The Eve (The Eden Trilogy) (6 page)

I was going a good job of it.  Until one of them muttered “murderers” once they were behind our backs.

“Okay, this is enough,” Royce growled.  He reeled around and moving faster than I thought him capable of, grabbed the younger man by the front of his jacket and had him pinned against the side of a building.

“I can deal with you wrongly accusing me of murdering that psychopath you all called a leader,” Royce hissed in his face.  “But I won’t tolerate lies about Eve.  After everything you lot did to her and after everything she’s done and will do to save your sorry asses, you ought to be bowing down at her feet.  Any of you says anything about her again, I’ll have every one of you escorted from New Eden in a very uncomfortable way.”

“Both of you just stop!”  The woman from their group was instantly crying and I actually felt sorry for her.  So many of the refugees just wanted peace.  But the two men were bristling with anger.  But when a man like Royce makes threats, fear overrules anger.

“Corbin,” Tristan suddenly called from behind.  “Do we have a problem here?”

Royce released the man, who shrugged his jacket back on straight and tried to look unbothered by the encounter.

“No problem,” Corbin said, his eyes burning into Royce’s.  “Apparently I’ve been put in my rightful place.”

“Good,” Tristan said, his finger resting just to the side of the trigger on his shotgun.  “Now, how about we get on home, okay?”

Without another word, the small group turned and started back for the hotel.

“I hope they weren’t too much trouble,” Tristan said, watching them retreat.

Royce’s jaw was set hard.  He shook his head once, hatred burning in his eyes as he stared after Corbin and the others.  Finally, he just stalked back in the direction of the hospital.

“We’ve got to start bridging this gap and animosity between us,” Avian said, placing a hand on my back.  “Or there’s going to be another war.”

Over the next week, Avian, West, Bill, and I made plans for our journey and departure.  We gathered supplies, carefully picked our firepower.  And we discussed who the fourth member of our crew should be. 

Elijah was laid up and in bad shape.  He’d been shot twice in his left leg, and once in the chest.  If the bullet had hit two inches higher he would have died.  But even if he was at fighting readiness, he would be needed here in New Eden.  Graye was in charge as head of security detail until Elijah was healed up.  So Graye was out too.

Gabriel was still working with the civilians to carve out a normal life.  He was helping to keep the peace between the refugees and the members of New Eden.  Plus Gabriel wouldn’t have been my first choice on this kind of mission anyway.

Had we not had to deal with the refugees, I would have picked Tristan in a heartbeat.  But nerves were still on edge and a fight was ready to break out at any moment.  If not for him, we’d finish each other off like we’d tried to do two weeks ago.

So there were very few options left.  There were others on security detail, but none that I knew well enough to trust their skills on a mission of this importance.  I was considering Tuck, but he also had duties he needed to fulfill here in New Eden.

“Maybe we don’t even need a fourth,” I said late one night as Avian and I stepped into my room.  “We’ve got you, me, West, Bill; we all know what we’re doing.  Why do we need another?”  I pulled my boots off and tossed them into my closet cupboard.

“I think that’s totally up to you,” Avian said as he slipped his own shoes off and lined them up by the door.  He started pulling his firearms off and laid them on the counter.  “I think I’d rather work with a tighter crew anyway.”

“I have to say, I’m pretty impressed with how well you and West have been working together for the past week,” I said as I walked into the bathroom.  I turned the water on in the shower and leaned against the door, my shoulder pressing into the cold steel of the frame.

“He’s different now,” Avian said as he crossed the room.  He stopped just short of me.  He placed his hands on either side of the doorframe.  “Whatever you two talked about last week sure put him in a different state of mind.”

“I just pointed out a few things to help him move on,” I said.

“I’m certainly enjoying the benefits of it,” Avian said, a slow smile creeping on his face.  He leaned in closer.  “I haven’t seen you this relaxed in months.”

“Having a purpose will do that you,” I said as his lips met mine.

His arms wrapped around my waist and my hand ran over his once again shaven hair.  He lifted my legs and set me on the counter in the bathroom.

