I ate as I made my way back to my tent. Finding it empty, I threw my few items of clothing and my bedding in a sack and slung it over my back.
Eden moved every two months or so for safety reasons. The Bane were starting to use helicopters. They scouted too. For humans. We couldn’t risk them seeing us or pinpointing our exact location. The two limitations we had were the gardens and water. We always had to be within walking distance of water.
I walked to the south bend of the river, finding myself alone with only the birds for obnoxiously loud company. Kneeling next to the water, I scrubbed my clothing. All of it was barely more than rags anymore. I washed out my blankets and hung it all on the line to dry. My clothes felt hardened and caked with grime as I peeled them off. Dirt clouded the water momentarily as I soaked them and scrubbed furiously. But as hard as I tried, I couldn’t get Tye’s blood out.
The water was freezing, freshly melted snow from the mountains. Bumps rose on my skin as soon as I stepped into the water, my stomach quivering. Closing my eyes, I took a short breath and let myself sink into the river.
I let the flow of the water wash my hair, letting it take the dirt away from my skin. I kept my eyes closed as I settled onto the smooth rocks at the river bottom, listening to the noises I couldn’t discern in the water. It felt peaceful down here. There was no one but me. There was no one else to think about; no worries about supplies, food, or of being infected. The cybernetics couldn’t survive in the water, everything shorted out.
Down here there was just Eve.
When I finally rose from the water I shivered, the air around me brisk. Goosebumps flashed over my bare skin. I climbed out and onto the boulder that my clothes sat on. I wrapped my arms around my legs tightly, huddling against the cold while my clothes continued to dry.
I hoped Gabriel wouldn’t take too long. As leader of Eden, he was never away for long. He would never call himself the leader, but that’s what he was. He had never been elected, never asked to be such. But he was the most evenhanded, the one who always seemed to have the answers when no one else did. He and his family formed Eden. Terrif was his father-in-law. Together they had started the gardens that had saved us all from starvation.
He was as much of a father as I’d ever had.
My clothes were still damp when I pulled them on and started the walk back. I passed several other women on the way, heading to do their own laundry. Two of them wouldn’t look at me, the third tried very hard to form a polite smile. I just kept my eyes glued to the ground.
I found the morning scouting group depositing their weapons in the armory, and was relieved to find Gabriel among them.
“I need to talk to you,” I said.
“Yes, Avian informed me of that,” he said as he came to my side and watched as the rest of the men walked out of the small building. He scratched at his graying beard, his thick brows furrowing.
“Can we talk now?” I asked, feeling impatient. The distress that was hanging in the air agitated me, making everything seem urgent.
“Fine,” he said, and we set out for the medical tent to find Avian. We retrieved him and made our way to Gabriel’s tent.
We each took a seat and I could tell both the men were irritated to be there. They would both hear me out though.
“What Graye did was wrong but you both know we can’t afford to turn on him. We need him, especially now that Tye is gone. You both need to talk to everyone.” It all came out in a desperate rush.
Gabriel and Avian looked at each other with a knowing glance. Avian gave a tired sigh as he looked back at me. “We know that. Everyone does. They aren’t going to turn on Graye. They all love him too, despite his faults. We lose people every year.”
I sat there, feeling stunned for a while. I had read everyone wrong? “Then what is happening? Everyone is about to explode out there!”
“They’re grieving, Eve,” Gabriel said, his expression a mix of annoyance and disbelief as his eyebrows furrowed together. “It’s a natural process. They want someone to blame, to shove it all off on and Graye is that man.”
My eyes slid from Gabriel’s face to Avian’s, whose expression reflected what Gabriel had just said.
“No one is going to force Graye out. No one is planning revenge. They’re just trying to deal with Tye’s death,” Avian said, his voice catching on his last two words.
We were quiet for a few moments, my eyes studying theirs, making sure they weren’t lying to me.
I felt stupid for missing the mark so completely.
Once they saw that I believed them they moved on.
“We have found signs of something moving in the southern forest,” Gabriel said. “We found shoe prints and traces of waste. We don’t think they’re Bane but we need to be careful. If they’re human we may watch them for a few days, see if we want to invite them in.”
“How many?” I asked, my interest piqued.
“It looks like three, two older and a smaller child.”
“Where are they headed?” I asked.
“We’re not sure. If they are headed out this way, they are probably just running. We will try and contact them soon. We could use each other, I am sure.”
“Don’t act too soon though,” I said a bit too quickly. “We have to be careful.”
“Of course,” Gabriel said with a nod.
I didn’t know what to say for a minute. I had come in here, prepared for an argument, to state my case. Instead I had made a fool of myself.
“Take the day off, Eve. Try and relax,” Avian said, looking concerned.
“Take the day off?” I questioned. I could no sooner take the day off than I could stop breathing.
“Yes, take the day off,” Gabriel said, he eyes sternly set on my face. “I’m ordering you to take a break from your duties. I don’t want you scouting today. You’re too wound up.”
