Emergence (Eden's Root Trilogy) (15 page)

“Fi!”
Sean dropped his staff and broke into a run.

When he reached them, he
threw his arms around her. Fi hugged him back, the tears welling in her eyes. Her arms tightened around her best friend as she tried to explain with her body what her mind could not — the depth of her relief and gratitude. A tear slid down her cheek as she pulled away and met his eyes. He nodded. She knew he didn’t expect her to say anything.

“I’m so glad that you’
re ok,” he said quietly, his eyes shining.

“We both are.”
Sara came forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Fi
wiped her eyes and smiled. “Yes, I’m ok, but we still have work to do.”

“That’s what I’ve been dying to tell you
, Fi, but I couldn’t risk it over the radio. This time it’s not just us with work to do.” Sean waved at the people gathered in the road behind him, their faces expectant.

Now that they were closer,
Fi recognized some of them. She saw the leader of the family that had started the WPGH station.

“
Greg,” she murmured, giving the tall, older man a confused little wave. He raised his hand in greeting, but his face remained serious. That was when she noticed that he wore a cloth headband with the symbol of Eden’s beloved apple tree, Eve, on it. Around him, she saw members of his family, including two women and teens that she knew. All wore either a headband or armband with the symbol of Eve.

What on Earth?
What was going on?
She swung her head to the other side. There was Marcy from the WWPL station and her family, all wearing the symbol of Eve. “Marcy?” she said, confused.

“Fi
.” They bowed their heads.

“Fi.
”

S
he heard it from the other side and swung her head back to find the source. The crowd parted as she met it.

“Fi.
”

T
he murmurs came from all sides now. Mixed with her name were reverent whispers of “Asher” and “The Seeders.”

And for every face that she knew
, there were ten that she didn’t. All wore the symbol of Eve. She turned to Sean and Sara, whom she now saw wore armbands bearing Eve’s image as well. “What’s happening, Sean?” Her head was whirling.

“They came for us
, Fi,” he said, his voice growing thick. “They’re here to help.”

Another
figure melted from within the crowd. He was dressed like a soldier, yet he too wore the symbol of Eve on his arm. As he approached, Fi saw that he was startlingly handsome.

“You!”
The word burst from her mouth before she could stop it. The soldier saluted her and smiled. His perfect teeth gleamed behind full lips and a sexy, grizzled chin. His dark eyes and thick hair screamed “movie star.” Even without having stared down the barrel of his assault rifle, there was no mistaking him. It was the soldier who’d let her Family escape. “What? How? I mean…what?”

“I’
m very honored to finally meet you, Fi Grey.” He offered his hand.

“You know this guy
, Fi?” Asher was wary.

She turned to him, her eyes still wide
. “Yes, Ash. And so do you, because you wrote my story. This is the soldier who saved our lives.”

“Not really,” the soldier protested
. “I just let you go.”

“
Are you serious?” Asher’s mouth dropped open. “This is the guy?”

“
Yes,” Fi exhaled with a smile. “As crazy as that sounds. I’m sure we’ll have time later to find out how the heck we all ended up here.” She turned to the soldier and took his hand. “I’m sorry, soldier. I haven’t asked your name.”

His smile widened
. “Julius.”

“As in Caesar?”

“As in Pappas.”

Of course
, she thought.
He’s a Greek God.
That explains why he looks like an action figure.

Julius reached out to shake Asher’s hand
. “Happy to meet you, Asher Grey,” he said warmly.

“Uh, yes
. Nice to meet you, Julius.” Asher looked even more shocked than Fi, and Sean and Sara burst out laughing.

“Believe me,
” Sean said. “We know how you feel. When Julius first showed up here at Jean and Luc’s with the others, I thought I was hallucinating. It took at least five full minutes for me to speak again so I could explain myself to Sara.”

“Nothing like meeting a ghost
, huh?” Julius said. He gestured to Fi. “I was just as surprised when I saw your wedding video. There was no mistaking your face, and I felt so relieved to know that you’d lived. But,” he paused and met the eyes of the crowd gathered around them, “we have other things to deal with besides catching up.” He gave a quick whistle. “Children, assemble!”

A
river of children came wriggling out of the crowd. They ran haphazardly, weaving through one another until they’d formed a series of lines. On cue, they all marched forward like a band on parade. None of them could be older than twelve, Fi thought, and yet they marched with precision and wore the Eve armband. She bit her lip, stifling her laughter at the little platoon.

When they were just a few feet away
, they stopped and sank to one knee in unison, their heads bowed.
Wow,
she thought, suddenly impressed.
That was…serious
. The child in the center rose and approached Fi, holding out a scrap of fabric and a piece of paper. “These are for you, from the Army of Eden.”

The A
rmy of Eden?
She took the items and thanked him. He scurried back into place. She turned the strip of fabric over and saw that it was an armband with the symbol of Eve.

“May I?” Julius
asked, stepping forward. At her nod, he tied the band around her left arm. He handed another armband to Asher, and then he nodded to the note still clutched in Fi’s hand. “Read it.”

Fi’s mind
raced as she began to piece the scene together: a gathering of people, including soldiers, all bearing a single symbol and calling themselves the Army of Eden. Sean had said these people had come for them, had come to help… Was it possible? She unfolded the paper and gasped when she saw the name at the top -
General Michael Zelinski.

Her hands shook as she read the letter
aloud.

