Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Two Weeks Later
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Afterword
Books by K. R. S. McEntire
For those learning to embrace their power, and those who risk everything to stay true to their heart.
Copyright © 2020 K. R. S. McEntire
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, digital scanning, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodies in critical reviews and certain noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
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Chapter One
Lilah
Lilah clutched her backpack tightly against her chest as she walked through the dark alleyway. It was way too late for any girl to be out alone, especially a girl like her.
There was an abundance of Wardens out tonight. One stood a few feet ahead, his back resting against a graffitied, decaying building. His face was illuminated by the glow of the cell phone he was staring into.
Her pulse quickened as she got closer. The middle-aged man was wearing the Warden's familiar uniform—reminiscent of the American flag, but rather than stars symbolizing the 50 states, there was one large copper star. It signified the new world the Wardens of the Watch dreamed of creating. A world without girls like her in it.
Act casual, Lilah reminded herself. I’m just walking home; I'm not doing anything wrong.
Wind pushed trash past her ankles as she moved forward, careful to avoid the potholes in the cracked cement. She could see the Warden eyeing her with mild curiosity as she approached. Lilah offered the warmest smile she could fake. He smiled back and tilted his head in a polite nod.
Despite the chill in the air, Lilah’s hands grew hot as she passed the Warden. Looking farther down the alleyway, she realized that she wasn’t in the clear yet. The only people who seemed to enjoy tormenting girls like her as much as Wardens were teenage boys, and three of them were up ahead.
“Li-lah,” the oldest of the three, Billy, dragged out her name to taunt her. Billy grew up in the house right next to Lilah’s, and they played together as children. It was hard for Lilah to pinpoint the exact moment he became so nasty.
“What are you doing out here all alone, freak?” He motioned for his two friends to join in on the fun.
One of the others, a blond boy as slender as Lilah’s eleven-year-old sister, came up behind her and attempted to push her forward. She didn’t stumble, but she dropped her backpack as she felt her hands warm. Crap, she thought, it’s not a good time for this.
“We know what you are!” the blond teen said. “Mutant!”
The boys laughed in unison as Lilah’s hands continued to boil. She tried to picture herself in a peaceful place and pretend this wasn’t happening, to slow her quickening pulse before she couldn’t control her abilities anymore. Lilah saw the Warden in the distance, quietly observing the scuffle but doing and saying nothing to stop the assault. She wondered if he heard the boy’s “mutant” accusation.
Lilah was wondering if he would come over and reprimand the boys instead of just watching when she felt a hard blow in her gut. She stumbled back and clutched her stomach as pain shot through her body.
Billy lifted his fist and swung it through the air triumphantly.
“There’s more where that came from,” he sneered.
“Keep your dirty hands off me!” Lilah yelled with as much authority as she could muster.
Billy ignored her and tried to get in another blow. As he swung, Lilah reflexively reached up to block him. That was all it took. Billy screamed as if he’d been struck by lightning. Lilah cursed herself for forgetting that it was safer to let herself be beaten than to defend herself. Most people assumed having powers would make a person feel safer, but Lilah’s just made her feel more vulnerable.
Billy held his left arm with his right hand and looked at it in horror. The red scorch on his arm perfectly matched the shape of Lilah’s hand. He gaped at her and took a step back.
The Warden’s full attention was on them now. Lilah shut her eyes and meditated as he approached. She pictured herself sitting on Lake Michigan’s beach with her younger sister, building sandcastles and dipping her toes in the cool water. As her pulse slowed, her hands cooled. She opened her eyes and met the Warden’s gaze.
“What's going on here?” the Warden asked, resting a hand on the gun in his holster. He looked at Billy with concern.
“She’s a mutant!” Billy accused. “She hurt me.”
Billy stretched his burned arm out to the Warden to show the red mark. He looked up at the Warden and whimpered as if he had not been the one to attack first.
The Warden eyed Lilah suspiciously.
“I am not!” Lilah shot back. “He’s lying.”
“Let me see your cards please,” the Warden said.
Lilah pulled her CitCard card out of her pocket. The Warden turned on a flashlight and took a look at all four of the teens’ cards, lingering a little bit longer on Lilah’s.
“Why are you kids out so late at night?” the Warden asked. “I see from your CitCards that you are all under eighteen.”
“I’m an apprentice seamstress.” Lilah picked up her backpack from the ground and opened it, revealing her cloth, needles, and thread. “I’m seventeen. I’m just going home from work.”
His eyes softened a bit. “Hey, don’t I know you? You’re Shawn's kid, aren't you?”
Lilah nodded.
“She's a mutant!” Billy insisted. “She burned my arm.”
