The Harvest (Book 2): Eve of Man

by Anne Ferretti

  “And from your silence I’m guessing you don’t either,” Zack added. “Which means you won’t pound me into the ground.”

  “I don’t know what to think,” Austin admitted. “And no one’s going to pound anyone into the ground for being honest.”

  Zack looked up, a spark in his eye. “Do you love her? Is that what this is about?” It was Austin’s turn to stare at the floor. “You do. Damn.” But he couldn’t berate the man for falling in love, even if she wasn’t human.

  “It’s not love. Eve is not someone you fall in love with.” Austin stopped short, unsure of what to say or how to explain his feelings for Eve.

  Zack snorted. “Not love, than what is it?”

  “I don’t know. Look Zack, things are changing. Eve’s not certain anymore what Agra plans to do,” Austin said. “She’s gone to Russia, where she thinks Agra is headed.”

  “What do you mean plans to do? Were there alternatives to taking over the planet?”

  “That’s still going to happen or is happening. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. The Svan have moved overseas. There’s nothing left of Europe except for a handful of survivors. They’ve ramped up their search for humans. By the end of the week I expect they’ll have covered the entire planet,” Austin replied, knowing how awful it sounded, but dousing a pile of shit with perfume wouldn’t change it from smelling like a pile of shit. At least not according to Donny Reynolds’ philosophy on life.

  “But how do you know this?”

  “Eve told me.”

  “And you believe her? Just like that? Eve said it, so it must be true?” Zack argued for the sake of arguing, because he didn’t want to think about what this meant.

  “She has no reason to lie. Do I think she’s told me everything? Probably not, but what she’s shared about the Earth is the truth.”

  “So what now? What do we do now?” Zack asked.

  “I don’t know,” Austin answered. They were always looking to him for answers, but this time he didn’t know what to do, not now, not with the playbook always changing. Warlords, militants, even the gorillas followed certain behavior patterns he could pick up on. Blood drinking, organ stealing aliens weren’t in any of the government’s training sims.

  “Do we wait? Like sitting ducks?” Zack pressed.

  “We wait for Eve to return. I know it’s asking a lot to trust her, but even if she doesn’t have your best interest in mind, she won’t allow harm to come to any of you because of me. I know it’s not the best solution, but if the Adita are taking over the entire planet, what does it matter where we go? If they want to find us, they will find us. If we fly to Germany or to Japan, it wouldn’t make a difference. If for some reason Eve lied and life still exists as Kyle described, what do we do then? Warn people? Would they listen? Would mass hysteria follow?”

  Zack marinated on this for a few seconds. “Maybe I can figure out a way to stop them. Maybe Eve would help me do that. She must know how they die.”

  “The Adita don’t die,” Austin said, knowing this was not completely accurate.

  “Oh bullshit. Everything dies. Everything,” Zack emphasized the last word.

  Austin considered telling him decapitation was a way, but only if using a weapon made of a rare metal from a universe they had no means of reaching. “The Adita are not like other species and they aren’t the only ones out there.”

  “They aren’t? Well fuck me over twice.”

  “I would have expected you of all people to already have considered we aren’t alone in the universe.”

  “Sure I have. I’ve thought about it, but it was you know, the dope. Smoke a joint, sit on the hood of your car, stare at the stars and ponder shit. Never meant anything.”

  Austin understood Zack’s reluctance to believe. “Whether we like the facts or believe in them doesn’t matter. The Adita are real.”

  “Ed will want to keep looking for his son. He won’t stand for being trapped down here.” Zack replied, giving up on debating other life forms. They were a done deal, and if the Adita existed, logic dictated others probably did as well.

  Austin decided against telling Zack about the harvest. What did it matter now? Ed’s son, Madison’s sister, Luke’s mom, they were nothing more than corpses kept alive by machines, if they were alive at all. He would never say this to Ed, even if it was the truth. With Jenny’s return, Ed had renewed hope for finding his son. “You realize that his son is probably dead or close to it.”

  Zack sat back. “And you know this how?”

