Despite using the tiny compass Melissa had gifted them, Adam felt he and Nate were wandering around in circles. They had been given a general area to patrol, but they were not any closer to figuring out where Eden might be. Though their packs became lighter as they ate and drank, being in the woods for days on end left Adam feeling increasingly weighed down.
“The wilds around Chicago are empty,” Nate complained after they stopped to rest and eat a small dinner on the second day. “This is nothing like bounty hunting with my dad.”
Adam’s eyes grew wide. “You’ve left your settlement before?”
Nate shrugged. “A few times. Usually, he would catch mutants who were living in the city, but sometimes you need a little excitement and an excuse to break the rules. Kentucky’s different. As long as we get the job done, they’ll let my dad go out and hunt. Heck, when I was young, sometimes my friends and I would go out in the wilds just to play.”
He grinned. “Good times. There was one catch my dad always had his eye on, but we were not lucky enough to find it.”
Adam pulled out his compass, signaling to Nate that he wanted to continue their journey.
“You can tell me about it as we get going.” Adam ventured deeper into the forest.
Nate’s eyes lit up as he told the story. “You know before the Bio Wars, the government was doing experiments on people? Creating people with all sorts of abilities and powers. Well, it's rumored that outside of Kentucky there is a ten-foot-tall man in the wild. Dude’s been living out there for decades. My dad always dreamed of bringing that mutant back to the Watch.”
Adam chucked. “Sounds like someone reinvented the legend of Bigfoot.”
“What's that?” Nate said.
“Pre-war monstrosity. And completely fictional,” Adam said.
Nate shook his head.
“Maybe it was fictional back then,” Nate said. “Don’t you think that if the government had the ability to create mutants, they would try to make real versions of fictional creatures? I’m sure they'd create Bigfoot just to say they did.”
Nate lowered his voice though there was no one to hear their conversation. “Rumor has it, Kane is still running some experiments.”
Adam shook his head. “The Bio Wars were fought over biological engineering and human rights. I doubt he’d do anything to lead us in that direction again.”
Nate shrugged. “You never know. Biological engineering promised health, wealth, power, and immortality. People just don’t give up on things like that.”
Then Nate lifted his arms and stretched. “You know, it’s not so bad. We are out in the forest, one with nature, living in tune with the land. Like real men.”
Adam snickered. “Any smart man would choose a bed and a nice meal over this anyway.”
The days started to blend together as Adam and Nate searched the forest. While the prospect of their mission sounded exciting in theory, the journey felt monotonous as time went on. Adam tried to ignore his tired feet. He rationed food carefully despite his growling stomach and forced Nate not to overindulge as well.
After more than a week of searching the forest, Adam finally stumbled upon something peculiar: scorched wood in a small pile. A makeshift campfire. He wondered if whoever—or whatever—had made it was still nearby.
“Nate, check this out,” Adam said, motioning to the woodpile.
Nate came over and touched the recently scorched, blackened wood. It crumbled under his fingers.
“Whatever was here can’t be far,” Nate said.
Adam examined the area for clues. He took apart the woodpile and ruffled through nearby leaves until he found undeniable proof that someone had been here. Near the pile of wood, under a few sticks, Adam stepped on something hard. He brushed away a few dried leaves to see what his foot had collided with and found a red spool of thread.
As he picked up the thread, a shrill scream shot through the silent forest.
Chapter Nine
Lilah
Lilah groaned as she ducked under a group of hanging, entwined branches. She had been venturing through the woods for over a week and was starting to feel fatigued. Freedom had offered her a makeshift map scribbled on the back of a yellow sheet of paper. She was also given cryptic instructions to “follow the music,” but she struggled to keep her bearings, and there was no music to be found.
Her loneliness and doubt slowed her down more than her painful feet. Lilah was accustomed to living in the populous Chicago settlement, but the surrounding woods were quiet and still. She missed her family and her little sister. It seemed pointless to be in the middle of nowhere, looking for a place called Eden that she wasn’t sure was real.
