Escape to Eden

by Rachel McClellan

  “Anthony!” I call and set Max down.

  I run toward Colt, but he falls backwards before I can catch him. I drop to the ground and turn his head to the side while his whole body seizes. Anthony comes to the ground next to me to help hold him.

  “They’re becoming more frequent,” Jenna says from behind us.

  We ignore her and tend to Colt. His body is tight and rigid, eyes rolled back into his head. I stroke his hair softly and whisper encouraging words to try and soothe his pain. No one should live like this, with death on their back. Max stays away from us, his gaze focused on the branches above me; yet I have a distinct impression he knows exactly what’s going on.

  After a full ten minutes, Colt’s eyes come into focus. He immediately scoots away from me and says in a hoarse voice, “Don’t touch me.”

  I stand up and brush the leaves from my legs. “I was only trying to help. Are you okay?”

  Colt rubs his head with his palm, and then thumps it a couple of times as if trying to reset whatever isn’t working. He stands up slowly, his footing unsteady. “I’m fine. Let’s go. We’ve wasted enough time.”

  Anthony nudges Jenna forward after Colt. I trail behind. Maybe my father knows of something that can help him. He helped Anthony’s late wife; surely he can help Colt. I hope so because I don’t think Colt has much time left.

  We’ll stop here for the night,” Anthony says.

  The sun is just beginning to set, but the forest is so dense, very little light finds its way through the limbs above. We will need to start a fire soon. I lower onto a nearby fallen tree between two thick branches to give my leg a rest. Max wiggles off my lap and sits next to me, the toy bear in his hand.

  Anthony drops his backpack and bends down next to it. To me, he says, “You, Max, and Jenna can sleep in the tent.” He unzips the bag and removes several packages of food.

  “I’ll set it up,” Jenna says and shrugs off her own backpack.

  I move to get up, my muscles groaning. “I can help.”

  “I got it,” she says. “You look like you’re about to collapse.”

  I push myself up, ignoring the aches and pains. “I’m fine.”

  “It’s not like it’s hard,” she says and pulls out a small roll barely four inches thick with a single button at its center.

  I raise my eyebrows, wondering how it’s going to fit three people.

  Jenna presses the black button and tosses the roll to the ground. It clicks three times and then begins to unfold on its own until it’s a dome as tall and wide as Anthony. My father had a tent the same size, but it required thin poles to set it up. Something like this would’ve been much easier.

  “See,” Jenna says. “I told you not to get up.”

  I sigh and turn back toward Anthony. Colt is squatting next to him, sorting through the food.

  “What about firewood?” I ask. “Can I gather it?”

  Jenna laughs. “For what?”

  Colt looks up at me. “We have an auto-stove.”

  “What about to keep warm?”

  “It will do the job.”

  Max takes hold of my hand and squeezes it gently.

  “We want a fire,” I say, standing firm. No auto-stove can give the kind of comfort a real fire can provide.

  Anthony shrugs. “All right. Go get some wood.”

  “Not until you take care of that leg,” Colt says. He looks up and our eyes meet briefly. “Sit down.”

  I do as he says and roll up my pant leg to inspect the wound. The bandage I put on earlier is soaked through with blood.

  “You’re going to get an infection,” Colt says. He opens a small box and sifts through the contents while I rip the tape and bandages away from my leg. He flinches when he sees the wound. “Why didn’t you say it was this bad?”

  “It’s not too bad,” I say and accept an antiseptic wipe from him. I grit my teeth as I carefully wipe at the blood.

  “Let me help,” he says. He kneels in the dirt next to me and is about to touch my leg, but his hand stops suddenly like he’s afraid to touch me.

  “What’s your problem, Colt?” Jenna asks.

  I look over at her, wondering how long she has been watching us.

  Jenna tosses a small bag into the tent. “It’s not like you haven’t touched people before. Unless you’re afraid you might have feelings for Patch? Is that it?”

  My eyes go to Colt, but he’s staring down at my wound.

