Project ELE

by Rebecca Gober & Courtney Nuckels

CHAPTER 2 (WAKE UP CALL.)

  "SHE'S ONE OF THEM, ALICE." Mr. Leroy demands quietly.

  My brain is foggy and my body feels numb. I want to open my eyes and move but the effort seems overwhelming.

  "No Leroy. Have you ever seen one of them show any sign of compassion? She healed me! I don't know how she did it, but she did. She is not one of them!" My mom does her best to try and hush her tone but her passion can't be contained.

  "Her eyes did have red in them." Another man's voice chimes in. I vaguely recognize it.

  I try to pry my eyelids open but they feel as if they've been glued shut. I still can't move my muscles.

  "Yes, but they weren't solid red. There were a myriad of other colors too. None of the others displayed any type of symptom like that." My mom reminds them.

  "Look Alice, I know she's your daughter, but that doesn't mean we can trust her. You know yourself just how much damage they can do." Mr. Leroy whispers.

  "I know how much damage they can do. I also know that my daughter is not one of them! Yet, here you have her shackled to the bed like a criminal. She saved my life for goodness sake! Doesn’t that count for anything?"

  "I know she did. Don't worry Alice; as soon as she wakes up we’ll be able to further assess the situation." The other man says. I vaguely hear him pat my mother's back.

  "She is not a situation! She is my daughter, Anthony."

  I worry that my mom is getting too worked up. I don't know if she's completely healed but stress can't be good for her. I try harder to open my eyes. It feels as if I'm swimming through quicksand but eventually I manage to move my hand slightly. I blink my eyes until my eyelashes finally part and I can see the dim light of the room.

  "Honey!" My mom calls out.

  I watch her run to my side through blurry eyes. "Mo..." My voice cracks and I gasp for air. My throat feels like sandpaper and merely breathing through it hurts.

  "Shh. It's okay sweety." My mom lifts a cup of water to my mouth. The soothing water slides down my throat and it feels so good. I drink greedily.

  When I try to reach up to grab the cup from her, my hands are stopped. I jerk away quickly and water runs down my chin and cheek. Looking down at my wrists I see the handcuffs holding my arms down next to my sides. I pull at them and hear the metal clink against the bedposts they are attached to. Startled, I give my mom a questioning look.

  A look of anger flashes across her face and she looks behind her. "Give me the key Leroy!"

  If I were Mr. Leroy, I would have obeyed immediately based on my mom's tone alone.

  "Not yet Alice, we need to make sure she's safe." He moves into my line of sight. The stunned look on his face tells me that he's only now noticed my eyes. He runs his hand through his shiny grey hair in confusion.

  He looks exactly the same as I remember him, apart from the yellow eyes. I first met Mr. Leroy outside of the shelter when we were waiting in line for permission to enter. He was just as ornery as he seems to be now.

  I hear the sound of metal snapping and suddenly my left arm is free. I look over to see my mom moving to the other side of my bed.

  "Stop!" Mr. Leroy yells out.

  My mom grabs the metal chain between the handcuffs that hold my right arm to the bedpost and she pulls. It didn't seem to take any effort on her part to snap the metal like it was a twig.

  I look at her surprised and then lift my hands up to take the cup of water that is sitting on a bedside table. I gulp more water down until I can get my throat comfortable enough to speak. "What's going on mom? Are you okay?" I reach forward to touch her side where the wound was but another hand stops me.

  I turn to see the man from the mountain. His hair is still as coppery red as I remembered and his neon yellow eyes assess me. I look down at his hand that is encircling my wrist. I try to yank my arm away but he doesn't budge. Either my pull was the weakest attempt ever or his grip is just that strong.

  "It's okay Anthony. She's not going to hurt me." My mom grabs my other hand and holds it up to where her wound was. "You healed me Willow. I don't even have a scar."

  The love and appreciation in her eyes opens up the waterworks. Tears run over my eyes and I shake with relief. Anthony lets go of my arm as mom sits on the bed next to me and pulls me into her arms. Dropping my head to her chest all I can do is sob, she is alive!! After all the months I am in her arms again. I still can't believe that she's alive.

  She runs her hands over my curls and rocks me back and forth repeating, "It's okay honey. You are safe. You are safe now love."