Maybe this was all an elaborate scheme by her parents to get rid of their mutant daughter once and for all, she thought. They could go on being a normal family with her younger sister as their mutant child starved alone in the woods. But deep down, she knew they sent her away to protect her. At least if she was out here, it left them with a flicker of hope that she might survive.
By agreeing to go find Eden, no matter what she felt about its existence, she was allowing her family to believe that she might be safe. That knowledge kept her going as the days blended into each other.
As the sun began to set at the end of the eighth night, Lilah decided to make camp. She gathered dried sticks and stones from the surrounding area and used her hands to set the wood ablaze, as she had done every night since leaving home.
To do so, she allowed all of the fear and dread she had been feeling to bubble up inside of her. Her fury coursed through her, causing her hands to tremble and warm. Her emotions were so heavy that her eyes started to water as the wood finally caught fire. As the flames warmed her body, she wiped away her tears.
Back home, Lilah tried to learn as much as she could about mutants. Most of what she learned was rumors whispered around town. As far as Lilah knew, most mutant powers were constant, not something that they could control or turn on or off. Lilah’s powers were different. They manifested in times of fear, anger, or rage. She regretted that she hadn't learned to control her emotions better so she could avoid situations like the one she was in now.
Lilah opened her backpack and pulled out a quilt to wrap herself in as she snuggled near the fire. Noticing a hole in the fabric, she pulled a needle and a spool of red thread out of her pack and started trying to mend her blanket. The familiar act of sewing made her feel a sense of peace and normalcy. It was almost like being back home, doing an assignment for her apprenticeship. As the fire warmed her, Lilah started drifting off to sleep.
She awoke to the sound of leaves rattling in the forest. She glanced around, wondering if she should be worried.
Don’t panic, Lilah reminded herself, it’s probably just the wind rustling the leaves.
But the sound grew louder and rhythmic, reminding her of footsteps. Her muscles tightened as she shot up from where she was lying. Her heart raced as she quickly packed her quilt and moved behind a nearby bush, praying the night would shield her from whatever was approaching.
A large creature emerged from the bushes. It stood on four legs and had charcoal-black fur. It looked somewhat like a wolf, only with legs longer and leaner than any image of a wolf Lilah had seen before. Its blood-red eyes had no pupils, and its fangs were razor sharp.
There was no reason to hide anymore. The beast was looking right at her. She crept out of the bush and away from the creature, praying that it would not follow her.
If it got close enough, she could burn it with her touch. However, Lilah didn’t want it to get that close.
Lilah dug around her backpack until she found her knife. Her palms trembled as she gripped her weapon and extended her arm toward the creature to scare it. She stared into the beast’s empty eyes, not wanting to show any signs of weakness, praying it would back down.
The creature growled and lunged at her, but she dodged its jaws by leaping to the side then taking off deeper into the forest. The dog chas
ed her with supernatural speed; she knew she would not be able to outrun it.
She briefly considered climbing a tree, but the dog was on her heels, one bite away from taking her down. She did the only reasonable thing she could think to do in this situation: she spun around to face it.
It leapt toward Lilah, taking hold of her ankle with its razor-sharp teeth. Pain shot through her body. Lilah screamed, lodging her knife into its skull, but the creature would not let go. She tried to plunge her knife deeper but the creature’s skin was unnaturally thick. Only the tip of her knife sunk into its flesh, but it was enough to anger the beast. It growled and shook its head from left to right without lessening its grip. The knife slipped from Lilah’s hand but stood tall, protruding from the creature’s skull.
Lilah wondered what kind of mutation the beast had to make its skin so thick that a knife couldn't penetrate it. She reached out with her palms blazing and pressed her hands onto its face. The heat from her touch caused the creature to yelp, finally releasing Lilah’s ankle.
