Lilah turned to Adam. She had a triumphant smirk on her face. He didn’t bother trying to conceal his alarm.
“You are a little too eager to enter the unknown,” Adam said. “Remember how that turned out last time?”
Lilah shrugged. “I just escaped from a literal werewolf. I can handle whatever is inside this gate.”
She walked over to him and held both of his hands, and he remembered how she had comforted him in the cave, cried with him, even prayed with him. She looked at him with compassion in her eyes, and a warm feeling swelled in him. Adam did not want to fail his mission, but all he could focus on now was his need to protect her. Was he starting to care for this mutant? He couldn’t let feelings get in the way of the greater good.
“I know it’s scary. It’s unknown.” Lilah’s voice was soft and sweet. “It’s always been hard for me to believe that anything good is supposed to happen to me in this world. I get it. But you have to have faith. You didn’t come all the way from Indiana to give up now.”
“You’re right,” Adam said. “I didn’t.”
The gate swung open, and a man stood gawking at them. He looked to be about the same age as Adam. He was Asian, with dark hair that framed his face, and wore a brown t-shirt and ripped denim jeans.
He looked familiar to Adam, but Adam wasn’t sure why. Behind him, two older men stood with weapons ready. They looked to be in their late forties. One had brown skin and coiled hair that was starting to gray; the other had ivory skin, slightly tanned from the sun, straight brown hair, and a round frame.
“Who sent you?” the young man asked, looking at Adam with uncertainty.
“I—” Adam wasn’t sure what to say, but Lilah came to his rescue. She held his hand in hers and squeezed it tight.
“Freedom,” she said. “She told me to ask for Angela and Jesse.”
The younger man continued to stare Adam down, but, eventually, he looked over at Lilah.
“I’m Jesse.” He reached to shake her hand. “You must be Lilah. Freedom briefed us about you, but she didn’t say anything about your friend here.”
“He’s with me,” Lilah said. “He’s a mutant as well, and he came a long way to be here. He saved my life out there.”
Adam silently prayed Lilah wouldn’t offer any more details. He knew nothing about Indianapolis’ Resistance Chapter and didn’t want to deal with unnecessary questioning.
“You made it a few days early,” Jesse said.
“We found an…alternative route,” Lilah replied, glancing over at Adam.
“Name’s Adam.” Adam reached out to shake Jesse's hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. It’s so nice to finally find a place where a man like me can live in peace.”
“Weapons down,” Jesse said to the men at his side. The men lowered their rifles. Jesse stepped aside to let Adam and Lilah enter the gates.
Studying his face, Adam realized where he had seen Jesse before. Shock and anger shot through him.
Kane had live-streamed Jesse’s face across America a year ago. He was one of the teens responsible for the incident, one of the ruthless killers of three innocent Wardens.
At that moment, all uncertainty vanished. The stakes were too high to have compassion for Lilah or any other mutant life. This compound was hiding ruthless killers, and Adam would do whatever it took to bring them all to justice.
Chapter Fifteen
Lilah
Eden was a whole new world.
The moment Lilah took her first tentative step inside the garden, every burden she had picked up throughout her life seemed to fall off her shoulders. Her wildest imagination had not prepared her for this.
Inside the fence, a lush green paradise awaited her. Lilah took in the large apple tree and the garden full of every kind of fruit or vegetable imaginable. A slight breeze and ample shade from the trees above offered refreshment. Even the air smelt sweet.
As she looked around, she knew there had to be at least 30 acres within the gates. In one area, rows of produce were growing. In another, she saw colorful flowers. Lilah knew all of America was covered in contaminated soil. What kept the land here so healthy while the rest of the world struggled to grow any food?
“How is this place even possible?” Lilah asked Jesse as he gave her the tour.
His dark eyes sparkled as he answered, “That's classified information.”
Lilah and Adam followed Jesse through the garden and took in the sights. The stream that appeared murky in the forest held crystal clear water inside the gate, as if something in the garden was purifying it. Birds were chirping from the branches of nearby trees, and rabbits and squirrels were scurrying around on the ground. Lilah had seen photographs of such creatures but had never encountered any before. They didn’t appear to have any mutations.
