Eden Box Set

by G. C. Julien

  It’s my fault. I should’ve stepped out of the cabinet. I should’ve fought, even if it meant death. But placing blame on this woman is easier. Wanting revenge for all my anger is easier than self-loathing.

  Then, I think of my mom and what she’d say to me if she knew what I was thinking: “Gabriel, mi amor, you are better than this.”

  But she isn’t here.

  After the war, I found her lifeless body curled up on her living room floor. She had a gray hand clutched over a cross pendant hanging from her neck. She lay there, her mouth partially open and her eyes closed. Her face looked almost white because of all the dust, and because of the sunlight overhead. Half her roof was blasted off when the jets started bombing. Her couch was sliced right down the middle, and debris, wood, and nails were everywhere. I wanted to give her a proper burial, but a few female survivors started climbing out of the rubble from the neighboring houses. I had to leave. I had to run.

  I stare at the woman standing in front of me. Has the universe somehow given me a second chance? Maybe if I kill her, I’ll be avenging the president and my mother.

  Because right now, all I feel is anger. It’s like she’s triggered something for me, and all of the goodness inside me is disappearing.

  “Gabriel,” I know my mom would say right now. And her dark chocolate eyes would be glued to me the way they always were when she gave me a lecture. “Love is what will save this world.”

  “Well?” the blond woman snaps. “What’s this big idea of yours? What do you propose?”

  I look at her frail figure and slanted posture. She’s holding one hand on her hip and resting her weight on one leg. I know I’m injured, but I’m three times her size. Maybe if I confront her about what happened. Tell her she’s a piece of shit for making everything worse. Maybe…

  “Mi amor,” I hear my mom’s voice again, something she used to repeat over and over to me, “you are the sweetest man this world has ever seen.”

  I don’t want to be a monster.

  I want to make my mother proud.

  I stare into this woman’s eyes, watching them narrow on me like I’m Satan himself. There’s so much anger inside of her… So much hatred and resentment. How did she become like this? Who did she lose? Her nostrils expand and her chest heaves with every breath she takes. No one’s born evil, and this woman’s no exception. I saw her in the Oval Office. I saw how scared she was and how her hands shook when she held that gun. I can still hear her crying over her friend’s body after she killed her. I’ve never heard anyone cry so hard before. I don’t think this woman is evil. I think she’s hurting and fighting a war within herself, and it’s spilling out into the world.

  Love is what will save this world, I tell myself.

  Forgiveness.

  I never once believed that men and women should be at war, and now’s my chance to prove to this woman that if we work together, man and woman, or woman and man, we can accomplish a lot of good together. Gender shouldn’t define us as human beings. We’re all people… We all have souls and we all want the same thing—a great life full of happiness.

  I take in her intense, fevered stare powerful enough to form a knot in my stomach. She hates me, but I don’t care. With time and love, this woman’s scars can heal.

  “I know a place,” I say, thinking of Area 82. “There are walls as strong as these, but the land is about twenty acres. There are vehicles, weapons, emergency supplies…”

  She tilts her head to one side and looks at me like she’s about to accuse me of something.

  “And why would you bring us there?” she sneers. “What do you get out of this?”

  I smile at her, feeling born again. “I want to be a part of the New World.”

  EXODUS

  PROLOGUE

  The weight of the pistol empowers me. With my index finger, I rub the cold metal trigger and shivers run down my arm. I want to close my eyes, if only for a minute, to take it all in—the silence, the fear, the confusion among the women before me.

  I press the gun’s muzzle into the back of his curly black hair. He attempts to pull his head away, and I fight the urge to smile.

  His life is in my hands.

  The women remain still, their eyes enlarged and fixated on this man, Gabriel. They resemble frightened children during a school lockdown. Their lips are parted, but not a sound escapes their lungs. The air around me is so still I can hear my heart pulsating in my throat.

  What did he expect? Did he think that it would be so easy? That I would simply integrate him into Eden, among my women? He’s promised me safety—promised my women a haven that could sustain us indefinitely.

  It’s hard to imagine what Gabriel is thinking. I’m certain he’s terrified—wondering why I would allow him inside of Eden only to turn around and kill him now.

  He says he wants to be a part of the new world, but the truth is, he is still a man.

  He doesn’t belong in the new world.

  CHAPTER 1 – EVE

  “How can I trust you?” I ask, and he looks up at me like a beaten dog.

  His dark curly hair dangles over his crystal blue eyes and he leans the weight of his body on one elbow, his shoulders large and round and his abdomen muscles bulging. I want to believe that there’s goodness inside him, but all I see is an animal—a beast made of muscle capable of destroying all that I’ve worked for.

  And what will the women think of me when I announce to them that a man will be guiding us to new territory? Will they view me as weak? As a hypocrite? As a leader incapable of leading her people?

  It’s my job to protect these women. The last thing I want is to accept help from a man.

  “I guess you can’t trust anyone,” he says. His bright eyes look even brighter above the candlelight’s glow, and they never leave mine. He’s staring into me as if trying to analyze my very core—trying to decipher what made me who I am and what led me to be so mistrustful.

