Saving Eden

by K R S McEntire

  “This one’s the Microplay. It was the last phone made before the Bio Wars, but Kane’s team has updated it. The coolest thing about it is that it connects to your CitCard and you can wirelessly communicate in any way with the entire world,” Stella said, her voice high pitched and bubbly. “You can talk to anyone in the city, buy anything from anywhere. It learns your taste and updates you on the latest things you may like. You can ask it anything and it will find the answer.”

  “If it buys things you don’t need, it sounds like a waste of money,” Emi said.

  “Anything?” Angela was astonished.

  “Go ahead, ask it anything.” Stella looked smug.

  “What’s my name?” Angela talked to the phone. A woman’s face appeared on the screen. Emi looked slightly terrified.

  “Angela,” the smiling face said in a conversational tone. Emi heaved a sigh of relief, as if she expected something far worse to happen.

  “Wow!” Angela exclaimed.

  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? You can even ask it questions about other people’s cards. Next time you see a cute boy walking down the street, you can ask your phone if he’s single.” She giggled.

  Angela looked up at her, confused. “How would the card know that?”

  “Cards keep track of things like that. The technology is fascinating,” she said.

  Angela nodded. Despite the war’s effects on the economy and population, the technology in Chicago still was far beyond anything she had ever imagined. She figured most of these items must have been invented before the Bio Wars.

  “It’s on sale, only nine hundred credits,” Stella offered.

  “We were just looking today, but thanks,” Emi spoke up, grabbing Angela’s hand and pulling her away before she could be sucked into another item. Emi whispered that buying anything that expensive would draw attention to their counterfeit cards.

  In the distance, Angela saw a man in a bright yellow suit pulling a large cage atop wheels through the mall. The cage had a curtain draped over it to hide what was inside. A crowd was gathering around the man.

  “Step right up, step right up!” the man yelled through the mall. “Come see a real, live post-human for yourself! Right in this here cage! On his way to his execution!”

  Emi grimaced. “Bounty hunters make me sick.”

  A crowd of about fifteen people started to gather around the man, including a couple of vendors who left their stands to see the spectacle. The cage was partially eclipsed by the black curtain, so that viewers would have to pay the man in order to see what was inside.

  “Post-human,” Angela said. “What's a post-human?”

  “In the war, we were attacked by biological weapons, drugs, and poisons,” said Emi. “Some people died, but others simply . . . changed. Post-human is just another word for people with mutations, while mutant is a more general term that can also be used for animals. Most post-humans were killed or experimented on during the war, some retreated away from civilization to live out their last days in peace. Some still live in the forest, most hide in The City Below.”

  “Like Julian,” Angela said, remembering the man in the tunnels below The Resistance.

  Angela approached the booth and tried to see through the crowd. Emi warned her not to pay any money, but underneath the curtain Angela could see what looked like large, hairy feet in shackles. She could hear the creature’s distressed groan, its voice echoing through the mostly empty mall. Was this what her father described as a monster? She had never really thought about the fact that they were once human.

  “Not all post-humans look like monsters, others still look like you and I, but have unique abilities or immunities from drugs or radiation. The monstrous-looking ones were often killed on sight, but it’s possible to have a gift that goes undetected,” explained Emi. “This one is more of a monstrous sort.”

  “The man that captured him doesn’t look like a Warden,” Angela said.

  “He’s probably a bounty hunter,” Emi explained. “They go into The City Below and catch mutants to sell to the Watch.”

  Angle listened to the low howl that escaped the creature's lips. It was hard to imagine that this being was once human.

  “Come on, we have to go,” said Emi, pulling Angela away from the creature, out of the mall, and back onto the settlement streets. Outside the mall, three Wardens stood at attention, their guns ready to fire.

  “Oh crap,” Emi said. “I didn’t realize an execution was scheduled for today.”

  Angela stepped back, closer to the market door, as other shoppers pushed past her to step outside. Her heart pounded so loud she worried the Wardens could hear it beat, but the guns were not pointing towards her.

  The guns were pointed at the head of a girl who looked all of twelve years old. The child's hands were bound together by a metal cuffs. She sat on her knees and cried for mercy.

  “Please,” her voice was raspy and her breathing heavy. Strands of yellow hair and sweat clung to her face. “I would never use . . . my gifts . . . against anyone. Please, I could be of service to you.”

  The Wardens were not fazed. One even laughed as they fired at the child in unison. The girl fell to the ground. Emi grabbed Angela and tried to turn her away from the scene, but it was too late. Angela has seen the red blood flow onto the concrete as the men tasked with feeding and watching over the settlement killed the child in cold blood. She screamed as Emi pulled her away from the crowd.

  “I'm so sorry you had to see that . . . I’m so sorry,” Emi said as they made their way back home. “They kill them in public to make a spectacle out of it. They are trying to show their power.”

  “She was just a little girl,” said Angela, tears building up in her eyes. “Why would they hurt a child?”

  “She's not a child to them,” Emi explained. “She’s a mutant.”

  When Angela's father had spoken to her about mutants, the image she had in her mind was akin to the beast in the forest. What could be so dangerous about a child that warranted her death?