The garden was such a stark contrast against the dead world she had been born into. It gave her hope that the rest of the world could become better, too.
“I can’t believe it’s real,” she whispered to Adam as they walked. “We actually made it!”
Adam was silent, contemplative. He looked a bit pale as well. Lilah figured he must be overwhelmed and processing it all. She reached out and took his hand, finally drawing his attention.
“You don’t have to worry,” she said. “We’re safe.”
Jesse led them to a group of people sitting under the shade of an apple tree, near a grand piano that was outside in the garden. The piano looked cracked, dirty, and worn, and a couple of its keys seemed to be missing. That didn’t stop the residents of Eden from enjoying its music.
A girl with honey-brown skin sat at the bench, playing a cheerful tune. When she saw Lilah, Adam, and Jesse approaching, her hands slipped from the keys. She smiled at Jesse then stood and walked toward them. A flower crown adorned her curly, dark hair, and her long maxi dress rippled in the breeze. Lilah thought she looked beautiful. She glanced at Adam, suddenly feeling a little protective. Had he noticed her beauty as well?
When the girl reached Jesse, he embraced her and planted a kiss on her lips. Her mouth twisted into a grin as she pulled away.
Lilah let out a breath, relieved that the girl was taken.
Why do I care, anyway? Lilah thought. She could feel her cheeks heating up.
The girl turned to Lilah and held out her arms, offering a hug.
“I’m Angela. I was hoping I'd meet you soon. I know it's a difficult journey.” She wiggled her fingers to beckon Lilah closer.
“Thank you for taking us into your home,” Lilah said, hesitantly embracing Angela.
“The pleasure is all ours,” Angela replied as she wrapped her arms around Lilah. Her embrace felt warm and genuine, like receiving a hug from an old friend.
Next, Angela held her arms out toward Adam, but Adam held back. Opting to shake her hand instead, he was friendly but reserved. Lilah couldn’t imagine why he was being shy. There was no need to hide any aspect of themselves here.
One by one, the residents of Eden introduced themselves to Lilah and Adam. Lilah tried to keep the names straight. A girl with long, straight black hair and brown skin was named Akeria; an olive-toned twenty-something with red pimples on his face was called Kevin. The older men who had protected Jesse at the gate were Nathan and Trace. Nathan was Angela’s father.
A short woman with dark brown hair was named Winter. Lilah recognized her from the settlement but didn’t know her well. Winter said she was staying here temporarily to help them build new structures, but she still called the Chicago settlement home.
Only two residents, Jill and Mason, had any noticeable mutations. Jill looked like a typical 40-something woman, but when she embraced Lilah, her skin was cold as ice. She told Lilah she could freeze items with her touch.
“It helps after fishing,” she laughed. “Gotta keep our food fresh.”
“Right...” Lilah said.
Mason’s mutation didn’t have as many practical uses. He had red, scaly-looking skin. When Lilah shook his hand, it fe
lt like touching the back of a lizard. He wore a long-sleeved shirt despite the midday heat, as if trying to cover as much of his body as possible.
Lilah counted a total of eleven people living in Eden, herself and Adam included. She was blown away by how warm and welcoming they were. Before Eden, Lilah only let her guard down when alone. She had learned to keep her head down at school and around the settlement. It was the best way to avoid being attacked. Maybe here, she wouldn’t need to.
“Let me show you where you’ll be sleeping,” Jesse said, motioning to two nearby cabins.
The two-story cabin was the first to catch Lila’s eye. It wasn't far from the apple tree. The shrubs and colorful flowers surrounding it gave it a whimsical vibe.
“That’s where Angela and Nathan lived before the rest of us moved here,” Jesse said. “Now some of us live there with them, but we’ve outgrown that space.”
“Who lives there now?” Lilah asked.