The Warden looked at Billy’s arm closer, examining the freshly burned skin. He turned back to Lilah.
“Did you do something to his arm?” the Warden asked.
“No, you saw me. I didn’t do anything. I blocked him from hitting me. He must have already had the burn,” Lilah said.
“Liar!” Billy growled. “She—”
“Boys, go home,” the Warden interrupted Billy, dismissing him and his friends with a swipe of his palm. The boys grumbled and walked away.
“Lilah, my car’s up the road. Come with me. Let’s go back to my office and do some testing. Make sure you are all right. Then I'll drive you home.”
Lilah considered her options. She could make a run for it, but that would only make her look guilty. She had been tested before. If she could stay calm, she knew they would not detect anything unusual about her.
Against every instinct she had, Lilah followed the Warden to his car—knowing fully well she might not make it home alive.
Chapter Two
Adam
Adam wrapped his arms around his mother and squeezed her tight. The moisture from her tears dampened his t-shirt as she sobbed into his shoulder.
Her blonde ringlets eclipsed most of his view of the old airport they waited in, but he saw his younger siblings through the yellow strands. Both of his siblings were waiting at a distance with their neighbor, Olivia, wrapped in her bruised
and scarred arms.
All three hundred people who lived in the Indianapolis settlement had come to see him away. It turned into a city-wide party, complete with extra food and drink supplied by the local Wardens. They were so gleeful that Adam wondered if the community realized they wouldn’t be joining him on the plane when the party was over.
The townspeople stood at a distance now, allowing him time alone with his family.
“Mom, you act like I'm going to war, not going to start a new job,” Adam said, fighting back tears of his own. It wasn't every day that someone left their birth settlement. CitCards were state-specific. Citizens could get permission from President Kane to go to a new settlement, but it was usually only approved for work or educational purposes. Most parents assumed their children would never leave the communities where they were born. But here was Adam, running off to do the world's most dangerous job.
“With the job you’ll be doing, you might as well be going to war,” his mother said, pulling back enough to look him in the eyes. “My brave soldier!”
Adam’s father placed a hand on his mother’s shoulder. “He’ll be fine. He’s a strong kid.”
He turned to Adam. “I’m proud of you, son. You’ve just graduated high school, which is more than most of the kids around here can say. You’re getting out of this town and making something out of your life.”
His father leaned in closer. “She’ll be all right. She’s a little shaken up because of the incident.”
Adam nodded, remembering the day three Wardens were brutally murdered by a group of rogue mutants in Chicago. The mutants were never captured, and their act inspired additional violence against innocent lives.
Even in the Indianapolis settlement, a place that only three hundred survivors called home, their neighbor, Olivia, was a victim of a mutant attack only days after the three Wardens were killed.
Before Olivia was attacked, Adam wasn’t aware that any mutants lived in the Indianapolis settlement. He was shocked that such violence had taken place so close to home. One of the local Wardens caught the mutant in time to save Olivia’s life, but her body was permanently scarred.
She'd been attacked by an older man named Rion. Adam hadn't known him well. Rion had always been a tad aloof, but Adam had no reason to believe he was a mutant. He had an inhuman amount of strength and broke multiple bones in Olivia’s body during a domestic dispute. The entire city had gathered that evening to watch the Wardens kill the mutant. It was the one and only time Adam had witnessed a public execution.
Now, Adam was heading straight to the city where the incident happened and joining the ranks of the men who had been attacked. His mother had cause to be nervous.
“That was almost a year ago,” Adam said. “Besides, I'm going to be part of making sure nothing like that ever happens again.”
Adam looked over at Avery and Alex. His little sister and brother were six-year-old twins. They waited patiently with Olivia as he said goodbye to his parents. Alex was wearing a tattered, homemade cape modeled after his favorite comic book hero, Superman.
“Let them come over,” Adam said. Olivia moved her scarred arms from around the twins, and they raced toward Adam. Alex leapt into Adam’s arms, and Adam caught him, squeezing him tight. He kneeled to allow Avery to climb into his other arm, waiting until her tiny wrists were firmly clasped around his neck before standing.
“Are you really gonna fly in a plane?” Alex asked.
“I really am.” Adam smiled.
“I don’t want you to go.” Avery’s voice was soft. “When will you come back?”
Adam did not know when, or if, he would return. He could be gone for years. He would not get the chance to watch Avery and Alex grow up. Most phones only worked within city limits, so he would not be able to call his family and check in. However, he reminded himself, he had an opportunity to ensure that Avery and Alex would grow up in a much safer world. With the credits he’d earn as a Warden, they would have access to more resources than he’d had.
“Are you really gonna meet the president?” Alex asked.
