Gene. Sys. (9 page)

“Perfect! Go lay on the ground over there and I
will do the same over here. Wait for the first two to pass and then we’ll jump
at the last two.” We both move to our spots and lay down.

We wait patiently as the group gets closer. It’s
three girls and one guy. The first two pass, a blond haired guy with dark eyes
and a chiseled jaw, and a stunning dark skinned girl with short but thick hair.
The two in the back are a redheaded girl and a girl with light skin, narrow
eyes and hair as black as night. They are both equally beautiful.

When the girls are directly in front of us, Ev
and I reach our hands out and drag them to the ground by their legs. Their
bodies hit the ground with a thump and their screams draw the attention of the
first two, but we make quick work of the girls. Ev plunges her knife into the
redhead and I wrestle the knife away from the black haired girl and plunge it
into her chest.

We barely have time to roll off of them before
the other two are on top of us.

“I’ve got him, Titan!” the dark skinned girl
yells at the blond haired guy, whose name I can only assume is Titan. Before I
know it, Ev and I are both engaged in knife fights.

The dark skinned girl is quite reckless with her
knife, which makes her unpredictable. After a few attacks I realize that she
relies too heavily on her left side and I easily disarm her by countering one
of her attacks. I spin into her as she swings her left arm, knocking her back,
and before she can recover, I kick the knife out of her hand.

Out of the corner of my eye I can see Ev holding
her own with Titan, but I also see two figures approaching fast from behind
her. They must have been drawn by the commotion.

“Ev! Behind you!” I yell.

She plunges her knife into Titan just as the
figures arrive. Before they get her takes off running into the white abyss. I
look back at my attacker and knock her to the ground before she can retrieve
her knife. I kneel down and plunge my knife into her chest. As I stand I grab
the extra knife and I run off in the direction that I saw Ev disappear in.

After a few moments I realize that I’m standing
alone and vulnerable in the middle of the white, snowy expanse. I tread
carefully as I look around for Ev. During a pause in one of the snowdrifts I
spot a figure ahead of me and slowly walk towards it. Just as I get close
enough to see her blonde hair, she turns and I freeze. It’s the girl from my
dream. My heart slows to a whimper as I take in the beauty that my dreams did
not do justice. Her nearly platinum hair whips in the wind and her blue eyes
pierce through the snow.

I get snapped out of my trance when another
figure speeds through the white and knocks the girl to the ground. It’s Ev.
After plunging the knife into the girl, she stands.

“What are you doing
?!
” she
screams at me. “You were just standing there!”

I know that I will never be able to explain what
happened to Ev. She would never understand. Besides, how could I tell her about
the dreams and the connection I have with this girl?

“I’m sorry,” is all I manage to say. I search
for more words but none come.

“Behind you!” she yells as she runs towards me.

I turn to see a guy charging hard at me. Before
I can react, he rams his shoulder into my stomach and drives me to the ground.
My head bounces off the hard surface and a shot of pain drives right to the
front of my head. His momentum carries him over me and I kick him the rest of
the way off. The blow to my stomach was much harder than I would have thought
because I struggle for air as I stand.

When I square off against him, I get a better
look and see that he and I are built similarly. In fact, all of the boys seem
to have similar builds. This guy’s skin tone resembles mine but his eyes are
darker and narrower.

I look down to see that he has a knife in each
hand, so I brandish both of mine. He throws the first one at me and, while I
dodge it, he charges towards me. I’m impressed by his strategy because it isn’t
unlike what I would have done, had he not done it first. I’m assuming that he
does not yet know his physical limits, or mine. As he runs at me, I jump and
twist over him, grabbing his head in midair and I flip him to the ground. I
land on top of him and plunge both my knives into his chest.

“Any more?” I call out to Ev.

“That’s it,” she responds.

“
Apokalupto
,” I hear
Grant call out.

The simulation disappears and I see the training
room again. The knives in my hands have turned back to retractable pegs. I look
around and see the Genetic Systems standing from where they fell and walking over
towards us.

Grant walks up and puts his arms on Ev’s and my
shoulders. “Not bad but I know you can both do better.”

The Genetic Systems all gather in front of us
but they seem to keep their distance. Now that I can see them all before me, I
realize that they are all attractive and built like Ev and I. A hint of
jealousy climbs up in my throat.

“Ev.” Grant breaks the silence. “If you were
these ten, what would you have done differently?

Ev looks them over. “I would have made sure we
all stuck together.”

“Do you agree, Atom?” Grant looks at me.

“Yes. There is always strength in numbers.” I
look at them but avoid making eye contact. I can feel them all looking at me
and it makes me nervous.

“They are right. Staying together would have
allowed you to keep an eye out in all directions. It would have also given you
a numerical advantage.” Grant turns and walks away. “You are all dismissed.
Atom, stay behind.”