  It has been nearly four months since I lost my mom. She was supposed to go into the shelter with us but my little brother was denied entrance. Sebastian!

  I sit back and look into her eyes. "Sabby! Is he okay?" I have no idea if he survived or not. They told us that he had the virus…the same virus that has killed off millions of people and forced our government to implement Project ELE.

  She smiles really big and nods. "Yes honey. Sebastian is safe."

  "Is he sick?" I never saw anyone who got the virus but I was told that the virus caused the most excruciating pains. That's why they offered everyone a red shot when they were denied entry to the shelter. Knowing how painful the virus is, the government gave them a shot that would end the life of someone who was infected, if they chose that route.

  "No, he's as healthy as a horse. We gave him the survival shot and he never displayed any symptoms of the virus."

  The survival shot was the second shot that they gave to the people who were denied entry. The bright yellow shot was supposed to help sustain life.

  Hearing that both mom and Sabby are safe and alive is the most heart-warming news I've heard in a while. I continue to cry tears of joy.

  My mom pulls me into her arms again and comforts me until I am able to compose myself. "I love you Willow."

  I wipe away the tears and look up at her. "I love you too mom. I thought you were both gone. I still can't believe it."

  "I can't believe you're here." She rests her hands on my cheeks, looking me up and down, taking me in. Finally focusing on my eyes she whispers. "Amazing."

  A strange nervous feeling builds up as I wonder what she thinks of the new Willow. "It's kind of creepy, isn't it?"

  "If your eyes are creepy then you must think mine are out of this world. They practically glow in the dark." She jokes. "I've seen a healers eyes, but yours are a little different."

  "Different is a generous word to use for this psychedelic rainbow eye." I point up at my left eye. "The solid brown of my other eye makes it even creepier. They don't even match."

  My mom gives me a strange look. "No, your eyes match." She moves closer to examine them. "I hadn't noticed the rainbow though at first since it's so dark in here. Mostly they are a dark blue with a fleck of red. But, now that you mention it I can see a sort of rainbow prism thing going on. It's barely noticeable, yet it's quite remarkable."

  "What do you mean?" My eyes match? The colors are barely noticeable? I make a move to get off the bed but the man from the mountainside blocks me from getting up.

  "You can let my daughter up Anthony." My mom says in a scolding tone. "She's not going to hurt anyone."

  He gives me an unsure look but finally steps aside.

  Mr. Leroy interjects, "Sure, she didn't hurt you, but what will keep her from taking from us or the others? Perhaps she spared you because of your relation."

  "Come on! Have you seen any of those monsters show any compassion for a single person, let alone their own family? She is not like them." My mom looks thoroughly annoyed that she's having to go around with them again.

  "No, but we certainly can't risk allowing her to roam free." Mr. Leroy replies.

  "I was just looking for a mirror. I'm not trying to hurt anyone." I look around the room but I don't see any reflective surfaces readily available.

  Tony takes a small step towards the door and something in his expression tells me he believes my mom
when she said that I'm harmless. “I’ll get you that mirror. Stay there and rest.” I'm not sure if he is really having a change of heart when it comes to me or if he just wants an excuse to leave the room. It's an odd feeling having people afraid of me. I know deep down that I couldn't hurt a fly, but obviously Mr. Leroy and Tony both seem pretty creeped out. Well, maybe Tony isn't necessarily as creeped out as he is overly protective of my mom. I can't help wondering why that is.

  "Thank you. I just wanted to see my eyes, you know?" I tell Tony. I don't know why it matters to me at all if this guy thinks I'm vain, but I still feel the need to qualify my request.

  "No problem." He says and then he does something I would never expect, he smiles. I mean, it's not a huge smile but just a slight lift in his lips. Somehow that little smile comforts me. I can't put a finger on why it comforts me, but it does. I lie back on my bed and watch as he leaves the room.

  Mr. Leroy wastes no time once the door is securely closed behind Tony. He grabs a new set of handcuffs from a drawer, which has me wondering just how many sets are in there.

  My mom darts up off the bed and moves impossibly fast, landing in front of me a millisecond later. "You are really starting to piss me off old man! I recommend you put those back where you found them and leave this instant." When he doesn't obey, she steps closer to him and whispers in a daunting voice that is completely foreign to me. "I don't think you want to test me. I can find some alternative ways to use those handcuffs on you that will not involve any sort of pleasure." Her hands clench into fists.

