by Keary Taylor
“Is he okay?” I asked Tristan, kneeling at West’s side. I was conflicted, wanting to both assure myself that he was alive and wanting to strangle him at the same time for betraying me.
“He’ll be fine,” Tristan said. “He’s actually drugged right now. I told him the truth about what happened with you and he was totally freaking out. I didn’t want him getting too worked up during the journey until he could see that you were okay.”
“Eve?” West mumbled, his eyes still totally unfocused. He blinked hard and shook his head.
“How did you get down here?” I asked, turning to Tristan and standing. “Surely you didn’t walk this whole way.”
He shook his head, a smile playing on his lips. “We took a boat. I didn’t think we’d survive the drive down.”
West moaned as he pulled himself into a sitting position. “My head,” he said, pressing his hands into the sides of his head. “What did you give me?”
“A sedative,” Tristan said with a chuckle. “It was intended for livestock, but it did the trick.”
West finally opened his eyes, and saw me standing there with a hard expression. “Eve,” he said, his voice rising as he made his way to his feet. “Eve, you’ve got to listen to me—”
And then Avian plowed into him.
They both skidded across the concrete and hadn’t even stopped before Avian’s fists were connecting with West’s jaw.
“You’ve screwed Eve over for the last time!” Avian screamed. “And now you’ve probably killed us all!”
“Avian!” I screamed, lunging after him at the same time Nick did.
Avian shoved me off and punched Nick. He turned back to West and to my horror, pulled his hand gun and leveled it in West’s face.
“You keep making mistake after mistake,” Avian whispered. “And I am sorry for what you’ve gone through, but I’m getting tired of forgiving you. This…what you did to her this time…I’m not letting this go.”
“Avian!” I yelled again, taking a slow step forward. “This isn’t you. You don’t want to hurt him.”
“Believe me,” Avian said, shaking his head, his eyes never leaving West’s. “I do.”
“Avian, I—” West started.
“Shut up!” Avian screamed, spit flying from his mouth. He shoved his gun in West’s face again. “You don’t deserve any more second chances. I nearly lost her forever because of you!”
“Avian, don’t do this,” I said as I took another step toward him.
I looked up to Nick, who met my worried gaze for a second. I saw the action in his eyes before I could yell to stop him.
Nick rushed forward. His arms wrapped around Avian’s waist and they both rolled over the concrete, wrestling for the gun.
A shot fired.
Nick collapsed to the road, his breath’s coming in shallow gasps. His hands clutched his bleeding abdomen.
“Nick!” I screamed, darting forward to press my own hands into his to try and stop the blood.
“No,” Avian whispered. “I didn’t… I’m sorry… I—”
Elijah tackled Avian, forcing his face to the ground. He snapped a pair of handcuffs around Avian’s wrists.
“Royce!” Elijah bellowed. “Dr. Sun!”
The next sixty seconds were a blur of Avian apologizing, his eyes wild, Royce barking for Avian to be taken into confinement, men hauling the bleeding Nick and West back to the hospital, and Tristan and I standing there stunned, not knowing what had just happened or what to do.
They all shut me out.
Elijah locked Avian up and he, Royce, Gabriel, and everyone else important headed for the conference room to figure out a plan. As well as what to do with Avian.
They literally locked me out.
“Eve,” Tristan said. He’d followed me up to the sixth floor and we both stood outside the locked door. “I really need to talk to you.”
It took me a long moment to respond. I just stood staring at that locked door thinking I should be inside, helping to formulate a plan for how to save everyone here.
The Pulse was broken, and we had less than seventy-two hours until the Underground set off their hidden beacon.
And Avian was locked up like a criminal.
I had to do something. But what?
“Eve?” Tristan repeated.
“Okay,” I finally said.
I led him down into my room and locked the door behind me.
Out of view of everyone else, Tristan suddenly engulfed me in a hug. “You made it back okay then?”
“Yeah,” I answered, surprised at his bold move of affection. I patted his back awkwardly before he released me.
“I have to admit, I was worried I was sending you away to get ripped apart,” he said, his eyes dark. “Things started getting worse at the Underground after you left.”
“More break-ins?” I asked, my stomach hollowing out.
“Twice,” he nodded, his eyes turning to the window and the streets outside, like he didn’t quite believe that the city was actually cleared. “We got it the first time before anything happened. But we lost a soldier the second time.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. I truly was, despite what they had done to me. “Are you okay? Did they punish you after you let me go?”
This was when his eyes truly darkened. “That’s what I needed to talk to you about. They never questioned anyone after they discovered you were gone. But I kept getting all these knowing looks. They knew it was me, Eve. But they never said a word. They acted like they expected this, like they might have even planned your escape.”
I was quiet for a moment, digesting what this would possibly mean. “They wanted me to get out of there.”
Tristan nodded. “And I think they wanted you to get back quickly. Those were Alistar’s keys I took. To his motorcycle. I didn’t think about it at the time, but I found them just outside my door. They looked like they had been dropped there by accident. But I don’t think it was any mistake. I don’t think Margaret is quite finished with you, Eve.”
