by C J Singh
“All right, relax you two,” Brian said. “Jace is right. It would be suicide if we tried something like that. Our best bet is to return to camp and inform the others, then decide what to do.”
“Just leave them all here?” Tristan asked.
“They aren’t going anywhere. Look at them, they have a whole setup here. Little shelters, food, the works,” Jace responded.
We continued to watch in silence for a few more moments, seeing how human, yet not, they were. They didn’t talk much to each other but sat in companionable silence. They had small huts built from branches and leaves, but many just slept on piles of leaves under the bare sky. I soaked in as much information as I could until Brian finally spoke.
“OK, we should go.” Leaving the putrid camp behind, we all followed him to our two-day walk back to the camp.
***
We all walked in silence. Seeing the number of scourges made us more aware of the danger we were in wandering the woods. The conversation with Jace and watching the scourge made my body twitch. If only he would understand how much good we could do. I don’t understand how anyone could turn someone away if they claim to have the cure.
I felt his eyes on me, and when I met them, he gave me a quick worried shake of his head. He knew what I was thinking.
No.
It has to work. They have to believe us.
It’s not about believing, Eden. It’s about not trusting them. You can’t.
Frustrated, I increased my speed to stay near Brian. I could smell another storm in the air, and by looking at the dark billowing clouds and the wind that picked up, it was close. Brian raised his nose to the air, noticing it as well.
“We aren’t going to make it to the cave,” he said.
“Good thing I never changed my clothes,” Jace said.
Tristan grunted at Jace and said, “Where we going to stay?”
A loud boom of thunder clapped right overhead, and we all ducked just as the rain started pattering down, slowly building up quickly into a deafening sheet. We were drenched in seconds.
“Find a group of trees! We can huddle there!” Brian yelled over the sound of the rain.
Following him, we all moved our packs to cover our heads, but it really did nothing to protect us from the rain. There was too much. I slipped and slid through the mud, grabbing trunks so I didn’t fall. Brian stopped at a large group of northern trees that were close together. We all huddled close waiting for the rain to stop. My teeth chattered in the wet cold wind that blew memories of stormy nights at the cabin, snuggled under a blanket with Ellie by a hot crackling fire. My tears blended with raindrops, and I closed my eyes to imagine I was home.
Chapter 35
Tristan
“Where is she?” Brian yelled, kicking me awake.
I sat up from the cold, wet ground. My clothes were soaked and I had slept in a ball, trying to keep my warmth. The rain hadn’t died down until the middle of the night.
“What?” Jace asked.
“Where is Eden?” Brian asked again.
Turning my stiff neck, I searched the area, not seeing any sign of her. “I don’t know. Maybe she’s doing a girl thing?” I stood, leaning back to crack my back. My stiff, wet pants scratched my skin. I should probably change them if I didn’t want a rash, but from the look of my bag, the pair in there were just as wet.
“No. She left.” Brian kicked some sticks around examining the ground. “Where would she go?”
Jace stilled and his face blanched. “Oh no.”
“What?” I asked, taking a step toward him.
He rubbed a hand over his face and groaned. “She was asking questions the other night about the city.”
I got into his face. “What kind of questions?”
“Just basic ones, but... but after I told her some things, she got this bright idea we should go there to tell them we may have a cure.”
“What did you tell her? What is wrong with you?” Jace blanched and I took a step back, wary of my fisted hands.
“I told her no! I said it’s not a good idea, but she’s very... persistent.”
Grabbing my sack, I started out, but Brian grabbed my arm. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going after her. She couldn’t have gone far.” Yanking my arm from his grip, I started toward the city walls.
“It’s not a good idea!” Jace yelled.
I could hear Brian’s feet sloshing through the mud as he followed me. A few moments later, I could hear Jace’s. I didn’t care how loud I stomped or if I attracted every scourge in the woods; I was livid. What was Eden thinking and how could Jace not have told us her brilliant plan earlier?
As we neared the tree edge, the ground became less muddy as the grass thickened. I increased my pace, trying to gain more ground. I couldn’t let anything happen to her.
“Wait,” Brian said from behind me. I ignored him and continued on, but he grabbed my arm and yanked me back forcefully. “I said wait!”
I pulled from his grip and lunged at him. I was really sick of him tugging me around. “What? We don’t have time for this. We need to get to her!”
“You need to cool down.”
Jace approached slowly and looked between us, guilt shone in his eyes. If anything happened to her, he would have to deal with me.
“We can’t just march up to the city,” Brian said, scratching his head in thought.
“Well, that’s what she was going to do,” Jace said quietly.
At least he had the good sense to look miserable, but I am not sure I bought it. “What?”
He sighed. “She said we should just go there and tell them we have a cure. She meant to literally knock on one of the doors.” He rubbed his eyes with two fingers and let out a loud sigh. “The south entrance is the closest. We should try there.” He brushed past us to lead the way.
“What exactly did she say she was going to do?” Brian asked.
“She wanted to find my father. She wanted to tell him and Zane that she knows the cure for the virus. She thinks they are good enough people to take her word for it and just let her go. I tried to tell her it doesn’t work like that, but she’s stubborn.”