The sound of a gunshot shattered through the forest. The bullet struck the creature and it stumbled back.
Lilah looked around frantically. Where did that come from?
She looked back at the creature, noticing blood on its fur. With a knife in its skin and a bullet wound, the creature limped away into the forest.
Still breathless from the ordeal, she turned back around at the sound of twigs cracking. In the distance, she saw two men wearing all black emerging from their post behind a bush.
The younger looking one, a pale boy with dark hair, was holding a pistol in his hand. He raced over to her, concern on his face. He had a slim but powerful build, and his hair was tousled messily around a handsome face.
“Are you okay?” he asked, examining her leg. He pulled a pack off his back and started digging around in it, looking for something.
Who the hell are they? Lilah thought. I’d rather take my chances with the creature.
“I…I think so,” Lilah said instead.
The boy pulled a first aid kit out of his pack. It was a white container with a red cross on the top, like the kits Lilah had seen in pre-war movies, not like the makeshift forms of aid people used in town. How did he get something like this?
“Can you stand?” he asked.
Lilah stared at him quizzingly, not moving an inch. People were not allowed in the forest. Maybe he was a mutant as well, trying to find this hidden paradise?
“Name’s Adam.” He held out his hand toward her.
Chapter Ten
Adam
Adam moved his arm back to his side when he realized the girl was not planning on shaking it. She simply stared up at Adam with alarm in her eyes as blood trickled out of the wound on her leg.
She looked like a teenager, tall and lean, with chestnut-colored skin and black hair on top of her head in a messy bun. She appeared ordinary enough, but Adam knew that if she was outside of city bounds, she must be out here for a reason—a mutant or outlaw of some kind. He knew better than to assume she wasn’t dangerous based on looks alone.
Adam crouched beside her and took rubbing alcohol out of his first aid kit.
“This might sting a bit,” he said before pouring alcohol over her wounds. The girl gritted her teeth and cursed at him. He pulled a cloth out of his pack and bandaged her wound as he tried to figure out what to make of the situation at hand.
Nate stood a safe distance away, gawking at the girl, probably equally uncertain regarding what to do about her. Adam stood up and looked over at Nate, hoping he would come over and stop acting strange.
If she’s a mutant, Adam thought, maybe she is from Eden. Maybe she could help them find it. It was a better bet than walking around in circles. Whatever the reason she was out here, he knew better than to tell her that he was a Warden.
“What are you doing out here?” the girl finally asked.
Adam hesitated. “I could ask you the same.”
The girl's face seemed to soften a bit. “That’s fair, I guess.”
Cautiously, the girl extended her palm to him. “I’m Lilah,” she said.
Adam shook her hand eagerly then gripped it to pull her to her feet. This caused her to cry out as she tried to stand on her injured leg. She put her hand on his shoulder to support her weight.
Adam couldn’t help but smile as he studied the soft features of her face, the large eyes that blinked up at him. Despite the grime that covered her, she was beautiful.
Nate came over finally, extending his hand to her. “Nate,” he said flatly.
She shook Nate’s hand with her free one then moved away from Adam, limping over to a nearby tree, which she leaned on for support. She shifted her leg to study the wound and let out a dozen or so expletives. Eventually, she turned back toward Adam and Nate.
“I’m completely screwed now,” Lilah said with a sigh. “Guess I’m not going anywhere tonight.”
“We can camp here for the night,” Adam suggested. Nate gave him a questioning look.
Lilah cocked an eyebrow. “We?”
Adam looked down at her leg, “We could leave you if you’d like, but if that thing comes back, I’m not sure how far you’d make it. We have weapons.”
Lilah laughed. “Is that supposed to make me feel better? Alone with two strange men who I found wandering around the forest. But it’s all right—they have weapons!”
“I don’t want to leave you injured and alone,” Adam insisted.