  “I don’t, but I’ve seen the people in the warehouses on Paru. You saw for yourself the people in that camp. It would be suicide to go after him. And for what?”

  “For closure man. Ed needs to know Ryan isn’t hooked up to a machine somewhere, alive enough that he might still have dreams. That he might still remember and think about his parents. Think about it, man. You risked everything for your son. How can you expect him not to do the same?” Zack demanded, getting slightly perturbed.

  “That was different. I didn’t know what I was up against?”

  “Bullshit man. That’s pure bullshit. You would have fought King Kong with your bare hands to save your son. So don’t give me that crap. I deserve more respect than that. Ed deserves more.”

  “You’re right. You’re right. I’m sorry.” Austin took a deep breath, letting it out slow.

  “Eve could save him. She saved Jenny. Why not Ryan?

  “And what about your mom or Luke’s mom? Aren’t they all worth saving?”

  “My mother’s dead.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “I can’t. It’s a theory. An almost educated guess, but not really.”

  Austin waited, again blocking Zack’s thought from his mind. A skill he was getting better at, allowing him to control what came in. He had more than enough going on in his own mind to be sorting out other people’s thoughts.

  “It’s nothing.”

  “Tell me.”

  “She had AB negative blood.”

  “And?”

  “The bodies dropped back to Earth, they all had AB blood. No variations. I tested hundreds of samples. Each time it was the same type.”

  “What does that prove?”

  “The Adita can’t use the AB blood type.”

  “What type are you?

  “O positive. In fact everyone in the bunker, except you and Grace, is an O plus. Grace is O negative and I don’t know what type you have or had. I thought it was O negative, but I don’t know anymore. Not sure about Kyle and McKenna. I haven’t tested them yet, but my money’s on O. The thing is ABs can receive from anyone, but can only give to other ABs, where an O can give to anyone, but an O negative is super rare and can only receive from another O negatives. So my theory is this...”

  “Zack,” Austin interrupted. “What does it matter if you figure it out?

  Zack looked at Austin like a spiked horn had sprouted from the center of his forehead. “What does it matter? What does it matter? It matters that if those bloodsuckers can only survive on O negative, which is rare, then, unless they have a production line somewhere capable of replicating human blood, they will...” Zack stopped. “That’s it isn’t it? They’ve figured out how to make more blood.”

  Austin didn’t answer. Based on what Eve had told him, Zack was close to being right. He would have liked to share what he knew, but he couldn’t put Zack’s life in anymore danger by fostering hope in defeating the Adita.

  “Anyway, Madison’s sister was AB negative and so was Luke’s mom. Oh and Ryan’s an O negative, but I don’t know what that means. Maybe the Adita are O negative, or something like O negative, or maybe they can mix O negative with other types. We can’t, but they might know how...”

  Austin held up his hand to stop Zack. “You need to prepare for a long stay underground. In fact we might want to consider returning to the mountain.”

  Zack balked at this idea. “Cheyenne? Oh hell no. The girls will refuse.
We’re better prepared here than anywhere else.”

  “So I guess that puts us back at square one.” Austin replied.

  “I guess it does,” Zack agreed, his thoughts going out to Ray and if he was still alive. Maybe he could go get him, but then again not. Thing was Ray most likely wouldn’t leave. ‘Them damn aliens don’t want nothin’ to do with an old cuss like me,’ he would argue and refuse to go.

  “We’ll be safe. Eve will protect us.” Austin said, knowing this didn’t comfort Zack. “Hey man, I don’t have any answers right now, but you have to trust me,” Austin said. “Eve will protect us. The Svan won’t come down here. She won’t allow them to. They obey her, I’ve seen it. Besides, right now they are occupied overseas. Only a small group was left behind to guard the camps here.”

  “What about Ed?”

  “I’ll talk to him. I feel for him, but he can’t go traipsing around the country. Eventually a Svan will kill him. I don’t want him or Luke being run and gun cowboys. They’ll both end up dead.” Austin’s hand went to rubbing his head. “I’ll look for Ryan.”

