“Are they Kyle’s friends?”
Caleb listened. “The woman, Ada is one. There’s also a man, he is much younger than she, and a canine.”
“A canine? A dog?” Luke asked.
Caleb nodded. “A female, different in breed to Colin’s dog.”
Austin pounded on the door again. “Ada, if you can hear me, please open the door. Kyle sent us to find you,” No answer was returned. Austin repeated in German. This time the dog barked. The barking got closer, as did Ada’s heart beat and that of the man. They heard the locks being worked on the other side of the door. The door opened slowly and the barrel of a shotgun came out first.
“Who are you?” the gun holder asked, speaking in German, his accent thick.
“Austin Reynolds, Luke Taylor and my son Caleb. We’re looking for Ada and Will Gaynor,” Austin explained in German.
“Why?” the man demanded.
“Kyle Bosch sent us to find them. To take them to the US.”
The door opened wider, but the shotgun remained held high by a boy-man, perhaps in his early twenties. An elderly woman looked out at them from behind the man. She held on to a yellow Labrador retriever with fur as white as the snow.
“Kyle sent you? Why didn’t he come himself,” Ada asked, imagining the worst.
“He stayed behind with his sister Grace. She had a baby and he didn’t want to leave her alone,” Austin explained.
Ada’s face melted. “A baby? Oh my goodness.” She covered her mouth, tears filled her eyes. “You can put the gun down Bruno. They’re not here to hurt us.” She smiled at Austin. “Please forgive us. I’m Ada Gaynor and this is my nephew Bruno.” The dog barked. “And this is Josie.”
Bruno lowered the gun, but kept his finger on the trigger and a tight grip on the stock, ready to bring the barrel up at a moment’s notice. Austin assessed the boy. He was a street kid, tough as nails, and fiercely loyal to Ada. Austin already knew they couldn’t leave him behind, but that’s where he would have to draw the line.
“Where’s your husband ma’am?” Austin asked.
Her face clouded over. “I don’t know. When the mass began moving this way, Will sent us on ahead. He promised me he wouldn’t be far behind, but he never came,” Ada replied, using great effort to maintain her composure. “No one came.”
“You’re from the United States? How’d you get here?” Bruno asked, his suspicions heightened.
“It’s complicated and I don’t have time to explain,” Austin replied. “You’re going to have to trust me for now.” To Ada. “Kyle wants you to join him in Colorado. I’ll take you two and the dog, but no one else.”
“What do you mean? Are there others to take?” Ada asked.
“I don’t know. We didn’t see anyone on our way here,” Austin answered.
“Shouldn’t we look for others? I mean if you think there might be others, we can’t leave them behind.” Ada’s brow creased.
“There’s no time,” Austin replied, refraining from adding that it didn’t matter anyway, here, the US, one place was not safer than the other.
“Why not. What’s going to happen?” Bruno demanded, using English this time.
“Some badass aliens are going to happen man,” Luke answered. “The longer we stand here jarring with you the higher the chances of being found. We’re offering safety, food, shelter. Pretty much anything you need. I suggest you trust the captain and accept our offer.”
Bruno scowled at Luke and Austin. Ada took his arm. “They’re right Bruno. We should go.”
Austin was surprised she didn’t argue to stay, to find her husband, and realized she’d already accepted he was dead. Austin glanced at Caleb, asking him the question without speaking. Caleb searched for Will, but couldn’t find him. They both knew what that meant, but better to let Ada believe he was dead.
“Can we go to my home first? I would like to retrieve a few things,” Ada requested.
“Of course.” Austin replied.
On the trip back to Cologne Austin explained what had happened, leaving out some of the unbelievable details and most of the gruesome ones. When they arrived at Ada’s house, he was still trying to decide how to approach their mode of travel back to the US. Bruno had not asked again, but he was thinking it over, that and many other things concerned him about the strangers from overseas.
“Please come inside out of the cold.” Ada insisted.
