Eden (37 page)

We followed him back out
into the hall and Dr. Beeson broke off from the rest of us. 
“Our offices are on this level, as well as several of our labs,”
Royce said as he indicated the doors down this hall.  We
followed him back where we had come from and reentered the
elevator.  My stomach felt strange as we started to
descend.  The door opened to a different level, this one
bustling with people, opening up into a big lobby.

 “
This is our other
headquarters,” Royce said as we stepped out and into the busy
room.  “Everything gets run from this room.  All the
scheduling for patrol, shifts in the kitchen, maintenance, it’s all
made here.  Everything is logged in, tracked.  We keep a
tight schedule but everything runs smoothly.”

And as I looked around,
everything he said made sense.  Everyone looked like they had
a place to be, a job to fulfill.  It was then that I noticed
the solid steel shutters that covered the front door, all of the
windows, and every other opening.

“
Keeps out things we don’t
want getting in,” Royce said when he noticed me observing
them.

“
You keep them out during
the day, even in the middle of all of this,” I said, my voice
impressed.

Royce nodded as we
continued to follow him toward the back of the big front
area.  We entered into another hallway, this one wider and
more open than the one upstairs.  “Restrooms are right there,”
he said, pointing to a pair of wooden doors.  I wondered what
he meant by “restroom”. 

We turned a corner and
came into another fairly large room with tables and chairs set up
everywhere.  Along one wall was some sort of glass case and
beyond that I could see the strangest looking kitchen I had ever
seen.  It was all shiny steel and smooth surfaces.

“
Back there’s the
kitchen,” Royce said as he pointed in that direction.  “Meals
are served at nine PM, one AM, and seven AM.  Pretty much all
of us keep a nocturnal schedule here.  Dinner will be served
in about two hours,” he said as he glanced at his watch. 
“Most of us wake up around eight PM, just before the sun starts to
go down outside.  Bed is around ten AM.” 

“
Doesn’t this place start
to feel like a prison?” I couldn’t help but asking.  “You
never even see the sun.”

“
Our lifestyle isn’t
easy,” Royce said as he met my eyes.  “But it’s kept over one
hundred people alive all this time.”

“
There are that many of
you?” West asked in amazement.  

“
For a few years we were
gaining five or six new people a year.  Then it started
becoming fewer and fewer.  There’s been no one for the last
year.  We figured there wasn’t anyone left.”

“
We found two more people
on our way here,” I said as we walked out of the dining room and
back out into the hall.  “In the middle of the
desert.”

“
We look forward to
meeting everyone in your group.  I’ve never heard of such a
large group traveling so far.  How did you manage
it?”

“
We drove,” Avian
answered.

“
I’m impressed,” he said
as he raised his brows.  We turned another corner and stopped
at a desk where a man in a white jacket sat.  He looked up at
us with surprise in his eyes as we approached him.  “This is
Dr. Giles.  He’s the head physician here.  These people
here traveled from back east,” he explained to Dr. Giles. 
After the introduction, Royce stepped into a side room.  I
heard another voice floating through the door.

“
Congratulations on
surviving,” the man with the shiny head said.  His eyes were
kind behind his glasses as he extended his hand to us.  I
watched as Avian and Tuck shook his hand, observing closely so I
did it just right when it came my turn.  The motion felt
strange and foreign.

“
You’re a real doctor?”
Avian asked, longing and awe in his voice.

“
Board certified,” he said
with a smile.  His teeth were astonishingly white. 
“Well, used to be before there was no more board to pass. 
There are three other medical doctors here as well.”

The amazement was obvious
in Avian’s eyes as he shook his head. 

“
Avian has been our doctor
for the last five years,” I said, feeling an odd sense of pride in
him.

“
Ah, wonderful,” Dr. Giles
said.  “Where was your practice before the world
Fell?”

“
Uh,” Avian stumbled over
his words.  “I actually never attended medical school.  I
had two and a half years of medical training when I was in the
Army.  Since I had the most experience I became the
doctor.  I learned most of my knowledge through
experience.”

“
Very good,” Dr. Giles
said, something in his eyes changing.  It took me a moment to
realize what it was.  It was the loss of respect.  I
suddenly didn’t like the doctor half as much.  I’d like to see
this man treat a bullet wound in the middle of the forest with next
to no supplies.

“
Do you mind if I take a
look around your quarters?” Avian asked, unbothered by the man’s
rudeness.

“
We have a few open rooms
you’re welcome to examine,” he said, his friendly demeanor
back.  “And so is our surgery room.  We have patients in
a few rooms so I’ll ask you to keep quiet.”

He led us into a room that
was so sterile I hesitated in the doorway with my dusty boots and
dirty clothes. 

Avian walked into the room
alone as the rest of us waited in the doorway.  His eyes were
alight as he observed the strange bed with the rails on the side of
it.  He ran his hands over a piece of equipment that stood as
tall as him, all kinds of buttons and screens on it.  He
opened and closed drawers and I could just imagine what he would
have done for all of these supplies.

I realized then what the
fact that there were four doctors here meant.  If we stayed
here, moved the rest of Eden into this city, Avian would never have
to be tied down because of his medical knowledge again.  He
would be free to do whatever he wanted.  He could go
anywhere.

Dr. Giles took us to the
surgery room, but only let us look in through a window.  As I
observed the steel blades that lay out, gleaming in the light as it
shone through the window, my breath caught in my throat.  I
saw the steel table in the middle of the room and my dreams flooded
my thoughts. 

The sound of the drill and
the cool against the back of my shaven head were all I could
process.

“
Come on,” West’s voice
said from somewhere and I felt him take my hand and lead me back
out into the hall.

