Keary Taylor: The Eve

The two of us worked quietly that day. He took his things into the house next to mine. It wasn’t far away, but enough distance that we would have privacy from one another. We spent a few hours apart. I put all of my clothes in the empty closet and in the empty dressers.

Settling into a new house. The movements felt so normal and so foreign.

When I’d put my things away, I went outside to find Bill already chopping wood with an axe he’d found. I helped him stack the wood, a pile on my porch and a pile on his. By then the sky had grown dark.

We went our separate ways for the night.

I was resigned that I would have dreams about Eve every night until I could dream no longer.

Thankfully, the ones I had that night were not of the torturous sort.

I dreamt of the night I had given her the necklace I had carved. The black stone wings. How we’d watched Eden that night, just the two of us in the dark, the stars twinkling above us.

It was the first time I’d attempted to show her how much I cared about her. Before West showed up with his notebook full of truth. Before Eve knew what she was. Before the world spiraled out of control.

The following day Bill and I chopped more wood. We stacked it.

Bill went hunting while I made a list of more things we would need.

Medical supplies.

Matches.

Water containers.

And so many other things.

Bill came back with two foxes. We cooked them in the open fireplace at his house and ate a silent meal.

On our third day since moving out of New Eden, Bill and I decided to head back into the city for the provisions we needed. He added a few items to our list I hadn’t thought about.

We parked in front of the hospital instead of pulling into the underground garage.

There were people going in and out of the hospital, moving things out. We’d started to set up so many homes before Eve had been taken. Before she had returned. Before the Beacon had gone off. Before she’d contained an entire army in the desert. Before we returned to NovaTor.

Before she died ten days ago.

This was going to be my life from now on: separated into before and after.

Bill and I climbed out of the car and walked into the hospital. Two women gave me sad, compassionate looks as they carried boxes outside.

“Avian.”

I turned to see Lin sitting in a chair in the lobby. It looked like she had been watching everyone as they moved.

“Hi,” I said, trying to manage a smile as she walked over to me. Bill disappeared down a hall.

“Hey.”

“Have you already finished moving out?” I asked, shoving my hands into my pockets.

She shook her head. “You know, I grew up here in Los Angeles, among millions of people. But after everything we’ve been through the last six years, I can’t bring myself to go back out there. It scares me too much. I know they’re dead, this time they won’t be coming back. But I just can’t do it.”

I nodded my head. It was understandable.

“Which is why I wanted to ask if Tristan and I could move out of the city, with you?” she said with an uncertain look on her face.

This took me by surprise. “Really?” I asked. “I mean, it isn’t really the most cheerful place to be right now.”

She nodded her head. “I understand that,” she replied. “But, I don’t know, it would be nice to still be near Eve, in some form. And the lake seems like a good place for…a new beginning.”

I looked to my left as Tristan stepped into the lobby. He crossed to us and put an arm over Lin’s shoulders. “I’m guessing she just asked about moving out with you?”

“She did.”

“If it’s an intrusion, that’s totally understandable,” he said. “I know you’re going to need some time, but, well, we want to be there to support. I think it could be a good way for some of us to move on with life. Start our own new society.”

They looked at me expectantly, hope in their faces.

“I’d be happy to have you,” I finally said, trying to smile.

“Really?” Lin asked, a hopeful, appreciative smile spreading on her face.

“Really,” I said, this time actually managing a genuine one.

Lin leapt at me, crushing me in a huge hug. “We’re all going to be okay,” she said quietly. “We’ll keep living and moving on. It’s what Eve would have wanted.”

“Yeah,” I said. My throat felt tight.

A shrill wail sounded through the lobby and Lin released me.

“Poor Creed,” Lin said as she returned to Tristan’s side. “No one has been able to calm her down since the funeral.”

“Is she okay?” I asked, my brows furrowing.

“Dr. Sun can’t find anything wrong with her,” Lin said, concern in her eyes. “She seems perfectly healthy, especially all things considered. But she’s just upset, all the time.”

I nodded, knowing exactly what was wrong. She knew Eve was gone too.

“I’m going to go check on her,” I said, taking a step toward the medical wing. “You two get packed. We’ll head out in the morning. Bring clothes, supplies for your house, food to last a while.”

They both nodded and I set off down the hall.

Creed cried and screamed the whole walk to the medical wing. I stepped in her room and found Dr. Sun and another woman inside, frantically checking her.

“Oh, Avian!” Dr. Sun jumped violently when she saw me, placing her hand over her heart. “You scared me!”

“Sorry,” I apologized. “Is Creed okay?”

Dr. Sun gave a heavy sigh. “Yes, as far as I can tell. She’s not even colicky, and she’s been taking a bottle on her own. I don’t know why she’s so upset all the time.”

“May I?” I asked, holding my hands out toward her.

The woman who’d been frantically bouncing her up and down quickly handed her over.

Creed furiously kicked her tiny legs and arms for a moment, giving uncomfortable grunts. But I placed my hand on her cheek and guided her head to my chest, softly rocking back and forth. I wrapped a blanket over her back and tucked it around her sides.

It took her a moment, but she slowly calmed, and a minute later, her eyes slid closed and she started breathing evenly.

Dr. Sun smiled and shook her head. “Amazing,” she said. “She’s been screaming for three days straight, and you get her to calm down instantly. Poor thing must be exhausted. She’s slept very little.”

I swayed side to side slowly, letting my lips rest against the top of her head. Holding her, it brought a stillness to my heart I hadn’t felt since before the Nova went off.

“Avian,” Dr. Sun said, a question in her voice. “We have not found a family for Creed yet. I know you’ve suffered a terrible loss, but…would you consider…?”

She knew what she was asking but didn’t quite have the guts to finish asking it. It was a heavy question, one that didn’t ask for a light answer.

“Yes,” I said, after only a moment’s hesitation. “I’ll do it.”

I’d only occasionally entertained thoughts of being a father before. Yes, I was twenty-six now and that was indeed an appropriate age to become a father, but I was raised in a very traditional family who had done things in the traditional order. Becoming a father was something that would come after the wife and other things did.

I’d gotten close.

But I’d lost the person I loved more than breathing and that was going to leave a very large gaping hole in my soul. But holding Creed, breathing in her faint baby scent, feeling her tiny cybernetic infused heart beat against my chest, that repaired the hole just a little bit.

I wasn’t quite ready to join the others for dinner that night. Instead, I ate it in my room while Creed slept in the portable crib at my side. I looked up when the door was pushed open.