Eden (48 page)

“
I’ve made my choice
West.”

As the words escaped my
lips the building suddenly shook and I faintly heard glass
shatter.

This was it.

The lights flickered as
all the electricity was directed to the roof.  The air seemed
to ripple as immeasurable amounts of electricity pulsed through the
air.  Just as the first wave died away another blast could be
faintly heard.  The building shook again, frightening moans
echoing through the walls.  A third blast sounded, the air
surging.  And then all was quiet and still. 

I was still
alive.

Royce had been
right.  They’d protected the hospital.

The noise I heard echoing
throughout the hall outside the door confused me at first.  It
was cheering.  Feet pounded the floor as people ran toward the
stairs and elevator.

“
Good-bye, West,” I
whispered.  Without looking back, I walked out the
door.

Most everyone had cleared
out of the top floor by then and I took the stairs two at a time to
find them.  As I sprinted into the lobby, I saw them standing
at the front sliding doors, the protective steel doors retracted,
looking through the thin glass out into the sunlight.

I was confused by their
hesitancy at first, at their silence.  But they were
afraid.  Afraid that it might not have worked, afraid that it
might have.

I worked my way to the
front of the crowd, stepping out in front of them.  A few
hundred eyes settled on my back as I hesitated for a moment. 
Taking a deep breath, I pried the doors open, letting in a rush of
sun filled air.  Just before I stepped outside, a familiar
hand slid into mine.  I glanced over at Avian, his burning
blue eyes giving me courage.

The streets were silent as
we stepped out.  Making sure no Hunters were hiding in the
shadows, waiting to leap out at us, the two of us crossed the
street to another building.  My heart hammering in my chest,
we looked through the windows.

They were all there,
crumpled in a pile of destroyed metal and flesh.

“
It worked,” I breathed,
opening the door.  I slipped inside, my eyes widening as I saw
dozens of bodies lying around, empty eyes staring up at us. 
“It worked.”

Avian walked up to a woman
with a half metal face and pushed her shoulder with his booted
toe.  She didn’t move.  “They’re dead,” he
whispered.

“
They’ve been dead for a
long time,” I said as I nudged a body.  I couldn’t even tell
if it was male or female anymore.  “They just can’t kill us
anymore.”

Not a one of them moved as
we continued to check the bodies.  Assured that none of them
were just faking, we walked back out into the sunlight.  Faces
watched us from the doorway of the hospital, a few of Royce’s men
standing just outside, their firearms held tightly.

“
It worked,” Avian said
loudly as we crossed the street.  “The Fallen are
dead.”

That was all it
took.  Everyone started pouring out of the building in a
stampede, rushing out onto the street.  Cries of joy echoed
off the buildings, laughter emanating from everywhere.  I
couldn’t help but smile too.  Avian turned his face to the
blue sky, a laugh bubbling out of his lips.

“
This probably wouldn’t
have been possible if it weren’t for you,” Royce’s voice came from
behind us.  He struggled to coordinate himself on the
crutches.  “We owe you a lot.”

“
You would have found some
other way if I hadn’t come along,” I said, giving him a small
smile.

“
We would have lost a lot
more people,” he said, clapping a hand on my right shoulder. 
“Thank you.”

“
Thank you,” I said as I
watched him hobble down the street after his people.

“
They did it,” Tuck said,
his hands pushed into his pockets as he walked up to
us. 

“
We all did,” Avian said
as he glanced at me.

“
Just imagine Gabriel and
everyone’s surprise when our messages lead them into a cleared
city,” he said with a smile creeping onto his face.

“
They were planning to
leave in just over a week,” Avian said.  “We should be seeing
them in less than two.”

“
How different Eden is
going to be,” I breathed.

“
Not so different,” Avian
said as he slid his hand into mine.  “We’ll always have each
other.  As long as we have that, it will always be
Eden.

And as usual, I knew Avian
was right.

FOURTY-ONE

Not a single trace of
glass was to be found as the roof of the hospital was flooded with
its occupants.  The Pulse sat in the middle of the expansive
space, a gleaming trophy for every single one of us.  It was a
testament to mankind’s will to survive.  To live.

Twinkling lights were
strung around the area, the only light to see by beside the huge
moon that loomed in the sky.  Music filtered through a box
that was plugged into one of the many electrical cords that ran
back into the building.  The sounds it made caused my insides
to quiver and the back of my eyes to sting.  I’d never heard
anything so beautiful.  I watched as people moved in time with
it, saw their smiling faces as they held each other
close.

The rest of the members of
Eden had arrived only six days after the Pulse went off.  When
Hunters had been spotted every day for three days straight they
decided they had no other choice but to leave early.  Their
truck had run better and faster than ours had and they found us
quickly.

I felt like my insides
might burst from the joy I felt as we explained to them the bodies
they saw lying everywhere.  We were finally safe.  Nearly
every one of them had tears in their eyes.

I hesitantly hugged
Gabriel when a sob escaped his chest.  “Thank you,” he had
simply whispered.  I pulled Bill into my arms next.  To
my surprise, he didn’t let go for quite a while.  Even though
I knew it made him uncomfortable, I pulled Graye into a hug as well
and gave him a tight squeeze.  It felt so good to see my
brothers again.

Their joy was crushed
though when we told them about West.  Their tears of joy
quickly turned to tears of sorrow.  Victoria broke down into
sobs.  I didn’t think West ever realized just how loved he had
been in Eden.  He had been accepted as a family member, even
if he didn’t feel like it.