“Angela and Nathan, of course, but also me, Trace, and Violet when she’s here… You haven’t met Violet yet. Winter sleeps there, too, when she visits from time to time. Jill has slept in there as well. I think she's getting a little cozy with Angela’s dad,” Jesse chuckled. “But that's not where you’ll be staying. Follow me.”
Jesse led Lilah and Adam to a single-story structure longer than it was tall. His keys jingled as he unlocked the door. As they stepped inside Lilah took note of the numerous cots scattered about the wood floor. Jesse grabbed a pair of cots that were rolled up against the wall and offered them to Lilah and Adam.
“It’s no Hilton, but it’s the best we’ve got for now,” he said. “We plan on building some beds in here so we can take in more mutants. But lately, we have been focusing on another project.”
Lilah saw Adam raise an eyebrow, showing interest for the first time since arrival.
“What’s that?” Adam asked.
“You’ll need to know about it in case of an emergency. Claim a spot with your cots and follow me.”
Lilah looked around the room to find a location with some semblance of privacy. She settled on putting her cot in an unoccupied corner while Adam placed his cot near the entrance door. Lilah and Adam followed Jesse out of the smaller cabin toward the larger of the two.
“It’s really just a precaution,” Jesse said. “But we’ve been building a place to hide in the event of an attack.”
“A mutant attack?” Adam asked.
Jesse shook his head. “In the event that Wardens decide to pay us a visit. Kane has not stopped looking for us. He sent his Wardens to raid the City Below, and when they didn’t find us, they hired new Wardens. It’s only a matter of time until they look outside of the city, and we need to make sure we can keep everyone here safe.”
Lilah and Adam followed Jesse into the cabin. Lilah took in the threadbare and worn furnishings, smelled the aroma of soup that had been cooking earlier that day. The room had a cozy, lived-in feel. It reminded Lilah of her parents’ house back at the settlement, and she felt a sense of nostalgia.
There was a staircase leading up the second floor, and at its base, there was a door. Jesse strolled over to it, pulling his keys out of his pocket. They jingled as he unlocked the door. He motioned for Lilah to come closer.
She peered into the space. The floorboards and foundation in the closet had been removed, and in their place was a large hole in the ground. It was deep enough to stand in, and it looked like it extended further under the home.
“That looks…structurally sound,” Lilah said sarcastically.
“Actually, the ground has little to do with the structure of a home. You can build walls around dirt if you want to.”
“But there is a huge crawl space under your home. Can’t the floor cave in?” Lilah asked.
“It’s not wide enough for that. There’s enough space to hold maybe 10 people if we all huddle close and vow not to breathe,” Jesse said, hopping inside the hole and descending further under the cabin. She could hear him grunting as he tugged at something heavy. He dragged a locked storage box into eyesight, then unlocked it to reveal multiple weapons, from pistols and revolvers to knives. She raised an eyebrow at the sight of a lone baseball bat.
“We are working on making this space bigger, building proper walls. But for now, we have a place to hide if someone comes. And a place to hide our weapons. We can put floorboards back on top of it so if someone comes, they won’t suspect we are underground. This will allow us to hide from any threats if the Wardens get past the fence.”
A hole in the ground. That was their big project? If the Wardens did come, she wasn’t sure hiding in a hole would protect them. Sure, they had weapons, but so did the Watch. They would be aware that someone was here. This place stood out like a sore thumb.
“Well, that’s about it for logistics,” Jesse said. “How about I take you to get to know your new neighbors a little better?”
“Sounds good,” Lilah said as he climbed out of the hole.
She followed Jesse outside to the piano, where Jill was passing out fruit and fried fish to the people gathered. Trace was handing out drinks, and Lilah wondered if they were of the alcoholic variety. She moved closer, and the sweet smell told her it was wine.
Everyone sat crossed-legged on the ground, holding their plates, eating their meals, drinking, and chatting. They smiled at Lilah and Adam as they joined. Angela walked over with a plate and drink in hand to offer. Lilah took the plate and wine, eager to try food from the garden, as Adam grabbed two drinks alongside his food.
