Surviving ELE (ELE Series #4) (8 page)

Erik shakes his head. “It’s not a test, Willow. This is life. You are human, for goodness sakes. You are what sixteen, seventeen? You are bound to make mistakes. We just had the opportunity to prevent this particular one from happening.”

I still feel a bit down on myself at not being responsible enough to handle that ability. Erik is right though; I’m not perfect. In fact, if the world depended on my perfection, we’d all be in for a heaping of trouble. I decide to acknowledge this fact and move on. “Thank you, Erik.” I run my hand through my messy curls and sit taller in my seat. “I’ve come here to ask for your help.”

“You will have my full support, Willow. I already know what you wish from me and I agree full heartedly that Zack Hastings must be stopped,” Erik answers before I can continue with my intended spiel.

“Well, thank you.” I breathe out a sigh of relief before a thought pops into my mind. “Was that seer able to view the outcome of our mission?” I have not yet been able to take control with my gift of sight. I only get snapshots of future events here and there. They come to me randomly, without my requesting them.

He shakes his head. “I wish. Our seer did say that it would take a while. She saw the seasons change and a bitter cold take over while you were still here.”

“A bitter cold?” asks Alec.

Morgan raises his hand as he answers for his brother. “Haven’t you noticed the air turning crisp? This Project ELE has failed to bring upon the desired heating of our planet. Thank goodness.” He laughs.

These people wouldn’t have had the same type of protection as those who took the survival shot. If the earth had in fact heated beyond livable conditions, it would have made life unimaginably hard for everyone left outside. “If we are in for a long haul, I assume that you will okay my team staying with me?”

Erik stands up. “Yes, of course. They will become a great asset to our group. I will go make arrangements for you and your team to move in immediately.”

I stand up and shake Erik’s hand from across the table. “Thank you.”

“You are very welcome.” Erik smiles.

We follow him from the room and spend the remaining day getting settled in before dinner.

Camp Cheley is much bigger than it looks like from the outside. Erik has spread our group out among the campus of log cabins. A few of us were assigned rooms in The Commons. Among my friends in The Commons, Alec and Connor share a room, Candy was paired with Marya, and I share a room with Claire.

After we wash the dirt off from our long hike through the woods, we head downstairs to meet back up with Erik. He offers to show us around. The Commons has a lot of the amenities that the Shelter offered. Unfortunately though, without electricity, most of them are useless. We walk by an Olympic-sized pool that has turned green from being unkempt.

Up ahead of me, I watch Connor nudge Alec in the side. “I dare you to jump in there.”

Alec rolls his eyes. “How about you go first.”

“You’re no fun anymore,” Connor chides. Alec laughs.

“Do you think we’re safe out here?” Claire whispers to me.

“I do. Erik’s people have managed to survive this long amongst a forest filled with Reapers,” I answer.

“You are all very safe here, young lady.” I turn around to see Morgan following closely behind us. He is still sporting his iconic sunglasses. I didn’t notice that he had joined the tour. He walks using the wall as a guide.

I stop. “This is my best friend Claire.” I introduce her to Morgan.

“Nice to meet you, Claire. My name is Morgan.” He holds his hand out for her.

She shakes his hand. I watch in amazement as he reads her. For a moment, his lips turn downward in a frown. Claire looks to me as if asking why the heck this man is still holding my hand. I look back at Morgan, who has started to smile again and is nodding his head. He releases her hand a second later.

“Um, what was that?” she asks me.

“Morgan is a reader. He can see your memories and basically read everything about you in a single touch,” I answer.

She visibly shivers and storm clouds seem to roll in over her expression. I haven’t seen Claire look like that since back in the shelter, before I had gotten to know her. I can feel her emotions running a gambit as she processes the fact that this man she just met now knows everything about her life.

“I’m sorry, I probably should have asked for your permission to do that,” Morgan interjects.

“Yes, you probably should have.” She runs her hands through her pale blonde hair and takes a deep breath as if she can exhale all of her feelings. Then she mouth’s to me, “Is he blind?”

I nod my head.

“May I say that you have become a remarkable young woman despite your hardships.” He looks slightly sad as he tells this to Claire.

She looks uncomfortable but manages to say, “Thank you.”

I know that Claire has had a tough life since her parents died from the virus. I can’t help feeling a bit jealous of Morgan though. He now knows my best friend more intimately than I do.

“Did you not meet Morgan the last time you were here?” I ask her.

“No, she was a little out of it at the time. Alec was the only one I really got the chance to interact with. Claire did meet my wife Audrey,” Morgan answers for her.

“Oh, you’re Audrey’s husband!” Claire’s face lights up. “She is amazing.”

“That she is,” Morgan agrees with a huge smile.

Claire looks at me. “I was a bit distraught when they found me and brought me here. After having been locked in that cavern and then seeing those Reapers when we first escaped, I sort of just shut down. It took me a while to process it. Audrey helped me a lot.”

I nod my head in understanding. I totally get the shutting down part. I think back to when I first walked out of the shelter. I certainly wasn’t ready to process everything that was happening in the world on the outside.

A tall, gorgeous woman, with dark, caramel skin and rich, dark hair comes bounding up behind Morgan. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere, babe!” she calls to him.

Morgan doesn’t just smile at her voice; he beams brighter than the sun. She smiles at Claire and me as she approaches. Before introducing herself to us, she puts her hands in Morgan’s. He continues to smile as he holds her hands tight. I feel a little awkward, like we are intruding on a very private moment.

“You weren’t lying. You did look everywhere for me, sweetheart.” He pulls her hand up to his lips and gives it a gentle kiss. Her copper eyes are filled with adoration for her husband.

She must be the seer. I can’t help but wonder what she must think of me if she saw me hurt so many people upon coming in contact with Virginia’s gift.

