Eve of Man (The Harvest Book 2) (26 page)

“I’ll make sure he gets back,” Ed replied.

Ed picked Ryan up in his arms and carried him out the
door followed closely by Jenny.  “I can’t believe you’re here.” They heard Ed
say before the door closed behind him.

Austin had Zack call Luke and Kyle. He wanted to meet with
them here in his suite. It was time they discussed the future, their future. The
news about Europe and the rest of the world wasn’t going to be easy to hear. While
waiting, he told Zack about his journey to find Ryan. He described where the
children were kept, an incredible scene he still found hard to believe himself.
Zack asked the obvious question about saving more.

Austin shook his head. “Caleb can’t save them all. It
was a risk taking Ryan. If we took more the Svan would be alerted.”

“How did he do that? How did Eve, you know save my
daughter? How do they do that?”

“Transfer of energy or harnessing energy. I’m not sure
exactly, but that’s the best way I know how to explain it. I know it takes a
lot out of them. Eve near fainted afterwards, and Caleb wasn’t looking too
great.”

“So...this is a conversation I never thought I’d be
having,” Zack said and cleared his throat, “Your son...he’s...what is he?”

“He’s human and Adita. I guess you can say he’s a new
species,” Austin answered, knowing he shouldn’t say anything, but wanted Zack
to understand, to not think Caleb was a freak. “The Adita thought they could
start a new superior race of beings.”

“But?”

“But, I don’t know. Agra doesn’t seem happy with the
results. He wanted a superior being, and Caleb is that--”

“But aren’t they already superior beings?”

“Only to humans and only if you consider a diet of
blood superior.”

“Only to humans,” Zack repeated in deliberate fashion,
letting the words simmer a bit.

“Think about it Zack. We can live on a variety of
things. Meat, vegetables, fish. They have one choice. If oranges were the only
thing you could survive on wouldn’t you do everything in your power to preserve
those trees?”

“Yes, but we aren’t fruit.”

“We are to the Adita.” A crop to be cultivated and
then harvested, he finished silently.

“You sound like an advocate for their plight to
conquer and destroy.”

“They don’t want to destroy us.”

Zack nodded. “My friend I do believe you’re correct. However,
they don’t want to preserve our way of life either. I’m afraid what they want is
heck of lot worse than anything we want to envision.”

Austin held his tongue. He couldn’t argue for or
against without giving away he knew everything. Despite not knowing the facts,
Zack’s assumptions were right on target. Their options were not inviting. Dead,
the preferable option, or vacuum sealed for eternity while having your blood cleansed
for the harvest of the next generation Adita. It was on the tip of his tongue
to share with Zack all that Eve had told him, but he’d promised.

“Does Caleb... is he like Eve? I mean what does he eat?
Ah, I mean...”

“He doesn’t desire human blood if that’s what you’re
driving at. He doesn’t need it to survive like Eve does,” Austin replied.

“And what about you man? What are you? I mean I’ve
seen your blood cells and they are pretty fucking out there. Like the
incredible Hulk or something. Crazy super cells on a crazy super train.
Superman cells--”

Austin cleared his throat, stopping Zack from rambling
on. “I’m, well I’m a new improved version of myself, but still fully human.”

Zack pursed his lips and shook his head at the irony
of that statement, new and improved, as if Austin needed improvement. “And
telepathy comes along with being new and improved?”

Austin wasn’t so self-assured to not be embarrassed. “Hey
man if it helps any, I don’t hear everything clearly, sometimes it’s more
seeing than hearing and I can block stuff,” he said, going to the door.
“They’re here.” He waited until Luke knocked before opening.

Luke walked in, suspicion in his eyes and thoughts,
but he held back any biting comments. Kyle came in a few minutes later and
Austin couldn’t help staring at him. This was his brother. They looked nothing
alike, Kyle favored their mother, yet Austin saw the resemblance clear as day. Given
time he felt certain the others would pick up on the similarities. Madison would
have noticed for certain.

“So why are we here?” Luke asked.

