He raises his hands like he’s preparing to stop an attack. “I know I was hard on you, but it was for your own good. I couldn’t take care of you forever.”
“You left us,” I say.
He drops his hands and sighs deeply. “I didn’t want to, but there were too many of them. If I tried to fight back then we all would’ve been captured.”
His explanation leaves a bad taste in my mouth even though his answer is logical. Maybe that’s the problem. “Why didn’t you try to find us?”
“I knew you were at the Institute, but I had no way to get you out. I had to trust that you’d remember your training.”
“You could’ve tried.”
He shakes his head. “I couldn’t risk it. I’m the only scientist left in the HOPE movement who has any chance of finding a cure to the Kiss or at least a way to prolong the lives of Primes without using oDNA. We must fix the human race. This is the priority.”
“There’s a lot more wrong with humans than their DNA. All people care about anymore is surviving, and you fixing their DNA isn’t going to change that.” My chest begins to ache right where my heart is. “You’ve become like them, Dad. You knew the layout of the Institute just as well as I did. You could’ve saved us, but instead you cared more about your self-preservation.”
“That’s not fair,” he says, but that’s all he says.
Across the room, I spot my backpack. I take a moment to stand. The pain in my leg is gone, but I’m shaky and weak.
“Nothing is fair in this world,” I say and walk to the bag. I fish through it until I find the vials I’d taken from the Institute’s lab. With two hands, I remove all eight of them, careful not to drop them. “I took these. Maybe they can help with whatever it is you do.”
He stands and flips on the overhead lights. I flinch and lower my eyes. The bright lights make my head pound to an unpleasant beat.
“Where did you get these?” he asks as he takes them from me.
“Some lab in the basement of the Oscar Johnson Pavilion.”
He holds them up to the light, wonder turning to excitement. “I can’t believe it! Do you know what these are?”
“I think it’s the latest and greatest oDNA serum the Institute has been advertising.”
My father’s smiling big, turning them over in his hand. “I’ve been trying to get my hands on these for months! I snuck into their lab from the tunnels a couple of times to find them, but they were never there. They’ve got something in here that’s helping humans live longer than ever before. At first I thought it was extra phosphate causing the mutation, but that proved inaccurate.” He chuckles to himself, an inside joke I will never know.
I glance toward the doorway, wondering about Max. My father keeps talking about possible mutations, gene therapies, until I tune him out altogether. I don’t remember his obsession being this bad. Before, when he was with us, he was with us, but he’s barely noticed I’m back.
“Maybe it has something to do with the MT-TL1 gene,” he says and finally looks up at me. His eyes blink twice. He sees me. “This is going to help so many people. I must get working on it right away. Do you understand?”
Save the world or comfort your recently discovered daughter? “Of course. Do what you’ve got to do.”
He hugs me briefly. “I really am glad you found your way back to me. I never doubted.”
He turns and disappears, leaving me alone in the room. A room that is suddenly very small. The walls squeeze toward me, and I suck in air at the suddenness of the movement. I force myself to move before I start to hyperventilate and go out the same doorway my father just exited, taking my backpack with me. There’s a long hallway with a few doors on each side. I walk to the first one but find that it’s locked. The next one, however, opens. Inside are a bunch of boxes, cabinets—not what I’m looking for.
The next few doors have a thin window at their tops, allowing me to peer inside. Jenna is in one of them. She is sitting on a bed, staring down at something in her hands while bobbing her head in time to music that plays low. Anthony is in another room, but he’s fast asleep. I’m getting close.
After two more rooms, I find what I need. Max. He’s lying in bed with the lights turned low, but he’s not alone. Colt is asleep on a chair shoved into the corner. His legs stretch long, and he’s so far slumped into the chair that I’m afraid he’ll fall to the floor.
I quietly slip in and close the door. No one stirs. After placing the backpack next to the wall, I pick up a small blanket at the foot of Max’s bed and drape it carefully over Colt. He inhales deeply, and I think he’s going to wake, but his head flops to the other side, eyes still closed. Something bad must’ve happened to him. I clench my jaw. He’s sacrificed so much for us. They all have.
The sooner we get to Eden the better.
I slowly climb behind Max on the bed and rest my hand on his arm, which seems bigger somehow. I try not to think about what he might’ve gone through, but these thoughts are forceful and invade my sleep only moments later.
Max is being hunted by the creature in the tunnel. He’s running fast, alone and scared in a never-ending maze. I’m a witness to his terror, a useless ghost unable to offer even a word of encouragement. I think all is lost when a tall figure of a man appears at the end of the tunnel; light from behind silhouettes his muscular frame. Slowly and deliberately, pointed wings unfold from behind his back. The relief I feel is instant. Max is no longer alone.