She turns to me, “I’m sorry, we are being rude. I’m Audrey and it’s very nice to meet you, Willow.” Her eyes hold no accusations, only kindness. She smiles at Claire, “I’m so happy to see you again, Claire.”

Claire gives the woman a hug. “It’s nice to see you again too, Audrey.”

After hugging Claire, Audrey doesn’t extend her hand to me. Instead, she pulls me into a hug. Part of me wants to consider it awkward but the other part of me takes comfort in this woman. She reminds me a little of my mom. Her eyes are kind and wise, yet she holds herself with a certain degree of authority and dignity.

“Nice to meet you,” I tell her.

“Are you girl’s hungry? I was just about to drag my husband off to the Mess Hall,” she says.

“The Mess Hall?” I ask.

Morgan laughs. “Yes, it’s where we all make a mess of ourselves as we grub out on food.”

“Oh.” My stomach growls at the mention of food.

“So you are hungry,” he jokes.

I can’t sustain the laugh that works its way up my throat. “Follow me,” Audrey says. She takes her husband’s hand into the crook of her arm and walks with him towards the Mess Hall. You can tell he has full trust in his wife because he doesn’t walk timidly. He has full confidence, as if he can see the hall before him. Perhaps he actually can see it, through his wife’s eyes.

As we enter the huge dining room – which is in fact labeled in childish block letters as The Mess Hall – we find Erik, Alec, and Connor. They must have circled around the facility because they are already in line for the buffet-style dinner.

Erik invites us to sit with his family. When I come to the table, I notice a familiar person sitting next to a man that looks like a younger version of Erik. Except this man, or boy, has neon-yellow eyes.

“Willow!” Molly jumps up from her seat and comes running towards me.

“Hi, Molly,” I say not as enthusiastically, as I set my tray down. I like the girl, but last time she drove me a little nuts.

“I was hoping I’d see you again.” She pulls my arm and jerks me around the table.

She looks at me excitedly with her bright purple eyes as she introduces the boy she was sitting next to. “This is my boyfriend, Seth!” She smiles giddily.

Seth wipes his mouth with his napkin before he stands up to greet me. “Nice to meet you,” Seth says as he holds his hand out to me.

I shake his hand. “Nice to meet you too. I’m Willow.”

“Yes, my brothers have told me about you.” He lowers his voice and leans in to speak to me more intimately. “Thank you for taking care of Molly. I’m sorry that I left her like that. I had no idea I would react in such a way. I regret that day very much.”

Molly, having heard his thank you, slaps him playfully on the arm. “Yeah, I make sure he never forgets it.”

I chuckle. As much as I’d love to have given this boy a stern ‘what for’ because of his actions, I can see that Molly has probably made him pay for it tenfold. “You’re welcome,” I answer him.

I introduce Molly and Seth to my friends and then take a seat. I wave Candy and Jake over to our table after they make their way through the line. They sit on the opposite end as us. For the most part, they seem to keep more so to themselves as opposed to getting involved in our conversations. I can tell that they are really into each other.

I dig into the steaming hot meal of chicken and dumplings. It is so freaking good that I’m sure I’m making embarrassing moaning and awing sounds as I shovel it into my mouth. I don’t care though; having a warm meal really hits the spot.

After dinner, we meet with Erik and Morgan and hash out some basic plans. Since we don’t know Zack’s exact location, we’ll have to send out a few surveillance teams. We set up a mission to check out the area west of the shelter. There have been reports of strange lights shining in the sky in that general vicinity. We figure that it’s as good a start as any. In addition to our strategies to hunt Zack down, we make plans for our newest members to begin training. Some of the new arrivals that we have with us haven’t been adequately trained. We nominate a few of Erik’s men as well as mine to lead the defense training. We also set up for people with similar gifts to work together to sharpen each other’s powers.

It feels good to take action and make plans. When I retire to my room with Claire, I find myself feeling exhausted, yet hopeful. Perhaps we can do this. We
can
take Zack down. I fall asleep easily and when I dream, I dream of Tony.

I wake up when the first wisps of light filter into our room. Taking advantage of being the first person up, I tiptoe to the bathroom and take a quick, cold shower. I’m towel drying my hair as I walk back into the room ten minutes later.

Claire is sitting Indian style on her bed. She’s already fully dressed and ready to go. She smiles at me as I enter the room. “Good morning, sunshine.”

“Good morning to you too. You seem like a happy camper this morning.” I eye her, wondering why she looks so at peace.

She talks to me as she gathers her hair up into a high ponytail. “I know it may seem odd with us being in this strange place and about to head out into the battlefield and all, but it feels good to have all of my friends close by. You are like my sister and when you’re gone, I miss you.”

I hang the damp towel over a chair and walk to her side of the bed. “I’ve missed you too, Claire. I’m glad you are here with me. Oh, and as far as I’m concerned, we
are
sisters.” I give her a quick hug.

Her eyes shine when we part. She sniffs and clears her emotions from her face. “Okay, enough mushy-gushy this morning. I’m ready to kick some butt!” She hops out of bed.

I laugh and teasingly pull her ponytail as we walk out of the room.

Breakfast consists of quick protein bars and a bottle of water. I make my way down to the auditorium, which is next door to the Mess Hall. Alec, Connor, Candy, and Jake find us right away, amongst the throngs of people.

“You ready?” Alec asks me.

I nod my head. “Yes.” I want to be excited about this mission but I can’t help but remember what Erik said that Audrey saw. She didn’t see us succeeding on this mission. I have to remember though, that any little bit of information that
we find could lead to our success. Perhaps we won’t find Zack or Tony today, but maybe we will get a few pieces of the puzzle.