“Oh no, no, no,” I said, smiling against his lips.  I placed a hand on his chest and pushed him away.  “I’m supposed to get in the shower and then go for my last meeting with Royce.  If we get started in on this,” I said, waving a finger between the two of us, “I will
not
make it in time.”

“You will be the death of me, woman,” Avian teased as he nipped at my jaw. 

I couldn’t help the ridiculous smile that spread on my face as he stepped away.  I very much didn’t want him to go as he crossed back to his shoes and bent to pick them up.  He looked back at me where I still sat on the counter.  He gave a low, playful growl, before opening the door and stepping out.

I climbed into the shower and turned the water freezing cold.

SIX

Over the next few days, a truce began to form between the residents of New Eden and the refugees. 

Their six children were welcomed into Lin’s school room.  She insisted children were children, no matter where they had come from.  They deserved an education.  That was the first step.

At Tristan’s recommendation, two of their men joined security detail.  They were friends of Tristan’s and he was sure we could trust them.  Royce hesitantly allowed them to be assigned firearms.

Two of the mothers joined the kitchen staff.  It was the women who seemed to be making the biggest leap in bridging the enormous canyon between the two groups.  Victoria was among the first of them that made the intimidating journey to the hotel to try and make peace.  She’d formed quick friendships there.  Her first step invited others to do the same.

Maybe we wouldn’t go back to war after all.

It was dangerous getting people’s hopes up too high, especially in a world like ours.  Those of us in the know said nothing of our plans and about the slim possibility that this might work to anyone.  Most people knew something was going on, but they knew better than to directly ask questions.

That didn’t keep the rumors from spreading.

Some thought Royce was keeping at least one Bane holed up in the building that Dr. Evans was kept in.  Since Dr. Beeson frequented the building so often, people suspected we were experimenting on them.

Others speculated on why a vehicle was being worked on and why we were stockpiling supplies.  They thought maybe some members of Eden wanted to return to the mountains.

None of them suspected we were making an attempt to save the world and looking for a girl who would be almost impossible to find.

Royce and Gabriel made sure life went about as usual.  Security detail continued in the re-homing effort, without Avian as second-in-command.  The incident still left him stripped of trust.  He now had a more important mission to focus on though, as did Bill.

Nearly everything was back to normal after the death match between the refugees and New Eden.  Most everyone was healed, back to work.

Except one person.

She wasn’t a victim of the fight.  She was a victim of nature and Mother Earth.

I stepped into the medical wing and walked to her door.  I saw her still form through the window, looking as if she were simply sleeping.  I pushed the door open and sat in the chair next to her bed.

Morgan had been a member of Eden for almost as long as I had.  Since we had different abilities and interests, I didn’t know her well.  She had been the caretaker for our horses, until one died and the other we had no choice but to leave behind in the mountains.  

Two years ago she married Eli in a makeshift wedding gown and a crown of daisies upon her head.  She loved him.

And now he was dead.

Now she was fighting for her life, and losing.

So was the baby.

During the earthquake just a few weeks ago, the roof had caved in on Morgan and Eli, killing him, and nearly killing her.

My eyes shifted from her pale face to her growing stomach.  How far along was she?  I was no pregnancy expert, but it seemed like I remembered Avian once saying that pregnancy lasted nine months.  She had found out she was pregnant just a few weeks before we left the mountains of Eden.  So, five months?

I myself had arrived into this world three months early.  I knew the child stood almost no chance if it arrived four months early.  True, we were in a hospital with some amazing doctors, but the odds were not in her favor.

“Eve?”

I jumped to my feet when Morgan spoke my name.  The word was weak and rough and totally unexpected.

“Yeah,” I said, backing up to the window, suddenly embarrassed that I was here.  “It’s me.”

“What happened to you?” she asked, concern breaking over her face as she looked at me.

I hadn’t seen Morgan awake since I had returned from the Underground.  She didn’t know that the top of my skull had been cut off and a device had been implanted in my head.

“You don’t think bald is a good look on me?” I tried to joke.  I was terrible at it.

