“What you said before, about only blacking out around me, it’s true, isn’t it?” West said as he continued to load up.
“Yeah,” I grunted as I strapped two guns to the side of my pack.
“I guess I thought you were just mad at me before, as usual, when you said it,” he said quietly as he worked. “Why do you think that is?”
“I don’t know,” I said, feeling a little frustrated. I just wanted to be doing something useful and not have to deal with feelings right now.
“Do you think maybe feeling what you do kind of…overloads you?” he asked quietly.
“Maybe,” I said as I felt along an upper shelf. I pulled down another box of bullets.
West was quiet for a while after that and I could sense all the turmoil he was in. “I don’t know how to stay away from you, Eve. I don’t think I can just shut my feelings for you off.”
“Can we not talk about this right now?” I said, my hands faltering in their hurried work.
I heard him walk up behind me. I felt his hand on my arm, slowly turning me around. I met his brown eyes, alive and dancing in the darkness. His hands came to my waist, softly pushing me back against the wall behind me.
“I know how I make you feel, Eve,” he whispered, his lips only an inch away from mine.
I was about to push West away, knowing we had a job to do when West pressed his lips to mine.
And then the lights went out.
THIRTY
When I opened my eyes the sky was starting to lighten, a pale shade of blue and pink. The tips of trees surrounded my vision. For half a second I thought we were back in Eden. But the shape of this lake was different, the trees a different species, though similar. And there were only nine tents instead of a few dozen.
The people of our group bustled around, finishing setting up the tents, putting their belongings inside, washing their sweat-crusted clothes out in the small lake.
How long had I been out for? It must have been a few hours if we had finally left the desert behind and found a forest.
I sat up, realizing I was lying on the trailer. I shook my head, trying to clear the fog that was still nesting in my brain. I spotted West at his tent. He glanced over at me and my eyes narrowed at him. His left eye was surrounded with a ring of black.
My eyes then found Avian. His bottom lip was split.
I didn’t even have to ask what had happened.
I got up, still feeling a little off, and went to look for my tent in the back of the truck. I realized that it was already being set up. To my surprise it was Tuck who was assembling it.
“Thank you,” I said as I grabbed a pole and helped him. “I can take care of it.”
“It’s no trouble,” he said, his lips pulling into a small smile.
I tried to return it, unsure if I had succeeded. It felt strange working next to him, I didn’t know him well. Tuck had only been with us for just over a year.
“Was it bad?” I asked him quietly.
“What?” he asked as he started hammering a stake into the ground.
“The fight.”
Tuck gave the smallest of chuckles. “A few fists flew but it was over pretty quick. I reminded them that we didn’t have time for squabbles.”
I just shook my head, letting out a frustrated breath. “I didn’t do anything did I? Nothing…I don’t know.”
“Just zombie walked,” he said as he stood and wiped his hands off on his pants. When I gave him a blank stare he continued. “You just walked back to the truck with West, loaded up with weapons. But your eyes were…”
“Blank,” I finished for him. “Was that all?”
He nodded. “You just sat on the trailer where we placed you, staring out into nothing.”
My insides felt all twisted up as I imagined what I must have looked like. “Was everyone afraid of me?”
He didn’t answer right away. “Some of them were a little concerned. Avian kind of chewed them out for it though. He made a good point. You’ve protected everyone for the last five years, why would you turn on us now?”
“Thank you, Tuck,” I said. He just nodded and walked back toward his own tent.
Tess walked up to me, a wary look on her face.
“Why did you just agree to their plan?” she asked, looking uncomfortable to be talking to me. “If you’re so afraid to go so close to the city, why would you allow them to come here? You know how dangerous this is.”
“I’m not afraid,” I said. “It’s all of them I’m worried about. I will go wherever they do to keep them from getting infected.”
“So it’s true?” she half whispered. “That you can’t be infected?”
“Yes,” I said as I swallowed hard. “I’ve been touched by Bane, multiple times.”
“Why is that?”
I felt uncomfortable. I didn’t know this woman, didn’t know if I could trust her. “I just can’t.”
“And that’s why you’re not afraid,” she said, giving me an almost harsh look, and walked back toward Van.
I decided I didn’t like Tess very much. But she had been right.
I couldn’t avoid them any longer. I finally sought out Avian, finding him keeping watch on our western perimeter, in the direction of the cities. I stood there, ten feet away, not even knowing what to say.
“We should get prepped to leave tonight,” Avian mercifully broke the silence. “We need get as familiar with the route as we can.”
Even though Avian spoke of plans, he didn’t move. I nodded my head, unable to do anything but stare in those infinitely blue eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I finally managed.
“I don’t blame only you,” he said as he slung his gun over his shoulder and started back towards camp.
We found West and Tuck and took the map back to the trailer. Setting it down, we all gathered around it. “We’re here,” Avian said, pointing to a spot next to an exact replica of the small lake. “I think we can take the truck this far,” he said has he pointed to another spot. “From there we’re going to have to walk. I’m guessing it’s about fifteen miles. Even if everything goes smooth and we don’t run into any Bane, it’s going to take us nearly all night to get there. If we don’t find these people by morning we’re going to have to find somewhere to hide for the day.”