  “How will you know where to find him?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll ask Eve. She may know where to find him.”

  The two men sat lost in their own thoughts. Nothing about their discussion sat well or promised a good outcome. Zack caught himself wondering when might be a good time to give up, to throw in that towel and surrender. Maybe they could re-enact Guyana. He could take on the role of Jim Jones. They would name the bunker Zack-town and they would all drink the Kool-Aid or Gatorade or maybe whiskey. Yes whiskey. If he was going out, he was going to do it right. Jack Daniels or Southern Comfort, screw the kid’s stuff.

  Zack stood up. “I’ll catch you later.”

  After he left, Austin went into the kitchenette. He opened cabinet doors, not sure what he was looking for until he came across a bottle of Southern Comfort. He grabbed the bottle and a small glass before returning to the couch. With the lights down low, he poured the caramel brown liquid into the glass and set the bottle on the table. Old Donny Reynolds had started drinking at the ripe old age of ten and never stopped. At his wise young age of twenty-seven, Austin Reynolds was about to have his first drink.

  Austin took a sip and grimaced. He took a second bigger swallow and waited as the liquid burned down his throat into his chest. He finished off what remained in the glass, took a second and a third before setting the glass next to the bottle. Soon his face felt warm and his eye lids heavy. He stretched out on the couch allowing the alcohol to do its thing. This wasn’t so bad he thought and wondered why his father had always been so pissed off when he drank. Austin didn’t feel angry, he felt sleepy. As he lay there, close to feeling relaxed, Austin went over his conversation with Zack. If he could tell Zack everything they might be able to figure out a way to stop the Adita, but if he told Zack what he knew he would be betraying Eve’s trust, not to mention putting Zack’s life in peril. Whether Eve was trustworthy didn’t matter to him. He’d always prided himself on holding true to his values and didn’t think now was the time to forgo them. Austin knew he’d have to figure this out alone. Going it alone meant making hard decisions.

  ‘Do you want to be human?’

  He heard Eve’s question again and asked himself the same thing. Did he want to be human? What would it mean if he wasn’t? Could he then fight the Adita as one of them or would he end up like them? What about Caleb? By this time next year he would be a young man. He’d already grown two inches since arriving and Austin could see his face changing, losing its baby softness, starting to show the man he would be some day.

  The warmth of the alcohol left him and Austin felt very much awake, but continued to lie still with his eyes closed. Thinking was easier in the dark. His teammates had always relied on him to devise the perfect plan of attack. When they’d rescued that village in Africa so long ago, Austin had lead the charge. He found the warlord hiding deep in the brush. He rescued the girls from the underground prison, saving them from a life of rape and torture. He’d done all these things and many more seemingly with ease. At least that’s how things appeared to his teammates. But he knew their picture of him wasn’t complete. None of those things were accomplished without Eve’s help. Eve had guided his hand, making sure he knew when to attack, where danger awaited, when to get out. Her motives were pure in her desire to protect him, but went no further. He was not so blinded as to believe she felt anything for the people he saved. And to Zack’s point, he wasn’t foolish enough to think she would help him against her own people and he wouldn’t ask. No, this time he truly was on his own.

  “Do you sneak up on your mother like that?” Austin opened his eyes to see Caleb sitting on the coffee table staring at him.

  “Yes.”

  “Does she get angry?”

  “Sometimes. Sometimes she laughs.”

  Austin sat up. “She laughs?”

  “She only smiles, but I know she’s laughing.”

  “I didn’t think Adita laughed at all.”

  “Grandfather doesn’t.”

  “Tell me about him.”

  “He’s afraid of dying and he’s angry, but I don’t know why. He’s afraid of mother.”

  “Do you know why?”

  “She’s more powerful than he is, but she doesn’t know how to use all of her powers yet and Agra, I mean grandfather, fears she’ll turn against him when she learns his secret.”

  “What is his secret?”

  Caleb shrugged. “I don’t know. I can just feel it is all.” He spotted the bottle. “Can I try some?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  Because I said so, almost slipped past Austin’s lips. “I don’t think your mother would approve, besides it’s not all that great.”

