The Human (The Eden Trilogy) (17 page)

For some reason I felt ashamed for what had happened.  I was too strong to let them do something like this to me.  “They were trying to figure out the reason why I can’t be infected.  I think they thought they could find a cure.  I don’t know if they found what they were looking for, but they did something else while they were in there.  And I don’t think they realized they did it.”

“What is it, Eve?” Avian asked, his voice low.

“You know how I could control the Bane before?” I asked, looking around to Gabriel, Bill, and Tuck.  “Just one or two of them?”

They each nodded.

“It’s exponentially stronger now,” I said, my eyes growing dark.  “I was trying to call any Bane that might be in the forest, to keep them away from you until I could find you.”

“But you were so far away,” Tuck said, his eyes narrowing at me.  “How is that possible?”

“I don’t know,” I said.  I told them about how I had only thought of the supplies I needed to survive, and how the next morning the Bane had collected them for me.

“This changes things,” Bill said.  “I’m not exactly sure how, but it changes things.”

I nodded in agreement.

“One more thing,” I said, looking back at Avian.  “Those people who invaded New Eden.  They’re not here.  Someone helped me escape, but West is still in Seattle.”

“You’ve been in Seattle all this time?” Avian gaped, anger blazing in his eyes again.  He shook his head, his fists balling. 

“What about West?” Gabriel asked.  “Did he turn?  He’s supposed to have gone back in for Extraction by now.”

“They said they’d help him,” I said.  “They promised their doctor would get the scrap out of his heart and that he’d be TorBane-free.  They told me the surgery worked.  The man who helped me get out, he said he would bring West as soon as he was well enough to travel.”

“Do you trust them?” Bill asked.  “Do you trust them that they won’t kill him once they realize you’re gone?”

“Them, no,” I said shaking my head.  “The man who helped me, yes.  He said he’d protect West until then.”

“This is his fault, isn’t it?” Avian growled.  His expression darkened.  “He told them about you, didn’t he?”

I closed my eyes and shook my head, pushing my emotions down.  “It doesn’t matter now.  I’m back.  I’m okay.”

“Oh, it matters,” he hissed.

“Avian,” Gabriel chided.  “You’ve got to get over this anger towards him.  It’s not going to do anyone any good.”

“West could have gotten her killed, Gabriel!” Avian shouted.  “Look at her!”

“But like she said,” Gabriel spoke, his voice rising slightly.  “She’s back now.”

Avian gave a big sigh, his body slumping as the fight went out of him.  He wrapped his arms around me again, crushing me into his chest.  Suddenly Gabriel wrapped his arms around the two of us and I was sandwiched in the middle.

“I was worried you were gone to us,” Gabriel said in his rough voice.  “You’ve made it through too much to be taken out by humans.”

“I’m okay,” I said again.  But I wasn’t really sure it was true.

“Any idea what this is?” Bill asked and his finger lightly touched the back of my scalp.

“What?” I asked.

“You’ve got a roman numeral two tattooed to the back of your head,” Bill said.  Avian turned me so he could inspect it himself. 

“That’s not fresh,” Avian said.  “That’s old ink.”

“Who knows,” I said, shaking my head and turning around again.  I took one of Avian’s hands and one of Gabriel’s.  “I just want to go home now.”

“Let’s head back to the tank,” Avian said, looking down at me.  He pressed a kiss to my forehead.  “We’ll head home in the morning.”

EIGHTEEN

I sat across from Avian, simply looking at him, still not quite believing that I’d found him, so far from home.  Against the odds, we’d found each other again.

But something in me knew that I would always find Avian.

Gabriel, Bill, and Tuck had offered to sleep outside.  At first I had blushed.  I didn’t feel embarrassed often, but the thought of them just outside the steel walls made my face warm.

But as I sat across the tank from Avian, I was grateful for their offer.

“I took off on my own at first,” Avian said, his eyes never breaking away from mine.  “As soon as I realized they took you, I grabbed an emergency pack and a gun and just took off.  Gabriel caught up to me twenty minutes later in the tank.”

I shook my head, a real smile pulling at my lips.  “That wasn’t very smart.”

A smile flitted across his own face.  “I tend to lose my head when it comes to you.”