They sat at the kitchen table while Ada went to gather a few personal possessions. Bruno stood arms crossed, brow furrowed. Trust wasn’t something he gave out easy, if at all. “How do these aliens control the climate?” Bruno asked.
“It’s simple science,” Caleb replied. “You’ve heard of the ice ages. So it’s the same concept. Alter the Earth’s winds and currents, decrease the ocean’s temperatures, increase the water to land ratio.”
Bruno stared at Caleb dumbfounded. Not only had he answered in a manner befitting an adult, but he used perfect German. Although Caleb had aged five years since arriving on Earth, to those first meeting him he still appeared a child of twelve.
Caleb added for clarification, “Shifts in the tectonic plates, changes in the atmosphere’s composition, in the planet’s orbit around the sun. The Elders manipulated all of these in order to create a new ice age.” Which of course didn’t clarify anything as far as Bruno was concerned, and this was simplest version Caleb could have given.
For Austin and Luke the information wasn’t new and having witnessed the powers of the Adita it wasn’t difficult to believe. For Bruno though this simple science was not simple at all and having it delivered by Caleb made it all the more difficult for him to grasp.
At Bruno’s feet, Josie suddenly sat up, ears at attention. She growled low. Bruno knelt next to him, stroking her head.
“What is it girl?”
“There are three men outside,” Caleb said.
Austin peered through the curtains. Three unsavory individuals stood around their vehicle inspecting its contents. “Take her to the back of the house. Try to keep her quiet,” Austin whispered to Bruno.
Bruno coaxed Josie from the room, by now the hairs on her back were raised. Austin kept watch on the men. He didn’t like what he heard from them. If they tried to come in the house things were going to get dicey. Austin motioned to Luke to hand him the assault rifle. They waited holding their breath. The front door rattled. Austin motioned for Luke to get down. They sat out of sight under the kitchen window listening to the men walk around the front of the house. They were scavengers, common thieves. Austin shook his head in disgust. Someone yelled out that he’d found something. The other two wandered across the street to join their fellow thief. From the back of the house Austin heard Josie bark. He looked out through the curtains. The men were across the street and hadn’t heard. Austin went to the back to find Ada and Bruno. It was time to leave. He found Ada in her bedroom sorting through pictures.
“Ada, ma’am, we need to leave.”
“I had planned on putting all of these on the computer, so that I’d always have them. But I never got around to it.” She stuffed a few of the pictures into a small suitcase. “I’m ready.”
Austin stepped aside for her. Out in the hall Bruno waited with Josie. They went back to the kitchen where Luke was keeping an eye out for the band of thieves who’d taken up residence in the house across the street.
“How are we going to get out of here without them seeing us?” Bruno asked.
Having no viable option, Austin decided to go with honesty. “We’re going to travel through space.”
Bruno laughed. “Travel through space? What the hell does that mean?”
“It means exactly that, and I know it’s asking a lot for you to trust me, but you’re gonna have to.” Austin turned to Ada. “How’s your health Miss Ada?”
“My health? Why it’s...it’s--
“She’s fit enough father.” Caleb replied. “But it will take her longer to recover due to her age.”
&
nbsp; “My age?” Ada sounded offended. “I’m only fifty-eight.”
“Don’t take offense,” Austin said. “It’s important that you’re both in good health and that you understand this will hurt a little.”
“Hurt?” Bruno asked.
“Traveling through space puts extreme stress on the body, especially the first time. You’ll feel like you went rounds with a heavy weight boxer. But the very worst of the pain is brief,” Austin explained.
From outside they heard the thieves. They’d returned. Josie ran to the front door, barking and they had no hope the men didn’t hear her. Bruno went after her, pulling the dog back into the kitchen by her leash.
“Caleb, take Ada and Bruno to the bunker, then come back for us.”
“Yes father.” Caleb took Ada’s hand and held out his other to Bruno. After a few seconds of uncertainty he took Caleb’s hand. “Pull your dog close and hold on to her.” Bruno did so. The air around them wavered, space opened and they were sucked away as the thieves busted in front door.
