Eve of Man (The Harvest Book 2) (15 page)

Five fifty-three.

Five fifty-four.

He again took hold of the lever. At five fifty-five he
would cut on the lights. His eyes were glued to the clock, glued to the number
four until it changed to five. Kyle turned the lever two clicks.

“Oh shit.”

Outside, surrounding the truck were maybe twenty Svan,
maybe thirty, maybe too many to count. To Kyle they were alien creatures, the
things that went bump in the night, the monster under the bed. Without turning
around he instructed McKenna not to move, not to make a sound no matter what
happened, no matter what she heard. And then Kyle began to silently pray, to
beg God to hear him, to spare McKenna, if not him. He stopped praying, and
breathing, when a Svan walked up to the passenger side of the truck. Kyle shook
to his core, his teeth chattered uncontrollably. The alien grabbed the door and
ripped it off, tossing it a hundred yards down the road.

“Holy Mother help us.” Kyle whispered.

The alien spoke to one of the others standing close by
using what sounded like a series of short grunts. The alien reached inside the
cab. Kyle backed against the driver’s door, but the being’s long clawed fingers
grabbed his leg and pulled him out of the truck. The alien dangled Kyle high up
in the air like a prize for the others to see before lowering him and sniffing
his hair. The fiend sniffed all over his head and then turned Kyle so they faced
each other, so they were eye to eye. In the alien’s large black eyes Kyle saw
his terrified face looking back at him. The alien opened its mouth wide
revealing sharp fang like teeth and a black tongue. It brought Kyle closer and
sucked in the air around his face.

Kyle closed his eyes and tried to lean back, to free
himself. In a brief moment of clarity he realized the futility of any effort to
escape. Tension fell away and his muscles received the signal to surrender.
Hanging there like a rag doll, he thought this was it, he was going to be eaten
by this thing, this killer of man. He prayed a final prayer, not for himself,
but for McKenna. He begged and cursed God at the same time; begging for McKenna
to be spared and damning God if he didn’t.

Amidst a string of curse words running through his
head, Kyle felt his feet touch the ground, but before he could rationalize and
find his legs, the alien released him. His knees buckled and he crumpled to the
ground. He remained in his haphazard kneeling position, head bent down, not
daring to look up. All around him the Svan chattered amongst themselves. Kyle
listened and wondered if they were trying to decide how to kill him. Suddenly
the chatter stopped. He held his breath, waiting for them to strike, bracing
for the pain. Out of the silence he heard a voice, a female voice and she spoke
in the beast’s language. An instant later the Svan took to the air, swift and
thunderous, hundreds of giant wings flying upward, carrying them away into the
darkness. Silence again filled the night.

While Kyle was picking himself up from the road in
Anchorage, Zack was flying through space at the speed of light. Upon reentering
the present he somersaulted across frozen ground, landing hard on his shoulder.
Luke followed in much the same fashion, with Ed seconds behind him. Zack
struggled to his knees only to fall back down. He wished whoever was sticking
giant needles into his body would please stop. A sharp pain shot through the
back of his head and straight into his eyes. He cursed out loud. Luke answered
with his own curse words and Ed simply rolled about clutching his sides and
groaning. After long minutes of what felt like torture, the pain subsided and
then dissipated all together. Ed stopped moaning. Zack stopped clutching his
head and opened his eyes, realizing for the first time it was night.

“Ed,” Zack whispered into the darkness.

“Over here,” came his weak response.

“Luke you there?” Zack said a bit louder.

“I’m here.” His voice came from a different direction
than Ed’s.

Zack fished out a small flashlight from his pocket.
“I’m gonna flash this light and you guys walk to me. Ok?”

Zack flashed the light until Ed and Luke were close
enough he could hear them breathing.

“You guys alright?” Zack kept the light on. Somehow he
didn’t think the Sundogs would bother them again, at least not that night.

“Holy mother fucker!” Luke said.

“Did we just time travel? Or something?” Ed asked.

“Or something is right my friend.” Zack patted him on
the back. “And now we need to figure out where the fuck we landed.” He looked
around, but without the stars or the moon, they were no better off than a blind
man. The wind picked up velocity and howled around them. “We are fucked,” Zack
announced. “All my shit’s on the ATV. Compass, spotlight, thermal blankets.
Every damn thing.”

“Mine to,” Luke added.

“All I have is a granola bar,” Ed offered.

“What’re we going to do? We can’t stay out here.”
Luke’s voice was a mix of panic and anger. “We could walk for miles. We have no
fucking idea where we’re at.”

Eve appeared on the edge of the circle of light. “I
will guide you.”

“Oh shit!” Zack shined the tiny light towards Eve,
avoiding hitting her directly in the face. “I wish you’d stop doing that.”

