Eden (44 page)

West’s hand came to the
back of my neck as my hand tangled in his hair.  I suddenly
craved more, more, more.

And then I remembered that
Dr. Beeson had lessened my emotional blockers.  How far could
I push before I blacked out?  Would I ever again?

But in the middle of the
burn West pulled away, his earth colored eyes looking into mine as
I wished for more. 

“
I won’t do this again
until you’ve made your choice, Eve,” he said quietly.  I could
feel all the hurt and pain I had caused him in the last few months
in his voice then.  Hate crept into my stomach again. 
“This isn’t right.  I like Avian, respect him, despite
everything.  It isn’t fair to anyone.  You have to make a
choice.  Until then, I’m tired of trying to convince you that
it should be me.  I’m not even sure it should be me
anymore.”

I tried to find the words
to reassure West, to convince him that he was wrong.  I wanted
to come up with promises and answers then but I couldn’t. 
He’d been right.  About everything.

“
I’m sorry,” was all I
managed.

“
Just don’t take forever,”
he said as he stood.  “If I’ve got miles of pain before me I’d
rather start walking them sooner than later.”

And before I could come up
with anything to that he walked out of the room.

THIRTY-SIX

Something strange was
going on the next day, or rather the next night.  I’d seen no
sign of Royce, most of his scouts, West or Avian.  Their
presence was strangely absent from the lobby area.  I couldn’t
find them in their rooms, nor in the dining area.

As I came down from the
private rooms I stopped in the main hall, hiding myself slightly as
I saw a few of the missing men trickling out of the
stairwell.  They were all heavily armed, each dressed in
bulletproof vests.  They were going out for something and I
had every intention of going with them.  I needed
out.

I dashed back toward the
stairs that led to the second floor.  I barely limped as I ran
down the hall, layers of tissue already forming over my metallic
bones.  I burst into my room, grabbing my familiar firearms,
strapping them to my person.

As I turned to walk back
out my door, an unexplainable thing happened.

My vision flickered for
half a second.  And then everything turned off.

THIRTY-SEVEN

West stepped away from the
computer with a hard swallow.  He knew the possible
consequences of what he had done, but he wouldn’t risk losing
her.  He ran over it all again in his head, recalling
everything Dr. Beeson had told him about the wireless transmissions
system and its programing.  He was certain he had done
everything correctly.

As he turned to leave, he
nearly ran into Avian.

“
What are you doing in
here?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.

“
I couldn’t let her go,”
West said as he glanced back at the screen.

As Avian looked at West,
realization filled in.  “What have you done?” Avian demanded,
his features darkening, his eyes filling with a mix of fear and
uncertainty.  West made no response and Avian’s eyes widened
as he put the pieces together.  “She’s never going to forgive
you for this.  You know that, right?”

“
I know,” West said as he
stepped around Avian.

Despite Avian’s anger,
West detected the sense of relief Avian felt at his actions. 
Now neither of them had to worry about her being blown up
again.

A crowd gathered just
outside of the front doors of the hospital.  Weapons were
being distributed and a few bulletproof vests were passed
out.  There wasn’t enough for everyone to have one
though.  Neither Avian nor West were handed one.

Every man and woman who
was brave enough was gathered with them.  Avian couldn’t help
but feel how wrong it was to go out on a mission like this without
Eve.  He wondered where she had been when West had shut her
down like she was some common Fallen.

“
You’ve all heard what
happened an hour ago,” Royce started as he stepped in front of the
crowd.  He was one of the few with a vest.  “The line Eve
installed has been disconnected.  Apparently a Fallen or two
got curious.

“
I won’t lie to any of
you.  This is going to be extremely dangerous.  The plant
is going to be saturated with Fallen.  You all heard about
what happened to Eve.  We will be far beyond lucky if we all
make it out of there alive,” Royce’s eyes were grave as he looked
over everyone.  “Your task is simple.  Take out as many
of the Fallen as you can so some of us can attempt to get to the
transformer.  And keep yourselves alive.  There’s already
been six billion lives lost, we can’t afford to lose
anymore.

“
Let’s roll
out.”

All three tanks had been
assembled and they started west in a grumbling, grating line. 
The small army followed suite, each one of its members grave faced
and somber.

“
How did you know how to
shut her down?” Avian asked as he fell in next to West.

West glanced at him,
adjusting his hold on his assault rifle.  “I spent an entire
night with Dr. Beeson, asking every question I could think of about
the wireless transmission system,” he said as he looked
forward.  “He thought I was just interested in how it
worked.  He didn’t realize just how close I was watching as he
typed in his password.  I studied every move and click he made
on that computer of his.”

“
Your grandfather would be
proud,” Avian said, as he too kept his eyes straight
ahead.

“
Don’t pretend you wanted
her coming along tonight,” West said through clenched teeth. 
“You know she would have come without a second thought.  You
know how dangerous this mission is.  She would have put
herself right in the middle of all of this.”

“
I meant that he would
have been proud for how smart you are,” Avian said coolly as he
looked over at West with hard eyes.  “You’ve obviously got his
brains.”

They held each other’s
eyes for several long moments, neither willing to
waver. 

It didn’t take long to
walk three blocks.  The scraping of the track wheels of the
tank slowed and finally came to a stop.  And there it was for
all of them to see, layers and layers of Fallen, flocked around the
power plant.

“
Not all of us are going
to make it out of this,” West breathed as he took it all
in.

Avian didn’t
answer.