“Stay where you are.” Austin aimed the weapon at the surprised men.
“We don’t want no trouble,” the first man replied, holding his hands in the air. “We’re out looking for survivors.”
“I know what you’re looking for and it’s not people.”
The man sneered. “So what? Nobody around to care if we take a few things.”
“Don’t you get it man?” Luke asked. “What’re you gonna do with money? Or jewels? Or whatever it is you’re stealing?”
The man shrugged. Stealing was all he knew, so turning his back on these perfect opportunities was pure stupid as far as he was concerned and in actuality had never occurred to him. Stocking up on things that held value in this new world, like water and food, also never occurred to him. The store had been left unattended and he felt it was his duty, as a thief, to take advantage of the situation before someone else beat him to it. That no one else was around to get the jump on the goods never occurred to him either.
“I thought I heard a dog barking?”
“No dog here,” Austin replied, looking the man straight on.
“I guess we’ll be on our way then.” He waved for his companions to leave. He turned back, “You sure about the dog?”
“I’m sure,” Austin answered.
“Hm.” The man left closing the door behind him, not believing Austin about the dog and thinking there must be something pretty valuable in the house.
“They’ll be back once it’s dark,” Austin said.
“We’ll be gone by then won’t we?”
“Let’s barricade the doors in case we aren’t.”
Austin and Luke maneuvered a heavy book case in front of the door and did the same to the back door. They walked through the house closing bedroom and bathroom doors, barricading windows with whatever was available. Austin was tired of killing and death. He’d rather hole up than fight, but he’d seen that look in men’s eyes before and knew the thief wouldn’t change his mind about returning. They sat in the kitchen to wait on Caleb’s return. An hour turned into two and then three. The light outside was dimming. Austin stirred up a fire in the wood stove. Luke scrounged up some food. They ate in silence. In another thirty minutes it would be dark.
“Do you remember when you found me?” Luke asked.
Austin chuckled. “Sure do. Passed out in that gas station.”
“Panic attack. I couldn’t deal with everyone being gone, with my parents being dead. I thought I was the only one left.”
“Yeah I know kid. It was rough.”
“I wanted to say thank you. I don’t think I ever thanked you, you know for saving my life.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Yeah I do.”
“You’re welcome then.”
They finished eating. Luke suddenly felt better. In fact, for the first time in months life again had purpose and he didn’t feel as if he was swimming in muck. He finished his meal and gathered their plates. “Do you think there’s running water?” He walked over to the sink.
The hair on Austin’s neck rose. Time stalled, almost stopping, as he turned his head towards Luke. A shot rang out. Austin launched from his chair, right as a bullet slammed through Luke’s temple, exiting out the other side, taking half his skull out. Austin reached Luke in time to catch him from falling to the floor.
“Luke. Luke. No! No!” Austin rocked him back and forth. “Luke.”
More shots rang out, the bullets shattered the kitchen window. Austin laid Luke down, grabbed his assault rifle. At the front door he pushed the bookcase over with one shove and opened the door. Rage surged through him like he’d never experienced, igniting all of his senses.
Outside was pitch black, but Austin saw every detail in clear definition. The millions of particles floating in the air sizzled, electrified by the energy surging through his blood, illuminated by the powers unleashed by his rage. The thieves fired at him, but the force inside acted as a shield protecting Austin from harm.
Austin raised his rifle and emptied the clip into the night. Each bullet met its mark, each man went down, three bullets through the heart and one through the center of each forehead. He stared at the bodies, watching reds turn to blues as the bodies went cold in their fresh state of death. Austin’s anger subsided and with this the particles began to dim now that their source of energy had lessened in intensity. The night returned, swallowing up what light remained. The rifle slipped from his fingers, clanging down onto the concrete sidewalk, echoing loudly through the night. He left it lying on the ground and returned to Luke.