Austin turned his attention on the group, settling his
eyes on Kyle. “The Adita have resumed their course of reclaiming the planet. The
Svan moved into Europe a few days ago. Only a handful of people were left
behind. Same as here.”

 “Are you sure?” Kyle asked, his voice unsteady, his
expression of someone about to throw up.

“I’m sure.” Austin went over to Kyle and placed his
arm around his shoulder. “I’m really sorry.” 

“What does that mean for us?” Luke asked.

“I don’t know.” Austin sighed.

The group sat quiet and solemn, facing the fact of
having no way out. Before, when they’d believed the entire world had perished
at the same time, the situation had been tolerable. Discovering life had gone
on in other places gave them new hope, a new breath of life, but then as hope
went, it was snatched away from them. Your best friend and your worst enemy. Ed
could have attested to that had he been present to attest. He’d been on and off
the hope wagon, more times than a Hollywood star checked in and out of rehab.

Looking around the room, Austin knew the fall of
Europe had slapped them in the face and hard. The sort of slap that left marks and
turned an ugly yellow before fading away. It meant admitting the Svan were
unstoppable. It meant admitting defeat. This was something Austin could not accept.
Everything had a weakness, even the Svan and the Adita had a weakness. For the
Adita their strength was also their weakness. The very liquid that made them
invincible could also bring them to their knees.  

The Svan were another beast all together. They were
carnivores and intelligent. Austin almost preferred them as an enemy over the
Adita. That they could not see through aluminum hardly counted as a game changer
or an advantage. This had been something Austin had wanted to ask Eve about,
but other things had been on his mind. He had a fleeting thought for her
safety, but brushed the concern away. Agra needed her as much as they needed
him and Caleb. He wouldn’t hurt his own daughter.

“Why Earth?” Luke asked, breaking the silence.

“It’s their home,” Austin answered, leaving out that
they had a right to reclaim their home. No one would understand or care and
Austin didn’t have answers for the questions that would follow such a
statement.

“We should fight them,” Luke said suddenly.

“How?. We have no way of defeating them,” Zack argued.

 “I don’t care. I would rather die fighting then live
in this fantasy world ya’ll have created down here. Christmas shopping. Are you
fucking serious? Madison’s dead because everyone wanted to pretend we aren’t
fucked.”

“Shut up Luke,” Zack said, standing up, an expression
crossing his face Austin had never seen. A look the kids in Boston had known
well and feared.

“I won’t shut up and I won’t lie.” Luke ignored Zack’s
glare.

“Luke that’s enough.” Austin stepped over to him
taking his arm. “Please.”

“You should tell him,” Luke insisted.

“Tell me what?” Zack asked, growing more concerned by
what they weren’t saying.

“Damn it man,” Austin said.

“Damn it nothing. What don’t I know?” Zack demanded.

His words hung heavy in the room

“I’m sorry Zack. I should have told you, but you
were... I didn’t want to upset you more than you already were.”

“Well tell me now then. Tell for fuck sake.”

“The baby’s DNA was altered,” Austin replied.

“Altered? What the fuck does that mean? Is she my kid
or not?”

“Yes. Calm down man.” Austin threw Luke a look. This
could have been handled in a better way at another time. “

 “Calm down? What does that mean? Will she be human?
Will she be an Adita? One of them?” Panic rose in his voice.

“It’s not like that,” Austin replied. “She’ll be
human. She’ll be a better human. That’s all. Eve altered her DNA during the
transfer in order to ensure her survival. In order to ensure she was born as
fit as possible, but she is still very much your child.”

“Better how? In what ways better?” Zack asked, taking
his anxiety down a notch, trying to see the benefit in this.

“Stronger, smarter, faster. I don’t know for sure, but
she’ll be better in a good way.” Austin wished he had more to tell him.

Zack examined Austin’s face, unsure what to say or
think. DNA and how it worked wasn’t an unfamiliar topic. They’d studied DNA
sequencing in one of his advanced courses so he knew the lingo, understood the
concept, but that was as far as it went. The nuts and bolts of DNA testing wasn’t
something Zack had pursued or took an interest in, but was thinking he’d do
some research and learn more about it.