  I sit there completely awestruck at the situation and at how completely badass my mom has become.

  Mr. Leroy backs down and puts the handcuffs back in the drawer. "You better hope she's safe. It's not just your life you are risking here." He huffs out as he exits the room.

  My mom slams the door behind him and comes back to my bedside. "I'm sorry honey. I don't want to make an excuse for Mr. Grumps-A-lot," I smile remembering my old nickname for Mr. Leroy. She continues. "But, things are crazy on the outside. Actually crazy is an understatement. There's a war going on outside of the shelters. Those people, no, those monsters with the red eyes, they are deadly. They take and they kill with no feeling. They show no remorse." Her eyes look haunted. "I know you're not like them. He should never have compared you to them. But, he is cautious because you do have that red in your eyes. It has to be something different though. It's obviously not like what they have."

  "What do you mean? What do they have?" The image of the red-eyed people I encountered plays across my mind.

  "Their ability is to take. They take until there is nothing left." My mom looks almost sick explaining this to me.

  A shiver runs up my spine at my mom's statement. "How do they take?"

  It's obvious she doesn't like speaking about ’those people’, or monsters as she calls them. "I don't know the science of it, but they can touch people and empty them. In the process of doing whatever it is they do, they take peoples gifts, or powers. I've only seen it done once or twice because they don't have much to take from us since they already have our abilities."

  At the confusion on my face she clarifies. "The survival shot we took had some strange side effects. Much like whatever shot you took that caused your eyes to turn blue." I want to stop and ask her what she means because my eyes are certainly not just blue but I also want to hear more about these side effects, so I let her continue. "We not only can live off little sustenance, we also have super human strength. In addition we are quite fast. The others were like us at first. They had the survival shot. Things changed though when someone took the red shot subsequently. That shot was meant to kill and in a way it did. It killed their humanity. It also brought on a strange change in those people. We didn't know the extent of this change at first. It seems like forever ago but back then there were people around that had other abilities. Amazing ones, like your healing ability. They were the ones who took the immunization because they were accepted but then refused to enter the shelter because of their loved ones being denied. Some of those people with the different gifts started dying off or having what we thought were strokes that left them brain dead. It wasn't until the red eyed people increased in number that we realized what they were doing. They were collecting their powers! We call them Reapers."

  My mom takes a deep breath and looks like she's about to cry, so I lay my hand on top of hers in a comforting gesture. She blinks back the tears and continues. "We tried to kick them out when we figured out what was going on but they went on a massacre. They killed most everyone with unique powers and many of us as well during the fight. A lot of our friends died."

  "I'm so sorry mom." I give her a hug to try and offer some semblance of comfort. "How did you all get away? I mean, it sounds like these people are pretty powerful if all they need to do is touch someone to kill them."

  "They are powerful, but not invincible. We out number them and that allowed us to fight them off eventually. Plus, they can't simply kill with a brief contact. It takes them a few moments to kill someone with their reaping ability."

  "What keeps them from attacking again?" I ask.

  "Along with our super strength and speed, we have developed several defensive and offensive strategies to fight back." I notice a sort of proud gleam in her eye. Not pride in herself but pride in her people.

  "And we have an amazing leader who will lead us to victory." Anthony chimes in. I turn around to see him close the door. He clutches a small hand held mirror in his hand.

  "Oh, who is your leader?" I ask him.

  "You're sitting next to her." He smiles big. I realize that look that he has towards my mom now. It's pure unadulterated dedication and respect.

  He is her soldier? I turn in surprise to look at my mom. "Really?"

  She doesn't look too pleased that Anthony spilled the beans. "Yes. Along with several others, I help direct our people. The Reapers are trying to find a way into the shelter and we have to stop them."

  "Why would they want to get into the shelter?" The answer pops into my mind immediately so I answer my own question. "They want more powers."

  "Yes, but we won't let them get what they want." Anthony declares in a statement that seems like he's overly confident.

  "I wonder if they know that not everyone inside the shelter has a gift. Or a power." I feel a bit goofy describing our new abilities as a power. It makes me think of super heroes and old comic books.