My blood turned cold as I met Tristan’s eyes again. A shaky hand rose to my head, running along my scalp. There was now very short fuzz covering my skin. “Something has been happening,” I whispered. “I keep having these head-splitting headaches. Blackouts that follow.”
“I have little doubt that it is because of them,” he shook his head. “Something is going to happen.”
“Margaret was obsessed with the Pulse,” I said. “I guarantee this has something to do with it.”
“That’s what cleared the city for you?” he asked.
I nodded. “She was livid when we told her we wouldn’t use it when she was down here those few weeks ago. She’s trying to force us to use it.”
“I suggest you tell your people to have it ready.” His eyes were dark and serious and regretful.
I shook my head this time, my eyes falling to the ground. “You just missed the earthquake. They hid the Pulse after the Underground took me. But it got damaged. There’s no way it will work. And I have no idea how long it will take to fix.”
Tristan swore under his breath.
All the information I’d learned, all the secrets and lies tumbled through my head, as if on repeat.
“Tristan,” I whispered, my blood going cold. I froze, my gaze locking with his. “What if I’m the trigger?”
His face blanched. I could see the gears swirling in his head as things started to fall into place. “That’s the reason they wanted you to escape.”
“They put the trigger in my head and sent me back. What if I’ve already started some kind of countdown?”
“Then we’re all in for a load of trouble,” Tristan said in a low growl.
“Come on,” I said, darting for the door. “We’ve got to tell Royce and Gabriel.”
The two of us sprinted back to the staircase. We exploded onto the sixth floor and I started pounding on the door to the conference room.
“Royce!” I bellowed. “I have to talk to you now or we’re all g
oing to be dead!”
The door was yanked open and Royce’s expression was livid. “I do not have time to deal with your love mess, Eve,” he hissed in my face. “Avian shot someone, I can’t ignore…”
“I think I’m the trigger,” I interrupted him, pushing my way past him into the room. “I’m going to set the beacon off, if I haven’t already set off some kind of countdown.”
Everyone in the room finally froze and every gaze locked on me.
“This is Tristan,” I said, holding a hand out toward him where he stood just outside the door. I waved him in. “He was the one who helped me escape and brought West back. He has something you need to hear.”
I had to respect Tristan. There was no hesitation or intimidation in him. He launched into the story he’d told me. How this had all been a set up.
“It makes sense,” I said, shaking my head when Tristan was done. “These blackouts I’ve been having, they have to have something to do with them. They wanted me to get home and get home quickly.”
“I’d say let’s put you on an ATV and get you far away from here, but what if you’ve already initiated a countdown?” Elijah said.
“We have to evacuate the city,” Royce growled, glaring at me. “With how much smarter and more aggressive the Hunters have gotten, the wireless transmission system might not be enough to keep them out of the hospital. Even if it is on lockdown.”
“The water,” Tristan said, his hands on his hips. “Most of the Bane won’t even get near it. You head out into the water and you’ll be safe.”
“We can’t just abandon the hospital though,” Gabriel said, his brow furrowing. “We’ll survive out on the water for a while, but we’re going to have to come back to land. We have to get the Pulse back up and running and that’s not going to happen if we’re all hiding on a ship off the coast.”
“Thank you for your information, Eve,” Royce said, again glowering at me. He placed a hand on both of my shoulders and maneuvered me toward the door.
“Wait a second—” I started fighting.
“You’ve caused enough trouble for one day,” he said, shoving me toward the door and then pushing Tristan towards it as well. “Leave the plotting to the grown-ups.”
He closed the door in our faces.
“Royce!” I yelled, pounding on the door. “Gabriel!”
No one replied.
“Eve,” a voice called down from the hall. I turned to see Bill, marching toward us with a shotgun in hand. “Leave them alone. Never thought I’d be called for backup with you as a threat.”
“You’re here because of me?” I said, my voice livid.
“Elijah radioed me up to escort you away from this floor,” he said, regret in his eyes.
I shook my head, clenching my jaw. “I assume you’ve heard about all the drama?” I asked as I reluctantly walked away from the door, Tristan in our wake.
Bill nodded.
“Any idea how Nick is doing?” I asked.
“He’s in surgery,” Bill said, shaking his head. “It doesn’t look very good.”
I swore under my breath, closing my eyes for a moment.
“Avian really freaked out like that?” Bill asked, the disbelief obvious in his voice.
It took me a moment to nod. The whole scene hadn’t seemed real. “Avian’s never been a violent person. Never.”
“I assume that’s the guy you’re involved with?” Tristan asked.
“Yeah,” I responded as we entered the stairway. “Any idea what they’re going to do with him?”
Bill shook his head. “Royce has him locked up on the fourth floor for now. He said something about determining his fate when we learn Nick’s.”
I swallowed hard. What had Avian been thinking?
“What about West?” I asked as we descended the stairs.
“He’s in the hospital wing right now,” Bill responded as we exited on the main level. “Avian banged him up pretty bad, but Dr. Stone is patching him up.”
I swore again as we paused in the lobby. “Can anything else go wrong?”
