Keary Taylor: The Eve

We made our way through the joyous crowd to my door. I placed my hand on the knob and looked back at them. The noise had calmed down and they all looked at me.

There was hope in their eyes. And they didn’t even know about the plans that were to come. But maybe that was what made New Eden special. Against all odds, we had survived. We still had qualities like hope and humanity. We managed to love and to conquer against a world that crushed most of our kind like a tsunami.

I placed a fist over my heart and pressed my lips together.

The entire crowd placed their fists over their hearts as well.

“Thank you,” I said, barely loud enough for them all to hear me.

No one said a word. They each just gave a small nod of their head. Many of them tapped their fists to their hearts as if this simple gesture connected each of us in on a way that said: we are here, and we will remain.

I pushed the door to my room open and stepped inside.

I slept a dreamless sleep. It was dark and heavy and peaceful. Arguably the best sleep of my life.

When I woke, the sky was fading to black. With how rested and hungry I felt, I knew I hadn’t been asleep for only a few hours. I’d slept for more than twenty-four.

My room was empty and for that I was grateful. I wouldn’t want Avian sitting and waiting around for me to get rested up. He had to have a lot of other things to do. Well, maybe not. He had said he’d been stripped of his duties.

The water felt rejuvenating as I took a shower. Dirt trails slid down my skin into the white shower floor. I recalled the first time I had showered here, after we discovered the hospital, after we fled the mountains when the Bane burned our gardens.

That felt like a lifetime ago.

I felt slightly overwhelmed as I got ready for the end of the day. There was so much to do, so much we needed to talk about. There were so many plans to lay. I didn’t even know where to begin.

Thankfully, I was never alone and the fate of the world didn’t quite rest solely on my shoulders.

I pulled my clothes and boots on and stepped out into the hall. This time there was no applause, no crowd to welcome me home. It was quiet and empty, as it should be. I descended the stairs and came out onto the main floor.

As I approached the medical wing, I spotted Gabriel, standing in the doorway, hands on hips. His expression was grim, the kind of dark look that only comes with death.

I stopped at his side, looking into the wing. There was a door open and inside, one of the doctors zipped up a black bag. Dr. Sun closed her eyes and hung her head.

“How many died in the fight?” I asked.

Gabriel didn’t glance down at me; he just kept looking at the black body bag. “Alac and Perry were both killed,” he said, his voice rough. They’d both been members of security and, later, the re-homing crew. “Elijah’s badly wounded. It will be months until he’s back to normal. Four of the refugees were killed as well.”

I shook my head, hatred and resentment boiling under my skin. It all felt so meaningless. We had a much bigger enemy to fight than ourselves.

Gabriel gave a big sigh, his thick shoulders rising and falling with the effort. He turned and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a bear hug.

“Thank you,” he said, “for what you did. You saved a lot of lives.”

I patted Gabriel’s back. “I kind of wish people would stop talking about it. It’s making me uncomfortable.”

He laughed, his large belly bouncing up and down as he released me.

“You’re the key to saving the planet but you’re still uncomfortable about it,” he said, a twinkle in his eye. “Your humility is just one of the many things that make you special, Eve.”

I rolled my eyes at him and started walking back down the hall. “You’re not helping.”

He laughed as I walked away.

Evening light spilled in through the front doors, warm and golden. I saw others outside, going about their day, taking their rations for the next day home to their families. Once I returned with news the Bane threat had been neutralized, they must have been allowed to return to their homes.

Their activities and lives seemed so normal—yet our lives were about to change once more.

I turned to see Graye heading back for the armory and jogged to catch up with him.

“Hey,” I called as he stepped inside the room. “Have you seen West?”

“Probably at dinner,” he said as he set to cleaning his weapon.

“Thanks.” I started to turn when I noticed he was using Elijah’s prized assault rifle. “I assume you’re in charge now, since Elijah is out of commission?”

Graye grunted in confirmation, not once looking up.

Unsure of what else to say, I turned and started for the dining room.

A low hum sounded ahead of me, and I found the dining room full. Scanning the room, I spotted West in one corner, sitting on his own. I was about to start toward him, when Royce, Dr. Beeson, Addie, and a few of the other scientists stepped up to the counter to get their trays.

I changed course and made a beeline for Dr. Beeson.

“We need to talk,” I said from behind him as he grabbed a plate of steaming potatoes.

Dr. Beeson glanced back at me, and then looked over at Royce, as if hoping Royce would say he had more important things to attend to and that it would have to wait.

“This is your messy past, not mine,” Royce said, shaking his head as he forked some kind of meat onto his plate. “Go deal with it and then we’ll get back to work. You owe her that much.”

I hoped appreciation reflected on my face as I looked over at Royce. He placed a solid hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. I covered his hand with mine for a brief moment.

He gave a wink before walking away. Maybe I was forgiven after all.

“I’d like a word with you and West if you don’t mind.”

His tray fully loaded, Dr. Beeson nodded, his eyes dark.

We made our way through the crowded room. When West spotted us, his still slightly blackened eyes widened and he sat back in his chair as if preparing for another blow.

“I don’t think I’m going to hit you this time,” I said as I sank into the seat across from him. “But I do want to talk. It’s time for the truth. All of it.”

As Dr. Beeson sat in the other chair, West’s eyes were hesitant. He’d spun such a complicated web of shaded-truths and all out lies, could he dare untangle them all?

“This isn’t a choice, West,” I said, fixing my eyes with his. “I can’t imagine there is much left to hide—well, there better not be. This all ends, now.”

“What more do you want to know?” he finally asked.

“First,” I said, turning to Dr. Beeson. “You knew I had a sister. You never said anything either. How did you not spill the beans?”

Dr. Beeson set down the fork he’d picked up and had yet to use. “The first time I saw you, you were with West. When Royce wanted to test you with the CDU?”

I remembered. That was when our team had first arrived in New Eden, a mission to simply see if there was actually anyone alive in the city. Royce ordered everyone to be tested for infection. Everyone had gone into panic mode when he insisted that I was no exception for testing. Until Dr. Beeson stepped in the room and confirmed I couldn’t spread TorBane.

“From the look on West’s face the moment our eyes met, I knew there was something he didn’t want said, so I said as little as possible in those first few minutes. He came to find me an hour or so later and told me about keeping your sister a secret. I didn’t have a hard time agreeing to keep it all buried either. I screwed up big time before; not spotting the mole that took you and tampered with all your other programming and hardware. All this time I thought it was my fault you were dead. So, it seemed easier to just not say anything.”