“But Gabriel, I…”
“I mean it, Eve!” he suddenly shouted. He shook his head at me, his brow furrowed. “Go home.”
My jaw set, I stood and walked out.
Home. I didn’t even know what that was.
I threw the flap of my tent aside, finding it empty. I grabbed my bow and my quiver out of the corner and walked back out. They may have ordered me to keep away from my duties but I couldn’t sit around idle.
The woods were both silent and full of sound. Noise didn’t travel far, absorbed by the towering trees that surrounded us, by the earth and moss that covered the ground. And yet the birds never stopped chirping, the insects never ceased their harmonious singing. If they ever did it was too late.
I watched for the signs: trails in the grass, the droppings on the ground. I had to push farther and farther out from the perimeter of Eden to find anything these days. I wasn’t the only one that hunted in Eden but I was persistent.
Goosebumps rose on my skin as I caught a glimpse of movement to the south. I pulled the arrow back, holding my breath. Two seconds later the buck stepped into view.
The next second it jerked violently, the tip of an arrow appearing in the side of its neck. It took a few staggering steps forward.
My arrow was still nocked in my bow.
A figure leapt out of the underbrush, knife in hand, and slit the thrashing animal’s throat. Just as the animal fell still, the boy looked up and my gray-blue eyes met his wide brown ones.
It took me a fraction of a second to react. I leapt over the boulder I had been hiding behind in one bound. That was all it took for the boy to leap back into the brush and take off at a sprint.
I heard him crashing through the maze of the forest, leaving a wake of fallen grasses and trampled moss behind him. Every time I thought I was gaining on him though the sound of his retreat would get farther away. And then it just stopped.
I was persistent, and I searched, but the boy had vanished.
I climbed out of the tree where I had made a desperate attempt to gain some ground and catch a glimpse of movement. I dropped to the ground with a gent
le stirring of the dirt and took off in the direction of Eden.
When I stepped away from the tree line and into camp, I found things in a state of unease. Several scouts were gathered around Gabriel talking quickly in hushed tones. Others stood on the perimeter looking nervous and anxious.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I came to Sarah’s side.
She barely glanced at me. “The scouts saw someone in the woods again. They’re getting closer.”
“Yeah,” I said as I started walking toward Gabriel and his group. “I saw one of them.”
Gabriel caught sight of me as I approached them, his brow creasing. “I told you to take the day off, Eve.”
“I saw him, in the woods,” I said, ignoring his protests.
“You saw him?” he questioned doubtfully.
“Yes, I chased him but he hid. He got away.”
Gabriel gave the scouts a disapproving look. “I suppose that explains the fourth body.”
I gave Gabriel a questioning look.
“They found evidence of the three unknowns in the woods. Eli saw a fourth one, running through the trees.”
A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. “I was out hunting. He killed my buck. I tried to capture him but he got away.”
Gabriel glared at the two men in front of him. “Pay a little closer attention next time,” he said, then waved them off.
“It’s not safe wandering in the woods alone,” Gabriel said as he watched the crowd disband.
I only stared at him, waiting for the moment of false fatherly chiding to pass.
“Even for you,” he added, his tone less scolding now.
“I am going to need two people to help me collect the buck. He was a big one.”
FOUR
The smell of steel was something I would recognize anywhere and it was strong in the air. Low, hurried voices spoke behind me, using words I couldn’t understand.
My heart hammered, the only part of my body that seemed able to move. I lay on my stomach, my face resting in a hole cut into the cold, medal table.
The voices approached through the dark, excitement and nerves tangible in the air. I was suddenly afraid. I wanted to run, to hide so the people in the dark could never find me. I didn’t want to know what they were going to do to me.
A gloved hand touched my head. It was so cold because all of my hair had been shaved off.
They gathered around me and even though I couldn’t see them, I felt half a dozen pairs of eyes settle onto the back of my exposed head.
The sound of a drill was the last thing I heard.
I jerked awake, my hands flashing to my head. I slumped back, relieved to find that my straight blond hair was still on my head. I closed my eyes again, the smell of steel still burning my nose.
Something stirred the dirt outside my tent, immediately drawing my attention from the nightmare. It was still hours from dawn, no one should have been awake at this hour, much less outside their tents.
Silently, I sprang from my bed, slinging my pack on in the same movement. I grabbed a knife and a handgun from my own stash of weapons and went to the opening of the tent.
The moon cast a faint glow on Eden, just enough light to enable me to see the figure that was retreating to the tree line.
I stayed out of sight as I slid between tents, careful to keep my cover. The outline looked vaguely familiar. It moved with sure, deliberate strides, quieter than I would expect. He must have dropped something or tripped just outside of my tent for me to have heard him.
He kept watch as he moved through camp but held his pace quick and straight. He was in a hurry to get out of there.
I followed him to the edge of the forest, hiding behind Wix’s tent as I watched the figure dart into the trees. He glanced back once before he dropped into the trees.
