The Shattered Genesis (Eternity) (57 page)

             
“Well, it works,” I huffed back, “I’d be willing to bet she had no friends on earth.”

             
“You would lose that bet.”

             
“Were
you
her friend?”

             
“No. I met her right before we left. I saw her in this dream I had. Do you remember me, from the meeting?
”

             
I studied his face closely. It came back to me all of a sudden; Alice and I had spoken to him directly while we were at the meeting of people who had seen the end. He had been the man who had told us where to go. During that meeting, he also gave an imp
assioned defense of Brynna. The other people had said that she was too closely linked to those responsible for the impending catastrophe. He said that she couldn’t be blamed for her parents’ mistakes. In the end, he had won his fight for her. I wondered if
she knew all he had done to ensure her survival.

             
“I do remember you!” I pointed at him, “James Maxwell, right?”

             
“The very same.”

             
“You were thinner then. You’ve gotten…” I couldn’t quite figure out how the describe his new
appearance. “I don’t know. You
’re bulkier.”

             
“I know. Don’t ask me where it came from because I haven’t lifted weights or done a sit-up since high school Gym. As you can see by my age, that was a long time ago.”

             
“Yeah.” I replied, noting that up close, I could see the slight wrinkles
by his eyes and the laugh lines around his mouth. He was definitely pushing into his mid-forties. I looked at Brynna and like a typical guy, noticed her tight, toned physique. Though James definitely didn’t look, at least in terms of his body, like any for
ty year old I’d ever met, their faces distinguished their age. Brynna’s was undeniably youthful, unblemished by any age lines. James’s age was beginning to show on his. There was no denying that she would find him good-looking because he certainly was, for
an old guy, but I imagined that some would find their relationship downright disturbing, despite any level of physical attractiveness in him.

             
“Before you tell me your story, can I ask you something?”

             
“By all means.”

             
“You and Brynna, you’re…”

             
He laughe
d softly for a moment and nodded.

“Yeah. It shocks me just as much as it shocks you. Look at her. Look at me.”

             
“It’s not that. Do people give you two a hard time?”

             
“Well, our relationship was platonic for those few days on Earth and for a couple of days
on the ship. It was progressing, though. Her family was suspicious and disapproved. Why do you ask?”

             
“I don’t even know, really. It’s just Alice and I used to get looks in our town. Look at her. Look at me.”

             
He actually did look at her for a minute and t
hen turn his gaze to me.

             
“You’re not like, forty years old, are you?” He asked, genuinely confused as to what I was alluding to.

             
“No!” I couldn’t help but laugh. He had a laid back, cool-guy demeanor that came naturally to him. Because of his age, I deci
ded that he was like an awesome teacher I'd want to chill with outside of school. “I’m black. She’s white.”

             
“People still get themselves out of sorts over interracial relationships?” His expression contorted into one of surprise and disdain for such old s
chool narrow-mindedness. “That was barely going on when
I
was young. Are you serious?”

             
“Yeah. Our parents hated the idea. They used to tell us we were pretty much going to get stoned to death if we went to the wrong places. I didn’t believe it at first bu
t now, being here, I see it. Some people at the campsite looked at us strangely. I’m amazed, honestly, that it really does still exist. So, maybe this is for the best, that we’re not together anymore.”

             
“I didn’t realize you two weren’t together anymore. I
s she aware of that?”

             
“She is. I think I made it pretty clear.”

             
“Can I be honest with you?”

             
“I guess.”

             
“I think you’re being ridiculous. Now, don’t get all defensive.” He held his hand up to stop me when I went to burst out with an angry retort, “I war
ned you that I was going to be honest. You can’t tell me that if those things had been on her and there was no other way, that you wouldn’t kill them.”

             
“I don’t know if I would!” I exclaimed, “I don’t think I’d be able to.”

             
“Is that your problem? You thi
nk she can do something that you’re not strong enough to do?”

             
“It’s not strength, James. It’s whether I’m a good person or not! I guess I should apologize for not wanting to kill people. I didn’t realize that just because we’re here we get to forget every
thing we know about being good people! And what really burns me up about it is that she was always the one between the two of us who was religious! She was always telling me we had to live by whatever it is they talk about in the Bible.”

             
“So, you think sh
e’s a hypocrite?”

             
“Yeah! Now that you put it like that, I do! I just…” I trailed off, rubbing my eyes for a minute as I tried to find exactly what it was that I wanted to say. “I just want to hold onto a little of what we had on Earth. That’s the bottom l
ine, I think. The most basic law of living we had was ‘don’t kill.’ It was the worst offense we had, right? So yeah, while we’re here, I’d like to keep that in mind. If there’s another way, I’ll take it.”

             
“What if she’s right, though, and there was no oth
er way?” James pressed me calmly. “What if you had come through there and seen them ripping into her stomach? What then?”