“Follow me.” Eve turned and walked out of the light.

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Zack
hurried after her, dragging Ed and Luke along before they had time to protest.
She was the only chance they had. Zack didn’t fancy freezing to death and she’d
already saved them once, so the chances of her killing them off now was unlikely.
After ten minutes of walking Eve halted without warning, causing Zack to dodge
left or run into her. Had he been asked, he would have admitted that jumping
off of a cliff might be preferable to having direct contact with her.

“You are safe for now,” Eve said. “Stay away from the housing
units. You cannot help those people.”

“What’d ya mean can’t help them?” Ed demanded.

“It’s the barn,” Zack announced, surprise in his
voice.

“We were that damn close?” Luke asked, sounding pissed
off.

“Did you want it to be farther?” Zack joked.

Luke didn’t answer. What he wanted was to not have to
rely on the vampire bitch. As soon as he thought this, he looked around. “She’s
gone.”

“What?” Ed spun around looking in all directions.
“Wait,” he yelled out to the dark, “come back.”

“Forget it Ed. She’s gone.” Zack turned back to the
barn door. He took off his glove and reached his fingers behind a lose board.
Within a few minutes the lights came on and a few more minutes the locks were
being undone and the door was sliding open. On the other side Colin and Madison
stood waiting for them.

“Shit man. What the hell happened?” Colin asked once
they were inside and had closed the doors.

Zack pulled off his ski mask.

“Oh my God,” Madison gasped. “Zack, you’re bleeding

“What?” Zack touched his face.

Ed and Luke removed their masks as well.

“Your faces.” She pointed, her face all eyes.

They looked at each other. All three had dried blood
around their noses and mouths.

“Must have been our mode of travel,” Zack noted.

As they rode the platform down into the bunker, the
travelers took turns explaining what had transpired over the past twenty-four
hours and even to their ears it sounded wild and preposterous. Madison and
Colin had no trouble believing it was true. In this new world they existed in, surprises
were hard to come by, and seldom welcomed.

“Sick man,” Colin exclaimed. “You were that close to a
Sundog dude?” he asked Luke.

“Yeah. That close,” Luke replied and couldn’t help
smiling at Colin’s misguided admiration. He had no idea what they were up
against. In a way Luke envied him and wished life in the bunker satisfied him.

They stopped to cleanup before heading for the command
center. When Colin opened the door they were swarmed by a welcoming committee
of the bunker’s residents. A hail of questions followed with everyone talking
at once. Apparently the nature of their trip hadn’t remained a secret for long.
Zack sought out Colin through the swarm. Colin shrugged his shoulders at his
brother’s raised eyebrows. It hadn’t been Colin’s doing. He’d only told
Charlie, who only told one other person. Who told whom what after that was
anyone’s guess.

Once the hubbub died down to a quiet murmur, and Zack
and Luke were the center of attention, Ed quietly slipped out to go see Jenny.
He tried not to be concerned that she was not part of the welcoming crowd. He
would have been more surprised to see her up and about. A gnawing fear ate at
his mind, but he wasn’t going to think about it right now. Right now he wanted
to see his wife.

Madison was the only one to notice Ed’s departure and figured
he was going to see Jenny. She’d gone to see her after Ed had left, not wanting
her to be alone, worried about how she might be handling her return to the
living.  Jenny had insisted she was ok, but Madison stayed with her during Ed’s
absence. She had Colin bring them dinner, so Jenny wouldn’t have to eat alone. Madison
knew Jenny was having a hard time adjusting, and tried to draw her out, but she
wouldn’t talk about what happened, claiming she couldn’t remember. The one
thing she had been animated about, was their son Ryan. Saying his name brought
more than a spark to her eye. Madison’s experience told her Jenny remembered
more than she was letting on, but she didn’t press the issue.

Thinking about Jenny brought Madison’s thoughts around
to Roxanne. Madison had gone to see her first, before Jenny, but no answer came
when she knocked on the door. Later Madison ran into Caleb playing video games
with Zoe. Although Zoe was thirteen and obviously knew the games well, Caleb
beat her time and time again. When Madison asked if he ever played before he’d
replied yes that he’d played many times, but his response sounded rehearsed.
She was sure of this, but what was she going to do? Grill a seven-year-old? So
she let it go. All things would come to light, Madison was sure of it. She was
also certain these things would not be revelations of the good sort, but only
time would tell. Madison snapped out of her meanderings and looked up to find
Zack staring at her from across the room.

Her fickle heart beat a little bit faster and she
longed to go to him, to tell him she loved him. If he was the only man on her
mind, she wouldn’t have hesitated, but he wasn’t and Madison wouldn’t inflict
heartache upon him for her own selfish desires. That her aloofness was doing
exactly what she intended it not to do never occurred to her. That he wanted
her, even if it meant only having a part of her, also eluded her. If her momma
had been there she would have pointed out the obvious and maybe saved Madison
the unnecessary anguish she was feeling.