“If anything happens to—”
He spun around and faced me. “What? What are you going to do, pretty boy? I didn’t ask for this to happen. I didn’t think she would do this. Trust me, if I have anything to do with it, I won’t let them hurt her.” He turned and stormed forward, splashing up muck onto my already muddy pants.
Brian patted my shoulder to nudge me on. I kept my focus on not falling onto the muddy ground, clenching and unclenching my fists as I worked through my anger. We arrived at the tree line before the clearing and stopped. The grey metal city walls glowed in the morning light. The sight brought back memories from my early childhood. My father’s green eyes smiling at me, proud. I had lost him, lost Ellie; I would not lose Eden too.
The south door was about a quarter mile down the wall, and there, standing in front of it, was Eden. Her hair glistened in the light as she talked to someone, someone in a full head covered mask.
Jace dropped his pack and took off, sprinting through the clearing right for her, calling her name.
“Don’t, Tristan. It’s too dangerous.” Brian warned me as he took a step back into the thick of the woods, watching Jace and Eden helplessly.
“We can’t just let them—”
“We have to!” he yelled. “They are on their own now.”
I looked back at him before dropping my pack. Eden would never be on her own, and Jace wasn’t going to be the only one coming to her rescue. My feet slipped and slid along the soaked grass, and I had to put my arms out to the sides to keep from falling. How had he run so fast?
Eden turned toward Jace as he approached. As I got closer, I heard Eden pleading with him and
another person came to the door.
“Jace?” the person said.
They knew him? Maybe Old Bob was right, and he was planning on taking Eden from the start. He just wanted to manipulate her first. I picked up speed, and just as I was about to reach them, a loud blast echoed through the clearing, and pain shot through my stomach. I halted and fell to my knees.
“Tristan!” Eden screamed, running to me. She caught me as I fell forward, helping me to lay on the ground. “Tristan. No.” She stared down at me with wet eyes.
Her beautiful eyes.
I coughed. “Eden.”
“What did you do?!” Jace yelled at the man.
“He was running at us!”
Jace knelt beside me. “Tristan, just hold on. I’ll get help.” He turned back to the two men. “Get David. Now!”
Pain burned through my core as I took short, quick shallow breaths. I needed to breathe deep, but no matter how hard I willed myself, the air never filled me. I coughed, closing my eyes to the pain. Eden put her hands on my stomach, gentle but firm. I smiled. I had longed for Eden’s touch. For a moment I forgot everything. I just stared into her eyes, relishing her hands on mine. Then her voice broke through my thoughts.
“Tristan. Stay with me.” Her voice cracked, and she looked down at her hands. Following her eyes, I saw my blood painting them red.
“Jace?” A man’s voice panted from the doorway.
“Help him! He needs help,” Jace yelled.
“You know it doesn’t wor—”
“I don’t care how it works. David, get him!” Jace’s voice was filled with authority. God, I hated him. I hated that he would do this to save me, for Eden.
Eden. I turned back to her and swallowed, still trying to fill my lungs with air. My throat was dry and scratchy. I coughed again. She still had her hands on my stomach, trying to stop the bleeding. Silent tears flowed freely and dripped onto her hands, washing away little bits of my blood. My vision faded in and out, just on the brink of darkness.
“Eden,” I whispered.
“Yeah?” Her eyes looked to me expectantly, but they turned to the door when more masked men came. I didn’t see what they had, but Eden’s head shook, and she leaned over me.
“No!” I yelled. A small dart hit her in the neck. She met my eyes, whispering my name one more time before slumping over onto me.
“Eden?” I tried to jostle her, but my arms wouldn’t move. My body throbbed and my vision tunneled. I managed to put my hand in Eden’s soft hair, wetting it with my blood, before the darkness took over.
Chapter 36
Eden
I strained to lift my head, but it was so heavy and wouldn’t budge. It throbbed too. Cracking open my eyes, I blinked to adjust my blurry vision and opened and closed my dry, prickly mouth.
“She’s waking up,” a woman said.
“Good,” a man responded. “Get her some water.”
Squinting, I looked around the room, trying to adjust to the bright light that shone right in my face. It wasn’t the sun so we were inside somewhere, but the only place that had electricity was the city. I was in the city.
I lay on a small bed in the corner of a simple small room. Two of the four walls were windows, two metal. It was nothing like the cabin, how I longed for that.
I pulled my arms, but resistance around my wrists kept them at the bed. They were tied down with straps. My heart sped up; I was tied down.
A middle-aged man sat at a small table in the opposite corner. He scratched his light brown hair before patting out imaginary wrinkles in his grey suit.
“Eden, I’m so relieved to see you.” His smile made my heart race more. I continued to tug my arms, the ties chafing my wrists. He held up a hand, motioning me to stop. “No don’t. Just rest. You need it.”
The woman came back with a cup of water, offering it to me, but I didn’t immediately take it. I couldn’t. Looking between her and the man, then down at my straps, I willed my heart to slow. The man chuckled. “Oh, of course. I’m sorry. Let me get those for you.” He came to my side and untied me. The woman offered the cup to me again.