  “You are such a bratty little girl, Jenna. No one ever takes you seriously,” he says. A second later, he takes hold of the back of my calf and with his other hand blots the blood. The action is rough and I wince. He doesn’t say anything, but he is gentler after that.

  “I can get the rest,” I say to ease him of his embarrassment. As if Colt could ever have feelings for me—a weak girl with plain hair and plain eyes.

  Colt wipes at the last of the blood and then straightens. He hands me a small tube. “Put this on the wound before the bandage. Your leg should feel a lot better by morning. And don’t even bother with the firewood. I’ll get it.”

  “Thanks,” I say, but he’s already walking away.

  That night, as I cuddle up to Max, listening to the dying embers of the fire expel their last breath, I think of the past and the future. The world has changed so much, but since being back in the forest, I’m reminded of how much it hasn’t changed. More like parts of it have been forgotten. The good parts like the importance of human connections. It’s those bonds that help people see outside themselves, that make them want to be a better person and make the world a better place for those they care about. My mother called this hope in action. And without hope people merely exist, experiencing no joy or love. No wonder Colt’s so bitter and Jenna’s apathetic. Only Anthony, who gave himself to love once, seems to hope for a better world.

  Morning comes quickly. The cold stinging my cheeks keeps me snuggled inside my sleeping bag. Next to me Max is already awake. He’s staring at the top of the tent. There’s a flap partially open where he can see through to the tops of the trees. Red leaves are bright against a gray sky. They are still and unbending in the slight breeze. This place feels hallowed, unaffected by the turmoil that exists outside it.

  A single leaf detaches and drifts back and forth until it lands on top of the tent. Max sighs. I kiss him on the cheek and whisper, “Time to get out of bed.”

  He wiggles into the sleeping bag until his head disappears. I smile and slide away from the warmth of the bag. The cold air brings all my senses alive. I peel back the bandage on my leg. The wound is still open but the edges aren’t nearly as red. I swivel my ankle. And just like Colt said it would, it doesn’t hurt as badly.

  “Fine,” I say, “but when you smell breakfast you need to get up.”

  On the other side of him, Jenna groans and turns over.

  After I pull on my shoes and sweater, I open the tent and step out. Anthony’s bed is empty and Colt is sitting next to a small fire, staring into the flames. His shirt is off and his black wings are folded against his back. He doesn’t notice me until I sit on a log next to him.

  It’s another minute before he says, “I’ve never been by a real fire before. I mean, one that isn’t out of control.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Still facing the fire, he says, “When I was little, a fire destroyed the school I attended. It was one of the oldest buildings in the city. No one even tried to save it. Just let it burn. Three kids died.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I’ve always hated fire since then. I saw it as something that destroyed life, but now I realize it just needs to be controlled. Seeing fire like this . . . I can’t look away.”

  I stare into the burning flames with him, watching them dance in and out of each other. After a minute, I ask, “Did you get any sleep?”

  “A little.”

  “Aren’t you cold?” I ask, running my hands up and down my arms to stay warm.

  Colt shakes his head.<
br />
  Anthony appears from within the forest. “Good morning,” he says to me. “How are you feeling?”

  “I wish as good as you look. You look amazing, considering.” His cheeks are red from the cool morning air, but there’s no trace of the bruises that had been on his face yesterday.

  “Great DNA,” he says and smiles. He walks by me and slaps the side of Jenna’s tent. “Get up, Jenna.”

  “It’s too cold!” she says.

  “It won’t be once we start moving, which will be in ten minutes with or without you.”

  “Do we have any eggs?” I ask. “I can make breakfast.”

  Anthony opens a backpack near Colt and pulls out several silver pouches and a smaller version of the wand Jenna had used to cook the pizza we ate earlier. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got breakfast right here.”

  A minute later I’m eating what looks like scrambled eggs and bacon, but it tastes more like mushrooms and salty tree bark.

  “Have any of you ever had real scrambled eggs?” I ask.

  Colt pulls a shirt on over his head. “Once at a restaurant. They tasted funny.”

