Escape from Eden (Original Series book 2) (4 page)

"You look ridiculous," Link says after about an hour. "Just go in already.”

I don’t argue and leave him behind. What I need is to lay horizontal for a while to try and let this wound heal. Maybe after that I can hunt down Max to resume our conversation.

I walk through the door into the mudroom, but stop when I hear my name. I turn around. Tank is standing next to a window where he must’ve seen me walking toward the compound.

“It’s so good to see you,” he says. He isn’t smiling suggestively or winking. He’s just being himself, something he only seems to do when he’s alone with me. This is probably because I called him out on his dual personality after I saw him with his secret girlfriend Ash, a Prime healer who’s as far from the spotlight as one could get. They seemed completely opposite of each other, yet when I saw how gentle he was with her, I knew he was in love. I never got to tell him how proud I was of him for opening his heart when so many others choose not to.

My shoulders relax. “And it is so good to see you. Can you tell me what happened? You know, after I left for Eden?”

I move over to him and slouch into a chair, trying not to bend at the waist.

“Honestly it was Colt who turned the tide. I thought we were all goners, but then he showed up like some vengeful demon angel, dropping bombs from the sky. Truth be told, he scared even me, but it made all the difference. In no time at all, the Institute was retreating. We hurt them good but not without a price.” He pulls up a chair and sits across from me. “Two of the Dresdens died, Rowdy and Suma. Anthony was hurt badly, too, and Colt nearly died. After the fight, he had a major seizure and fell into a coma. We took him straight to your father for treatment. It took him a couple of weeks before he finally woke up.”

I swallow the rising lump in my throat. “But he’s okay?”

“He’s doing really well. I promise.”

Air flows more freely into my lungs. “Why are you here? The truth. I know you didn’t just let the Institute capture you. It’s so
beneath
you.”

He chuckles. “You’re right. The only way those douchebags could ever catch me is if I let them, which is exactly what I did. We needed someone to get on the Island and it couldn’t have been Colt, although he offered many times. We just couldn’t afford to lose him.”

"What does that mean?”

"I'll admit, the kid surprised me. He's a hard worker; relentless actually. After he woke up from his coma, he started changing things. The poor guy barely slept." Tank kicks his legs up and rests them on a chair next to mine. “I didn’t like Colt at first, but I consider him my brother now, my slightly younger, sometimes annoying brother. There's not a thing I wouldn't do for him.”

This surprises me. I never thought those two could ever be close. "So what happened to Colt? What did he change?"

Tank grins. “He grew a set, a big ol’ brass pair.”

“What does that mean?”

He laughs. “You kill me, Sage!”

Despite the pain, I lift my foot and kick at his legs, almost knocking his feet to the floor. “Tell me already! I’m injured and don’t need your weird cryptic-ness.”

His laughter slowly subsides. “Your boy, Colt? He’s the leader of HOPE now and has taken the Institute on headfirst. He's recruited thousands of Primes and organized them all over the Northeast."

"Wow. How?"

"He started by convincing the right kind of Primes, many of them he knew from his… well, more questionable past. He found a hacker to break into one of the Institute's smaller offices where they found all kinds of dirt. He used this information to convince more and more Primes to join our cause. People stopped helping the Institute, stopped feeding them information about Originals or people who might be hiding them. That's when Colt started stealing their money and destroying their oDNA labs. That hurt the Institute more than anything. In fact, he’s listed as their number one enemy now.”

I’m too stunned to speak. Colt, who once gave up my father to the Institute for money, is now leading the resistance? Recruiting Primes? It's almost too much to believe.

“You’d be so impressed,” Tank says. “Sometimes I even want to kiss him.”

I laugh, an honest to goodness feel-good, make-my-heart-smile (and belly ache) laugh. After wiping a tear from my eye, I say, “I miss you guys so much. I can’t wait to get off this island.”

Tank’s expression turns serious. “You can’t. That was one of Colt’s conditions of me coming here: not taking you back. He wants you here where you’ll be safe. Anthony also insisted upon this.”

I fold my arms. “Too bad I can make that decision for myself.”

“They thought you’d say that, too, but that doesn’t change things. I didn’t come here for you.”

“Then who?”

“A woman named Stella.”

“Stella? But why would you want her?”

Tank lowers his feet to the ground and sits up. “Because she is the only Original to escape Enfield. We need to know everything she knows about that place, specifically its location.”

I lean back, shocked. Stella was in Enfield? I don’t know much about the place, other than what the Institute told the public. According to them, Enfield was a place Originals could go to for protection from Primes who might’ve sold them on the black market. The Institute vowed their safety in exchange for periodic bone marrow samples, which they claimed would be used to help create a cure for The Kiss.

In the beginning, many Originals flocked to Enfield to escape their poor treatment from Primes on the outside. They were promised many things, namely their own community with modest homes for everyone and schools for their children. The Institute touted it as the perfect place to live. They televised the lives of the first inhabitants for all to see. I found an old recording of it in my father’s belongings. It was of normal looking people playing at the park, walking their dogs, eating supper as a family. I was envious. It was the kind of life I had always wanted.