“
Who’s going into the
plant with me?” Royce asked as he pulled his specialized pack on.
 In it was a portable welding unit.

Half a dozen hands went
up, including West and Avian’s.

Royce bucked the strap
across his chest, giving a nod to those who had volunteered. 
Turning his attention to the men stationed at the three turrets
atop the tanks, he said “Fire at will.  All of
you.”

The sound was deafening as
endless shots were fired at the bodies that stood around the
transplant.  As some of them exploded into gleaming metal
rain, others leapt to life, turning toward the shots.  The
group didn’t wait any longer.  All six of them sprinted toward
the plant.

The world seemed to move
in jerky snapshots.  With every flash of light, bodies came
closer and closer together, organic and cybernetic racing to end
one another’s existence.

Avian was glad then, as he
fired his automatic weapon, that he hadn’t been there to see Eve
run into the middle of this.  She’d done it alone, and as it
was right now, he knew West was right.  Not all of them were
going to walk out of this alive. 

Closing in on fifteen
yards from the plant, they could all see the twisted and broken
remains of the fence Eve had blown to bits on the first
mission.  This time, bodies created the fence.  Fewer
shots were being fired at the Fallen closest to their small group,
danger now at shooting their own men.  Bodies leapt at them
from every side and empty shell casings sang as they littered the
concrete.

“
Climb!  Climb!”
Royce shouted as the six of them broke through the ring of
cybernetics. 

One man clung to the
ladder, climbing it two rungs at a time.  Royce ascended next,
followed by another of his men.  Just as West was about to
start climbing, the man above him let out a small gurgle as a
bullet embedded itself into his chest.  He fell backward,
nearly knocking West to the ground, smearing blood over his neck
and chest as he came down.

Instinctively, Avian bent,
pressing his fingers to his throat, checking for a
pulse.

“
He’s already gone!” West
shouted as he grabbed the back of Avian’s shirt and pulled him back
toward the ladder.  “You can’t help him!”

It took everything he had
in him, knowing that if he did leave that man he would be dead, but
West had been right.  Avian followed the others up the
ladder.

The platform was clear as
the five of them raced across.  Royce unbuckled his pack as he
ran, slinging it in front of him as he kneed at the line that lay
limp and useless on the ground.

“
I’m going to need someone
to hold the line while I weld it in place,” Royce said as he pulled
out the torch and a mask to protect his eyes.

Not waiting for anyone
else to respond, West knelt next to him and picked up the
line.  Avian and the others turned their back to them,
firearms ready.

Metal fingers gleamed as
they grabbed the ledge of the platform, a metallic face emerging
with blank eyes.  The head disappeared half a second later and
they all heard the crash as the body dropped lifeless to the
ground.  The metal rungs of the ladder sang as more and more
of the Fallen started to ascend.

“
How long’s this going to
take?” Avian shouted as he fired at the Fallen, one by one as they
tried to climb the ladder.

“
Just give me a minute!”
Royce shouted over the noise of the welding torch.  “I just
want to make sure nothing’s going to pull the line
again!”

None of them noticed the
second ladder.  Silent bodies moved up to the platform, empty
eyes of former people, people who weren’t anything more than
mindless machines now.

One of Royce’s other men
dropped to the ground without even a scream.  He was dead
before he collapsed to the ground.  Avian turned and fired, at
the same time he noticed where the Fallen’s weapons were
pointed.  Without another thought, he leapt in front of
West.

Pain exploded in his thigh
and left arm, bullets embedding themselves in his flesh.  The
flame of the welding unit went out as Avian hit the ground, the
line now sure and permanent.  Royce and West raised their
weapons as more bodies climbed onto the platform.  Royce
stumbled as a bullet grazed his lower leg.

None of them noticed the
cybernetic eyes that had been watching them silently from the walls
and intricacies of the plant.  None of them saw the way its
metal fingers flexed in the darkness.

Lights flashed as more
shots were fired on that blood filled night.

The hidden Fallen sprang
to life.

A set of cybernetic hands
closed around a fleshy throat.

THIRTY-EIGHT

I couldn’t…

Couldn’t…

Move.

A flash of light flickered
across my vision and my eyes twitched just once as my brain flipped
on and off.  Another flash of light and I managed to turn my
head to the left just slightly.  Another and I was able to
twitch the fingers on my left hand.

I took a gasping breath as
the lights stayed for longer flashes of time.  As my muscles
unlocked for half a second, I attempted a step forward, only to
crash to the floor as my brain flashed out again for a brief
moment.

The lights stayed on
finally, only occasionally flickering in the corner of my vision.
Slowly, movement by movement, I worked my way to my hands and
knees.

Struggling for each
breath, my muscles finally released and the flashes
stopped.

As I caught a glimpse of
the clock on the wall, I realized it was almost four hours later
than it should have been.

My movements still stiff
and jerky, I closed my hand around the doorknob and pulled. 
Feeling slightly numb still, I started to work my way down the
hall.

I’d never checked out like
that before.  I’d been alone when it had happened.  I
hadn’t emotionally overworked myself.

Someone had shut me
down.

“
Eve,” a voice called to
me from behind.  I turned to see Dr. Beeson jogging down the
hall toward me.  “I thought you would have gone out with the
others?”

“
I tried,” I said, my
voice sounding like it wasn’t working.  He slowed to match my
still off gait.  I narrowed my eyes as I looked over at
him.  “You didn’t shut me down did you?”

“
What?” he asked, his brow
furrowing.  “Of course not.”