  The doors to the mall opened and the man pushed the cart carrying the second mutant to the Wardens. The creature continued to whimper and howl as the cart bounced over cracks in the concrete. The Wardens offered the man a small bag containing some type of payment for his good deed of capturing the poor creature. The Watch readied, and the three raised their guns again, in unison. By this time, everyone inside the mall had come out to watch. Some of the onlookers were silent, but many cheered the Warden’s on. Emi rushed Angela far away from the crowd. As Angela shut her eyes tightly and tried to block out the world, she heard the distant gunshots go off and the creature’s final plea of distress.

  Chapter Nine

  Emi felt it wasn't safe to stay out with so many Wardens hyped up following an execution, so after the shopping trip she took Angela straight back to The Resistance. This was fine by Angela. After seeing two mutants executed, one right in front of her eyes, Angela had no desire to ever step foot outside again. No wonder the family below was okay with living underground. She understood why Jesse keep them there, now that she saw death was their only other option. Wanting to rid herself of Rain’s oversized clothing, Angela went to her room to change, trying to block out the images of the young girl’s death or the sound of the creature’s pleas.

  Angela sat on her bed and reminded herself why she had come to the settlement: to build a better life for her and her father. She pushed her thoughts about the Wardens and their victims to the back of her mind and started trying on her new things.

  She promised herself that when she went to get her father, she would bring gifts from the settlement: clothing, unique foods, and new books for him to read. Maybe this would encourage him to venture out and join her in Chicago. They were not mutants, so they could get real CitCards and not be in any danger from the Watch. Instead, the Watch would sell them food and medicine and allow them to live relatively safe lives. However, it would be difficult to turn a blind eye on the plight of the m
utants after what she had witnessed. Angela slipped on a baby blue dress and headed down the hall to give Rain her clothes back.

  The Resistance headquarters had many rooms. Beyond the main room with the surveillance cameras, computers, and the hidden passage to The City Below, there was a hall that led to eight other tiny rooms. Angela opened door after door before she found Rain’s room. Rain was perched on her bed, bobbing her head to a tune on the radio.

  “Thanks again for letting me borrow your clothes,” Angela said shyly, putting the clothing on her desk.

  “No problem,” Rain gave Angela a small smile. “Did you enjoy the market?”

  Angela hesitated. “The market was nice. Wasn’t expecting the execution that took place outside of it.”

  Rain’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, I'm sorry you had to see that!”

  Angela sighed, “I’m starting to understand why my father didn’t want me to leave.”

  Angela looked around the room. Movie and band posters fully covered her walls, and an old photograph sat next to her bed. Angela saw a younger Rain grinning ear to ear. Next to her was an even younger girl, around age eight, giving the camera a cheeky grin that showed off the fact that one of her front teeth were missing. Angela decided that while she was here, she might as well try to make friends.

  “Where is she, the girl in the picture?” Angela asked.

  “Dead,” Rain said, “same as my parents.”

  “I - I’m sorry,” Angela said.

  “It’s fine,” said Rain. “It is what it is. We all caught the same disease. I was the only survivor.”

  “Did The Resistance cure you?” Angela asked.

  “No,” Rain said. “I cured me, and then The Resistance recruited me to help cure others. I only wish I could have saved my family as well.”

  Angela wanted to change the subject.

  “So was all this music made before the war?” Angela asked, pointing to the radio that was sitting on the desk. She didn’t know if people were making new things or using the old world’s leftovers like her father.

  “Biological weapons can’t kill the radio. I’m certain our data will outlive us,” Rain explained as she turned the radio on. “These were pre-war, but I'm sure some people are still making music as a hobby. Tragedy begets art. Do you like my music?”

  The music switched from a song with loud instrumentals and a near-screaming vocalist to one with a pounding bass and fast words.

  “It’s very . . . loud,” Angela said.

  “Well, what type of music do you like?” Rain asked.

  Angela considered her question. It was only recently that she realized music came in different “types,” and now she was expected to know these types by name.

  “The piano,” Angela decided.

  Rain’s eyes got wider. “A classic! Fire! I have them on my MP3.”

  She got up and switched the radio to another screaming vocalist.

  “If everything was perfect, we’d have no control,” Rain sang quietly to herself while the vocalist screamed. Rain looked at Angela expectantly, singing, “But it’s gonna take some time, to turn off the common sense in my mind.”

  Angela stared at Rain blankly, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

  “It’s almost like this world is for show, it’s pretty outside, and there’s nowhere to go, in this vast nation, stuck in my imagination.” Rain’s eyes were still locked on Angela, hoping to get a reaction from her. “I don’t know what to say, because these things won’t go away.”

  “That’s not a piano,” Angela finally said.

  “Oh . . . I thought you meant the band, Piano Poltergeist.” Rain paused her radio. “You really are from the middle of nowhere, aren’t you?”

  Angela suddenly felt embarrassed. There was too much to get caught up on. She missed home where life was simple and she was seen as competent. Or did her father think she was stupid all along? She thanked Rain for the clothes again and said she needed to get going. She exited the room without saying another word.

  Rushing out the door, she bumped into Jesse. Had he been waiting outside, listening to her embarrass herself?