             
Touché. But of course, I wasn’t going to admit outwardly that he had trumped me with his reasoning.

             
“So what, you’re telling me if t
hey killed Brynna, you’d make it right by killing them? What would that prove?”

             
“It wouldn’t
prove
anything. On Earth, we all possessed a degree of human emotion. Rage was one of the worst. Have you noticed that here, it’s amplified? It’s become more pote
nt. Our emotions here are part of our instincts. They drive us. They enable our survival.”

             
“If you say so. But you still haven’t answered…”

             
“If one of those things hurt Brynna, I would kill them in the worst ways. They would feel every last second of it.
It wouldn’t prove anything nor would it bring her back. But that’s the drive of our kind, do you understand what I’m saying?”

             
“I guess.”

             
“If one of those things was attacking Brynna and it came down between her and them, I would kill them because of
that, too. It’s the call of the wild, Quinn.”

             
“We’re not part of the wild, though! We’re human beings!”

             
He studied me for a long time before replying, “Are we?”

             
“I am! I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m still human! I thought this weird mutatio
n stuff was cool at first but now I’m seeing that it’s replacing our… our…
humanity
!”

             
“That’s not true. If we possessed no humanity, I wouldn’t care what happened to Brynna.  I would only care about myself. Brynna certainly doesn’t need me to protect her.
Alice proved that she doesn’t need you to protect her. They can take care of themselves. They always could, without our help, long before we came here. But if it comes down between me, Brynna and the life of one of those things, I’m going to kill for our
survival.”

             
I didn’t respond because I knew he was right. I had run out of retorts and exceptions to the new code we were living by on Pangea. I wanted so desperately to hang onto the code of Earth, perhaps only for the sake of recognition. But I knew that
my need for civility was bred from a fear of allowing my animal instincts to take over completely. What if they erased everything else?

             
“Just sleep on it. Let things ride for a few days. You’ll come to see that I’m right. I know that sounds cocky, but it
’s true. What I’m saying to you is the truth. Think it over.”

             
No pondering was necessary. I knew he was right. As further proof of my immaturity, I refused to accept it.

             
Alice and I were finished.

Violet

             
Elijah had found us in no time. After he saw th
at we were safe, he quickly hurried off to find Brynna. He was operating on a grid in his mind; he walked in straight lines, using where Penny and I were resting as a starting point. In a blur, he would take off running until he felt he had gone too far. T
hen, he would return, move to the left by two feet, and run straight again.

             
When I opened my eyes, I saw that he was sitting beside me, huffing and puffing. I thought that he was catching his breath but in fact, he was crying. I had never seen my brother
cry before and I sat up quickly to wrap my arms around him. The moment I touched him, though, he jumped and furiously
wiped at his eyes.

             
“It’s okay,” I told him gently, “Just let it out. You’ll feel better.”

             
“No. I need to stop it. It’s not helping us.”

             
“Just because you’re a boy doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to cry.”

             
“Yeah, it does,” He replied, “I’m just frustrated. It doesn’t matter how far I run. There’s no end to these woods and I can’t find her anywhere. I have no idea where the hell she could b
e. She’s out there alone.” He paused, unsure of whether he should say what he said next. “I don’t even know if she’s alive, Vi.”

             
Admittedly, when I heard those words, my heart plummeted. Even after all the terrible things I had said to Brynna, I could not
bear the thought of losing her. I had been furious, most definitely, but I had not meant those things. Though I still found it hard to admit, I needed her desperately.

             
“She
is
alive.” I told Elijah urgently. “Wherever she is, she's safe. There's a deeper
meaning to all of this, Eli. There's some significance that we don't understand. Maybe we'll never understand it. But I don't believe that I would have that dream only for one of us to die. There's no way Brynna would have saved us all only to be paid bac
k by being killed. I just don't believe the universe is that cruel.”
             
He looked at me, smiling slightly and trying to suppress a bitter laugh. But when he spoke, I heard a condescension in his voice that reminded me of our lost sister.

             
“So, this 'deeper m
eaning' that would save Brynna is the same 'deeper meaning' that was responsible for an entire planet full of people being blown away by some huge explosion?”

             
“I know you're thinking that I'm naïve right now. I know you’re being rude because you don’t bel
ieve in that stuff. But I didn't just say that to make you feel better. I do believe it, Elijah.”

             
“You would. You're still so young.”
             
“Me being seventeen has nothing to do with this!” I shot back angrily. “It's the truth! The natives are nothing. Whateve
r happens from here on out, I'm not going to be afraid. I refuse to believe that we would escape the earth only to die here.”
             
“Twenty people have died since we got here. They died brutally. The natives killed them because we're not welcome here. Not to me
ntion, the countless people that died after taking that sedative. Where is all of that in the plan?”

             
I thought long and hard for a retort that would put the argument to bed. Coming up short, I just stood and started to gently shake Penny awake.