Lilah had never eaten food that wasn’t provided by the Watch before. Sure, the settlement had a couple of makeshift farmers who struggled to produce small bits of healthy food, but her parents usually ignored them. The Watch had always been the most reliable source.
She placed a blackberry on her tongue and a juicy, sweet taste filled her mouth as she bit down.
“Oh my God!” she turned to Adam. He had swallowed both drinks, devoured his fruit, and was already munching on his fish. “Isn’t it the best food you’ve ever tasted?”
“Agreed,” he said. Food fell from the corners of his mouth as he chewed ravenously.
Angela offered them both another glass of wine.
“I’m so glad you made it here safely. Not everyone who tries to find Eden does. When we first opened this place up, Freedom would travel with the people moving here. But now, she’s too busy trying to protect the mutants back in Chicago, especially those in the City Below. They’ve got a lot on their hands with Kane coming to the city and all.”
She motioned to the older man with ivory skin and brown hair wearing overalls.
“Nathan is my father. At first, it was just the two of us, but after I learned about the way the Watch kills innocent mutants in the settlement, we wanted this place to be a safe haven for anyone who needed a home,” she explained.
“On our way here, we saw an airplane,” Lilah said. She took a sip of wine. “I think the Wardens are searching the woods now.”
“We saw that too. There’s no doubt they’ll notice that the trees in this area are greener than the trees everywhere else. We are not that far from the city.” She shook her head. “I didn’t know working planes existed anymore. Who knows what other types of weapons or schemes the Watch could be plotting? I don’t know what we would do if the Watch came here.”
Jesse walked over and placed his hand on Angela’s shoulder. “We can’t worry about that right now. We have ways to fight or to hide. And you know I’d never let anything happen to you. We have two new mutants who have made it here safe and sound. We should celebrate.”
Angela smiled up at Jesse and took his hand. He pulled her up, and she dragged him away, back toward the piano. They started playing a lively duet.
The residents got up from where they had been sitting and started to sing and dance with each other. Nathan and Jill paired up. Akeria, Winter, and Kevin started dancing in a group. Laughter radiated through the garden, and Lilah felt it wa
s a revolutionary sight to see mutants being so carefree.
Jesse was right. This wasn't the time to worry about Kane. This was the time to celebrate their newfound freedom.
“Let’s dance!” Lilah said, giving Adam a sheepish grin after she gulped down the rest of her wine.
He shook his head. “I don’t dance.”
“Oh, come on. We barely made it here alive. This is an occasion for dancing!”
Lilah stood up and tugged on Adam’s shirt to encourage him to stand. He grimaced but eventually stood and awkwardly swayed from side to side.
“Oh, please, you can do better than that.” Lilah threw out her arms and spun around. She took in a deep breath, allowing the crisp, clean air to fill her lungs.
She noticed Angela’s bare feet and flung off her own shoes, feeling the warm earth under her heels for the first time.
A surge of joy shot through her when she saw that Adam had finally smiled. He took her hand, allowing her to spin in circles around him. For the first time since entering Eden, Lilah saw Adam laugh.
“I was beginning to think your mutation was just eternal grumpiness,” Lilah grinned, giving him a playful jab on his shoulder.
“Is your mutation eternal snark?” he teased back.
The piano changed to a slow song, and Adam paused, unsure of what to do. Some of the other citizens paired up. Nathan started slow dancing with Jill, seemingly unbothered by her ice-cold touch. Adam was looking down at the ground, but Lilah placed her hands on his shoulders, causing him to glance up into her eyes.
“Let’s keep dancing,” she said
Being inside Eden made Lilah feel as if she could drop all her walls for the first time. She wasn’t sure if it was the wine muddling her mind or something more, but she wanted to start with Adam. She closed the space between them and put her arms around his neck. She held him, allowing their bodies to sway from side to side in unison. At first, he was stiff as a board, but in a few moments, he relaxed. He wrapped his hands around her waist and mirrored her movements.
Finding Eden Page 7