A small smile pulled at her chapped lips.  “I didn’t say that.  And I wouldn’t call you bald.”

I tried to return her smile, unsure if I succeeded.  It was true; my hair had grown out to about two inches long.  I stood there for a long while, unsure what to say.

“Are you okay?” she asked, breaking the silence.  “You look terrified, like I might bite you.”

An awkward laugh bubbled out of my lips.  “Sorry,” I said.  “I’m not really sure what to say.”

“It’s okay to feel awkward, Eve,” she said with a warm smile.  “It’s part of being human.”

“Thanks.  I appreciate that.”

Morgan nodded and then a small grimace crossed her face.  Her hand went to her stomach and she crunched in on herself.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, jumping to the side of the bed.  “Do you want me to get the doctor?”

Morgan shook her head and rolled onto her side.  “No, there isn’t anything else they can do.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.  All of the heat drained out of my body in an instant.

“You know what I mean, Eve,” she said, her eyes locking with mine.  “I’m dying.  I probably don’t have more than a few weeks left.”

“What’s wrong?” I croaked as I sank into the seat next to her.

“I don’t remember exactly what the doctors said, but it has to do with the damage done when the building came down on me.  Something about arteries being damaged beyond repair.  My heart can’t pump the blood to the rest of my body fast enough.  And with the pregnancy, it just makes it twice as bad.”

I took a hard swallow, feeling as if ice were coursing through my veins.  I imagined my mother, the babies inside killing her.

“What about the baby?” I asked, my voice almost too quiet to be heard.

Morgan’s eyes reddened and a bead of moisture slipped from her cheek.  “When I go, they’re going to try an emergency C-section, see if they can save the baby.  But the odds aren’t good.  The baby isn’t getting enough blood.  It could die any second.”

I took a deep breath, shaking my head.  “C-section, what does that mean?”

“They’ll cut my stomach open and pull the baby out,” she said, her voice wavering.  “That is if she doesn’t die before I do.”

“She?” I asked.

“What?” Morgan questioned, confused.

“You said ‘she’,” I said, trying to smile.  “It’s a girl?”

“Oh,” Morgan gave a small laugh.  “I don’t really know.  They’ve done ultrasounds, but they didn’t tell me what it is.  I guess I just think it’s a girl.”

“She’ll be beautiful,” I said, trying to think what Sarah might say in a situation like this.  She knew how to handle these very human moments.

“Thank you,” Morgan said, smiling.  She started coughing and soon she was moaning in pain.  A nurse rushed in and shooed me out.

Once in the hall, I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes.

Half a percent.  That was all that was left of the human population on Earth.  In reality, it was probably far less than that now.

Morgan was only one person.  But when there is only half a percent left, or less, one person makes a huge difference.

And one baby lost was one less person to live in the hope of a restored future.

SEVEN

“I’m just now realizing that I have no clue where NovaTor is,” I said as I looked at the map.

Dr. Evans stood inside his glass room.  He had spread the map out on a table in front of him.  This was our final planning meeting.  The van would be ready in three days.

He placed his finger on the map.  The place was a few hundred miles northwest of the original location of Eden.  Made sense.  I had probably walked for weeks after he released me. 

“NovaTor’s location is secluded.  Not many towns nearby, and the ones that were close are small,” Dr. Evans said, looking up at Avian and Bill.  Almost as if he forgot I had no idea what NovaTor was like either.  “That was on purpose.  We didn’t want to be disturbed.  But the climate there this time of year will be cold.  Arid.  There may or may not be snow to deal with.  Pack warm clothing that will keep you dry.”

“We can go scouting this afternoon,” I said, nodding.

“How long will it take us to get there?” Avian asked, placing a hand on the glass wall and leaning in for a closer look at the map.

“Since the vehicle we are taking is large and solar powered, it won’t travel all that fast,” Dr. Evans said, that annoyed tone back in his voice.  “We’ll be lucky to get to speeds of forty miles per hour.”

“So,” Bill calculated as he studied the map.  “Roughly twenty hours of driving time.”