I saw nothing as I stood
with my back against the tall desk, holding my arms around
me.  West stood to the side of me, his arm draped around my
shoulders, squeezing me into his side.

Avian finally walked back
out into the hall and stopped in his tracks.  He looked at me,
glanced back in the direction of the surgery room, and his face
blanched white.  “Eve, I’m so sorry,” he said, his eyes
looking panicked.

I just shook my head, my
eyes glued to the floor.  Avian was suddenly standing right in
front of me, his hands on either side of my face.  As I looked
up into his blue eyes, I felt my insides loosen up.  I still
felt sick though.

“
You shouldn’t be touching
her,” Avian said, his voice cold as he looked over at West. 
“Having something happen here is
not
going to help Eve’s case.” 
He spoke quietly enough only the three of us could hear.

West only looked at Avian
coldly as he took two steps away from me.  All three of us
glanced over at Royce who had just stepped out of the room and Dr.
Giles who watched us with hesitancy. 

“
Sorry, gentlemen,” Avian
said as he stepped away from me slightly.  “Just bad memories
for some of us.”

They both gave slight
nods, though they still looked at me warily. 

“
I’ll show you our
sleeping quarters,” Royce said, dismissing the awkward
moment.  He walked back out into the main hall and continued
down.  As we followed, West slipped his hand into mine. 
I shook it off, remembering what Avian had said to him.  It
was too great of a risk, having West send me into overload
here.  West should have understood that.

We entered another hall
that was lined with doors.  These ones were different
however.  They had names written on them, some written in
clear, precise letters, others painted in colored fonts that I
could hardly read. 

“
These are the living
quarters,” Royce said as we walked past personalized doors. 
“Of course they were once just normal hospital rooms.  We’ve
converted them into living space.  Each of them has their own
restroom.  They’re not large but they’re big enough to keep
all of your personal effects in and get some sleep.”

“
What’s a ‘restroom’,” I
whispered to Tuck as we walked.

He gave a slight chuckle
and whispered in my ear.  My brow furrowed.  “If that’s
what it is why do they call it a
rest
room?”

Tuck just chuckled again
and shrugged his shoulders.

We came to the end of the
hall and opened a door that revealed a set of stairs.  As we
came out on the next floor up, we discovered another hallway of
personalized doors. 

“
Would you like rooms for
this afternoon?” Royce asked as we stopped in the middle of the
hallway.  “I hope you plan on staying with us.  Of course
you’re free to leave whenever you like but I would encourage you to
stay.  We can offer you protection, food, comfort.”

Comfort.  I was
pretty sure I would be more comfortable out in the woods than I
would be in this boxed-up prison.

“
We’re not sure what our
plans are honestly,” Avian said as he glanced at West, Tuck, and
I.

“
We weren’t even sure if
we’d find anyone alive, or if we were walking into a death trap,”
West said. 

“
I’m sure we could all use
some sleep though,” Avian continued.  “I know at least I would
like to stay for another day, explore your facility more.  I’m
fascinated by how you’ve managed to thrive in the middle of a
city.”

Royce nodded.  “Of
course.  This way.”  He led us further down the
hall.  “You can use these three rooms, they’ve recently been
made empty.”

“
Three?” I
questioned.  “There are four of us.”

Royce looked confused for
a moment.  “I’m sorry, I assumed the two of you would want a
room together,” he said as he indicated Avian and I.  I then
remembered how he had watched as Avian had held my face between his
hands, how close our faces had been together.

“
If you have four rooms,”
West jumped in, not looking at Avian or I.  I swallowed hard,
unsure of how I felt.

A small smile crossed
Royce’s face.  “That one is available as well,” he said as he
pointed at the door across from the other three.  “Will you
remember how to get back to the dining room in an hour for
dinner?”

We each nodded our heads
and Royce left our sides.

Before I would have to
face any of the awkwardness between the two of them I let myself
into one of the rooms and closed the door behind me.

The room felt so sterile,
just like the rest of this relic of a hospital.  The walls
were all white, the bed made up with white sheets, white
pillows.  Even the wooden drawers and cupboards felt too clean
and pristine. 

I longed for my tent back
in Eden.

I opened a door, finding
what must have been a “restroom”.  The hint of a smile tugged
on my face as I saw the shower, remembering the one real one I had
had in the cabin I had found.

A knock on the door
startled me.  “Who is it?” I called through the thick
wood.

“
I’ve brought you some
things,” a female voice called from behind the door.

Hesitantly, I opened
it.  The girl behind it looked close to my age.  Her eyes
were narrow and dark, her hair jet black and perfectly
straight.

“
My name is Lin,” she
said, giving me a smile.  Her eyes seemed to almost disappear
when she did so.  “I brought you a few things.”

I then noticed the cart
she was wheeling.  She grabbed a gray colored blanket, a few
items of clothing, and a few bottles of unknown liquid.

“
What are these?” I asked
as I opened the lids and took a wiff.  They smelled
nice.

“
To wash your hair?” she
said, her face looking slightly confused.  The smallest of a
chuckle escaped her lips.

“
Thank you,” I said as I
put all my new things under my arm.  There was something about
this girl I liked.  She seemed… warm.

“
If you need anything
else, any help, I’m just a few doors down,” she said as she pointed
down the hall.  “My door is the one with the white lily
painted on it.”

“
Thank you, Lin,” I said
again.  She gave me another smile and crossed the hall to
knock on another door.

I went back into the
bathroom and after a few minutes figured out how to get the hot
water to flow.  My clothes felt crusted as I pealed them off,
setting them and my pack on the floor.