That happy expression finally spread on my face.  “How does stuff like this happen?” I asked.  I felt silly for the grin on my face.  “How does fate align perfectly that I find Eden, a place safe with good people who could help to mold me into the person I’ve become?  That I find you?  That I get taken across the country and the moment I escape, find my way back to you?”

Avian’s eyes grew dark and serious but they danced like stars reflecting on water.  He stood and crossed the space toward me.  He nudged my legs apart with his knee, standing between them.  He placed a hand behind my neck.  The gesture felt strange now.  His hand should have been tangled in my hair.

“Because sometimes there are two people in this world who are bigger than fate.  Sometimes there are two people who are just a force of nature and against all odds, a force this strong cannot be denied.”

“I missed you, Avian,” I whispered as his forehead touched mine.

“I nearly died without you,” he said, his lips only a whisper away from mine.  I felt all of his anger and his desperation in that moment and understood them.  We were all each other had left in this world.

“Never again,” I said, making a promise I knew I would do everything in my power to keep.

“I will always find you.”

And finally, he kissed me.

It nearly brought a sob from my chest.  I hadn’t allowed myself to accept it before, but I had feared I would never be in this place again.  I had nearly lost us forever. 

This was me, the unchangeable, unbreakable part of me. 

Avian’s lips weren’t gentle.  They were desperate and they were lonely.  They were fearful and possessive.  His teeth tugged on my bottom lip.  His breathing came out ragged.

My hands slid under his shirt, my fingers feeling alive and electric as they passed over his toned abdomen.  I pushed his shirt up and pulled it up over his head.  Goosebumps instantly flashed over his skin.

He let me look at him for a moment and I drank him in.  His chest was tight and sculpted.  Coming to New Eden had done glorious things for his already beautiful body.  With more food and free time to do things more challenging than doctoring, he had the body of a god.

My eyes settled on the tattoo of three birds on his chest.  My fingers rose to touch the one with the shape of an “S” in the way its wings met its body.

“I love you, Avian,” I said.  It was a moment before my eyes left the bird and returned to his.  “I don’t exist as a whole without you.”

Avian’s eyes burned as he looked back at me through the dim light.  He took one of my hands in his and pulled me to my feet.  His arms wrapped around my waist and he rested his forehead against mine.

“I promise you my forever,” Avian said, pressing a soft and gentle kiss to each of my eyelids.

“My forever is yours to keep,” I returned, pulling myself into his chest.  I buried my face in his neck, clinging to his frame and breathing him in.  I felt his heart beating into my own chest.

There was a fire building between the two of us that night.   A fire that had never burned so bright until that moment, but would continue to burn for that forever we’d promised.  Because that promise of forever, that was my word, my bond, and my eternal will.

NINETEEN

In the morning I told everyone about the other beacon, which was to be set off New Year’s day.  This sent everyone into action and we immediately rolled south.

I felt like the slow journey would kill me.  The motorcycle I’d taken from Seattle was wrecked when I crashed into the tank.  We had no choice but to all take the trek home in the tank.  It had taken them three days to get here, it was going to take us three days to get home.  There was nothing we could do about it.  We would get home with seven days to spare.  In that time, the scientists would have to rebuild the energy storage devices and get the Pulse charge up.  There was zero room for error.

“There is something else you need to know,” I said, loud enough so everyone could hear me over the sound of the track wheels.  Tuck glanced down at me, he drove the tank.  Avian, Bill, and Gabriel turned their full attention to me. 

“The Bane, we’ve known for a few months that they’re getting smarter,” I started.  “But the first generation receivers of TorBane, all the others are following them.  They’re building an army.”

“How is that possible?” Gabriel questioned.  “An army of Bane?”

I shook my head.  “I don’t know exactly, but they’re thinking logically.  The day before I found the tank, I was about to head through this city when all of the sudden hundreds of thousands of Bane came crawling out and started leveling the city.  It was a small town so I knew they had to be coming from somewhere else.

“There was this man,” I continued.  “He’d been following them, studying them.  He said they’re sweeping.  They’re leveling everything, looking for people.  They’re moving west to east.  When they reach the coast they turn south.”

“How long till they reach New Eden?” Avian asked, his brow furrowing.