Ev leads the Genetic Systems to the elevator. My
last foe, however, lingers behind and approaches me.

“You need to teach me that move!” he says as he reaches
out his hand. “I’m Cal.”

I take his hand. “Absolutely! I’ll catch up with
you all in a bit. Pleasure to meet you.”

Cal runs to catch up to the group as I turn to
join Grant.

“What happened out there?” Grant jumps in.

I debate as to whether I should tell him what
happened or not. I figure that, if I could tell anyone, it would be him. He
would give me the most straightforward answer. “I’ve seen her in my dreams.”

“Fe?” he pries.

Hearing her name makes me smile. “We were in the
same simulation. I’ve had this dream more than once, the first time before I
even knew she existed.”

Grant stares at me. I can tell that he is
processing the information. “I really don’t know what to tell you, Atom.
Perhaps you unconsciously registered her when you were in incubation. It was a
dream. Nothing more.”

Part of me wishes he was right, but deep down I
know that he’s wrong. I don’t feel like discussing the subject further, so I
just say, “Thanks.”

I turn to walk to the elevator, but Grant’s hand
stops me. “One more thing.”

My hands get clammy and beads of sweat form on
my brow as I realize that he still hasn’t yelled at me for sneaking out of the
compound.

“I will be leaving the compound tonight.” He
looks dead at me, his eyes telling me that this is okay.

“What? Why?” I object and sit on a stack of
mats.

“I know you aren’t a fan of our plan,” he
explains. “
but
the world is still being destroyed. We
have to go and reactivate all of the nuclear weapons that still exist.”

“Who else is going?” I can feel tears forming in
my eyes. I work hard to keep them under control.

“
A few drones
, some
scientists and Nathan.” He replies. I have heard of Grant’s husband Nathan
before, but I have never met him and Grant never speaks of him. All I know is
that he is a scientist in the development sector.

“Does Ev know?” I wipe the wetness from my eyes.

“I told her yesterday. She understood and I hope
you will too.” There is a softness that has graced his eyes. At that moment I
realize just how much he cares about me.

“I’m going with you!” I demand.

“You know you cant.” Grant moves closer to me.

“Who is going to train the other Genesys?” I
remember one of the outsiders referring to us that way. “They need a lot of
work.”

“You will. And Ev.” Grant puts his arm around my
shoulder. “You two are well beyond capable and they respect you. I will leave
some instructions on how to operate the simulation and I will give you some
suggestions for some good battles.”

I can’t say anything. I just
sit
,
quiet
. It seems like all of the people I keep closest
get taken away from me. I don’t consider Rene to be close any more, but there
is still Ev. She’s still here.

Grant stands and heads for the elevator. “I’ll
be back as soon as I can. Take care of yourself, Atom.”

“You too,” is all that escapes from my lips. I’m
not even sure he heard me. The elevator doors close him off to me and I’m left
alone.

My body deflates and I lay back on the mat.
Somehow I know that I won’t ever see him again.

7

I take a look around and briefly recall all the
moments I had with Grant in the simulation room—my first training
session, my first simulation, the first time I beat him. I know that it has
only been a couple of months, but it all seems so distant. As guilty as it
feels, I want to go back to when it was just
me
in the
compound, before I even knew about Ev. Things were simpler and I had no
responsibilities.

My thoughts turn to Ev. She too must wish she
could go back from time to time, especially now that the other Genesys are
around.

I convince my legs that they need to walk me to
the elevator and they oblige. On the ride up I try to snap out of my funk and
ready myself to finally meet everyone.

As I weave my way through the hallways I hear
the sound of laughter rise from one of the classrooms. I head for the room and
stand in the doorway. Ev is the first one to notice me.

“Atom, come in.” She waves me over. The rest of
the Genesys go quiet. I can feel their eyes following me as I step next to Ev.
“I think it’s time you met everyone.”

One by one they step towards me and extend their
hands. Cal, whom I had already met, jumps in first.

“So I’m Cal. Nice to meet you again.” His
enthusiasm can be contagious. I like him.

Titan steps up next. His blond hair seems closer
to white than yellow and his handshake is firm. “Titan.”

“Hey,” I say dismissively.

Next, the dark skinned girl who fought with him
steps forward. “I’m K.”

“Pleasure to meet you.” I shake her hand.

The first two guys who Ev and I took down step
up but I barely catch their names because I see that Fe is next. I believe the
redhead called himself Sil and the dark skinned guy said he was Ox.

I can feel my hands get sweaty as Fe walks up to
me and I hope more than anything that neither she nor Ev can tell how nervous I
am.

“Hi, I’m Fe.” Her voice is so light and soothing
that I instantly find comfort. “Are you okay?”