Across the room Zack fought a different battle. He had
told himself to give Madison time, she would figure out what she wanted, but
now he thought to hell with waiting. Time was running out. He felt it deep
inside and at times not deep at all, but right there on the surface ready to
burst out into the open. The Adita were coming soon. That their return didn’t
bode well for what remained of the human race was also irrefutable. He didn’t
want to spend the last days of his life watching the woman he loved from across
the room, hoping she would realize one day what a wonderful guy he was. One day
would be too late. It was now or never.

After about fifty minutes of answering their questions
with answers that were founded for the most part in speculation, Luke had had
enough. He wanted to go see how Austin was doing and, more so, to check on
Roxanne. The feeling that she wasn’t who she claimed wouldn’t let go of him. He
thought about talking it over with Madison, but in thinking of what he might
say, in each and every way he approached the topic it sounded absurd. Intuition
fought against guilt and came up the loser. Austin was his friend, his family,
and Luke couldn’t betray him, but he would be damned if he’d let his guard
down. With his conscience somewhat settled, Luke made his way over to Madison
and let her know where he was headed. She gave him a quick hug and asked if he
was ok. A charming smile, after a not so convincing yes, kept her from asking
more questions. Luke left knowing he hadn’t gotten one off, knowing that not
much, if anything, got past her and she would find him later. Later, after she
had time to dwell on it all, and then he wouldn’t be able to dodge her
questions.

***

Eve stood over Austin, her hand on his forehead,
fingers spread wide curled over the top of his head. Za’s visit and delivered
pronouncement disturbed her more than she liked. Changes were coming that she
could not foresee and waiting for Austin to recover on his own was no longer a
viable option. She looked across Austin to where Caleb stood watching his
father’s face. He glanced up at her, but not for long. Eve knew he was anxious
to meet Austin.

Caleb was more than anxious, he was filled with great
anticipation. Soon his father would leave the darkness and open his eyes. He
wanted to see the very moment this happened. To see his father have eyes like
his own. Caleb didn’t know why this mattered, not yet, only that his father
must be human for a little while longer. Eve withdrew her hand and rested it on
Austin’s forearm. Caleb watched Austin’s eyes as they moved underneath his eye
lids. Back and forth, fast and slow, slow, and then they opened. Blue eyes
blinked, looked at Eve, blinked again, looked at Caleb, and then looked around
at the ceiling, the walls, his expression one of uncertainty.

“Where am I?” he asked.

“Under the ground,” Eve responded. She knew the humans
called it a bunker, but it reminded her of Cheyenne.

“Mr. Londergan’s bunker,” Caleb added. “In Pueblo,” he
continued when Austin turned to look at him, pleased to have his father’s
attention. “We arrived last week.”

Austin reached out and touched Caleb’s face. “Caleb?”

“Yes father.”

Austin stared at the boy. Was this child his son? His
son, he repeated this and decided he must be dreaming. This couldn’t be his son,
the baby Eve had presented to him a few months prior. Had so much time been
lost that his son was already a boy? Austin tried to recall what happened. The
last memory he had was falling to the floor. Needles and blood also played a
part. Austin shook his head. This motion created the opposite effect from what
was intended. The lines of the room blurred.

“Easy, your body is still adjusting,” Eve said.

Austin turned to look at Eve. The sound of her voice,
of Roxanne’s voice, made its way through the fog. He pushed his body up into a
sitting position. “What happened to me?”

“You were in a deep slumber,” Eve replied.

“For how long?”

“Twenty-nine days.”

An entire month he’d been lying in bed. He flexed his
leg muscles. They felt stronger than he would have expected. He tossed the
blanket off and swung his legs over the side. Placing his hands on the
mattress, he pushed himself up. The room didn’t spin, his knees didn’t buckle.
In fact he felt a surge of energy sweep through him, which was frightening more
than pleasing. He rubbed his face, his eyes. And then he remembered and rushed
to the bathroom. An unshaven face greeted him, and eyes that were blue as the sky
with no signs of black specs. He ran his hand over his beard and then over his
head through his hair already an inch long. He returned to the bedroom.

“You’re still human,” Eve said, noting his expression
of relief.

 “Is that all I am? When you bit me, what did that do
to me?” He rubbed his wrist where the marks were no longer visible to the naked
eye.

“It was supposed to change you, to become an Adita,
but your body rejected the transformation. You are stronger than I’d thought
possible for a human.”

“Why do I feel so strange?” Austin asked.

“Parts of your brain, those once dormant, are no
longer. Your body is also functioning on a higher level. You are an improved
human.”