The Human (The Eden Trilogy) (19 page)

TWENTY-ONE

A blinding light suddenly filled my vision and I reacted on instinct.

My fist connected with a jaw.

Someone swore and I was momentarily blind as I climbed to my feet.

“That’s probably the first time someone has ever punched you, isn’t it Addie?”

I blinked furiously, trying to clear the white lights blocking my vision.  “Royce?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’m here,” he said.

Finally the white started to fade from my vision, leaving only the dull pain behind my eyes.  Addie, Dr. Beeson’s assistant, was pulling herself into a sitting position, cradling her reddened jaw.  She gave me a disbelieving look.  Royce laughed, shaking his head.

“That would indeed be the first time someone has ever punched me,” Addie said as she picked herself up off the ground, brushing dirt from her clothes.

“I’m sorry,” I said, shaking my head once more.  “Instinct, I guess.  Where’s Dr. Beeson?”

“He’s been really sick,” Addie said.  “Pneumonia.  There’s been a bad case of the flu at the hospital.”

“Is he going to be okay?” I asked.

Addie shrugged.  “Sounds like it.  It’s just going to take time.  It seems like everyone is on the tail end of things.”

“Do you remember what happened this time?” Avian asked, turning back to me.  He eased me down onto a fallen tree.  When the world swayed to the left a bit, I didn’t fight him.

I shook my head.  “Just pain all of the sudden.  And then passing out.  Just like before.”

“And this is the second time this has happened since you were released?” Addie asked. 

Avian took a small, silver cylinder from her and crouched in front of me.  He pressed a button on the bottom and a tiny beam of light erupted from it.  He shone it in my eyes, using his thumb to open them wider.

“I did this same thing two days ago,” I said as I looked into the light.

“This isn’t at all like before,” Avian said as he stood, clicking the light off, and handing it back.  “When she’d get emotionally overloaded and shut down.  She was never in pain before.”

“Well, she’s not supposed to be feeling pain at all,” Addie said.  I stiffened momentarily.  I wasn’t particularly comfortable with her knowing all of my hybrid details.  “Whatever is going on inside of her head must be pretty intense.”

“What were they after?” Royce asked, always direct.  “What did Margaret want from you?”

“They seemed the most interested in the reason why I don’t spread the infection, why I can’t be infected,” I said, climbing to my feet as Royce pulled me upright.  “I think they thought they might find a cure or something.”

“Did they find it?” he asked, his interest piqued.

I shook my head.  “I don’t think so.”

Royce nodded, his eyes drifting up to my new scars.  “Bald is a good look on you,” he said.  He tried to keep a straight face, but I saw it crack, just slightly.

“Not funny, Royce,” Avian scolded, glaring.

“Who says I’m joking?” he said, winking at me.

I just shook my head and lay back on the tree, blocking the sun with my hand.  I felt out of sorts and violated.  I was fifteen hundred miles away from the Underground and they were still torturing me somehow.

“Royce, we have to get the Pulse back up and ready,” I said, looking up at him.  “I’m assuming Gabriel told you what’s going to happen?”

He nodded, his expression darkening.  “Dr. Beeson’s team is finishing up the energy storage devices.  They’d started them just before you were taken.  They’ll get them wrapped up tonight and then get the Pulse prepped tomorrow.”

I shook my head.  “It doesn’t just end with the beacon, Royce.  Things are changing out there.  The Bane, they really are getting smarter.  They’re sweeping through the country.”

I recounted every horrifying detail I’d learned from Tom.

“They’re going to come for us,” I said, imagining how it would play out in my head.  The buildings that would fall.  How we would cower inside the hospital until they started ripping it apart one steel beam at a time.  “We’ve got to fight back.”

“Fighting back is what you and I do best.  Let’s get you home so we can figure out how.”

“Royce, I can’t go back into the city,” I said, shaking my head.  “If the Bane really are attracted to me, I could call them back into New Eden without even meaning to.  And we have no idea what the Underground did to me.  I won’t put everyone at risk.”

“I’m a little insulted that you doubt my abilities to protect our people,” Royce said, actually looking offended.  “We did survive in the city for five years before you wandered into town.  We’ll turn the wireless transmission system back on.  If you do call them, we’ll have it and the Pulse ready.  We’ve always got bullets.”

“You’re sure I should come back?” I asked.

Royce nodded. 

“We’ll be able to do further testing back at the lab,” Addie said.  “There isn’t much I can do out here with no equipment and no electricity.”

Avian’s hand rested on my shoulder and I turned to look at him.  There was understanding in his eyes.  He knew I didn’t want to go back into the city.  But he also saw the fire in me.  It was time to fight back.

I turned back to Royce.  “Let’s go then.”