  I glower at him. Who does he think he is?

  “I’m not trying to hurt anyone,” he adds. “I promise you this place exists. Why would I have risked my life bringing back one of your injured women? For all I knew, you could have had guards waiting inside the gates”—he suddenly grabs the skin over his ribs and grimaces in pain—“trained to k-kill any man they see.”

  I raise my chin, my gaze fixed on this hairy beast. “Go on.”

  “I’m not on their side if that’s what you think.”

  I’m assuming he’s referring to the male species in general, but I can’t be certain.

  “Men,” he continues. “They’re tearing each other apart out there. But believe it or not”—he bares his teeth again—“we’re not all like that.”

  I don’t believe it. How can I? I’ve seen what men are capable of. I watched them slaughter thousands of women during the gender war. They have no remorse for anything they do.

  He must sense my hatred, because he lets out a soft sigh and lies back down, his bare back touching the cold concrete floor.

  “You don’t have to trust me,” he says. “But believe me when I say this: you aren’t safe here. Adam and his men”—his eyes dart my way when he realizes I have no idea who he’s talking about—“men like the ones who attacked your women are everywhere. You have no idea what I’ve seen. You can live your peaceful little life in here all you want. You can pretend you’re living in some paradise garden, but the truth is, you’re surrounded by so much danger. It’s only a matter of time before rebels come barging in—”

  “And how would they know of Eden?” I spew. I’m prepared to crush my heel into his broken ribs. “What did you tell them?”

  His eyes enlarge, and he pulls his head back. He’s staring at me as if I’ve lost my mind. “How should I know? Word spreads. How do surviving women find their way here? Because they do, don’t they? Haven’t they been told to look for Alpa?”

  I clench my fist at the sound of that word slipping off his tongue.

  Mount Alpa.

&
nbsp; Only women should know of this mountain—of this beacon—that leads them to safety.

  “All it takes is for one woman to let it slip,” he continues. He rests his arm on his forehead and his bicep muscle bulges. “And you’ve been hiding here for what? Five years? I’m honestly shocked you haven’t been attacked by now.”

  “We have,” I growl through clenched teeth.

  “You know what I mean,” he continues. “Attacked as in completely infiltrated. I guess survivors are too busy fighting each other. But the bad ones… They’re looking for you. They’re trying to find women. You and I both know why—”

  “Enough,” I hiss.

  “Look,” he says. “I know you hate me. I know you hate men. I don’t blame you. After everything I’ve seen, I understand why you do.”

  My heartbeat slows down a bit. I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I’ve never heard a man speak like this before.

  “They’re egotistical, prideful”—he sits up again and winces—“they’re the reason this country fell apart. I mean, think back to history. Men have always been fighters.”

  “I’m listening,” I say.

  “You don’t have to like me. But I swear to God I’m not like those pig-headed pieces of shit. Men aren’t all like that. There are good ones, same as there’re bad ones. There’s another man out there. A dead man. He fought by my side trying to stop Adam and his dogs from raping your women.”

  I clench my fists again and my knuckles crack.

  “Are they all dead?” I ask.

  “Adam and his boys?” he asks, and then he nods.

  I loosen my fists and my fingers dangle at my sides.

  I turn around and pace across the room, my heels ticking on the hard floor. What do I do? I don’t trust him—I never will. But at the same time, he does seem different. What if this is a setup? Perhaps he’s luring us straight onto male territory, straight into a painful world of slavery. If men are in control, that’s precisely what will happen. We will revert to an archaic age where men ruled women as if they were mere objects—where men decided when they wanted to fornicate and did so without the consent of the other party involved.

  You can’t do this, Eve.

  Think about how far you’ve come.

  These women trust you to be their savior.

  You’re putting them all at risk.

  “Shut up!” I hiss.

  “I didn’t say anything,” Gabriel says from behind me.

  I grab my hair at the sides of my temple and pull gently until a slight pain sets in. A wave of relief washes over me and I take a deep breath.

  You can do this.

  The man is right—you can’t stay here.

  “Where is this place?” I ask, swinging around.

  He sits upright even farther, using his hand against the concrete to inch his way up. “About three hundred miles south.”

  “Three hund—” I say, but I can’t even finish my sentence. I turn back around and start pacing again.

  Is he insane? How on Earth am I going to relocate 382 women 300 miles from here? It isn’t like we have adequate transportation. I can’t risk the lives of all these women simply to reach some unknown destination. And what is this place, exactly? What if other survivors have already claimed it?

  I pinch the bridge of my nose and walk back toward him. “Say we go to this place… What is it? What are we walking into?”

  “Area 82,” he says as if this should mean something.

  “What is that?” I sneer. I don’t mean to come across as snarky, but my patience is wearing thin. “Some sort of underground facility?”

  “There is a massive underground bunker, yeah,” he says. “But it’s a top-secret military base. It’s surrounded by twenty-foot fencing… There are vehicles, aircraft—”

  “What good is any of that with damaged wires?” I ask. “You know as well as I do that the EMP fried everything.”

