Keary Taylor: Eden

“The city?” Gabriel said, surprise evident in his voice.

“Our camp moved around but we were always within walking distance. We needed to be able to get to supplies. The Hunters found us though.”

That was explanation enough for us. While food was becoming scarce in the city as roamers raided, other supplies were still to be found; clothing, medical supplies, weapons occasionally. We went on our own raids when the need arose.

The sound of Avian’s quiet jogging announced his return, feet that had been trained to move as silent as possible. His eyes were grim as he slowed when we came into view. We were all quiet as he charged it up and calibrated it.

“What is it?” the young child asked as he pressed himself against the woman, eyeing the device with uncertainty.

“This,” Avian said as he finished pushing buttons, his tone careful for the child. “Is called a Cybernetic Diffusion Unit. Or a CDU for short. It protects us from the bad guys.”

“What are you going to do with it?” the boy asked warily.

“I’m just going to touch you with it. It will give you a little shock but shouldn’t hurt.”

Shouldn’t.

“This isn’t necessary,” the older boy said as he watched the child. “We’re not Fallen.”

Despite his words I knew he understood why we were doing this. Even as Avian touched the CDU to the young boy’s arm I knew nothing would happen. They weren’t pretending.

The child jumped as the electricity leapt though his system. He buried his face into the woman’s skirts, not wanting to watch as Avian looked into the woman’s eyes with polite apologies. She barely flinched as she was shocked.

With more uncertainty, Avian turned to the boy, his eyes not so kind anymore.

If the CDU was turned on a Fallen they would be shorted out and killed instantly, including their human parts. The cybernetic molecules saturated every part of your body once you were infected, even if your skin stayed intact, your muscles, your hair. This was the device that had saved us from Tye once he had Fallen.

The boy did not take his eyes from Avian as he approached. He rolled up his sleeves, almost in a challenging way, as if daring Avian to prove him not organic.

I didn’t even realize I had been holding my breath for over a minute until Avian had taken the CDU away from the boys arm. He hadn’t even flinched, not reacted in any way.

“Satisfied?” the boy asked in a flat voice, his eyes suddenly looking ready to sleep.

“No,” Gabriel said, his thick brows drawing together. “You’ve stolen from us.”

“We needed food,” the woman spoke for the first time. “The boy, he needed to eat.”

Gabriel turned his dark blue eyes on her, his hands on his hips. While his face was stern he looked almost comical, standing in the moonlight, in his nightgown. With his gray beard he looked almost like a picture I had seen of Santa Claus long ago.

“What are your names?” Gabriel demanded, though his expression softened slightly.

“This is Victoria,” the boy said, indicating the woman. “And Brady. And my name is West.”

“Are you going to cause any trouble here?” Gabriel asked, his tone serious with the need for assurance that was essential to our survival.

West shook his head, his eyes meeting mine. “I’d rather not have her knife me, so no.” The woman and the child both shook their heads as well.

“We were going to approach your camp in the morning,” West said, his tone less sarcastic. “Brady couldn’t wait to eat.”

Gabriel looked at the group for a long moment. I could see the gears turning in his finally awake head. The decision to let them stay was a gravely important one. On the one hand it was risky. We knew nothing of their past and there was the chance they could be being tracked by Hunters. On the other hand we could use more bodies, especially West, considering the recent loss of Tye. And besides that, they were human, our fellow species. We owed it to them to take them in. We were becoming fewer and fewer, a dying race.

“You,” Gabriel finally said, indicating West. “You may stay with Avian for the time being. There is an extra tent close to his, used for storage at the moment that the two of you can stay in,” he said, meaning the woman and child.

Avian and West eyed each other warily but I could tell West was too tired to fight anything. I knew Gabriel had assigned West to Avian’s tent so he could be watched.

“Thank you,” Victoria said gratefully.

“Are you alright until morning?” Avian said, looking meaningfully at Victoria. “I have medical training.”

She looked embarrassed to have his attention on her, her face flushing a visible scarlet, even in the moonlight. “I will be alright, thank you.”

“Don’t try and run off in the night,” I said as everyone started to disband. “It’s not safe.”

West met my eyes for a moment and I thought I saw a hit of a smile tug at his lips.

“I want to talk to you at day break,” Gabriel said as he lifted the flap of his tent. “All of you.”

Avian and I nodded and the newcomers followed Avian. Alone again, I started the walk to the watch tower. I breathed the cool night air in, letting it relax my tense muscles. It was strange, how alive I felt. I felt oddly satisfied and excited.

It wasn’t my night but I climbed the ladder to the tower. I woke the guard who was on duty. He was immensely apologetic, obviously embarrassed that he had fallen asleep. He would feel ten times worse come morning when he learned three people had raided camp while he had dreams of television and air conditioning.

The distant sound of awkward helpfulness drifted up to the tower for a few minutes and then the night was quiet again, just as it should be. I sat on the hard wooden bench, pulling my jacket tighter around me. The air felt suddenly cold now that the adrenaline that had been saturating my muscles had ebbed.

I rubbed my eyes which suddenly felt heavy, though mentally I didn’t feel tired in the slightest. I hated sleep. Idleness made me irritable and frustrated. Sleep was about as idle as you could be. It wasn’t like it came as a relief to me. Others in Eden dreamt of times before the Fall. Of families, of homes with electricity and running water. Of what life should have been like.

I couldn’t remember what it was like before the Fall. Even though I was thirteen when the world ended, my very first memory was of Avian’s burning blue eyes.

About eight years ago, a breakthrough in science was made. For years, technology had been evolving. Robotic prosthetics were made, artificial hearts kept people alive. Nanorobotics and cybernetic technology evolved faster than the media could even keep up with. It started out so harmless. There was nothing but good intensions. It was difficult to find faults in the people who had created the infection.

A group of scientists created a new breed of technology, manufactured a product that was going to save millions of people’s lives, improve another few million more. They created technology that infused human DNA with cybernetic mater. It had the ability to generate new limbs, organs, and just about any other part. It was a perfect blend of machine and man.

The scientists became billionaires overnight. People were put on waiting lists, crying with joy that their lost leg was going to be regenerated, that their little sister who had been waiting for a liver transplant was going to live.

The unconfirmed question hung in the air. This technology had the ability to regenerate any body part. When your heart, liver, lungs began to wear out you could simply buy new cybernetic hybrid ones. If you could afford it. Would people now be able to live forever?

Fifteen-hundred implants were given. Those who were treated came from every corner of the world, were observed for a week after the procedure to make sure the implants grew as they were programmed to, and then sent home. For three months the world seemed like a better place to live in.