The four of us hiked back down to the main road.  Avian climbed into the driver’s seat when Royce said he wanted to talk more.  We headed back for the hospital.

“They all jumped?” Royce asked, looking at me like he might be able to see what was inside of me that had changed.  “Hundreds of thousands of them?”

“Yes,” I said.  “They didn’t hesitate.”

He was quiet for a moment but his eyes never left mine.  I could see the wheels turning in his head.  Royce was one of the smartest men I knew.  If anyone could figure out how to use my new ability to its full advantage, it would be him.

“Got anything?” I asked.

“Not yet,” he said, breaking eye contact.

“Whoa,” Avian suddenly said, grinding to a halt.  “Did you guys feel that?”

“What?” Royce asked, leaning forward in his seat, his eyes sweeping the road and the buildings around us.

The ground shook and there was a great rumbling sound.

“That,” Avian whispered.

The ground vibrated harder, the air filled with the sounds of the earth grinding and shifting.

“It’s an earthquake,” Addie said, her voice rising.

“Drive!” Royce shouted.

Avian slammed on the gas and we rocketed forward.

The truck shook back and forth violently and for a moment it tipped up on two wheels.

I looked out the window to see all the other abandoned vehicles outside shifting and rocking in place.  The mostly dead palm trees swayed.

“Ever had an earthquake out here before?” Avian shouted above the din.

“We always get a few little ones every year,” Addie shouted.  “Nothing like this though.”

The ground gave one last quake and finally, as we rounded the corner and came up to the hospital’s underground garage, the earth stood still.

“Check that everyone is okay!” Royce bellowed to his men as soon as Avian stopped the truck. 

We all ran for the stairwell and our footsteps reverberated off the walls.  We burst into the main lobby and our ears were assaulted with shouting and screams.

There was glass all over the floor in the lobby where the computers had fallen and shattered.  Papers were scattered everywhere.  A screaming woman cowered under one of the desks, clutching her wrist which was bleeding profusely.

“I got her!” Avian shouted, breaking off and pulling off his shirt to press into the bleeding wound.

“Anyone else need medical attention?” Royce bellowed, pausing momentarily in the lobby.  Everyone else seemed to be okay.

“Eve, take the second floor, find Elijah if you can.  Make sure everyone is okay,” Royce ordered.  “Send everyone out the south doors.  Addie, the blue floor.”

We all broke off.

I dashed up the stairwell, taking them two at a time.  They all seemed to be intact. 

“Get off the stairs!” I shouted, dodging around a small group of older women cowering on a landing.  “Royce wants everyone outside the building now!  South entrance!”

They looked at me fearfully, but nodded and started down the stairs.

I stepped out into the hallway and started knocking on doors.

“Everyone alright in here?” I asked, finding a couple inside.  There was stuff covering the floor, but nothing looked terribly damaged.

They nodded their heads.  “You’re back?”

“Yeah,” I said, suddenly feeling self-conscious of my shaved head.  “Royce wants everyone outside the south
entrance.”

They slipped into the stairway.

I continued to check doors.  A woman had slipped in the shower when the quake started and hit her head on the sink.  There was blood gushing from her eyebrow.  I sent her in Avian’s direction.

Elijah had worked his way down from the opposite end of the hallway and we met in the middle.

“Welcome back!” he shouted as the ground shook once more.

“Again?” I said, struggling to keep my balance.

“Aftershock,” he said, waving me back toward the stairway.  “They’ll keep coming for a bit.”

When we got to the stairway, we found a stampede of scientists in white lab coats frantically carrying equipment down the stairs.  They shouted in angry, stressed voices.  I made out words like “broken equipment” and “years of research”.

The damage would be worst on the blue floor.

And my heart sank into my stomach.

“The Pulse,” I said to Elijah, my eyes wide.  “It’s on the roof!”

“Don’t worry,” Elijah said as we waited for the scientists to clear out.  “After those people took you, Royce had it moved to an underground, secure location.”

“Is that going to be any better?” I asked as we descended the stairs.

“I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head.  “Let’s go check it out.”

After we were sure everyone had made their way outside, we searched briefly for Royce to tell him where we were going.  When he was nowhere to be found, we passed the message along to Avian as he stitched people up.

Elijah and I sprinted down the road.  Another aftershock hit, nearly knocking us to the ground.  He led me two blocks away and down into a parking garage.

There was a large steel door blocking off the entrance and Elijah pressed a number into a keypad.  It beeped twice and retracted.

Dust billowed out at us as soon as the door started opening and Elijah swore loudly.  We ducked beneath the door and Elijah shined a flashlight through the dust.

It looked like the back half of the building had collapsed down into the garage.