When I asked my father about it, he took it from me and told me it was all lies. Originals who went to Enfield were never heard from again. About twenty years after the video and rumors of deplorable conditions, Originals stopped going there. Because of public pressure, government officials demanded to inspect Enfield to ensure humane conditions, but the Institute rejected their request, claiming they couldn’t compromise the secret location of Enfield. Instead they provided more video and testimonies from Originals, but many felt those videos had been faked and the testimony coerced.

That was over a hundred years ago. No one cares what happens in Enfield now.

“If Stella has known this whole time where Enfield’s located, why hasn’t anyone done anything about it sooner?” I ask.

“Who would’ve done something? HOPE didn’t have enough manpower to make a difference until recently. Besides, when Stella was brought to your father years ago, she was in no condition to talk about Enfield, mentally speaking. He sent her to Eden where she could heal so that one day, when HOPE was better prepared, she could tell us everything she knew about the place.”

“Do you think she will?” I ask.

Tank purses his lips together. “I can’t imagine what she went through, but I’d think she’d want that place shut down for all that they did to her and others.”

“I could talk to her. She’s my roommate.”

“If you think it would help.”

I sit up. “When do you plan on leaving?”

“As soon as possible, but you’re not—”

“I know, I know. I may not be going back with you, but I will get off this island one way or the other. I can help.”

The corners of his mouth turn up. “I think you could. You’d make a great PR manager for the cause. Colt does okay but he’s not as easy on the eyes.”

I smack his shoulder. “How’s Ash?”

His face lights up. “She’s doing really well. I asked her to marry me.”

“That’s wonderful! Congratulations!”

“Thank you, but she hasn’t said yes yet. She thinks we’ll both be dead from The Kiss within five years so why bother? I’m not discouraged though. I’ll wear her down.”

“One of your many talents.” I take his hand in mine. “I’m really happy for you.”

He stares at me for a few seconds before saying, “I’m so glad I got to see you.”

“Me too.” I smile and stand, mindful of my injured side. “I better go find Stella.”

“She might still be talking to Jerry. Try his office first.”

I head to the door but stop when Tank calls my name. I turn around.

“Colt talks about you sometimes when he’s not brooding. He even has a picture of you he keeps on him.”

“Where did he get that from?”

“Some security footage we lifted from that time we rescued Max at the Oscar Johnson Pavilion.”

I don’t mean to, but I smile. The thought of Colt thinking of me blooms butterflies in my stomach.

“You really like him, don’t you?”

I nod.

His voice softens. “Sage, you know it can’t work though, right? It would go against everything we’re working toward – protecting the DNA integrity of Originals. You and the other Originals are our future. No matter what he feels for you, Colt would never jeopardize that.”

The butterflies inside me wilt. “I am responsible for my own future. No one else.”

“And Colt is responsible for his.”

We stare at each other in stony silence until I sigh and say, “I’ll catch up with you later.”

Out in the hall, I can’t help but feel defeated, but that defeat quickly turns to resolve. No matter how much good Colt may be doing on the outside, people still feel like they can’t live their lives according to their own desires. And that wasn’t about to change unless a cure was found and they felt whole again.

The mantra repeats again in my head, but it changes. I will get off this island, then I will find my father. There has to be a cure.

S
tella isn’t
in Jerry’s office. It’s completely empty. I turn back the way I came and head to my room, the one place I can usually find her.

I greet several people in the hall on their way to group exercise. I usually don’t miss it, but I have a good excuse today. I touch the wound on my side gingerly and wince.

Through the crowds, I search for Max but don’t see him. I’ll have to find him at dinnertime to smooth things over and try to explain to him why I need to get off the island so badly. It's definitely not to hurt him. That's the last thing I would ever want.

Stella’s sitting on her bed staring at the wall across from her. She often does this, as if she doesn't have a care in the world or a thought in her head. It unnerves the others, but around me she seems to have a spark of emotion

“How are you doing?” I ask and sit on a bed across from her.

Her dark brown eyes meet mine. They harbor something I’ve seen in my own reflection—worry.

“The past is never really in the past, is it?” she asks.

I think about this. “The past is what shapes us as people, so I don’t think we ever quite leave it behind. It’s a part of us.”

She nods in understanding, her curly gray hair falling to the sides of her dark face. “You know him. The man who fell,” she states.

“Tank? Sure, I know him, but how did you guess?”

“I was in Jerry’s office when you came in.”

“You were? I didn’t even notice.”

She chuckles. “That’s how I managed to survive in Enfield after I was captured. I became as insignificant as a dust mite, quiet yet drifting just beyond boundaries. I seemed unaware of my surroundings, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. No one saw me. No one cared. But it took me thirty years to perfect this role until one day a careless guard didn’t see me slip out the door from our camp. And then another who was fooling with some kind of digital game missed me too. It was a perfect day.”

My heart feels heavy when I think of all she must’ve endured. “I can’t imagine what Enfield was like for you.”