“I have more strength than you’d think,” Lilah said, limping over to her backpack and sitting on the ground next to it. She pulled a bottle of water out and took a drink. “I think it’s just a sprain and a shallow bite. No biggie.”
“All the same,” Adam said, “you should get some rest. I disinfected it the best I could, but we need to keep an eye on it to make sure you don’t get an infection.”
If she was half as tired as he was, Adam knew she'd be sleeping soundly in no time.
Lilah said nothing, but Adam assumed she had given in to his suggestion when she lay on her side, wrapping herself tightly in her thick quilt. He could hear her soft snores, see the gentle rise and fall of her chest. She looked harmless, almost peaceful. But even serpents looked gentle as they slept.
Once Lilah had been snoring for a while, Nate pulled Adam aside.
“What the hell are you doing, man?” Nate asked. “She could be a mutant. We should report her. You still have the phone, right?”
“Slow down,” Adam whispered. “We don’t even know for certain that she is a mutant. But, if she is, maybe she can help us find Eden.”
Nate's eyes grew wide. “Dude, do you really think she knows where it is?”
“I think she's our best bet,” Adam said. “My point is, it could serve us well to tread lightly with her, build up some trust and figure out what she is doing out here. We are not bounty hunting like your father; let's keep our eyes on the bigger mission.”
Nate nodded slowly. “But do you think it’s safe, traveling with a stranger who might be a mutant?”
Adam looked at the sleeping girl with the injured leg and smirked. “I think we can handle her.”
“I hope you are right,” Nate said. “Mutants are trickier than you'd think. You gotta keep your eye on them.”
“We can take shifts sleeping,” Adam suggested. “I’ll stay up and watch her.”
“Deal.”
Despite Nate’s fears, he was comfortable enough with Lilah to sleep, wrapped in his thin blanket supplied by the Watch. Nate shivered every time a cool gust of wind shot through the forest, reminding Adam of how cold it was. He took his blanket out of his backpack and wrapped himself in it, a bit envious of Lilah’s thick quilt.
Adam sat down to watch Lilah with his back against a tree, but exhaustion was hitting him hard. It only took minutes before he was sound asleep as well.
A scream woke Adam from his slumber. He reflexively moved his hand to his weapon, then looked over at where Lilah ha
d been sleeping. He sat up, surprised to see that she was gone.
“Lilah?” Adam called. He glanced at Nate, who was still sleeping soundly despite the noise. Adam heard movement in the forest not far from where the scream had come from. He rushed over to investigate.
Lilah was gritting her teeth and hobbling through the forest. He could see that she was struggling to walk over the rocks and roots covered by thick, tall grass.
“What's wrong?” Adam asked. “Where are you going?”
“Away from you!” Lilah said.
Adam ran up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She jerked her body away.
“Why are you out here screaming?” Adam asked. For a brief moment, Adam wondered if she had overheard his conversation with Nate but decided against it. Adam and Nate had spoken quietly and far enough away that unless this mutant’s power was superhuman hearing, that would be impossible.
“I fell,” Lilah explained. “In case you haven’t noticed I'm in a lot of pain right now.”
Adam sighed. This would be more difficult than he had expected. “There is no reason to leave in the middle of the night.”
“And no reason to stay when I don’t trust you!”
Smart girl, Adam thought to himself.
“And I have no reason to trust you,” he threw back at her.
Lilah was silent, considering. Adam decided to take a risk, assuming this girl was going where he thought she might be going.
“Look, I'm thinking we might be able to help each other out,” Adam said.
Lilah snorted at him. “Help each other with what?”
“I’m looking for a place called Eden,” Adam said. He watched Lilah’s eyes light up with recognition.
His heart raced. There was something about the way her eyes sparkled. For a brief moment, they were full of hope. Her hope made her even more beautiful.
Adam cleared his throat. Focus, Adam, Focus.
She stepped closer to him, her voice a whisper when she spoke. “Did Freedom send you, too?”
Finding Eden Page 4