  “Whoa,” Jesse grinned at her. “You act like you're running from a ghost.”

  Angela felt butterflies in her stomach, but this time they were different, less vicious. The razorblades had disappeared. Even though she still felt embarrassed from her encounter with Rain, she didn’t have much control over the smile that appeared on her face.

  “Jesse!” she all but cheered. “I missed you.”

  Jesse chucked, surprised at her enthusiasm. “I missed you too,” he said. He held her hand and gave it a small, reassuring squeeze.

  “Come with me,” Jesse continued. “I want to tell you more about what we do.”

  He pulled her towards the elevator.

  “Wait,” said Angela. “I’m not sure I want to go back out there.”

  Jesse’s eyes softened. “Emi told me what happened. I promise, I won’t let you near any Wardens.”

  Sheepishly, Angela nodded. “Okay.”

  Why was it so much easier to be around him that anyone else in this place? They got back on the scary elevator and exited the abandoned building. This time, since Angela had taken a shower and was wearing her fancy new used shoes; she blended in with everyone else in town.

  Angela was unsure about being outside at night after seeing what the Watch were willing to do in the middle of the day, but even after elaborating on what she had witnessed, he didn’t seem concerned.

  “That’s exactly why I want to take you out at night, to show you how to stay safe in the settlement,” he explained. Angela was still apprehensive, but being with Jesse was comforting. Jesse wanted to make sure she knew the lay of the land, so they walked for hours, careful to avoid the Watch.

  As they ventured across the city, he made sure Angela knew her limitations. To get into any of the Watch’s guarded buildings in the city, she would need a real CitCard. He pointed out the buildings where her fake card would not be good enough and showed her safe places to buy food and supplies, such as the homes of independent farmers and craftsmen, places where her card’s money credits were unlikely to be detected as counterfeit. Angela wasn’t very interested in getting inside the forbidden buildings. She wanted to talk to Jesse about uniting her two worlds.

  “I was wondering when we could go back home and bring my dad here?” Angela interrupted as they walked down an empty sidewalk. “It would do him good to live with other people.”

  “Soon enough,” said Jesse.

  “How soon? I know he's worried sick about me,” Angela said. “Don’t get me wrong, I love being here with you and I don't think it could have happened any other way, but I do feel bad about the way I ran off. If I go back now, I will have proof that people are alive out here. He will see that it's safe to leave home and we can both be part of this community.”

  “We risk a lot when we go in and out of the settlement,” Jesse said. “The only reason Freedom let me leave before was because I had killed a Warden and needed to hide. She also had a private mission she wanted me to look into.”

  “What was the mission?” Angela asked.

  “It’s called a private mission for a reason,” Jesse said. “The point is, I think Freedom will be more likely to let you leave the settlement again after you have some work under your belt. Let her see what you can contribute to our community, and she will let you bring your father to stay with us.”

  They walked and talked until the late night turned to early morning and then they sat and watched the sun rise above the broken skyscrapers. He told her he wanted her to experience classic Chicago, so they trekked all the way to a place he called Navy Pier, an old amusement park that still held the ruins of its rides. As they approached, Angela's heart started to pound as a large body of water came into view.

  “It’s the ocean!” she declared, grabbing Jesse's wrist and pulling him away from the Pier and closer to a small beach. She slipped off her shoes
, allowing her feet to sink into the sand as cool waves washed over her toes.

  “Not exactly,” said Jesse. “But it’s the best we’ve got.”

  Angela wiggled her toes in the sand as cool water splashed her ankles.

  “Careful there,” Jesse said. “There are toxins in the water. If you have any type of cut on your skin, you could get really ill. Even without any open wounds, most people don’t risk it.”

  “Oh, right,” Angela moved her feet out of the water. She pulled the picture of her mother out from her pocket and showed it to Jesse.

  “She was here,” Angela said. “My mother was in Chicago.”

  Jesse examined the photo, “Sure looks like it. I know Lake Michigan when I see it.”

  “This must have been the city I was born in, before my mother died and my father hid me away,” Angela said. “I just don’t understand why he left! Do you think he was un-carded? But why did he tell me there was no one else alive? There is a whole world out here.”

  There was compassion in Jesse’s eyes. “My guess would be to keep you there.”

  Angela’s eyes met Jesse’s. “Why? Do you really think he was not my biological father? Do you think he kidnapped me and took me away, or something?”

  “I never said that,” Jesse said. He attempted to change the subject, taking her hand and pulling her away from the beach.

  “Navy Pier is just over here. I want to show you the Ferris wheel,” Jesse pointed at the giant metal circle that stood over 150 feet against the sky. “It still works. There's a family who has a party out here every Halloween. They always bribe the settlement Wardens to turn this one ride back on, and everyone gets on and goes around. Did you know that the first Ferris wheel ever made was built right here in Chicago?”

  “Turn it on?” Angela asked. “What does it do when it’s on?”

  “The karts go up to the top, you can see the whole settlement. If you stick around, maybe I can show you someday. It’s the best view you could ever imagine,” Jesse said.

  Angela looked up at him defiantly. “Why not today?”