This catches me off guard and I realize that I
must have been staring. I look down to see her hand held out and I quickly
shake it. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Cal smiling and I know
the awkward moment was seen by everyone
. As hard as I try to
fight it, my cheeks get flushed with embarrassment. I can feel Ev’s eyes
burning holes into the back of my head.

Picking up on the tension, the next two jump
towards me. They are the two who chased Ev into the white abyss. This is the
first time that I have gotten a good look at them. They both have dark hair and
mocha colored skin.

The girl grabs me and pulls me in for a hug. “My
name is Hydro, oh great leader.”

I feel weird being called that and hugged, but a
smile still sneaks onto my face. Before I know what’s happening, the guy puts
his arms around both of us. “Where will you lead us, your majesty?”

They both pull away and begin to laugh. Their
laughter lightens the mood of the room and, soon after, everyone has joined in.
I decide right then that I like both of them. Hydro and—

“I’m Al by the way,” he says as he grabs my hand
and shakes it violently.

A sound by the door grabs our attention and we
see Brianna enter the room. The last two girls step forward to get their names
in before they miss their chance.

“Mag,” says the redhead.

“I’m Sodi,” adds the black haired girl.

“It’s nice to finally meet all of you.” I wish I
had more to add but I’m not sure what I would say.

Luckily Brianna speaks, stopping any threat of
silence. “All of you take a seat.”

We each take a seat in the beanbags that are
arranged in a circle in the middle of the room. I’m careful to make sure that I
take a seat away from Fe and next to Ev, a plan that I soon realize backfires
because Fe is sitting directly across from me, forcing me to look at her.

“Today you will be learning about animals and
plants. Specifically, which ones are edible and how to prepare
them.
So pay close attention, this could save your life.”
Brianna turns on the hologram in the center of the circle.

The hologram lesson begins by showing us plant
after plant. It talks about which are poisonous, which are edible and which
have medicinal powers. In the flickers between the images I catch glimpses of
Fe. The glow of the hologram highlights the soft features of her face.

Suddenly I feel my hand being grabbed and I look
down to see that Ev has locked her fingers with mine. My heart races as it
always has and I can feel the instant comfort that her touch brings me. I’m
surprised, however, by another feeling that runs through my body, one that I’m
not quite sure how to explain. All I know is that I don’t want Fe to see that
Ev and I are holding hands. I pull Ev’s hand back between the beanbags and hope
that does the trick.

When pictures of animals start showing up on the
hologram, the entire room reacts in disgust to the notion of eating any of them,
including myself.
Until a picture of a chicken appears.
Seeing the image of this bird as it lives nearly makes my stomach turn, but
then I remember the taste and my mouth begins to water. Though I only tried it
the one time, the taste far surpassed that of any of the protein pouches.

“Those taste so good.” I’m surprised at my
words. I had not intended to say that aloud.

“You tried one?” Al speaks up.

A few of the other Genesys make their disgust
known.

“How?” I hear Mag ask from my left.

I get a rush of excitement as I begin to tell my
story. “I was outside the walls with—”

“—That’s enough Atom.” His voice cuts me
off. The lights turn on and I see Rene standing next to Brianna.

“Sorry,” I reply. I can feel everyone looking at
me and to my right I see Titan smile. There is something about him that doesn’t
sit well with me.

“I want everyone’s eyes on me.” Rene speaks as
he moves in front of the windows. We all adjust ourselves to face him.

“I’m going to explain everything once and I want
you to keep your questions until the end.” He looks right at me. I can sense an
anger building inside me. It took him months to open up to me and here he is,
telling the rest of them in less than a week.

“Some of you already know that the world, as it
is today, is going to end,” Rene begins. A few mumble their surprise. “The
people at this compound will be responsible for this end. The humans still
living on Earth are driving
themselves
to extinction.
So, when the time is right, we will be detonating all the remaining nuclear
weapons around the world to eradicate the majority of the population. Those who
remain won’t be able to withstand and survive the fallout.

“You were created to start humanity over again.
When the detonation sequence is initiated and the Ragnarok begins, you will all
be flown away from here. There are six bunkers currently being built in six
different locations in Africa. Each bunker will hold two of you, one male and
one female. We are splitting you up to make sure that, in case one bunker
doesn’t hold, the majority will survive. Of course, our hope is that you all
make it.

“You all will remain in your bunkers for exactly
two years. The doors will not unlock until then. Each bunker has been equipped
with hyperbaric chambers that will help you sleep for a couple of months at a
time and will continue to feed you information. Once the doors open, you will
all need to make your way back to this compound. The journey will be longer for
some, but once you have all congregated here, Atom will know what to do and he
will lead you.”