“Couldn’t Eve do that for all of us? Make us all
stronger? Give us somewhat of an advantage?” Luke asked.

Austin shook his head. It was legitimate to ask, but
not as simple as he imagined. “I don’t know if she can.”

“Why not?” Luke demanded. “The bloodsucker could if
she wanted to.”

“Luke man, take it easy,” Zack warned, seeing Austin’s
jaw stiffen.

“She would if it was possible,” Austin replied, keeping
his cool and giving Zack a warning look to not say anything more. His
relationship with Eve was not something Luke was ready to hear about.    

“That’s not the answer anyway,” Zack said. “Unless we
become an Adita, we’ll never be strong enough to fight them and even then who
knows. And I don’t know about anyone else, but I like being human. So we have
to figure out another way.”

Luke protested with a grunt, but said no more.

“I’m going back to Germany,” Kyle announced, rejoining
the conversation. “If people survived, if there are even a few, maybe Will and
Ada...” His voice trailed off.

“I’ll go with you,” Austin said, surprising everyone.

“So am I,” Luke said, his tone daring anyone to say
otherwise.

“I can’t ask you to do that,” Kyle said.

“You’re not asking. We’re volunteering,” Austin
replied. “We know the Svan better than you. And it’s never a bad idea to have
someone watching your back.”

“How will you get there? The same way Kyle came?” Zack
asked.

“We could fly,” Luke offered.

“Let me handle that part.” Austin replied.

Kyle felt somewhat comforted by the knowledge he was
at least going to make an effort to find out if Will and Ada were alive. Trying
was the least he could do after all they’d done for him. They deserved that effort
and he wasn’t going without any hope. Various underground places were scattered
about the country and he knew of one stockpiled full of provisions. He knew
this because shortly after the US did its disappearing act, he’d gotten busy
stashing necessities.

“I know a place they may be hiding. Under Wetterstein
Mountains,” Kyle said. “There’re a series of tunnels. One of those leads to a
secret facility built by the German government. Kind of like the Section Seven you
mentioned in Cheyenne. It’s self-sufficient, has a medical facility, a small
grow center, everything you need to survive. The German’s used it during WWII
for testing biological pathogens.”

“Sounds charming. Like a basket full of rattle snakes,”
Zack commented.

 “The German’s weren’t the only ones.” Kyle replied to
which Zack nodded in agreement. “Anyway, the place was converted to a science
lab for petrology about fifteen years ago,” Kyle continued, “but they closed it
down a few years back. I guess no one was all that interested in rocks. Prior
to closing they spent a mint upgrading the place with state of the art
equipment until the funds ran dry. Will told me about it. I guess at one time
they thought there might be evidence in those rocks of early civilizations,
maybe even aliens on Earth.” Kyle half smiled at the irony of it all. “I don’t
guess they ever found any.”

“Had you been there recently?” Austin asked

“When the cloud of confusion rolled over the US I
started stockpiling supplies. No one traveled anywhere. Everyone stuck close to
their homes. No one wanted to get caught outside when the clouds came storming
in, so I knew my things would be safe.”

“Do many people know about it?” Zack asked.

“Nah. Those who used to work there are most likely
dead. And like I said, rocks weren’t high on anyone’s list of things to learn.”

“Maybe your friends went there,” Zack said.

“Maybe. But it’s a two hour drive from Cologne.” Kyle
sighed. “They could have made it if they were watching the radar, but Will
wouldn’t have left people behind to save himself.”

“Maybe he sent Ada and some others to the mountain.” Zack
offered trying to sound positive if only to ease the pain and uncertainty he
knew Kyle was dealing with.

Everyone wanted to be positive, but hidden behind
their good intentions was the truth of the situation. Keep hope alive meant
little, if it meant anything anymore. They’d already survived the purge and the
drop and General Roth. The Svan were brutal in their attacks, non- discriminate
in choosing who lived, who died. Rhyme, reason or natural selection hadn’t been
deciding factors. Death, and lots of it, ruled the day. Kyle was the fortunate
one. He wasn’t alone in his grief and misery, wandering aimlessly about hoping he
wasn’t the last human alive.