  Anthony laughed. “That’s because you’re used to this terrible garbage. My family had a couple of chickens when I was little. Nothing beats the real thing.”

  “Where did you keep them?” I ask.

  “In our backyard. We lived in a subdivision that allowed smaller farm animals. We were one of the few who did.”

  “Are there any real farms any more?”

  “There’s a few really big ones back west, but most of our food is manufactured now. The Institute lobbied for that decades ago, convincing the government that Primes needed special food to ensure optimum health.” He takes a bite of his food. “The Institute is out of control.”

  My eyes go to the fire. Colt is looking too. The embers burn a fiery red, frayed by black, jagged edges.

  It is twenty minutes before we’re moving north again, thanks to Jenna and her inability to be rushed. Max walks at first, but after a while the cold gets to him, despite being bundled in layers of clothing. The poor child needs more fat on him, but for some reason his body doesn’t produce it like everyone else’s.

  Max doesn’t ask to be picked up when I finally do, but he’s shivering so violently I figure it’s the only way he’ll get warm. With the weight of Max and the backpack, the pain in my calf returns, as does my limp. Soon I’m quite a ways back on the trail.

  “Hurry up, Patch!” Jenna calls.

  Anthony turns around and walks backward on the trail. He’s carrying a large backpack and another on his front. “Do you want to stop for awhile?”

  I shake my head and in between breaths say, “Keep going.”

  Colt, who was out of view in the front, comes back and walks next to me. “How are you doing?

  “Not as strong as you guys, that’s for sure.” I hate that I’m drawing this much attention.

  “Being physically strong isn’t what’s important.”

  “Right now it is.”

  Colt looks down at Max. “Hey kid, I want to show you something.”

  I set Max down. He’s warm now, but it won’t last for long. If only the clouds would part and let sunlight through.

  Colt takes off his shirt and hands it to me. “Will you hold this for a second?” I take it while Colt says, “Watch this, Max.” Colt turns around and unfolds his wings; his right one still has a small tear near the base. The wings span out at least eight feet on each side. I watch Max’s eyes. They glance at the wings, then up, then back again. Colt has his attention.

  Colt folds them back up and spins around to face us. He bends down in front of Max. “I can fly, kid. You want to go for a ride?”

  “But your wing,” I say. “You’re not all the way healed.”

  “I’ll be fine as long as I don’t fly too high or too long.”

  “What about the Institute? Won’t they detect you?”

  “Not if I keep below the tree line. It’s not too congested here so I should be able to fly between them for a bit.”

  Anthony calls back to us, “What are you guys doing?”

  “Give us a minute,” Colt says. “We’ll catch up in a few.” He looks back at Max. “What do you say? You want to go for a ride?”

  Max looks up at me, not directly but close enough. I nudge him forward. “Remember the birds back at home? You used to love watching them. Here’s your chance to be one. Go on. I’ll be right below you.”

  Max won’t go toward Colt until I guide him, but he doesn’t protest either.

  “Turn around,” Colt says, “and I’ll hang onto you.” Max does as he says and Colt wraps his arms around him so Max is facing out. “Five, four, three, two, one. Blast off!”

  Colt rises into the air, his wings flapping, creating gusts of wind all around me. Leaves swirl and twist and my hair rises in the commotion. Max’s eyes are big and he’s actually smiling, not just in his eyes.

  I follow beneath them as Colt maneuvers through the trees, sometimes diving toward the ground and pulling up at the last second. Max giggles, a sound I haven’t heard for a long time. My eyes tear, and I wipe at them with the sleeve of my sweater.

  Colt flies for another ten minutes before the trees grow too thick and he’s forced to the ground. He pats the top of Max’s head. “Just wait until we get into open air, then I’ll really show you something.”

  “Thank you,” I say. “I haven’t heard him laugh like that since our mother died.”

  Colt bends down and looks at Max. “My mom died when I was younger too. I’m sorry.”