This last sentence hits me hard. I don’t know
what I’m supposed to do when I get back here. How can he expect me to lead them
if I’m not even sure what I’m leading them to? Suddenly the collective weight
of humanity has been thrust upon my shoulders and I feel it crushing me.

“Any questions?” Rene asks.

“Why Atom?” Titan speaks.

I hear some mumbles around the room and I can’t
tell if they agree with him or not. I glare at him. How dare he ask that
question? Though I wouldn’t mind sharing this weight, Rene chose me for a
reason. Does Titan think he can do better?

“Because it’s what we’ve been training him for,”
Rene replies in a tone that implies ‘don’t question that decision again’.

My anger at Titan subsides a bit when I hear Fe
speak. “Can’t more people fit in the bunkers?”

Rene smiles at her. “They can, but there is only
enough food and supplies to last two people two years. Your bodies were made to
be able to withstand the fallout after a year. The rest of humanity would need
to stay in the bunkers for at least 30 years before they would even have a
chance to survive the radiation.”

“How long before you start the sequence?” I
blurt out before anyone else can say anything.

“154 days.” Rene looks right at Ev and I. “We’ve
had to move up the process. So you better get them ready.”

He walks out of the room leaving us all in
shock. That’s barely five months. I feel a hint of panic form in the back of my
head. I know that it’s longer than I have been around, but it’s still right
around the corner. My thoughts jump to Grant and 80. Will they be back before
that happens? Will I…

Ev squeezes my hand and I look up to see the
rest of the Genesys staring at Ev and I. Brianna murmurs something, but I don’t
register what she said. It isn’t until everyone has left the room and I feel
Ev’s hand pull away that I realize she has dismissed us.

I make my way back through the hallways to my
room and notice a couple of the guys talking amongst themselves. My head hurts
too much to talk to them, so I walk past without making eye contact. I head
straight for the library, hoping that the solace of the roof can help organize
my mind.

The last moments of the day slowly disappear
beyond the walls and behind the pyramid as I sit. Flashes of seeing it up close
pop into my head, reminding me of 80. I try to picture him working on one of
the bunkers but my mind is too clouded for imagination.

“Holy hell!” A voice startles me and I jump to
my feet, my heart racing as I turn. Just next to the hole in the roof with the
ladder is Cal, taking in his surroundings.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” he adds.

“It’s ok.” I’m annoyed at the intrusion.

“We followed you over here. Do you mind if we
join you?” Cal waves down into the hole, stopping any chance I had to object.

Al pokes his head through and joins us on the
roof. “Hi leader.”

I cringe at the words. “Please don’t call me
that.”

“Yes, sir!” He smiles. “I’m teasing. I’m just
glad it’s not me. I couldn’t handle the pressure.”

I manage a small smile and then sit back down. I
shift to one side to allow enough room for them to sit.

“What’s that over there?” Cal asks, pointing to
the top of the pyramid.

This produces a genuine smile. I would much
rather talk about this than anything Rene brought up. “That’s the Great Pyramid
of Giza. It was built over 5000 years ago.”

“Are you serious?” Cal leans forward.

“You’ve been out there?” Al adds.

“Yes to both.” I can’t help the little bit of
pride I feel.

“What was it like?” Al looks at me. Cal does the
same.

“Very dirty and insanely dangerous. Nobody likes
us out there. In fact, they want to kill us. I was shot at!” I say a little too
excited.

“For real?” Al pries.

“Why?” Cal asks.

“They want to stop what’s happening here. They
want to survive.” A lump rises up in my throat as guilt rushes over me. I feel
sorry for the outsiders. What gives the scientists the right to choose their
fate? I can’t blame the outsiders for anything they do because all they want is
to survive. Though I won’t be the one pushing the button, I feel responsible
for their inevitable deaths. It makes me sick.

“Are you okay?” Cal puts his hand on my shoulder
with a concerned look on his face. My body must have been reacting to the
thoughts I just had.

“I’m fine, yeah.” I’m not really, but I make a
conscious effort to keep that hidden.

“So what did the chicken taste like?” Al changes
the subject.

“Amazing!” My eyes light up. “It was juicy and,
as you cut through it with your teeth, the sweet and tangy flavor seemed to
melt on your tongue.”

“I want some,” Al says.

“Me too.” Cal licks his lips.

Both of them have a savage look in their eyes
and I can’t help but laugh. They join in. It feels good to have some friends
again. Neither
seem
like they could match the bond I
have with 80, but they will be great to have around.

 
I
spend the rest of the night telling them about all that I had experienced since
I was born. Meeting Ev, the attack from the outsiders, 80, running beyond the
walls and being locked up. I’m not sure how long we spent talking but when we
all begin to shiver and yawn, I lead us back to our rooms for sleep.