Keary Taylor: Eden

I sat there, feeling stunned for a while. I had read everyone wrong. “Then what is happening? Everyone is about to explode out there!”

“They’re grieving, Eve,” Gabriel said, his expression a mix of annoyance and disbelief as his eyebrows furrowed together. “It’s a natural process. They want someone to blame, to shove it all off on and Graye is that man.”

My eyes slid from Gabriel’s face to Avian’s, whose expression reflected what Gabriel had just said. I’d missed it completely. I felt sorrow that Tye was gone but I had not considered that everyone would grieve so deeply.

“No one is going to force Graye out, no one is planning revenge. They’re just trying to deal with Tye’s death,” Avian said, his voice catching on his last two words.

We were quiet for a few moments, my eyes studying theirs, making sure they weren’t lying to me. Once they saw that I believed them they moved on.

“We have found traces of something moving in the southern forest,” Gabriel said. “We found shoe prints and traces of waste. We don’t think they’re Fallen but we need to be careful. If they’re human we may watch them for a few days, see if we want to invite them in.”

“How many?” I asked, my interest piqued.

“It looks like three, two older and a smaller child.”

“Where are they headed?” I asked.

“We’re not sure. If they are headed out this way they are probably just running. We will try and contact them soon. We could use each other, I am sure.”

“Don’t act too soon though,” I said a bit too quickly. “We have to be careful.”

“Of course,” Gabriel said with a nod.

I didn’t know what to say for a minute. I had come in here, prepared for an argument, to state my case. Instead I had made a fool of myself.

“Take the day off, Eve. Try and relax,” Avian said, his face looking concerned.

“Take the day off?” I questioned. I could no sooner take the day off than I could stop breathing.

“Yes, take the day off,” Gabriel said, he eyes sternly set on my face. “I’m ordering you to take a break from your duties. I don’t want you scouting today.”

“But Gabriel, I…”

“I mean it Eve!” he suddenly shouted. We all knew that when he used that tone of voice it was time to stop arguing. He shook his head at me, his brow furrowed. “Go home, Eve.”

My jaw set, I stood and walked out.

Home. I didn’t even know what that was.

I threw the flap of my tent aside, finding it empty. I was glad it was, I was too flustered to talk to Sarah then and I didn’t want to have her try and calm me down. I grabbed my bow and my quiver out of the corner and walked back out. They may have ordered me to keep away from my duties but I could not sit around idle.

The woods were both silent and full of sound. Noise didn’t travel far, absorbed by the towering threes that surrounded us, by the earth and moss that covered the ground. And yet the birds never stopped chirping, the insects never ceased their harmonious singing. If they ever did it was too late.

I watched for the signs. For the trails in the grass, the droppings on the ground. It felt like I had to push farther and farther out from the perimeter of Eden to find anything. I wasn’t the only one that hunted in Eden but I was the most persistent. I almost never came back empty handed.

Goosebumps rose on my skin as I caught a glimpse of movement to the south. My heart started racing in the familiar feeling of anticipation of meat. I pulled the arrow back, holding my breath. Two seconds later the buck stepped into view.

The next second it jerked violently, the tip of an arrow appearing in the side of its neck. It took a few staggering steps forward.

My arrow was still in my bow.

A moment later a figure leapt out of the underbrush, knife in hand, and slit the thrashing animal’s throat. Just as the animal fell still, the boy looked up and my gray-blue eyes met his wide brown ones.

It took me a fraction of a second to react. I leapt over the boulder I had been hiding behind in one bound. That was all it took for the boy to leap back into the brush and take off at a sprint.

I heard him crashing through the maze of the forest, leaving a wake of fallen grasses and trampled moss behind him. Every time I thought I was gaining on him though the sound of his retreating form would get further away.

It wasn’t an easy thing to out run me. I couldn’t remember the last time it had happened. But after ten minutes of dead-sprint chase I couldn’t find any traces of him.

I climbed out of the tree where I had made a desperate attempt to gain some ground and catch a glimpse of movement. As I dropped to the ground with a gentle stirring of the dirt, I knew I had to get back to Eden quickly. After gathering as much of the buck as I could carry, I jogged back to camp at a steady pace.

When I stepped away from the tree line and into camp, I found things in a state of unease. Several scouts were gathered around Gabriel talking quickly in hushed tones. Others stood on the perimeter looking nervous and anxious.

“What’s going on?” I asked as I came to Sarah’s side, readjusting the hunks of meat I had bundled up.

She glanced at me, her eyes widening slightly as she saw what I was carrying. “The scouts saw someone in the woods again. They’re getting closer.”

“Yeah,” I said as I started walking toward Gabriel and his group. “I saw him.”

Gabriel caught sight of me as I approached them, his brow creasing. “I told you to take the day off, Eve.”

“I saw him, in the woods,” I said, ignoring his protests.

“You saw him?” he asked doubtfully.

“Yes, I chased him but he was quick. He got away.”

Gabriel gave the scouts a disapproving look. “I suppose that explains the fourth body.”

I gave Gabriel a questioning look.

“They found evidence of the three unknowns in the woods. Eli saw a fourth one, running through the woods, following another of them.”

A little smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. “I was out hunting. He killed my buck just before I was about to. I tried to capture him but he got away.”

Gabriel glared at the two men in front of him. “Pay a little closer attention next time.” He said, then waved them off.

“It’s not safe wandering in the woods alone,” Gabriel said as he watched the crowd disband.

I only stared at him, waiting for this moment of false fatherly chiding to pass.

“Even for you,” he added, his tone less scolding now.

“I am going to need two people to help me collect the meat. He was a big one.”

Gabriel glared at me again. I could see the words forming in his head, I told you to take the day off . He couldn’t say them though. He wanted to eat the meat just as badly as I did.

“Get Graye and Wix. They are both relieved right now.”

Great, of the two people he could have picked, he had to choose the one who was as weak as a child and the one I could hardly stand to look at right now.

It had taken longer than it should have, gathering the rest of the meat. I felt distracted and I sensed it in Graye as well. There was an unknown running around out there. Neither of us liked that thought.

We ate well that night, everyone filled themselves more than we thought it was possible. It seemed bringing meat also brought me redemption I didn’t need to earn. People started looking at me again, hard lines turned into slight smiles again. Everyone seemed less hardened toward Graye even. The feast had apparently put everyone in a forgiving mood.

I went to bed before Sarah did, a rare occurrence. I normally slept little but tonight I felt exhausted. I slid into unconsciousness to the sound of distant laughter.