“Take it. You need it.” He motioned toward the cup as he sat back down, his black, shiny shoes reflecting in the bright light.
I didn’t wait any longer. I was too thirsty. I took the cup and drained it; the water soothed my prickly tongue and throat. Handing it back to the woman, I rasped, “More, please.” She said nothing but nodded and left.
Sitting up, I examined myself. I was in a clean white gown. My hands were clean. Flashes of blood covering them came back to me. Tristan. Where was Tristan? Where was Jace?
“Where are my friends?” I coughed. Panic grew as images of Tristan bleeding out under my hands raced through my memory. “You shot him. How could you?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Where is he? Did you bring him here?” I coughed again. Where was that water?
The man stood. “Now, now, Eden... let’s not overreact.” He held his hands in front of him.
“Not overreact? You shot him! He is my family!” I tried to stand, but I fell back as the coughing fit hit me. I rested my head on the wall. It throbbed so badly I closed my eyes, but when I did, all I saw was Tristan, helpless and covered in blood. His golden hair and kind hazel eyes, the feel of his warm safe body when he embraced me. I opened my eyes to reality, a small cage of a room.
The door opened and the woman returned with my water. “Sir?” she asked warily, staying near the door.
“It’s all right,” the man responded.
I took the glass of water from her, downing it as quickly as I could. It soothed my now itchy throat, subsiding my cough. She almost ran out of the room as I turned toward him. “I want to know where Tristan and Jace are.”
His eyes dropped. “I’m sorry. There was nothing we could do. Tristan lost too much blood.”
Air left my lungs, and it took a few blinks before I could take another breath. When I did, it sounded like a wheeze. Tristan was dead? No. He was strong; he should have survived. I sat up as tall as I could. “I will kill you.”
The man sat back down, unthreatened by my words. “Eden, I know this is hard, but I need you to listen to me. Your safety is very important to me—”
“My safety? I came here to tell you I have the cure, so the walls can come down and people can live as they once did. But... but you shot him and drugged me. I’m in a... a cage!” I narrowed my eyes at the man. “You will pay.”
He scratched his smooth chin, then said, “You mentioned you had a cure?”
“Yeah, but Jace was right. You are a slimy man. Zane... I presume?” I sat back, leaning on the cool metal wall.
“Jace.” He chuckled. “Ahhh, Jace. So, you two...”
“Are friends.” I sat forward so fast the room spun, and the water threatened to come back up. “If you hurt Jace, I will take this whole place down.” I felt my lips twitch to show my teeth.
“Interesting.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “Do you know who you are, Eden?” I blinked. “That’s what I thought. Do you remember anything from life here?” He didn’t wait for my reply. He looked down at his fingers as he spoke. “No, no. You were only a baby. You are special, Eden.” He looked up at me. “You are what we call the Ferine survivor. The first and only survivor of the Fever... that we know of. So, when you say you have a cure. Yes. You do. It’s you.” His chuckle sent a ring of prickles up my spine.
Why didn’t I listen to Jace?
“Where’s Jace?” I swallowed, trying to wet my dry throat.
Zane sat back and motioned over his shoulder. His eyes watched me as I looked behind him and registered what was there. It was another room, identical to mine. The windows allowed us to see each other, but Jace was still asleep on the bed, his stomach moving slowly with each breath he took. The tension on my shoulders
relaxed at the sight of him. He was still alive.
“Let me make one thing clear, Eden. You can’t come into my city and make any demands. I am in control here.” I stared back at his stone-cold grey eyes. They were so hollow you could get lost in them. “I thought you were dead but am pleased to see you are not.” His smile crept along his face like a snake. A slimy snake. “You are the cure, Eden. I will use you to make what we need to survive.”
“And if I refuse?”
He nodded his head like he expected this. “Then I will have to use Jace as... encouragement.”
I felt the blood rush to my feet and the room swayed again. I don’t know what encouragement he was referring to, but I didn’t think it was good. Zane stood, brushing off his suit again as he walked to the door of my cage.
“I’ll leave you to your thoughts, but... don’t wait too long to decide. I would hate for our sweet Jace to get hurt.” With his threat sitting in the thick air around me, he left.
I gazed over at Jace, still sleeping soundly, but a prisoner, like myself. Why didn’t I listen?
Chapter 37
Eden
Two days. I have been in this cage for two days, but it feels like months. The only thing keeping me sane and grounded has been Jace. He’s alive and jaunty as ever, twenty feet away behind two panes of glass. His voice invades my thoughts as I stare up at the crisp white ceiling.
Jaunty? You think I’m jaunty?
Chuckling, I glanced over at him. The glass was so clean it almost felt like there was nothing between us.
Stay out of my head!
But you make it so easy. You basically throw your thoughts at me.
He sat on the side of his bed, elbows resting on his knees, watching me. A smirk twitched at the corner of his mouth. His eyes were big and sparkly, his gold one more noticeable now that his hair was cut short. It was done the second day we were here, much to his dismay. I have spent every day insisting that he doesn’t look like a child, which is his reasoning for having the long hair before. It was only appropriate that I keep him humble.