What was unexpected
though, was seeing the way Wix looked at Victoria, seeing the way
he consoled her tears.  I didn’t anticipate seeing her slide
her hand into his.  And to see Brady grab Wix’s other hand and
call him “daddy”.  Apparently I’d been way off the marker
thinking she and Avian were falling for each other.

And so there we were,
three days later, watching as Wix and Victoria stood before the
one-hundred and thirty-six residents of Los Angeles.  Gabriel
stood with them and spoke of love lasting beyond death.  And
wearing the white dress she had picked from one of the long
forgotten about shops, she and Wix spoke words to each other I
finally understood.

Maybe I should have waited
to have Dr. Beeson remove more of my emotional blockers.  Ever
since the rest of my family was reunited, I’ve felt everything was
going to overwhelm me.  One little bit at a time, he said, and
someday I’d be normal.  As normal as I could be anyway. 
Already at times I felt everything would consume me, all the joy I
felt, all the sorrow I experienced for the billions of lives that
had been lost.

But mostly I felt an
overwhelming sense of hope for the future.

We’d slowly been clearing
bodies out of the city in the days since the Pulse went off. 
Even though we knew everything was dead, most of us didn’t trust
having them all lying in the streets and in buildings.  There
was enough live tissue left in most of them for there to be a risk
of a cholera breakout as well.  We were never going to be able
to clear all the hundreds of thousands of bodies out, but we would
clear the areas we inhabited.  The floor of the Pacific Ocean
would be littered with bodies.

I pushed the plate of food
away from me as I brought myself back to the present, feeling
fuller than I could remember ever feeling.  Avian walked over
in his recently picked out suit, two cups filled with some kind of
liquid.  He offered one to me and when I shook my head, he set
them down on the table.  I couldn’t help but smile at him as
he held a hand out to me.  I took it and stood, the green
silky fabric of the dress I wore sliding around my body in an
unfamiliar way.

My hand in his, Avian led
us to the area of the roof where people danced, moving in time with
the music that wove around us.  He slid his hand around my
waist, pulling me close, resting his cheek against mine.

“
You look amazing,” he
said quietly as we moved in a slow circle.

“
You clean up pretty
nicely yourself,” I said as I smiled.

We danced slowly to the
music, our hearts slowing to the same rhythm.

“
I can’t believe you asked
me if I was in love with Victoria,” Avian suddenly said with a
chuckle.

“
You’re bringing this up
now?” I said defensively as I backed away from him just a
bit.

“
I just think it’s funny,”
he said with a chuckle as he pulled me close again.  I just
shook my head and rolled my eyes, even though he couldn’t
see.

“
She looks really
beautiful tonight,” I said as I watched her and Wix dance
together.  Their red hair nearly glowed under the twinkling
light.  Brady danced by himself next to them in his own little
suit.

We slowed a bit as Avian
turned to look at her.  The fabric draped around her thin
frame in an almost dreamy way, shimmering in the
lights. 

“
Would you wear one?”
Avian asked quietly as he looked at me with his blue burning
eyes.  “For me?”

My eyes widened a bit as I
realized what he was really asking.  My insides swelled, my
heart picking up in pace.  A smile crossed my lips as I leaned
forward, pressing my lips to his.  “Only for you,” I
whispered.

Avian smiled as I pulled
away, giving me a small squeeze.  Keeping his eyes on mine, he
took a step away, keeping my hand in his.  He led me through
the crowd, through the door, and back down the stairs into the
hospital.

As we walked past the door
to the extraction room, I gave a hard swallow.  It was hard to
fully enjoy the wedding party when I knew West was sitting
unconscious in that room.

We continued to watch West
on a daily basis.  His vitals remained stable, his wounds
completely healed from that awful day.  Every night someone
would go in to sweep up the cybernetic scraps that worked their way
out of his skin.  I asked the doctors every few days what they
thought would happen but they only said that they still don’t know
if he would recover or not.  We could only hope.

Things had escalated
between Avian and I the last few days.  Even though West still
didn’t know what had happened, things feel whole.  Maybe it
was the nights we’d spent together, simply sleeping in each other’s
arms.  Maybe it was the hunts we’d gone on.  It didn’t
matter.  It only mattered how right it was, how
perfect.

There were a lot of things
that I didn’t know about the future.  I didn’t know if West
would ever wake up.  I didn’t know how I would deal with it if
he never did.  I didn’t know if the Fallen would ever travel
here from another city, if we would ever have to fight them off
again.  I didn’t know how everyone in Eden would adjust to our
new way of life. 

I didn’t know if we would
ever reclaim our planet or even just our country, whatever that
meant anymore.

But there were a few
things that I did know.  I knew that I would continue to take
care of Eden.  I knew I would help till our new gardens come
spring.  I would continue to do everything in my power to keep
my family alive. 

I knew that I could count
on Avian to be by my side until the day my heart stopped
beating.

And I finally knew what
love was.

I woke the next morning
just an hour from dawn.  I felt the cold sheets next to me,
realizing that Avian was gone.  At the same time, the door to
my room opened, letting a little sliver of light in.

“
Where were you?” I asked
as I pushed my hair out of my face.

“
Come on,” he said through
the dim light.  Even with how dark it was I could see the
smile on his face.  “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

I followed Avian silently
through the sleeping hospital, most of its previous occupants still
in it, exhausted after the party.  We came out on the ground
level and exited through the front doors.  Sitting on the
sidewalk was a beautiful two-wheeled red mass of
machinery.

“
What is it?” I asked,
running my hand along its glossy surface.

“
It’s called a
motorcycle,” Avian said with a smile as he walked over to it. 
“It’s like a car, but with only two wheels and all
open.”