“This is insane, Avian,” I said as I shook my head. “There are going to be so many of them. This is like sticking your hand into the middle of a beehive and expecting not to get stung.”
“But if the people that are hiding in the city have put other messages out there, they must watch for others,” West said. “Maybe they have some form of transportation they can take to scout.”
“An electric vehicle would be virtually silent,” Tuck said as he studied the map. “If they have electricity and can power one, they’re around. They aren’t as fast as a normal car but it should be fast enough to outrun a Bane.”
“That may be,” Avian said. “But we can’t count on that. Everyone we’re leaving behind has to know that we may be gone more than just tonight. We may be gone for a while.”
“And how long do they wait ‘til they have to assume we’re dead?” I said harshly. “Then what do they do?”
“Survive,” Avian said as he glared at me. “As they’ve been doing for the last five years.”
“Did you want to talk about anything else?” I asked impatiently.
Avian shook his head. “I think we’re set, as long as we are all ready to leave tonight.”
We each nodded our heads that we were. “Have any of you slept yet?” I asked them. Their pause told me they hadn’t. “I’ll keep watch since I’ve been sleeping for the last however many hours. Or whatever it was that I was doing.”
West gave me a little half smile. Avian glared at him. They finally turned and went to their tents.
The four of us loaded our minimal supplies and the majority of the weaponry into the back of the truck and headed directly south.
I felt unprepared
as Avian checked the map and we pulled over less than an hour after we had left the rest of the group. As the houses started to crop up, we parked it next to a few other vehicles that had been long abandoned. We all hunted around for stones of any size and stacked them up directly behind the truck.
Thankful for a nearly full moon to see by, we set out at a jog, each in a hurry to get this suicidal task over with.
The houses seemed so forlorn, their windows empty and hollow. All of the families that had once lived there now didn’t care about their upkeep, didn’t laugh or tell stories within their walls. The houses were all just overgrown pieces of a dead history now.
When we had looked at the map all I saw was city after city stacked together, crammed into such a small space. As we came into the center of the first one, my blood chilled.
“I don’t understand,” Avian breathed as he cautiously walked up to a building. Dozens of Bane stared back out at us, their eyes inactive and empty. “Why do some of them attack and some of them just stand there?”
“They look like they’re just waiting for something,” Tuck said, going nowhere near the building.
“Let’s not find out what for,” I said as I started back down the cracked road.
I wasn’t sure how they defined one city from the next. It all just seemed like one endless city that kept repeating over and over. And empty eyes watched us everywhere.
We jogged for as long as Tuck, Avian, and West could breathe for. Tuck held his side as we slowed, Avian’s breathing became heavy, and West struggled to keep up. I had to constantly remind myself to slow down. Not all of us were machines.
Buildings grew taller around us as we approached the middle of our map. If there were people still alive, we should find them soon.
We had just turned a corner when I stopped dead in my tracks, West plowing into me from behind, Avian and Tuck nearly tripping over him.
The barrel of a shotgun pressed tightly to my chest.
THIRTY-ONE
“Who are you?” a thickly built man with graying hair demanded. “How’d you get here?”
“We walked,” I started, holding my hands up, despite the weaponry that hung all over my body. “We found your sign. We came looking, to see if there was anyone still alive.”
He lowered his gun slightly. Now it was just pointed at my feet. “We haven’t seen anyone else in well over a year. We weren’t sure there was anyone left.”
“There are more of us,” Avian started. “We’re only part of a fairly large group. Half are still back east. The rest of us are hidden about sixty miles from here.”
“You’re coming with me,” he said.
There was a vehicle parked behind him. It looked like a miniature version of our truck. We climbed into the bed, the other man cautiously sat behind the wheel. He kept glancing back at us every few seconds. As we started down the street I was expecting the normal engine noise I knew a vehicle should make. This one was soundless.
“Electric,” West said when he saw my confusion. “Now I believe you owe Avian and I an apology?”
“For what?” I asked.
“For doubting, for telling us we were wrong. There are people here. Apparently more than one considering he said ‘we’.”
I just shook my head and watched the buildings as they whipped by. Avian, who sat smashed against my side in the tight quarters of the small vehicle, slipped his hand into mine.
Empty eyes of the Bane watched us as we sped down the crumbling streets. I watched for signs of other life, surely this man was not alone out here. But I didn’t see any, just the sad reminders of the empire the human race had once had.
“Where do you think he is taking us?” Tuck asked.
“It will be somewhere incredibly secure,” I said as I continued to observe. “They probably don’t have enough CDUs to give to each of their scouts. I assume they have them. I’m sure he’s taking us wherever there is one.”
Avian’s hand tightened around mine and I noticed how he readjusted his hold on his rifle. Unease washed over me. Not for fear that I might be shorted out in the next hour, but that Avian might do something stupid trying to protect me.