  “You don’t have to tell her.”

  Austin laughed. What kind of secrets could he keep from Eve? “Come on Caleb, you know better than that.”

  Caleb smiled, happy to see his father wasn’t easily swayed. He thought to thank him for making the baby, but knew his mother would not laugh if he told. He wasn’t even supposed to know, but her thoughts sometimes entwined themselves with his so that he couldn’t help hearing her. As was the case with Agra’s thoughts, but lately Caleb had put great effort into blocking Agra from his mind. He wasn’t always successful and when a random thought did slip through, it was never pleasant in nature.

  “Would you like to talk about it?” Austin asked.

  Caleb looked at him, first surprised, then with understanding. “If you were to change, aren’t you afraid you might become like grandfather or worse, like Za?”

  Eve had warned him about Caleb’s powers and his tendency to listen when he shouldn’t. “I haven’t decided yet what I’m going to do, but I think I would still be me. I don’t think it would change who I am as a person.”

  “The Adita’s DNA doesn’t work that way. If mother transforms you, her DNA will dominate and eventually takeover completely. Only the very best of your genes will survive.”

  “So you’re saying I wouldn’t have a choice in how I want to act? Kind of like eavesdropping on folks?”

  Caleb shook his head. “But it’s not a choice father, it’s quite the opposite. My mind is much stronger than yours, which is why hearing, or not hearing, is difficult to control.”

  “Explain.”

  “It’s like energy. I have more than you and the same or maybe a little more than mother. I’ll have a lot more than mother and grandfather by the time I become an adult. Right now the energy flows fast.”

  “Like an ocean’s current?”

  “Yes. And it brings many thoughts all at once. They arrive before I know it and then you hear a voice you recognize and your mind tells you to pay attention, so you do,” Caleb explained. “But you haven’t answered my question.”

  “No I didn’t,” Austin said, “because I don’t know the answer.”

  Caleb shook his head. “We always know the answer,
it’s choosing to not hear what the mind tells us that keeps us from making decisions.”

  Austin laughed. “And what do you know that you’re not telling me? Something about your mother?”

  Again Caleb was caught off guard. “Yes, but she doesn’t know I know and I would be in a lot of trouble if I told.”

  Austin’s brow creased. He’d never tried to listen to other’s thoughts, they came without warning, as Caleb described. That his son could block him from hearing what he himself was thinking was obvious. “You can tell me,” Austin said. “I’ll deal with your mother.”

  Caleb crossed his legs underneath him and folded his hands, resting his chin in the center over his thumbs. He didn’t speak the words, but thought them rather loud. If he didn’t say them out loud, he couldn’t get in trouble.

  Austin’s eyes grew wide. “Are you sure?”

  Caleb nodded.

  “Does Agra know?”

  “Not yet, but you don’t have to worry. Mother is very good at hiding things from him.”

  “What will he do if he finds out?”

  “I don’t know. He might try to harm her. She’s stronger than grandfather, but she won’t fight him.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know. I guess she hasn’t made up her mind yet.”

  “About what?”

  Caleb shrugged. “I can take you to Mr. Edward’s son.” Caleb changed the subject, a skill, or trick, he was well practiced at and one his mother wouldn’t have let pass, but his father didn’t know him as well. His father still perceived him as a child, and assumed all children had short attention spans.

  Austin knelt in front of Caleb. “Do you know where he is? Where Ed’s boy is?”

  “I know the way to him.”

  “Is he here on Earth? Is he still alive?”

  “He’s not here, but the way to him is here. I’m not sure what stage he’s in. Would you like to go see him?”

  Austin nodded, but his mind was moving at breakneck speed over the possibilities, the risks involved, and the logic of listening to a seven-year-old, even if that seven-year-old was an exceptional being. He didn’t like making decisions on the fly, could be a quick way to the grave. Special operations took weeks of planning and this was no special op. If they were going to the camps or warehouses or anywhere the Adita were holding bodies, then the mission was most likely a death sentence.