Eden (40 page)

We all stood in silence
for a moment, processing what Royce had just said.  It hit us
like a punch in the gut.

“
It extracts the
infection?” West said, his voice doubtful.  “As in takes the
cybernetics
out
?”

Royce nodded and started
circling the extractor.  “It isn’t always successful. 
The person who has been infected must start treatment within an
hour of being touched.  After that time frame it seems to
always be too late.”

“
And it’s worked?” Avian
asked in awe.

“
On one man.  We’ve
tried it on two others but it was not successful.  They had
been infected for over two hours though.  The process,
however,” Royce paused, looking us in the eye as he rested his
hands on the back of the intimidating chair, “is very,
very
painful.”

“
These are magnetic,
aren’t they?” West asked as he approached the extractor and touched
one of the rounded arms.  They were taller than he
was.

Royce nodded. 
“Surgery could never find all the tiny parts.  And you could
never operate fast enough.  They’d turn on the table and heal
before your eyes.  And then they’d infect you.  With this
method, it gets every little piece.  And pulls it right out
through your skin.”

“
But how could anyone
survive that?” Avian asked, his brow furrowing.  “The process
would kill you just from the pain you would feel.”

“
Anyone going through the
treatment is placed in a medically induced coma.  It’s a slow
process.  If we pull too fast, all of the person’s insides
will be shredded to bits.  We have to extract everything
slowly, allowing the body to heal as everything is being pulled
out.  And then this,” he said as he pointed to a round disk in
the ceiling above us, “keeps it from spreading.  It’s an
electrical pulse that contains it.  It’s not strong enough to
wipe everything out.  If we crank it up too far, it would kill
the person too fast.”

“
You wanted to see me,
Royce?” a voice from behind us said.  We all turned at once to
see who had joined us.

“
Yes, please come in,
Elijah,” Royce said as he stepped past us and joined the man at his
side.  “Elijah underwent extraction five months ago.  He
has fully recovered with no traces of cybernetics left.”

Saying this man had fully
recovered seemed like a cruel joke.  He wore an eye patch and
I understood why.  The eyes were usually the first thing to
turn.  Half of his face looked like it had been rubbed over
the crumbling road, and not let up for hours.  The short
sleeved shirt he wore exposed the pocked and scarred skin of his
arms.  His hands looked similar.

“
Elijah had been on
scouting duty when a Hunter cornered him.  As you know, one
touch is all it takes.  One of our other scouts killed the
Hunter and brought him back here.  It had only been just over
a half an hour when he started the treatment.”

“
How long did it take?”
Avian asked.  I saw him swallow hard.  I wondered if he
was thinking of Tye, like I was.

“
Almost three weeks,”
Elijah said.  His voice was as rough sounding as the rest of
his body looked.

“
This is really amazing,”
Avian said, shaking his head.  He just kept blinking, as if
what he was seeing would disappear at any moment.  I didn’t
blame him.  This didn’t seem real.

“
I must get back to my
duties,” Elijah said, looking over at Royce.

“
Of course,” he
said.  “Thank you for coming.”  Elijah stepped out of the
room and I heard his footsteps fade down the hall.

“
I see no reason for you
not to stay,” Royce said as he turned and looked at the four of
us.  “We can keep you fed, keep you safe, comfortable.  I
think we have an obligation to keep the human race alive.  We
all do.

“
But, I understand that
you need everyone to make a decision.  We can send vehicles
after the rest of your group if you like.  We have military
tanks that will keep any Fallen out and there is room enough for
all the members you brought with you.”

I could feel my brain
clouding up again.  This was too much, too fast.  I
needed more time to process everything, to sort it all out. 
Luckily, Avian was clear-headed as always.

“
If we could have a bit of
time alone to discuss this, it would be appreciated,” he said,
glancing at West, Tuck, and I.

“
Of course,” Royce
nodded.  “You’re welcome to use one of the offices if you’d
like, or you have your rooms.  I will be in my office if you
need me.”

We followed Royce back to
the elevator.  I felt like I was suffocating in this tiny
box.  Everything was pressing in too close, including
West.  I gasped in the air as the doors slid open and we
stepped out.

West…

My brother…

Breathe, Eve. 
Focus.

We entered into an empty
room just a few doors down from Royce’s office.  It was devoid
of anything but two wooden chairs.  I took one as soon as we
entered.

“
This is amazing,” West
said as he closed the door behind us.  “I wondered how they
kept them away here but I never would have imagined it was through
wireless communication.”

“
And that extractor is
incredible,” Avian said, the same excitement in his
voice.

I could only squeeze my
eyes closed and try to subdue the rolling of my stomach that hadn’t
stopped since I had talked with Dr. Beeson.  I didn’t want to
be around West right then, I couldn’t look at him.  I just
wanted to run and never stop.

“
I see no reason we
shouldn’t go get everyone else,” West said as he slowly paced the
room.  Even the sound of his voice felt grating.

“
If they have military
tanks they would probably be safe to even go out during the day,”
Tuck said quietly.  “Not that they would, but it would be
better than us trying to sneak out and get them
ourselves.”

“
I agree,” Avian
said.  Even the sound of his voice wasn’t soothing to me in
that moment.  “What do you think Eve?”

My stomach gave a little
jump and I had to purse my lips closed to keep everything in my
system down.  I just gave a little nod of agreement.  I
honestly didn’t know what to think on the matter.  My brain
wasn’t really working.

“
Are you feeling okay?”
Avian asked as he squatted down in front of me.  I couldn’t
even meet his eyes.  He pressed the back of his hand to my
forehead.  “You’re freezing.  And you’re clammy. 
Are you sick?”

I managed another
nod. 

West…  My brother…
Our parents… Family…

Breathe.

