Keary Taylor - The Human

“They’ve reached the coast now,” I said, trying to bring up a map I’d seen of or continent. “What do you think they’ll do now?”

“I expect they’ll turn, make a sweep west to east until they reach the east coast. If they’re really thinking like a machine, that’s how a machine would do it.”

“And you’ve what?” I asked. “You’ve just been following them?”

He nodded. “I have an all-terrain vehicle,” he said, inclining his head back toward the city. “I’ve been trying to get out ahead of them, find anyone I can. Warn them to get out.”

“Have you found anyone?” I asked, hope surging in my chest.

His eyes grew dark. “I’ve come across five people, in two different locations. I told them to head north. My guess is that they’ll shift south now that they’ve reached the coast.”

“How long do you think it’ll take them to reach Los Angeles?” I asked, fear gripping my chest.

He took a deep breath before letting it out slowly as he shook his head. “No for sure way to tell. I’m guessing they’ll continue sweeping east to west, west to east. They’re gaining speed. They keep collecting more Bane as they move, and they haven’t even hit any major cities yet. I can’t imagine how their numbers are going to grow when they hit Chicago or Portland. Or, shit, New York. The more Bane they have, the faster they can work and the wider the sweep they can do.”

“How long?” I asked again.

“I’d guess six months,” he said with a shrug. “But probably shorter. They could have hundreds of millions of them by the time they hit Los Angeles. Why do you ask about that location?”

I hesitated. My trust in mankind was greatly compromised after what had just happened to me in Seattle. However, this man hadn’t asked me any questions before spilling all of his information.

“Because that’s where I’m from. There are over one hundred of us living there. There are probably still more in hiding.”

“Wow,” he said, his eyes growing wider. “That’s the biggest colony I’ve heard of.”

“And it’s going to be obliterated if that many Bane show up to level it,” I said quietly, my thoughts racing.

We had to get the Pulse ready for more than one reason now.

We needed to build more of it if possible.

“If you’re from Los Angeles, what are you doing this far north?” he asked. Suddenly his eyes jumped to my hair line. “And what happened to you, child?”

“Some of us humans are getting desperate,” I said with my jaw clenched.

“It was one of us that did that?” he asked, disgust in his voice.

I nodded.

“I’m sorry to hear it,” he said, his eyes growing softer. “What’s your name?”

“Eve,” I said.

“I’m Tom,” he offered, shifting the firearms on his back.

“Nice to meet you, Tom,” I said. And I meant it. In a way, Tom reminded me of Bill. A little rough around the edges, but at his core, he was a good man.

He simply gave a smile and a nod in return.

We hid there the rest of the day, sharing what information we each had. But neither of us learned anything new. The Bane were Evolving, they’d soon take us over.

The sound of destruction from the town never stopped.

There were explosions almost constantly. Tom said they managed to find explosives wherever they went, but much of the sounds we were hearing were gas lines being broken and lit. There were grinding sounds as buildings came down and homes and businesses were destroyed.

“Did you find anyone here?” I asked. The Bane had moved to the south end of the city and he and I sat on the bank, watching the destruction. Half the city burned, sending plumes of smoke into the sky.

Tom shook his head.

“When those people took me,” I said, running a hand over my bald head. “They told me there was less than half a percent left of the human population left.”

“That sounds about right,” Tom said, shaking his head.

“Something’s got to happen soon or we’re done for.”

“I’ve kept thinking that someday someone would come and light the way, to have the answers and this would all end,” Tom said, his voice growing quiet. “Seems it’s too late for that now.”

I remembered Tristan’s words. About me being the key to saving them all.

No matter how much I wished I could save this planet, I didn’t see how that could ever be possible.

Evening started to fall and the sounds grew less intense.

“That’s my cue to leave,” Tom said, standing. “I don’t normally linger this long. I’d better get moving. There’s always another town.”

I stood as well, tightening the pack on my back. “Thank you, Tom. You might have just saved my family.”

“I’ll keep warning people until I get caught,” he said, giving a shrug. “I’ll use this on myself though before I let myself turn.” He patted his shotgun.

“Stay safe, Tom,” I said with a nod.

He saluted me and started down the road. He didn’t go far before he climbed onto an ATV I hadn’t even noticed. It was well camouflaged with neutral paint. The engine growled and he took off.

I watched for an hour on the beach. Then there was no city left. Only rubble and smoke.

The army of Bane started marching east, just as Tom had predicted.

It was dark before I dared head out. I turned the headlight on the motorcycle and started walking it through the cluttered street. It took me a long time to make my way through. Broken glass threatened to pop the tires. Busted concrete that was once part of some building blocked the way.

But finally I made it to the other side, back into open trees and clear road.

There were trees. Endless trees. More trees than I could even imagine.

There were tiny towns.

And there was the endless ocean to my right that gave me hope that I would be seeing my family soon. This was the same ocean Avian and I lived next to. Somehow that made him seem not so far away.

Hours passed and one state became another.

And I started seeing signs that made me pause.

Redwoods National Forest.

Where the Seattle people claimed they were from.

Lies.

The trees here were ancient, towering. They blocked out the starlight, creating a dark tunnel. The temperature dropped and the world grew eerily quiet. A barely-there skiff of snow covered the branches and ground.

My speed must have been pushing eighty miles per hour, so when the hulking object in the middle of the overgrown road came into my limited view, I didn’t have enough time to stop.

I slammed on the breaks and swerved just a little too hard to the right. Losing traction on the frosty road, the back tire came up as the bike turned and I was on the ground, sliding with the bike. We both slammed into something metal and large.

Gingerly picking myself off the ground, I saw what looked a lot like a track wheel where the motorcycle illuminated the object in the dark. I righted the mangled motorcycle, backing up to give light to the entire mass.

The words NEW EDEN were painted in big, bold, black letters on the side of the tank.

“Avian!” I screamed. “Royce? Gabriel!”

Adrenaline burned through my system and for the first time in the last three weeks, I felt truly alive again.

I dragged the motorcycle back, making the circle of light larger. I jumped up on the track wheel and climbed up to the hatch.

“Avian!” I yelled again as I struggled with the lock. “Bill?”

Finally unlocking it, I heaved the hatch open and peered into the dark.

“Hello?”

But only silence answered me.

I dropped down inside, my eyes struggling to adjust to the nearly nonexistent light. “Hello?”