  “Not everything,” he says. “Adam and his crew were able to start an old pickup truck. People think that everything got fried, but the truth is, EMP attacks don’t necessarily damage everything—especially when the electronic device is turned off. What did us in was the limited supply of gas. The gas in tanks started evaporating, and with gas stations not up and running, there was no way to replace the fuel.” His eyes widen as if he’s telling some exciting tale. “If we could get ahold of a military plane, though… If we could find a way to fix whatever’s been damaged, if there’s damage—”

  “Then what?” I say. “We magically fly a plane over here and scoop up the remaining women? Is that your brilliant idea?”

  I clench my teeth just looking at him. I’m not an idiot—I know this man is military. And although I want to slit his throat for it, I can’t. I need him.

  He tries to shrug, but his shoulders barely move. “What other option do we have?”

  “What makes you think there will even be a plane for us?” I throw my hands in the air. “Listen to me—I sound ridiculous even saying it aloud. A plane…” I let out a laugh. “And if some vehicles are still up and running, why aren’t people traveling across the country? Why haven’t I seen one vehicle approach Eden over the last five years?”

  He’s lying—he has to be. Everything stopped working after the attack.

  “Who’s gonna drive? ’Case you haven’t noticed,” he says, “most people are dead. You haven’t seen what I’ve seen… Cities full of dead bodies. The smell alone is enough—” He turns away and places two fingers underneath his nostrils as if he’s still able to smell the decay. “I don’t think you—” For a moment he pauses, seemingly pondering how best to word his next statement. “I don’t think the women fighting for their freedom realized the devastating effects of an EMP attack.”

  “We knew what it meant,” I say coldly. “We would rather live in a world of chaos and destruction than be ruled by men.”

  “All I’m saying,” he says, “is that millions of lives were lost. I know all about this. I took part in military equipment testing in Area 82. The biggest danger of all isn’t not having electricity… It’s not having access to food, a heated shelter for those living up north, and most of all, clean water. Without electricity, sewage pumps don’t work. Filtration systems shut down. Water becomes a luxury, so most people resort to drinking from ponds, lakes, or rivers, and a lot of those are contaminated. I’d be willing to bet that the few people who survived were country folk… People who live off well water, grow their own food, have livestock, and heat their homes with fire. And these people aren’t gonna go looking for military bases.”

  I don’t say anything, so he clears his throat and keeps talking. “I doubt anyone will be in Area 82. The only people who know about it are those who’ve entered it. And these people… these soldiers… Most of them died after the attack. It was the most gruesome thing I’ve ever seen.”

  He turns away and brushes his fingers through his curly locks.

  “What?” I say. “Were women slaughtering what remained of your military?”

  His puppy eyes shift my way, and he looks like I’ve shattered his heart. Did I strike a nerve?

  “I don’t agree with what those men did,” he says, “but they were all brainwashed. You don’t know about any of that. You weren’t there. You didn’t see the way they were made to hate their spouses, their daughters, their mothers. These men were still human beings, same as we are.”

  “We?” My voice rises.

  There is no we. There is myself, my women, and then there are men.

  “You know what I mean,” he says.

  I wave dismissively. I don’t care to hear his humanitarian speech.

  “Say we make it to Area 82,” I start. “Hypothetically speaking, I send a group of women along with you to this place. Then what? I take it you’re going to tell me you’re a pilot, too?” I almost burst out laughing. I’m beginning to think that this man is insane. “And that you’re an electrician? That you’ll be able to repair the damage?”
/>   “Actually,” he says, “I was hoping you had those specialties here in Eden.”

  Is he trying to aggravate me? He offers me help, then expects me to provide the resources? I’m about to slap him across the face when I realize something—Jaqueline, one of my women here in Eden, is an ex-military combat pilot.

  CHAPTER 2 – LUCY

  Emily sits at the edge of my bed, playing with the tip of her honey-brown hair. It’s braided to the side like it usually is. She hasn’t been feeling well and didn’t go to class today or yesterday or the day before that. If there’s one thing I love about Eden, it’s how nice the teachers are about kids missing class. They’re always telling us that our health is the most important thing in the world.

  Some days, I miss going to class. I miss being brought outdoors and taught things like how to read time based on the sun’s position, how to start a fire, how to build a shelter, or how to get drinkable water. Sometimes I wonder: if we ever go back to how things were before all of this, are we going to be stupid kids in the eyes of society? In regular school, we’re supposed to learn all about science, history, math, and English.

  They do teach that here, too, but not in the same way as schools did back in the real world. I say the real world, but I guess this is the real world now.

  “Aren’t you a Healer now that you’ve graduated?” Emily asks, her porcelain-like skin looking almost gray. “Can’t you heal me?”

  I smirk at her and she smiles back, but then her lips droop down like she’s about to throw up. I wish it were that simple, but choosing to become a Healer didn’t give me powers overnight. I’m not some magical fairy who’s able to wave a wand and make everyone better.

  Besides, Mavis and Perula aren’t teaching me as much as they should. I guess they don’t want a sixteen-year-old knowing all their tricks. And that’s what they are, I think—tricks. I still don’t know what to think of them. They’re being sneaky about certain things.