“
I didn’t think you could
get sick,” he said as he placed his hands on either side of my
face.  “I think I’d better stay here.  The two of you are
going to need to go with Royce’s people to get everyone tonight, to
prove that this is all real.  And don’t force anyone if they
don’t want to come.  It’s still their decision.”

“
Maybe I should stay too,”
I heard West say as he took another step towards
me. 

“
No!” I tried to shout but
it came out as more of a drugged sounding mumble.

Avian gave me a confused
glance before looking back up at West.  “You should go with
Tuck.  You’re in charge now.”

I didn’t even realize that
West and Tuck had left the room and that Avian had picked me up in
his arms.  I barely registered the lights overhead as they
came and went as we moved down the hall and into the
elevator.  Some time later, I felt a bed underneath me and
Avian’s blue eyes came into focus.  I caught sight of someone
else in the room but it didn’t seem to matter who it
was.

“
What’s wrong, Eve?” 
Avian’s voice sounded fuzzy.  I just blinked, staring at him
through the haze of my brain.

Everything was
wrong.

Something was pressed into
my ear and it beeped a few moments later.  “Ninety-eight
exactly.  Not too far from normal temperature.”

Something was placed
around my arm and it gave a tight squeeze.  Something else was
clipped onto my finger.  “Blood pressure is low and her pulse
is racing.”

“
She’s in shock,” Avian
said quietly as he placed his hands on my cheeks again.  “But
why?”

“
Nurse,” the other voice
called.  “Grab a few blankets and get an IV bag.”

Some kind of mask was
placed over my nose and mouth, forcing air into my system.  I
felt some pressure in the crease of my arm and a while later, felt
something cool start spreading through my system.  Something
warm was tucked around me and my head became all the
fuzzier.

“
Eve,” someone’s voice
called through the haze.  “Eve, what’s wrong?  Did
something happen?”

A lot had happened, I
thought.  I’d learned who my mother was.  I’d learned how
I’d come to be in this world.  I had some sort of idea who my
father might be. 

But I’d also learned that
the boy I had developed some sort of feelings for, the boy I had
kissed, and spent intimate time with, might be my
brother.

I’d learned I might have a
family member still alive.

I could handle being
attacked by robots.  I could handle watching our beloved
gardens burn.  I could survive losing Sarah.  I had
handled living in a world that had fallen apart. 

But I didn’t know how to
handle this.

I think I slept.  I
didn’t remember what happened after that and I had no idea how much
time had passed when my eyes focused on the dimmed lights above my
head.  My hair stuck to my forehead and neck as I turned my
head to see where I was.  I laid on one of the strange
skeletal looking beds and there were tubes and wires sticking to
and in my body.  They led to a screen that beeped and flashed
things I didn’t understand.

I looked the other way, my
cheek brushing the top of Avian’s recently shaven head.  His
head rested right next to my shoulder, my left hand held loosely in
his.  As I brushed against him, his head jerked up.  The
whites of his eyes were red, his entire face tired looking. 
He looked like he hadn’t slept for a while.

“
Hey,” he said, a small
smile forming on his lips.  He squeezed my hand tighter. 
“How do you feel?”

“
Tired,” I said as I
raised my hand to rub my eyes.  It was encumbered by all the
tubes that were sticking out of my hand.  I ripped them out in
one quick move.  Avian gave a small chuckle and shook his head
as he stepped around the bed and pulled something out of a
drawer.  Raising my arm, he wiped the drops of blood that were
forming there and placed a small bandage over it.

“
How long have I been
out?” I asked as I rubbed my eyes.  The room came into sharper
focus. 

“
About twelve hours,”
Avian said quietly as he sat on the edge of my bed and took my hand
in his again.  His eyes were serious as he looked into
mine.  “Dr. Beeson came to talk with me when he heard you were
here.  He said he’d given you some really shocking news that
probably caused this.  He said it was personal.”

I gave a nod, my eyes
falling away from his again.

“
Are you going to be
okay?”

I let out a sigh and shook
my head.  “I don’t know.  I still don’t know what to
think about it all.  This is…”  I couldn’t think of the
word that described what this was.

“
You know you can always
talk to me if you need, right?” he said quietly.

My eyes met his
again.  “Always,” I said softly as I raised my other hand and
held it against his rough cheek.  “Have you slept at all
since?”

He gave a chuckle and I
dropped my hand back to the bed.  “I fell asleep about twenty
minutes ago.  Other than that I couldn’t really.  You
really had me worried.”

“
Sorry,” I said, trying to
smile back.  “Have they left?”

Avian nodded.  “West
and Tuck went with their team last night.  They should be back
before dawn if everything goes smooth.”

I nodded my head that I
heard him.  Grabbing the rail with my other hand, I pulled
myself forward with Avian’s reluctant assistance.  As I swung
my legs over the edge of the bed I realized I was wearing a loose
fitting gown of some sort.

“
You changed my clothes?”
I asked as I narrowed my eyes at him.

“
Your other ones got a
little… wet,” he said uncomfortably as his eyes dropped away from
my face.

“
Oh.  That’s
incredibly embarrassing,” I said as I couldn’t look at Avian
either.

Avian chuckled, putting
his hand under my chin to make me look at him.  “Don’t worry
about it.  I’m just glad you’re feeling better.  At least
you seem to be.”

“
I feel fine,” I said as I
stood.  As I did I felt a draft come in from behind me. 
My stomach jumped to my throat as I looked to see where it was
coming from.  “Uh, where is the rest of this
thing?”

Avian laughed out loud,
something he rarely did.  I suddenly wished he would do it
more often.  It did amazing things to his face- and my
chest.  “It’s a hospital gown.  They’re made to… easily
access everything.”