted as he thrust his gun in our direction again.  “I
don’t know how she’s tricked you into thinking differently but it’s
a miracle she hasn’t infected you yet.”

At the same time, both
Avian and West turned and each took one of my
hands. 

“
She doesn’t carry the
infection,” Avian said, his voice serious and low.  “She’s
been with me for the last five years and she’s never turned against
us.  She’s done nothing but protect us.”

The door at our backs
suddenly opened and a very tanned looking face with jet-black hair
popped in.  I had to do a double take.  I almost wondered
if I had seen him before but brushed that off. 

“
What is all the shouting
about?” he asked, his voice sounding slightly alarmed.

“
She’s one of them,” Royce
said, his voice cold.  “They’re claiming she’s
different.”

The new man’s eyes jumped
to my face and his eyes narrowed at me.  “Eve?”

“
How do you know my name?”
I spoke for the first time since we had been brought in.

“
It’s really you,” he
breathed as he stepped inside.  “You survived.”

“
Dr. Beeson?” West asked
with uncertainty in his voice.

“
You were the one who took
over my observation,” I said as the name echoed in my memory from
the notebook.

He nodded, his eyes still
wide.

“
So, you’re saying they’re
telling the truth, Erik?” Royce demanded.

“
She is different, yes,”
he said as his eyes glanced over at Royce.  “She had a chip
implanted into her brain that enhanced her.  She was a
preliminary experiment that lead up to the infection.  If you
use that on her, it
will
kill her,” he said as he indicated the CDU Royce
still had clutched in his hand.  “I cannot confirm though what
she is capable of.”

“
She’s fine,” Avian said
through clenched teeth. 

“
If I turn on you, you can
shoot me yourself,” I said to Royce with hard eyes.  “I
promise you that won’t happen though.”

He looked at me long and
hard, distrust written all over his face.  I didn’t blame him,
I would have been the same way.  I thought then, that under
less critical circumstances, we might have gotten along very
well.

“
Remove her weapons from
her,” Royce said.  “I won’t have you walking around here armed
like that.”

I saw West’s eyes flash to
my face in momentary panic.  I shook my head at him.  I
didn’t like it either but I also didn’t see any other way to get
through this.  Their men relieved me of my weapons.  When
one of them reached for my pack, I grabbed his wrist, shaking my
head at him.  His eyes grew wide and he withdrew his hand,
backing away across the room.  I almost smiled.

“
You’re sure she’s
different, Erik?” Royce asked again, his eyes narrowed.

“
Quite,” he said as he
opened the door and held it open for everyone.

Royce finally lowered his
weapon.  As he did, the rest of his men followed suit. 
“Forgive me if I’m not exactly welcoming,” he said as his face
softened, though his eyes were still cold on me.  “I’m not so
keen on the reliability of a human-cybernetic hybrid I’ve never
heard of.”

“
I wasn’t so keen on the
idea myself when I first found out what I was,” I said back, never
loosing eye contact.

Everyone else in the room
probably missed it, but my enhanced eyes caught the twitch in his
cheek as a smile was fought back.

“
Well gentlemen,” Royce
said as he started for the door.  “And lady.  Welcome to
Los Angeles.  This is our Sanctuary in the middle of hell on
Earth.”