I darted into the forest ten yards to the west of where he entered. My footsteps fell silently on the damp earth as I regained footing. When I heard more than one set of footsteps I took to the trees, being careful not to rustle the leaves as I crossed from one bough to the other.
It wasn’t difficult to keep up with them. One of the figures moved with a limp, all the while trying to keep a small figure close to her side. The small group didn’t seem dangerous.
I dropped from a limb directly in front of them, my blade just inches away from the man’s chest.
“We don’t tolerate theft in Eden,” I said, my voice calm.
“Then point that knife back around,” a male voice said, filled with forced confidence. “I believe you stole my buck.”
I had been right, this was the same person I had seen in the forest earlier.
My eyes flickered to the figures that stood behind him. A woman who looked to be just a year or so older than myself stared at me with wide green eyes that shone brightly in the moonlight, her brilliantly red hair draping around her face in curls. She had her arms around a small boy with similarly curly blond hair.
“I couldn’t let them starve,” the man before me said simply.
He carried a cloth in his arms and I could see several food items sticking out of it. The small child held a piece of bread possessively in his hands, ready to protect it with his life.
“It’s dangerous coming here and taking what isn’t yours,” I said as I held his eyes.
“We haven’t eaten in days,” he said, his voice sounding tired. I wasn’t sure if I should think of him as a man or a boy. It was difficult to tell his age. “We’ve been running for a week, maybe longer. So I guess either you kill us or starvation will.”
My eyes scanned them carefully, checking for any signs. Their eyes looked normal but it was difficult to tell in the minimal light. I was fairly certain the woman was organic, considering her wound. The Bane could heal themselves as long as the injury wasn’t fatal. The cybernetic molecules would spread to the damaged area, stealing more of their humanity as the injured flesh was replaced with mechanical components.
The boy seemed likely organic as well. Bane children didn’t know how to hide their true nature.
So the only one I had to question was the man. He moved with skill, he had shot with deadly accuracy. He hadn’t earned a clearing yet.
I observed him for a moment. He was lean and well-muscled. A survivor’s body. His shaggy brown hair fell across similarly brown eyes. There was a rough scar that ran across his throat and down toward the neck line of his shirt. Claw marks.
“You are going to have to come with me,” I said finally, keeping the mans tired but determined stare.
He held my eyes for a moment before looking back at his companions. The woman actually looked slightly relieved. The child only bit into his bread, devouring it with a speed that left half of the food on his face.
“Alright,” he finally said, as if he actually had a choice. I nodded my head in the opposite direction and they started walking. As we moved through the trees, their leader kept glancing over his shoulder at me.
Camp was still silent when we entered its perimeters, as it should have been. Pressing a finger to my lips, I urged them toward Gabriel’s tent. I assumed by the lack of alert that the guard in the tower had fallen asleep. I took a mental note to request that Gabriel add night watches to my list of duties.
I went to the east wall of Gabriel’s tent, the one I knew he slept on.
“Gabriel,” I whispered in attempt to not wake everyone nearby. “Gabriel!”
I heard a grunt and a shift of movement. At the same time an alarmed looking Avian stumbled out of his tent.
“Eve?” he questioned as he squinted through the darkness. “Whoa…what…?” He struggled to make his brain work, realizing I wasn’t alone.
“I found them out in the woods nearby. After he stole from the stores,” I gave a hushed explanation. “Gabriel,” I hissed again.
This seemed to finally rouse him. I heard a curse and two seconds later Gabriel half tripped out of the entrance.
“What the devil…?” he said angrily and st
opped short when he took in the growing group outside his tent. “Who are they?”
“The ones we saw in the woods,” I repeated.
“You caught them?” Gabriel said stupidly.
“No, he’s forcing me to point the blade at them.” I rolled my eyes.
Gabriel glared at me for a moment before he turned his attention to Avian. “Get the CDU,” he said.
With a nod, Avian turned and jogged toward the medical tent.
“Where did you come from?” Gabriel demanded as he turned to the older boy.
“We were just outside a city, a few days south of here. There were thirteen of us. We’re all that’s left.”
“The city?” Gabriel said, surprise evident in his voice. Everyone avoided the cities these days.
He nodded. “Our camp moved around but we were always within walking distance. We needed to be able to get to supplies. The Bane found us though.”
That was explanation enough for us. While food was becoming scarce in the city as things passed their expiration dates, other supplies were still to be found; clothing, medical supplies, weapons occasionally. We went on our own raids when the need arose.
The sound of Avian’s quiet jogging announced his return. His expression was grim as he rejoined the group. We were all quiet as he charged up the CDU and calibrated it.
“What is it?” the young child asked as he pressed himself against the woman, eyeing the device with uncertainty.
“This,” Avian said as he finished pushing buttons, his tone careful for the child. “Is called a Cybernetic Diffusion Unit. Or a CDU for short. It protects us from the bad things.”
“What are you going to do with it?”
“I’m just going to touch you with it. It will give you a little shock but shouldn’t hurt.”
“This isn’t necessary,” the older boy said as he watched the child. “We’re not infected.”