Escape to Eden (30 page)

I carefully peek around the tree. Lenny sets Jenna down, who wobbles precariously. Once she balances herself, she punches at Lenny. “What the hell? You can’t just grab people like that!”

Lenny pushes her away with his long arm, making her fall to the ground. “You see that, Ted? She’s like a wild dog.”

Jenna scrambles to her feet. “Nobody calls me a dog.”

She rushes him, but he stretches his arm and stops her progression with his hand to her forehead. Jenna’s cursing and swinging her fists at him, but he’s at least a foot away from her much smaller arms. He laughs.

“She seems awfully feisty for an Original,” Ted says. “Let me see her eyes.”

Lenny spins his hand, forcing Jenna to turn around, despite her angry words, half of which I don’t recognize. Ted bends down until his eyes are level with Jenna’s. A second later he straightens, his expression anything but jubilant.

“You moron, Lenny! This isn’t her.”

While Lenny takes his own turn to examine Jenna, I drop my head back into the tree. Ted had said “her.” They are looking for me, which means the Institute has a lot more people searching for us than we expected. And since they’re offering a reward, it will be impossible to know whom to trust.

“Where is she?” Ted says to Jenna.

“Your mom?” Jenna asks, innocently. “She left you when you were a baby, don’t you remember? She couldn’t stand your face.”

“Don’t get smart with us.”

“Impossible,” she says.

Ted hits her hard, making me flinch. A blow like that would’ve knocked me unconscious.

Jenna wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. “My cat hits harder than you.”

Ted cocks back his fist. “Where is the Original? Tell me or next time you’ll see stars permanently.”

Jenna raises her chin. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

Lenny grabs her neck from behind and lifts her up, shaking her hard. “I want my reward! Tell us where she is!”

When he’s finished, his grip lightens, giving her a chance to respond. She gasps for air, then says, “I don’t know any Originals!” There’s no humor in her voice now.

“Of course you do,” Ted says. “Why else would a little girl like you be out here, within thirty miles of where I saw a plane land?”

“I saw it land too and was curious,” she says.

This gives the men pause.

“You looking for the Original too?” Lenny asks. He lowers her to the ground.

She runs with it. “I sure am. I’m going to use the money to buy me those new Nike shoes. You see them? The ones that let you walk on water?”

“My sister has a pair,” Lenny says. “They don’t work all of the time.” He lets go of Jenna’s neck.

“Don’t they? That’s too bad.”

Ted’s watching her closely. “If you know about the Original,” he says, “then you heard the announcement, right?”

My mind races. Announcement? The one we deciphered on
the plane? But it said nothing about a reward. Jenna’s probably thinking the same thing.

“My com was low, but I heard all the important stuff. Original and reward. That’s all I need to hear and I’m like a Canine.” She growls and shows her teeth.

Lenny laughs.

Jenna looks at him. “Don’t do that.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t believe you,” Ted says.

“I don’t care what you believe. You guys have wasted enough of my time, and it’s only a few more hours before dark.” She turns to leave, but Ted grabs her by the arms.

“I don’t think so. Not until you pass my test.”

“I’m dyslexic,” she says.

“There’s no reading involved. Just me smashing your head in three times. If you don’t tell me where the Original is, then I figure you’re telling the truth and you can live, if you’re still alive by then.”

“I don’t know of any Original,” she says. Her loyalty touches me. I wouldn’t have guessed she had it in her.

Ted continues to hold her with his left hand, while he raises his right fist. “We’ll see.”

Jenna’s eyes close tight.

“Stop!” I call and step out of my hiding place.

The men startle and settle into a defensive position.

Jenna opens her eyes and groans, “Balls, Patch! What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking I want you to keep your face. Let her go,” I say. “I’m the one you want.”

“Raise your hands and walk toward me,” Ted says. “I want to see your eyes.”

I move out of the shadows and come toward them, my hands above my head. They both stare into my eyes.