“Tom was estimating maybe six months,” I said, the weight of my words filling the interior of the tank.  “But he thought it would probably be less.  They’re gaining numbers as they go.  Any Bane that are awake, any Hunters, they’re joining the army.”

“Well that’s as scary as anything I could imagine,” Tuck said, shaking his head.

“There aren’t nearly as many Sleepers,” Gabriel said, rubbing a hand over his once again overgrown beard.  “They’re all starting to wake up.  Millions of them.”

“We’re going to have to prepare,” I said, nodding.  “We’ve got to get the Pulse back up and running.  And if possible, I think we need to build others.”

“If it’s true and they are gaining numbers as they move, there will be over three hundred million of them by the time the reach New Eden,” Avian said.  “Even if we have multiple Pulses, will it be enough?”

“It will have to be,” Bill said.  “What other choice would we have?”

“We could move,” Tuck suggested.

“Not again,” Gabriel shook his head.  “There are too many of us now in New Eden.  We have a perfect set up there.  We will fight back.”

“Besides, it isn’t like the rest of the country is going to be totally Bane-free,” I said, looking up at Tuck.  “There
are
still thousands of Sleepers out there.  Eventually they’re going to wake up, after the army has left.”

Tuck sighed, shaking his head.  He muttered something about good things never lasting.

“One more thing,” I said.  I fidgeted with the shotgun that sat in my lap.  “I don’t think it’s safe for me to go back into New Eden.  I have no idea what those people did to me, but it seems the Bane might be attracted to me now.  I think it’s safer for me to hang out on the outskirts.  You all can go back in and send Dr. Beeson out to me.  He can check me out, see what he thinks.”

“Eve…” Avian started to argue.

“You know it can’t be safe,” I said, shaking my head at him.  “We can’t risk the Bane following me into the city.”

“He’ll fix it,” Gabriel said.  “I’ve never met a man smarter than Erik.”

“Let’s hope so,” I said with a sigh.  But something inside of me wasn’t so sure.

We drove through the night and fueled up when the sky was darkest.  I took most of the night shift, finally fully recovered from my imprisonment and surgery.  Avian slept with his hand on my calf, as if he was afraid I would disappear on him again.

By morning we were reaching cities.

Bill kept track of where we were on his maps.  We’d been lucky to have forests to the north.  There weren’t many cities.  But the trees were falling away and the buildings were rising around us.

“I think it’s about time for you to head up,” Bill said, his finger tracing along the paper.  “It all starts here.”

Avian met my eyes and where in the past there would have been fear, there was admiration and confidence.  He gave me a lopsided smile and pressed a kiss to my forehead.  “Go save the world some more,” he said.

I couldn’t help the full smile that spread on my face.  I checked my magazine, loaded my pockets with more ammunition, and opened the hatch.

There were still trees around us but they weren’t the towering ancient guardians of the north.  These were smaller and more ragged.  They had to struggle a little harder for survival. 

There was a gas station up ahead and a few shops.  There were blocks of houses.

The tank kept rolling through the morning light.

I raised my rifle to eye level, my finger poised on the trigger.

We clattered into the edges of the town.  And almost as if it had trumpeted our arrival, bodies stepped into the light.

I started firing as the first batch of twenty sprang at us.  Two bodies dropped to the ground with a scraping of metal on concrete. 

“Stay back!” I bellowed as the crowd grew and rushed us.

The two hundred plus bodies that were swarming us instantly stopped and took a few steps back.

“You guys want to see this?” I said loud enough those below would be able to hear.

The tank slowed to a stop and I shifted to the side so the others could emerge.

The crowd of Bane just stood before us, twitching and shifting like they wanted to break from my hold the instant I dropped it.  But they didn’t come any closer.

“Holy…” Bill whispered.

“There are hundreds of them,” Gabriel mused.  “Why is it so strong now?”

“They did some serious digging in there,” I said, keeping my shotgun leveled at the crowd.  So did the rest of the team.  “I don’t think they meant to do this though.  I think it is just an unexpected side effect of whatever it was they did to me.”

“They’re standing back, this many of them,” Avian said, holding a hand up to shield the sun from his eyes.  “How many of them do you think would listen?”