“Knock on wood,” Tristan said, shaking his head. “Are things always so dramatic around here?”
A chuckle unexpectedly erupted from my lips and I shook my head. “No kidding.”
“Now, are you going to cause any more issues, or can I go back to work?” Bill asked.
“I make no promises,” I answered honestly.
Bill just shook his head with a hint of a smile and walked away.
“Well, this was quite the introduction to your little colony,” Tristan said as his eyes swept the lobby.
“Welcome to New Eden.”
TWENTY-THREE
What could I do at that point but go back to work?
I’d tried to demand to see Avian, but Raj, who stood guard outside his door, refused me in a very in-my-face kind of way. He literally shoved his rifle in my face and told me I wasn’t allowed to talk to Avian.
I had no control. I couldn’t dig the remote out of my head, if there was one. I couldn’t make Royce figure out a plan any faster. I couldn’t make them all come out of that room. I couldn’t decide Avian’s fate. I couldn’t save Nick.
But I could work.
Tristan and I helped move everyone back into the hospital when it was determined safe. No one was to go back to their houses except to get supplies until we knew what to do.
Besides the Pulse, nothing major had been damaged during the earthquake.
I gave Tristan the tour of the hospital as people started settling down. He marveled over the kitchens, over the lobby, over the school rooms. I couldn’t blame him. It was the same reaction I had the first time Royce had shown us around.
“Do you think you’ll stay?” I asked him as we sat in the dining area, eating dinner. “Here in New Eden?”
Tristan met my eyes for a moment before dropping them to his plate again. “I don’t think I could go back,” he said, pushing his eggs around on his plate. “I can just feel it here. How different things are, despite your drama. I hope you appreciate how unique of a situation you have here, these good people. The fact that you all work together in harmony.”
I nodded as I finished off my roll. “I haven’t been anywhere but with these people since the Evolution, but I know we’re lucky.”
“So to answer your question, yes, if New Eden will have me, I’d like to stay,” Tristan said.
“You helped me get home,” I said with a smile. “If you were looking for immediate acceptance, that pretty much guaranteed it. I know everyone is kind of pissed at me right know, but we’re all still family.”
Tristan chuckled, looking back at me. “I think they’re happy to have you home for more than the reason of being family. You’re probably still the key to fixing all this somehow. How does it not go to your head, being so blasted important?”
“Oh, the knowledge that I helped bring about the end of the world keeps me pretty humble,” I said, my tone sarcastic.
“Good point,” Tristan said, his tone teasing and serious at the same time.
“What about you?” I asked, stacking my empty plate on his. “Where were you when everything fell apart?”
“Well,” he said, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. “I was sixteen. I was in high school and my best friend told me how his cousin had been acting weird after her surgery. She was a first gen. A few days later I heard something on the news about TorBane spreading and a week later, my best friend wasn’t human any more. As soon as I told my dad about it, he took us into the mountains.”
“How did you end up in Seattle then?” I asked, folding my arms on the table and leaning forward.
“My dad went out on a hunting trip one day, looking for some food for us. I was seventeen then. I was supposed to watch our camp because there had been marauders in the area. Dad never came back.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said, truly meaning it.
Tristan gave a little nod with a tight-lip
ped smile in appreciation. “There was this man, Stanley, who found me. He didn’t say much, but he said I could come with him, that he’d try his best to keep the both of us safe. Eventually we ended up at the Underground. Eventually he ended up getting infected.”
I shook my head. “There are so few of us left.”
“Eve?” a voice called from behind. I turned to see Lin rushing across the room.
She collided with me as she skidded across the tile floor, engulfing me in a hug. “I heard you were back. Are you okay?” She backed away slightly, her eyes instantly going to my shaven head and the scars there.
“I don’t know about okay,” I said. “But I’m back.”
“Your hair,” she said, her face falling. “You always had the most beautiful hair. That doesn’t hurt, does it?” She gingerly touched the scars.
“I’m a freak, remember?” I teased her with serious eyes.
“Ah, yes, no pain,” she said. “And who is this?”
“Lin, this is Tristan,” I said, turning back to him. “Tristan, this is my…friend, Lin.”
And suddenly I felt like I had taken advantage of Lin. I knew she would have called me a friend without a second thought. I sometimes needed to remember people were people, not just tools for survival.
“Nice to meet you, Lin,” Tristan said, extending a hand toward her. He held a mischievous smile on his face.
“And you too,” Lin said. Lin smiled a lot, but this one was different.
I’d never been a matchmaker before.
I had to hope then that we’d all live long enough for them to get to know each other.
TWENTY-FOUR
The plan was this:
In forty-eight hours the vast majority of New Eden would evacuate the hospital. They would pack their necessities and head for the harbors and everyone would take off into the water. Special teams would pack as much food and provisions as possible in those forty-eight. They would all have roughly eight hours to get to safety.
I would stay at the hospital as well as a handful of the scientists while they repaired the Pulse. We would have the wireless transmission system on full blast and would keep the hospital on lock down, just how they’d all survived before the Pulse went off. Royce would stay with us and Gabriel would go with everyone else to the water.