A pool of blood had formed under Luke’s head. The sight was near Austin’s undoing. He knelt next to his friend, his brother, hanging his head. He wanted to cry, to scream, but did neither. Not even now in this darkest of moments was grief his to own, to experience, to use as a means of easing the pain. Easy was not for him, only questions and guilt. How could this have happened? How had he not heard them? He cursed himself for failing Luke.
The wind blew the curtain from the window. Austin knew Caleb was back.
“Father are you ok?” Caleb stepped gingerly into the kitchen, uncertain how to deal with the emotions his father was feeling, wishing his mother was here to take care of things.
“Can you save Luke?” Austin asked.
Caleb reached out to Luke, probed around his mind, found no brain activity. “It is very difficult once the heart stops. And there’s extensive damage to his brain.”
“Can you save him?”
Caleb walked over to Austin, laid his hand on his shoulder. “I can’t, but mother might be able to.”
Austin turned to face him. “Has she returned?”
“Not yet, but I’ll find her. I’ll bring her back home.” Caleb knelt next to Luke, laid his hand on his head, then over his heart, he shook his head. “She might be able to change him, but she won’t be able to bring him back as human. There’s too much damage.” Like Madison, Caleb thought.
Austin hung his head, succumbing to defeat. Luke wouldn’t want to live like that, but he couldn’t make that decision. All he wanted was to have his friend back, at whatever cost. If he did this, brought Luke back as an Adita, he might never forgive Austin for choosing a life for him that was less than human. Austin needed help, he needed Madison. She would have been strong. She would have made that decision. The right decision.
Austin looked up. “How much time do we have?”
“Based on his body temperature, about thirty minutes, but I’m not sure. And the longer we wait the riskier it is.”
“What do you mean?”
“The brain changes in death. He may not come back as the same person.”
The news kept getting worse. “Can you take us back to the bunker?”
Caleb nodded
They wrapped Luke’s body in a sheet and Caleb whisked them back to the bunker’s infirmary. Austin called for Zack and Ed. They both arrived out of breath, having run the entire
way. They wore grim expressions, as if they knew it was going to be bad.
“What happened?” Ed’s eyes darted around Austin landing on the shrouded body of Luke. He and Zack walked over to Luke’s body. They felt like they were reliving a bad dream. Ed pulled the sheet down, looked into Luke’s face, and laid his hand on Luke’s arm. It was cold.
“No. No. It can’t...he can’t be dead, he can’t,” Ed mumbled.
“Ed,” Austin said, walking over to him. “Eve can save him.”
Ed turned, confused. “Then do it. What are you waiting for?”
“She’s not here. Caleb’s gone to find her,” Austin paused, “but that’s not all. If she does this, saves him, he’ll be like her, like an Adita.”
“Like Eve? You mean he’ll be a... like them?” Ed stopped himself from saying the word vampire out loud.
“Yes in every sense of what that means,” Austin replied.
Ed stared at Austin, allowing this to sink in before turning back to Luke.
“I can’t let him go man, but I know Luke wouldn’t want to be like them.” Austin choked on his words, on his emotions. “I can’t make that decision.”
Ed knew what he was asking of him. Zack came to stand next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder for support. Ed thought it a bad idea for Luke to go with Austin, but he’d insisted and Austin encouraged him. Now here they were, trying to decide if he should die or come back as a blood thirsty freak.
“I’m sorry Ed, Zack. I shouldn’t have let it happen. I should have been paying closer attention. It’s my fault. It’s all my fault.” Austin replied, his voice cracking as he choked back the tears.
Zack put his other hand on Austin’s shoulder. “Don’t do that man. Don’t blame yourself. Luke made his own decisions.” These words came out sounding as hollow as they felt. Madison’s death, now this, it was too much to ask of anyone to be strong.
Austin looked at him through bleary eyes. For a flash of an instant he hated him for being right, for doing the right thing, for being the stronger one. It wasn’t fair to put this decision on them, but this was one time he couldn’t put his emotions aside. The hate vanished, replaced by another feeling more sickening in its meaning and intensity. He was a coward.
Eve of Man (The Harvest Book 2) Page 27