“Eww,” Lenny says. “Her eyes are ugly. Definitely an Original.”

“You are so dumb,” Jenna mutters to me under her breath.

“There’s supposed to be two of you.” Ted says. “Where’s the boy?”

I turn to Jenna. “You’re the one who bolted when I said not to, remember?” To Ted I answer, “Just me. The broadcast was wrong.”

Lenny thumps his long arm into the ground. “I ain’t sharin’ the prize with nobody.”

“Neither am I,” Ted says. “I say we make the Original scream. Maybe the boy’s hiding in the forest just like she was.”

“There’s no one out there,” I say, but I know he’s not going to believe me. I motion toward Jenna with my head. “Let her go and then worry about securing me. You can look for the boy later.”

Lenny laughs, which makes my teeth grind. “Secure you?” he says. “My hand will secure you. There’s not a thing you can do to us.”

“It’s not for protection from me, but from other Primes who surely saw my plane land too. They’re probably coming right now and when they see me with you, they’re going to want to fight.”

Ted and Larry look at each other. They know I’m right.

“We can split up,” Lenny says. “I’ll take the Original, you look for the boy.”

“No way. You’ll take her straight to the Institute and cash out on the prize yourself. I’ll take her.”

“I’m not letting her out of my sight.”

While the two continue to argue, Jenna leans over and whispers to me, “You can’t seriously leave with them.”

“Don’t worry. When an opportunity presents itself I’ll get away. You just make sure Max makes it to my father safely.” Much louder, I say, “You better hurry and make a decision, boys.”

“I’ve got a better idea,” Jenna says. “Remember how you wanted to know what my special ability was?”

I look at her questioningly.

“You might want to cover your ears.” She sucks in air through puckered lips, and then opens her mouth wide. The sound that comes out is nothing short of an atomic vocal bomb. I clamp my hands over my ears and drop to the ground. The men do the same. My eardrums feel like they are on fire, a burning inferno of excruciating pain.

Jenna continues to scream until she runs out of air. By the time she’s finished, I’m curled into a fetal position, unable to produce
a single thought. As much as I want to close my eyes and take myself to a happy, pain-free mental place, they remain open.

Ted and Lenny are struggling to get up. Jenna does her best to make sure they stay down. She kicks them each hard in the stomach and then follows it up with a blow to their faces. She’s saying something and by her expression, the words can’t be pretty or nice.

Jenna manages to hold them off for a short time, but soon they gain the upper hand. Lenny swipes his long arm at her feet, knocking her to the ground. A second later Ted presses his foot to her chest. I can’t hear her but by the way her eyes look like they might pop from their sockets or the way her mouth is forming the shape of a large O, I know she is screaming.

I try to crawl over to help her, but the smallest move is excruciating. It’s a horrible feeling, the helplessness of the situation. Jenna will die because I’m normal.

Two figures streak across my line of vision. The largest barrels into Ted’s chest, knocking him off of Jenna, who quickly scrambles to the side. It takes me a second to realize the person is Tank. Colt comes right behind him, aimed at Lenny, who looks thoroughly confused. Just before Colt reaches him he turns like he’s going to bolt, but Colt doesn’t let him. He tackles Lenny to the ground and, while Lenny’s face is pressed into the dirt, Colt leans over him and says something into his ear. Then he slowly moves off Lenny’s back, and Lenny jumps to his feet and runs fast into the forest. Ted and Tank are in an epic battle the kings of the forest would be jealous of. Tank is smiling like it’s the most fun he’s had in a long time.

While they continue to trade Titan-sized blows, Colt comes and kneels in front of me. His eyebrows are drawn together and his mouth is moving. I can’t hear him, but I know he’s saying my name. The pain in my ears is so sharp I wonder if they are bleeding.

“I can’t hear,” I say. At least I think I’m saying it aloud.