  Max reaches out and places his hand on Colt’s cheek. Colt doesn’t move for a second, looking back and forth into Max’s eyes, but then he straightens and clears his throat. “You’re a good kid, and you have an amazing sister. I’m glad I met you two.”

  The way he says it, his voice soft and full of sincerity, warms my insides.

  “Come on,” Colt says to Max. “I may not be able to fly here, but I can do the next best thing.”

  Max steps forward without being coaxed, and Colt lifts him into the air and runs toward Anthony and Jenna, calling, “Here comes Jet Boy!”

  Max laughs out loud, a sound that is sweeter than any bird’s song.

  By the time twilight comes hours later, everyone is hungry. I shrug my pack to the ground and collapse into the grass, but at least I didn’t have to carry Max. He stayed with Colt for much of the day, and with a little effort from Anthony, Max also warmed to him.

  “I’ll get firewood,” Anthony says, after he’s set up the tent for Jenna and me.

  Jenna’s been occupied with her wristpad all day. She looks up from it now. “The Institute sent out a notice a few minutes ago. They’re asking Fronters to keep an eye out for you guys, specifically on the west side of Providence.”

  “The Canine,” Colt says. “It’s only a matter of time before he tracks us here.”

  “And hopefully by then we will be in New York City,” Anthony says.

  “To the safe house,” Jenna says. “But then what?”

  “There’s a good chance Sage’s father will still be there. Plus they have a lot more resources in the city. They may be able to fly us out. Maybe all the way to Eden.”

  Colt sets Max down. “And the Canine? What about him?”

  Anthony is quiet for several seconds before he says, “Something will have to be done about him. Otherwise, you’ll never be safe.” He looks at me, but I glance away. As long as the Canine lives he’ll always come, which means everyone around me is in danger.

  “What do you guys want for dinner?” Anthony asks. “Fake chicken or fake fish?”

  Jenna moans.

  “How about rabbit?” I ask. I’ve already seen several of them in the forest. They are the easiest animals to catch with a snare. “I bet I have one before you guys have a fire started.” I unzip my pack and search for one of the smaller snares.

  Anthony’s eyebrows rise. “You have a deal.” />
  Jenna scrunches her nose like she’s tasting something foul. “Rabbit? I didn’t know you could eat those.”

  “You can eat anything with meat,” Colt says.

  “Humans have meat. Are you going to eat me?”

  “I’d rather die.”

  “That can be arranged.”

  I walk in between them, hoping to break up their argument. “I’m leaving. Anthony, is it okay if Max stays with you?”

  Max is sitting next to him, watching Anthony as he breaks up little twigs in front of him.

  “Of course. I couldn’t ask for better company.”

  “Thanks. I’ll hurry back.”

  “Wait!” Colt says, turning away from Jenna. “I’m coming with you before Jenna attempts to murder me.”

  Jenna says something in return, but I’m already too far into the forest to hear what.

  Colt catches up. His movements are far quieter than mine, even though I’m trying hard to move soundlessly across the forest floor into a steep ravine. I grab onto large rocks and thin trees as I make my way down to where I think the most rabbits will be.

  The sun is beginning to dip behind the tree line. I need to find a rabbit soon, before darkness comes; otherwise it will be impossible to spot one. I search the landscape, focusing on bushes where I might find a rabbit trail.

  After a few minutes, Colt says, “I always wanted to hunt when I was younger.”

  “Then why didn’t you?”

  He shrugs. “Never got around to it, but I’d go into the forest sometimes just to be alone. People thought I was crazy. They couldn’t understand why I liked it.”

  Up ahead, a branch of a bush moves as if an animal’s ducked inside. I squint my eyes, trying to see through the fading light. I stop moving and wait for the movement again.

  “What do you like about it?” I say, my voice low.

  “The world feels normal out here. It hasn’t been tampered with like people have.” Colt pauses and points to the right of the bush I’d been staring at. “It’s over there.”

  I look at him. “Huh?”

  “The rabbit. It moved over to that bush.” He continues to point to the right of me.