“The Institute held you and your brother for a while too, correct? Because of your father?”

“How do you know about that?” As far as I knew only Jerry and the few who had taken me back on the submarine knew of my past.

“Max. We talk sometimes, but don’t worry. I don’t think he’s told anyone else. He thinks the world of you, do you know that?”

“I think the world of him.”

“He worries about you. He thinks you push yourself too hard.”

I furrow my brow. “But isn’t that what you have to do to get anything done in this world?”

“You have to know your limits.”

“Which are many compared to everyone outside this wall,” I say, my voice quiet. Before she can say anything else, I add, “Tank told me why he’s here. You are going to help them, right?”

“I’m thinking about it.”

I open my eyes wide. “What’s there to think about? There are Originals stuck in Enfield. They need to be saved.”

Her full lips purse together, creating even more lines around her mouth. “Yes, they do. I know that better than anyone. The atrocities committed in that place are enough to drive anyone insane. The things I’ve seen…” her voice trails off.

I place my hand over hers. “That’s why you need to help them.”

Her gaze meets mine. “But what about the people who will be breaking them out? Lives will be lost. I know what kind of security they have and no one can get through unscathed, especially Primes. The Institute will spot them miles away.”

I withdraw my hand and lean back. If what she says is true, do I really want Colt and the others risking their lives? But what about the imprisoned Originals? Don’t they deserve a chance at life?

“Who’s Colt to you?” Stella asks.

I startle. “Colt?”

“He was the first person you asked Tank about. You didn’t even mention your father.”

I frown, thinking back. Did I really not ask about my dad? “He’s a good friend, that’s all.”

Stella tilts her head and smiles like she knows more. “You want to get off this island, don’t you?”

“More than anything. How can I help Originals if I’m stuck here?”

“But what do you think you can do?”

I shrug. “I can help my father find a cure, or help HOPE take down the Institute. I know the layout of every one of their buildings, except Enfield's of course. I can sneak in and destroy things, steal things, I don’t know. But I will try. Whatever it takes so Primes and Originals can live normal lives.”

“But you could die,” she says.

It takes me a few seconds to respond. “But I’ll die doing something worthwhile. And that, to me, is living.”

“I’ve had my eye on you since the moment you came here,” Stella says while she leans back on her bed. She reaches under her pillow. “You’re a different child, Sage. Special even.”

“Um, thank you?”

She takes hold of something and pulls it out. “I want you to look at this. Take all the time you need.”

I accept several creased pieces of paper and unfold them. On one side is a map. At the bottom is the name of a street I don’t know. It leads to another road that doesn’t have a name. Hand drawn trees are all over. At one point there’s a bridge and then another. Toward the top, there are pictures of cliffs. The map ends at a drawing of a sign that reads: “Six Flags.”

I turn it over. Drawn on the other side is the layout of what looks like a miniature city. There’s a center plaza surrounded by buildings. Hand-written words have been scribbled over the top of them. They say: Commons area, medical, towers, bunkhouse and a bunch of others. The one that catches my eye the most is the building furthest from the others. It’s labeled “Experiments.”

I swallow and turn to the next page. It’s a detailed blueprint of the medical room. The rest of the pages are the same—the specific layouts of each building. Some are more complex than others. The images flash into my mind in rapid succession.

“This is Enfield, isn’t it?”

Stella nods. “I drew these while I was there, most of them anyway. They are the only things I took with me. I knew some day they would be helpful.”

“Good thinking. These are amazing. I’m sure you’ll make HOPE’s mission a success.” I turn them over in my hands, taking mental snapshots of each one. Just like my father taught me.

“I don’t think so,” she says. “There’s still the problem with security.”

“I’m sure they will figure it out. Don’t worry.”

She takes her time standing up, but I don’t think it’s because of her health. Even though she’s a small woman, I’ve seen her garden outside. She’s very agile for her age.

“Will you come with me when I give my answer to Jerry and Tank? I have one hour.”

“Of course. Whatever you need.”

She presses her warm palm to my face. “Keep looking over those papers. I’ll come back for you soon.”

“Where are you going?” I ask.

“To take a walk. I want to make sure I make the right decision.” She disappears out the door.

I stare after her, feeling sympathetic to her burden. On one hand, she has the opportunity to save hundreds of lives, but on the other, she might be sentencing many more to death. Maybe there’s something Tank can say to ease her mind. If Colt really has convinced many Primes to join HOPE, then our numbers could be greater than we think. I make a mental note to ask Tank when I see him next.

S
tella returns as promised
. She looks down at the folded up papers that I had placed back on her bed. “Did you go over them really well?”

I furrow my brow. “Yeah, but I’m not the one who’s going to need those maps. They will be a great help to whoever uses them, if that’s what you mean.”

“Good.” She gathers them up. “Ready?”

“Did you make a decision?” I ask.

“I did.”

I slide off my bed. “And you feel good about it?”

She shakes her head, her eyes sad. “My decision is sure to kill someone.”