“I believe so,” Adam said as he hugged his siblings tight. From the corner of his eye, he saw something in the sky that he had previously only seen pictures of in books.
“Look!” Avery pointed toward the sky.
His whole family, likely the entire city, stood in awe as the plane flew in, looking larger every second it got closer.
After the Bio Wars, it became a luxury to have a car. Even if you knew how to fix them up, only the rich could afford gas. Few people dreamed of seeing, much less flying in, any type of aircraft. Of course, if anyone could afford to get a plane fixed up, it was President Kane.
All of the townspeople started moving closer to where the plane was landing.
“Back up!” two Wardens called out, shooing them away with their hands. The plane needed room to land. There was only a small strip of the old airport that wasn't littered with half-salvaged airplane parts.
Dust and debris lifted off the ground as the plane landed and rolled closer to where Adam waited. It looked bigger than Adam had expected. Back before the war, it must have been some type of commercial aircraft. It had been given a new paint job—red, white, and blue, with a copper star on its sides. Adam wondered why they needed a plane so large if he was the only passenger.
The doors opened, and Adam half-expected President Kane himself to step out. Instead, it was a tall, brunette woman in a gray suit. She walked over to Adam, careful to avoid stepping on debris in her gray, glossy heels. Adam had never seen a woman wearing heels before. Most of the women in the Indianapolis settlement dressed practically. Boots in the winter, sneakers in the summer. He felt as if the plane was a time machine and he had just met a woman visiting from before the Bio Wars.
“Hello, Adam.” The woman reached to shake his hand. He made sure his back was straight and his grip firm. He noticed that her fingertips were painted red. Women in his settlement weren’t so frivolous. “I’m Melissa Knight. It’s my pleasure to be the first person to officially welcome you to the Chicago Watch.”
“The pleasure is mine,” Adam said, his voice wavering. He hadn’t felt any nerves up until this point. He’d spent his entire life surrounded by the same three hundred people. Seeing this unfamiliar face solidified the fact that he was leaving.
Melissa handed him a white box. “Your uniform, new ID, and intake paperwork are inside. I’m afraid before you get on the plane, I’ll have to confiscate your Indianapolis CitCard.”
Adam swallowed. Not only did his CitCard hold identification information and credits, but it was the only item that permitted him to live in Indianapolis. His eyes drifted back toward his family.
“Your credits will be transferred to your new Chicago card,” she assured him.
“Yes, of course,” Adam said, handing over his ID. Sadness swept over him at the realization that he could not legally come home.
“Are you ready to go?” Melissa asked.
Adam would never be ready, but he was going. He turned to his mother again, giving her and his other family members one final hug. He looked at the crowd and waved goodbye to the rest of his community. Then, with his head held high, he climbed up the steps and made his way into the plane.
Chapter Three
Lilah
As the Warden’s car drove down the dark road, Lilah cursed herself for not saving up enough credits to purchase a phone. She wished she had a way to tell someone, anyone, where she was.
But where was she exactly? Lilah looked out of her window and tried to figure out where the car was going. She had only been inside a car once before, and there had been a Warden behind the wheel that time as well. She was starting to associate cars with near-death experiences.
The last time a Warden had taken her to be tested, they took her to the market. The market inside of the old mall was the city's primary gathering place where people bought and traded food and supplies. The chain shops that populated the mall bef
ore the Bio Wars were empty, but people still gathered to trade odds and ends. Tailors sold and mended clothing, and citizens bartered resources and supplies.
The market was also where Wardens distributed Kane’s weekly shipments of food, medicine, and supplies to people with CitCards. Because of how populous the area was, it was also the Wardens’ preferred location for public executions.
Three years ago, a Warden had taken her away from all the vendors and shoppers and had drawn a sample of her blood in one of the abandoned storefronts inside the mall. Then, the Warden combined her blood with another liquid. She remembered how her heart raced in her chest as she watched her blood turn from red to blue. She’d heaved a sigh of relief when the Warden told her that blue meant they hadn’t detected a mutation. After they tested her blood, they allowed her to go home. If she’d failed that test, they would have added her name to the list of people scheduled to be killed outside the market that evening.
This Warden was driving away from the mall, not toward it. Lilah lunged forward in her seat when the car made a quick, sudden stop. She peered out of her window and gulped. They were in front of a small medical office that had been vacant for years.
“All right, come on.” The Warden climbed out of the car and opened Lilah’s door. A gust of cool air stung her face as the door opened, sending chills through Lilah. She climbed out and waited for the Warden to lead the way, but he just glared at her with narrow eyes. Lilah folded her arms over her chest as she waited.
Finding Eden Page 1