“Don’t,” I whispered to him.
“I’m not going to let them do anything to you,” he said, keeping his eyes forward.
“But I’ll never forgive you if you get yourself killed because of me,” I said quietly, giving his hand a small squeeze.
“Same goes here,” he said as he glanced over at me for just a moment.
We drove for not more than ten minutes when I started seeing them. Humans, standing on top of the towering buildings, watching us from above. Each was heavily armed and looked like they knew how to use their weapons.
We slowed down as we approached a building that had levels upon levels and spanned massively in both directions.
“A real hospital,” Avian breathed.
The vehicle we sat in pulled around to the back of the hospital and straight through a huge door. As we stopped inside and the door closed behind us.
There were five armed men just inside. They each looked as surprised to see us as the first man had been.
“Where’s Royce?” the man who had brought us here asked as he climbed out of the truck. He indicated for us to climb out, his gun pointed at our backs. I wondered if he realized how ridiculous he looked with his one single shotgun when we each had at least three firearms on us.
“He’s upstairs,” one of the men answered him.
“That way,” he said as he prodded West in the back with the barrel.
As we moved I observed rows and rows of vehicles in this concrete expanse of a room. Each of them were shiny and beautiful. They had picked through the best of all the cars, trucks, and vans they could find.
We walked to an elevator and the doors slid closed behind us. When the doors opened again there was a hallway stretched out before us, buzzing with the hum of electric devices behind closed doors.
We walked where the man told us to, stopping at a door midway down the hall. The man knocked, listening.
“Come in,” a voice called.
There were four people inside, gathered around a large desk, looking over some papers. A man with well-trimmed gray hair and a beard straightened. I assumed this was Royce.
“I found them on patrol,” the man behind us said. “They said they found one of our signs and came to take a look.”
“Are there more of you?” the man asked, his gray eyes showing hints of excitement that had given away the rest of them.
Avian nodded his head. “There are sixteen more of us waiting outside the city. The other half of our group is at our old camp. About 800 miles away.”
The man’s eyes widened. “You’ve traveled a long ways to reach us. How was the journey?”
“We made it,” Avian said simply.
“Forgive our unfriendly welcome,” he said as he walked around the table, his arms folded over his chest. “I’m sure you understand the precautions we have to take these days.”
“Of course,” Avian said. I heard the anxiety that was creeping into his voice.
“Come with me, please,” Royce said as he stepped around us and out of the room. We followed silently.
Just looking at Royce, one would think he was a leader. His stature was tall and confident. His shoulders were sure, his gait unfaltering. He looked like a man who knew what he was doing, all the time.
Royce led us down the hall and into a room that had no windows and was totally empty of anything other than a leather case lying on a table. He opened it up as we stepped inside. Other soldiers followed us in. I didn’t miss the weapons in their belts, in their pockets, and obviously in their hands. And I was very aware of the fact that they had closed the door behind us.
It looked different than ours but it was unmistakably a CDU. As if on cue, West, Avian, and Tuck adjusted their stances so they were standing just in front of me.
“This shouldn’t hurt gentlemen, and lady,
” Royce said with a tight-lipped smile as he charged it up. The center of it glowed a brilliant blue. “Just a small shock.”
Avian stepped up first, pulling the sleeve of his shirt up and offering his arm. It twitched as the device was pressed to his arm. West went next, followed by Tuck.
“Thank you, gentlemen,” Royce said, giving them that same tight-lipped, fake looking smile. “My lady.”
The three of them tightened around me. As they did, Royce’s eyes hardened and he stopped in his tracks. “You know all newcomers must be tested. She is no exception.”
“She is,” West said quietly.
“She’s different,” Avian said, trying to keep his voice calm.
As if their words had opened up a book on our faces, Royce’s eyes widened and he took a step back, drawing a handgun out from the belt of his pants. As he did, the rest of the people in the room drew their weapons as well.
“Hold on!” Avian shouted as he backed further into me, holding his hands up toward our captors. “She’s not a Bane! But she has cybernetic parts in her. She’s different from them.”
“They’re all the same!” Royce shouted as he aimed his gun at my head. “She’s a danger being here. My scouts should have shot her before she came within a hundred feet of this building.”
“She can’t be infected!” West shouted at the man. “She was experimented on. My grandfather was Dr. Evans. He worked at NovaTor Biotics. She was his preliminary test before TorBane was fully developed.”
“Dr. Evans?” Royce spat out. “That heartless scum bag created the infection. He wouldn’t have bothered with a hybrid. In his quest for savior status he destroyed the world.”
“Yes he did, but I assure you he was my grandfather. My father evolved early on and someone set Eve free after everything happened. She’s human but he did things to her that make her different. You can’t test her or it will kill her,” West’s voice sounded pleading.
“They are all the same!” Royce shouted as he thrust his gun in our direction again. “I don’t know how she’s tricked you into thinking differently but it’s a miracle she hasn’t infected you yet.”