“We’ll find out soon,” Bill said.  “The next big city after this is San Francisco.  Population eight hundred thousand.”

“There’s no way I can hold off that many of them,” I said, shaking my head.

“But hopefully they’re not going to all come at us at once,” Gabriel said.  “We made it through fine in the night when we came up here.  We’ll make it through again.”

How could they be so confident in me?  They didn’t know what I was capable of anymore. 
I
didn’t even know what I was capable of.

But those Bane before we were still standing there, just looking at us.  Waiting for orders.

“March west,” I shouted.  “Don’t stop when you get to the water.”

And as one, the growing crowd turned to their left and started marching, their strides perfectly in unison.

“Not possible,” Gabriel whispered as his eyes followed them.

“Welcome to the new age,” Avian said.  His hand rose to my shoulder and gave a squeeze.

There were Sleepers inside the buildings, just staring out at the world.  But not a single Bane moved as we rolled through the town.

It was an exact replay when we reached the next three small towns.  But each town got a little bigger.  And I sent more and more Bane marching toward the Pacific Ocean.

At noon day, the Golden Gate Bridge was looming before us.

“Maybe we should go around the city,” Gabriel said, as we approached.  He, Bill, Avian, and I were perched atop the tank while Tuck continued to drive.

Bill shook his head.  “That could take us another full day.  Probably more.  We can’t afford to lose any time.”

We were all quiet for a moment.  I was trying to ignore my self-doubt.  Trying to ignore the urgency to get back to New Eden as soon as possible.

“I’ve got an idea,” I suddenly said.  “The Bane, they really don’t like water.  The more Evolved they get, the more so.  I saw it while I was in Seattle.  It would rain and they were a lot more hesitant to come out.  A lot of them would die just stepping out in the rain.

“If I can call as many of them out as I can onto that bridge, I can make them jump off.  The water will kill most of them.”

“And you’re sure they won’t rip you apart?” Gabriel asked doubtfully.

I swallowed hard.  No, I wasn’t sure at all.  “I don’t see any other option.”

Avian’s eyes met mine, and to my surprise, pride shone in them.  He draped an arm across my shoulders.  “Sounds like a plan.”  Hopefully gone were his days of overprotectiveness. 

Avian’s confidence bolstered mine.

Old habits dying hard, we all turned to Gabriel for approval.

He didn’t respond at first.  He eyed me carefully, his eyes unable to keep from drifting up to the scar that wrapped around my head.  When his eyes met mine again, they were resolved.  “Let’s do it.”

I nodded.  “I want you guys to wait a ways back.  Keep the hatch locked until I give the go ahead.  If this doesn’t work, I’m not risking any of you getting infected.”

Avian hesitated, and finally nodded.  “You’re never going to change, are you?” he said, cracking a smile.  “Always putting yourself in danger to save the rest of us.”

“Never,” I said, a smile tugging at my own lips.

We rolled the tank closer and Tuck parked.  They wouldn’t be able to see much from this far away but I came up with a signal to let them know when it was safe to come to the bridge.

As soon as they had the tank parked and I walked away from it, Bane started stepping out from their hiding places.

“You’ll follow me,” I said loudly.  There were more and more of them emerging every second.  My heart started hammering as there came to be twenty, fifty, seventy of them.

“You will not look away, you will go nowhere else,” I said loudly again as I started walking toward the bridge.  “You will follow me to the bridge.”

The crowd that had started forming between me and the bridge parted as I moved forward.  I glanced over my shoulder and saw that they were indeed following me.

Looking forward once more, I concentrated my thoughts.  I imagined every Bane that must be in this city, in the entire bay area.  I imagined them collecting on the bridge.  I called to each of them in my head, screamed for them to come to me.

At first the movement was hard to make out.  I squinted through the cold, pale light, trying to see all the way to the other side of the bridge.  The land was shifting, or so it looked.  Like a dark avalanche.  An avalanche that started funneling itself to the massive rust colored bridge.

With my first step onto the bridge, I questioned our decision to cross it.  The road was cracked and some of the gigantic steel cables that held the bridge up had rusted away and snapped.  And I was about to flood it with thousands and thousands of bodies.