  "Not yet honey, but they will." My mom says.

  "We don't know how we got these abilities though." I counter.

  She walks over to a window at the edge of the room. I hadn't paid much attention to it because of the blackout curtain that's covering it. She pulls back the curtain and sunlight filters into the room. I watch as dust motes dance around in the sunbeams. "We are pretty sure that everyone inside should have some sort of ability. It didn't take us long to realize that the immunizations had to be the reason for the changes. Most of the people inside haven't developed their powers yet because you are all underground. The sun is the only thing that will complete the change."

  I had guessed as much. It was the only explanation that made sense. I stand up and walk towards the window. The sun is starting to set in the sky but it's still bright enough out that I can take in the surroundings. Not that there's much of anything out there anyhow. We are at least ten stories up. Down below, a Holiday Inn sign stands tall at the entrance of an overly large parking lot. I look back at the room that is now cast in brightness. The fake abstract prints and floral motif of the bedspread confirm that we are in fact in a hotel. Looking back out the window I see the mountain a few miles off in the distance. A knot in my stomach reminds me that my dad is still inside and my friends are missing.

  My heart starts pounding hard at the last thought. "Mom! My friends are out there somewhere. What if..." My sight goes blurry as tears well up in my eyes just thinking about the Reapers out there with them. "What if they got to them?"
I whisper.

  My mom's expression melts. Coming to my side, she reaches up and wipes away the tear that is running down my cheek. "What do you mean your friends are on the outside?" Her expression turns to worry.

  I don't know where to start with the explanation of how Connor, Claire, my boyfriend Alec and I got outside. I decide to give her a rundown of the basic facts and succeed in spilling everything out in one long fast breath. "My friends and I found a cave inside the shelter that had sunlight pouring in. I guess now I know that this is how we started developing our um...abilities. Dr. Hastings, the man who runs the shelter found out about our abilities. Along with his son and his horrible goons, he locked my friends in the cave by blowing up the entrance. They kidnapped me and tried to run tests on me but I got away. When I finally made it back to help my friends I found the cave empty. They left a sign for me that had an arrow pointing to the outside wall to let me know they’ve escaped."

  My mom has a look of confusion from my speedy recap that turns quickly to anger. "I can't believe..." She lets out a deep shaky breath. "I can't believe they would try to hurt innocent kids! We need to find out what's going on in there fast. Wait. How did your friends escape? Was there an exit in the cave?"

  "If there is, we need to know about it. The Reapers could try to use it as a way to gain access." Anthony chimes in, understanding my mother's line of thinking.

  "No, there isn't a way in and out for a normal person. Connor, one of my friends, is able to pass through objects. He must have found a way to use his gift to get Alec and Claire free too." I say.

  "Wait, how did you get out?" My mom asks.

  I look down at my hands and then back up at her. "I can kind of do more than just heal. I can pretty much do anything my friends can do, like pass through walls and stuff."

  My mom looks at me with wide eyes. "And stuff?"

  I nod my head. "I can heal, pass through things, listen to peoples thoughts, go invisible and compel people. That's pretty much it."

  My mom still looks a bit shocked. "Wow." Is all she says.

  We sit there staring at each other in silence for a moment; then I change the subject. "If those Reapers are as horrible as you say they are, then we need to find my friends fast."

  My mom crinkles her eyebrows in worry. "Okay. We'll begin searching for them first thing in the morning." She turns her sights on Anthony. "We will need to assemble some of the fighters for the search."

  "Yes ma'am. I will get on that right away." He moves to the far side of the room and begins talking quickly into a handheld radio.

  I push my shoulders back and stand up tall as I turn and tell my mother, "I will fight with you."

  A proud look flashes in her neon yellow eyes. "You are too young to fight."

  A flame of heat hits my cheeks as I respond. "I am not too young! I can learn to fight. I need to fight. My dad is in there and my friends are somewhere on the outside. I have to help them." I point my finger towards the mountain in emphasis.

  She gives me an appeasing look and says. "I know you can learn honey. You would be a great fighter but you would be much more useful here. Your healing gifts alone would be instrumental to our cause."

  "I need to help with this. I can do a lot more than heal mom." This may seem immature but I feel as if I've been through too much in the past few weeks to just sit on the sidelines now.