Colt points his forefinger upwards and mouths the word
up
. I attempt to get on all fours, but an intense dizziness comes over me and I fall back down. Colt’s lips tighten and he presses his palm to my back.

I glance away from his concerned stare and look for Tank. He’s in the middle of tossing Ted over his head. Two trees have already been knocked over from their fighting. Ted crashes into a third; the tree snaps at the base. This time when Ted shakily comes to his feet, he shakes his head and follows Lenny’s escape route. The victor, Tank, raises his arm to the sky and runs a victory lap. Colt looks at him sternly and says something to make him stop.

Both Tank and Jenna come over to me. The three of them stand together, discussing something I really wish I could hear, especially because I’m sure it’s about me. Colt shrugs off a small backpack and opens it up. I try again to get to my feet but fall over. I’m so nauseated that I think I might vomit.

Almost a full minute passes before Colt turns around. His expression is as solemn as the others. They have the look of someone who is about to put their family pet to sleep, so when Colt kneels down and brings his hand forward, revealing a needled syringe, my eyes go big.

“No!” I say.

Before he stabs it into me, I think he says, “Trust me.” He raises his eyebrows like he’s waiting for me to answer.

I nod my head, assuming that whatever’s in the syringe will heal my ears and get me back to walking as soon as possible. If two Primes saw the plane go down, there are most likely others. We need to get out of the forest and quick.

Colt gently presses the needle to the crook in my arm. I barely feel the sting when he pushes it into me. He gives me an encouraging smile. I wait, expecting any moment to feel better, but I don’t. Instead I grow sleepy. Now I panic. My eyes go wide and I shake my head as much as the pain in my ears will allow. I don’t want to go to sleep.

But I don’t have a choice.

My eyes close, and I’m greeted by a suffocating blackness.

T
here’s nothing pleasant about a drug-induced sleep. It takes away a person’s control, specifically mine, so when my eyes finally open, I wake in a bad mood.

I blink a few times and attempt to orient myself. Nothing looks familiar.

I’m sitting with my back pressed against the wall of a tall metal structure, surrounded by litter that smells of pizza and dog urine. Not more than ten feet across from me is a building, the side rusted, making it more copper than silver. I’m in a long, narrow alleyway. The sky above me is a dark blue. It won’t be long until nightfall, which means I’ve been out for at least a couple of hours.

“About time,” a voice says.

I turn my head and for the first time since waking realize that my ears no longer hurt, and I’m not dizzy. Tank looks at me for just a second before turning his back. He’s peering outside the alleyway.

“Where are we?” I ask.

“New York City.” His voice is serious, which worries me. Tank is never serious.

“Where are the others?” I ask, thinking specifically of Max.

“They took a different route.”

I scoot next to him and look around the corner. “Why? I thought we were supposed to stay together.”

The streets are busy. Vehicles, most of them older-looking compared to the ones in Boston, speed down the street, making it a suicide mission for any pedestrian thinking of passing, which, by the
worn expressions of the people huddled together under faded and worn awnings, could be a serious possibility.

“We were spotted by a few Primes about an hour ago,” Tank says. “With people after us we thought it better to split you and your brother up to increase our odds that at least one of you will make it to your father.”

“It’s got to be Max,” I blurt.

“That’s what we thought you would say, so I took you and went straight into the city to act as a decoy, especially for the Canine, who probably arrived around the same time we did.”

I try hard to prevent it, but a shiver shakes my whole body.
The Canine
. Something has to be done about him or I and everyone around me will be at risk.

Tank seems to read my mind. “Don’t worry. I’m working on what to do with him. Truthfully, I thought we’d be well through the city by now, beating even the others, but I had no idea it would be this difficult. See, look.” He points to his left.

I lean out a little farther. There’s an electronic billboard attached to a walkway that crosses over the busy road. It’s looping the words, “Boy and girl Originals loose in city. Call Institute immediately for reward. Last seen with—” then the screen flashes a picture of Tank, the most well-known sports hero in America.