“To
the People of Eden. For too long the rest of us have sat idly by while your colony has taken all of the risks essential to the recovery of our great society. Our inaction has led to the loss of your colony, for which we are deeply sorry. It is clear that we can no longer afford to stay on the sidelines.

It is time for every ab
le-bodied person who owes Eden their lives and their hope to come forward and fight. The Army of Eden is rising, and we won’t stop until we’ve rescued all of those who were taken and have restored the Eden colony. This is our promise to you, to ourselves, and to all of humanity.”

A cheer rose
from the crowd as she finished reading, and Fi felt hot tears spring to her eyes.

“To Eden!
To Eden!”

She stared
, speechless, as the cheer rose and fell in waves. Just two weeks ago she’d felt entirely alone, and now…

“Can you believe it
?” Sean’s hand found hers. There were tears in his eyes as well. “They’re coming from everywhere, Fi. It will take some longer than others to get where we’re going, but they’re all coming. All of them.”

“What do you mean
, ‘all of them’?”

“H
e means all of us,” Julius interjected, as the crowd quieted. “Diaspora is coming. Lakeland is coming. And all of the Nets are coming. Those gathered here are just from the New England and upper New York Nets. We still have many more to come.” He put his hand on her shoulder and turned to the crowd. “We won’t let them do this alone, will we?”

“No!”
The cries erupted, along with hoots and hollers, as cheers of “To Eden” rose anew.

Fi
stared at the Army in shock, her eyes bleary with tears of relief.
They’re all coming. For us.
She turned to Sean and said the only thing that came to mind. “You’re right, Sean. You
do
have a plan.”

-------
----- Carter --------------

Carter rubbed his eyes as he turned the dial on the radio
. Only one more progression and he’d be done.

Every day he listened to the broadcasts with his heart in his throat, w
aiting for someone to say, “Let’s go find out what happened to Eden.” It was excruciating listening to them. All of the Liars breathing in and out and living to see another day. Nauseating. Despite this, he knew he had to listen to keep an eye on them. So far, he’d been pleased to find that his foes were all cowards.

“…
nothing we can do…”

“…
but we haven’t heard from them in weeks. What if something happened? Shouldn’t we do something?”

“…
too hard…yes, of course we’re worried. We’re worried sick, but that’s the reason for caution.”

Ha
!
Carter thought. Diaspora was afraid of him. They’d always been afraid…hiding in their little hole. To be honest, Carter had more respect for Eden. At least they’d put their money where their mouth was instead of keeping everything for themselves.

“…
when winter eases, we’ll send out a search party. We promise…”

Yes, Diaspora’s promises mean
t so very much, Carter fumed. He felt the familiar pulse of rage push its way into his throat. For a moment, he couldn’t draw breath. If it were possible for concrete to burn, that would best describe his chest in these moments. The first time the rage had choked his throat, he’d panicked and passed out, awakening later in a puddle of his own drool.

But by now he was an old hand at swallowing his rage.
He waited, fixed, until his chest loosened and he could draw breath. The first few were always ragged, acid. He gulped like a fish.
It doesn’t matter
, he thought. So Diaspora was up to their old tricks, hiding and lying. So what else was new?
It was their mistake…waiting on him.

He opened his worn Bible and pulled out the small photograph, the edges tattered and peeling
. His finger rubbed over the image out of habit as he read,
"Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

The tears came, as they always did, when he got to the word “you.”
It was an exhausting ritual, a rinse cycle that left him wiped. If only he could resist its pull. The photograph was starting to fade. He knew that he should keep it tucked away, that if he wanted it to last, he shouldn’t rub it with his fingers. But it was all he had left. He kissed it and inhaled, sucking back the tears. “You’re worth all of them put together, baby.”

The door opened and he startled, tucking the photo back into its place
. Nona’s head poked through the door. “Ready, Father?”

He noted the daylight streaming into the room behind her.
Goodness, he’d lost track of time. He pasted a smile on his face. “Ah, yes, Nona. Do come in.”

As Nona settled into t
he morning report, Carter’s mind wandered, still drawn back into its usual ruts. Diaspora. Eden. He closed his eyes and opened them slowly, determined to focus on Nona.

“And the Tithe has been fully collected,
” she was saying, “as you no doubt heard from Silas, but I just wanted to confirm for you...”

Carter eyed Nona as she
prattled on. She was the first “Truther” he’d ever baptized. She had a penchant for devotion anyway, but there was nothing like being saved from starvation to make one loyal. Her family had stumbled into Great Times River Camp only a few months after he did.

The little c
amp by the river had been peaceful, and he’d grown tired of the nomad’s life: scraping by, living the grind of daily survival by sticking to rivers and keeping on the move. He’d expected his triumph over Diaspora I to lessen the sting of his anger, but it hadn’t. Nothing had, until he’d found this place.

But f
inding this camp itself wasn’t the lucky part…wasn’t the
sign
. It was finding the camp storage shed filled to the brim with dried food. That miracle, that Hallelujah, had saved him. It was the moment he’d known that he was right to destroy Diaspora and to seek a new way. God had rewarded him.

When Nona wandered in
to Camp with the patience of a saint and the fervor of a missionary, he’d found his true calling. In the evenings, he would read the Bible to her family and they would sit, enraptured. It hadn’t taken much doing for him to shift from reading to preaching. And it hadn’t taken much time for others to find Camp Truth.