  "I know you can." She says.

  I open my mouth to argue but she holds her hand up between us to stop me. "Look, we can talk more about this tomorrow but right now you need to get some rest. You have been through a lot and you need to allow your body time to recuperate."

  I want to stomp my feet and throw some form of teenage fit but I know that it wouldn’t help my case. Surprisingly, I do feel a little tired now. "Fine. We will talk about this tomorrow before the search party leaves. But first, can I see Sebastian?"

  She smiles. "He's actually already in bed for the night but I will bring him in first thing in the morning. I promise." She pulls me into a hug. "Now get some rest."

  The bedside clock tells me that it's only seven p.m. I decide not to argue about the time. "Okay, goodnight. I love you." I give her a hug.

  "Goodnight." She says. She pushes the blackout curtain back across the window.

  "Goodnight Willow." Anthony calls out.

  I had totally forgotten he was in the room. He walks over and hands the mirror to me. "Thank you. Goodnight Anthony."

  "You can call me Tony." He smiles but the smile doesn't quite reach his yellow eyes. Anthony, or Tony, is a rather good-looking guy with that copper hair of his that looks almost auburn in this light. I would think he would even be considered handsome. There's something there though, in his eyes and the way he carries himself, that tells me he's been through a lot. He looks almost haunted.

  I nod my head in acknowledgement before he turns to leave the room. My mom gives me one last hug and exits a second later.

  I take a deep breath and plop down on the bed. This has been a crazy day. At least I hope it's still the same day. I really should have clarified with my mom before she left.

  The last time I woke up in a strange room was when I fell and broke my arm in the tunnels that led to our cave. Alec had carried me all the way to the medical station. That time several days had passed. That can't happen now. I need to find my friends and I need to do it soon. I decide that one way or another I will be joining that search party.

  I lie back against my pillow and pull the mirror up to examine my eyes. The first thing I notice is how tired I look. I position the mirror closer to look at my eyes. They both match now. The blue is the most predominant color but I can still see all of the other colors swirling together here and there. The red fleck is noticeable and can be seen in both eyes. Weird.

  Feeling overwhelmingly exhausted all of a sudden, I place the mirror on the bedside table and close my eyes.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  First thanks goes to our awesome God and His Son for all of his amazing blessings. A million hugs and kisses to our wonderful supportive family and friends whose love and encouragement make us who we are. A special thank you to all of our fans and book blog sites that have supported our books. You encourage us more than you could ever know. You are why we write! A big thanks to the most amazing book cover designing genius: Marya Heiman from Strong Image Editing. You rock our socks! A million thanks to Mandy Buchanan from LEO editing for making our book sparkle brighter than a vampire in the sun! A huge shout out to all of our fellow Indie authors! There is so much teamwork and support that goes on between fellow authors in the indie community and we are so grateful for it.

  "Thank you to my amazing husband Adam, who listened to endless ranting about our new apocalyptic series and who gave me ingeniously creative ideas to implement in the series. A dozen thanks to my kiddos Trinity and Aiden, who put up with my 'cave' time and my endless hogging of the computer. I love y'all more than a trillion dark chocolate Godiva truffles! A paw shake goes out to my not so little puppy Neo for laying by my side on my late night writing sessions. Ps: Thank you Red Bull for my writing wings." ~Rebecca

  " Thank you to my kids: Cameron, Chloe and Kaleb, who are the inspiration for many of the silly scenes in the book. Thank you for your understanding when I have to write causing us to do our homeschool at night. You three are the best! Thank you to my two doggies who keep my feet warm while I write. Wintertime just wouldn't be the same without you. And a final thank you to my extended family...my mother and grandparents specifically. You supported me from day one on this crazy adventure of mine. You are ALWAYS there when I need you and for that I am truly grateful. So, it's this book that I dedicate to you. Thank you for bringing me all the happiness and joy in the world. I love you both to pieces. ~Courtney

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  Rebecca and Courtney are downhome country girls powered by chocolate and other random late night cravings. Coined in southern twang they bring new meaning to
the word y’all. BFI’s since the 6th grade, with a knack for getting into sticky situations, has resulted in countless ideas to write about for years to come.

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