My eyes open. Gray light squeezes through a dirt-stained window. It’s morning, probably only six o’clock. Max is tucked safely in my arms. His breathing is slow and steady. I lift the edge of the blanket and tuck it around his arms, leaving mine exposed. The hairs on my arm rise, and I look up.
Colt is sitting up in the chair, watching me. Our eyes meet, but we don’t speak. Eventually I fall back asleep.
When I wake again, it’s because Max is shaking my arm. I throw my arms around him, and he does the same to me.
“You do that so easily,” Colt says.
“It’s what you do when you love and care for someone.” I keep hugging Max, but loosen my grip. Max curls into me like a cat in front of a fireplace. When I glance at Colt, he averts his gaze and stares into a shaft of sunlight, illuminating a sea of dust fairies spinning and twirling through the air. He looks deathly pale.
“What happened to you out there?” I ask. He doesn’t seem to have heard me. I give him a moment longer to answer, but when he doesn’t, I add, “Thank you for keeping Max safe. It’s what I wanted.”
Colt’s chest rises and falls as he takes one giant breath. He slides to the edge of the chair and pushes himself upright. It takes him longer than it should. “You two need to eat. We’ll be leaving soon.”
This surprises me, and I swing my legs to the side of the bed, taking Max with me. “Why the rush? The Canine is dead. We should be safe for a while.”
“We can’t be sure of that. It’s better to get you two out of here as soon as possible.” He turns and leaves the room.
“Wait!” I go after him, but his strides are so much longer than mine that he’s at the end of the hallway and around the corner before I have a chance at stopping him.
A door opens suddenly, and I jump, nearly dropping Max.
“Just because you were raised in a forest where you didn’t have to worry about your loud mouth, doesn’t mean you can shout here.” Jenna is standing in the doorway, rubbing her matted hair. “People are trying to sleep.”
Another door opens on the other side.
“Sure you were,” Anthony says. His hair is wet like he just showered. “How are you feeling, Sage?”
“Much better, thank you.”
“And how about you, Max? I bet you were glad to see your sister.” He goes to rub Max’s head but stops himself. “Is Colt already up?”
I nod. “He’s eating.”
“Good. He needs it.” Anthony walks away. “See you guys at breakfast.”
“I swear that�
�s all they think about,” Jenna mumbles and turns back into her room. She drops onto a mess of covers crumpled on her bed.
I follow her in and close the door. Max clings tightly to me. “So, um, can you tell me what happened? Why is Colt so messed up?”
“Because you’ve messed him up.”
“What do you mean?”
Jenna moans and turns over, kicking at the mound of blankets until they are on the floor. She tucks her hands behind her head and looks at me. “We ran into some trouble. A lot of it actually. Some Rhine spotted Max and was yelling in the streets until a whole pack of Primes, and not the good kind either, were hunting us like turkeys on Thanksgiving Day. Colt didn’t want them discovering this place so he took them on while the rest of us escaped.”
“How did he get away?”
“He didn’t. When he didn’t show up after about an hour, Anthony went looking for him. He found him in an alley in the middle of a massive seizure, probably brought on by having the crap kicked out of him.”
My legs weaken, and I drop to the foot of her bed. My arms go limp too, but Max doesn’t fall. His arms are firmly entwined behind my neck.
“Anthony brought him to your father, who was able to bring him out of it, but just barely.” Jenna sits up. “I know how you feel about Colt, but it’s better if you face reality now before it explodes in your face. Colt is dying, Sage. One more of those and he’s worm food.” She rolls back over. “Now get out of my room. I want to sleep more.”
I don’t feel myself moving as I stand and leave the room, even Max feels weightless. Maybe that’s how people in this world survive, by feeling numb. I don’t want to get like that. Stop all emotions just so I can survive.
I think of what Colt must have endured just to protect Max and the others. I let myself feel emotions of all kinds. Anger toward the men who hurt him, fear for his life, frustration that I couldn’t be there to help. Tears burn my eyes.
It hurts a dark and ugly pain when I think of his suffering, but then I feel something unexpected. A beautiful comfort that I have someone in my life that would sacrifice so much for others.
I follow the sound of voices until I reach the kitchen. It’s bigger than I expect. Three long tables divide the room evenly. On the back wall are a short counter, sink, and refrigerator. Colt is sitting next to Anthony at one of the tables. A few others who had helped me the night before are engrossed in a conversation at another table.
I set down Max and say, “One second.”
Colt turns toward me and stands when he sees me coming toward him. I don’t stop moving until I throw my arms around him. “Thank you.”
His arms stay limp at his side, but after a few seconds they slowly come around me. “You’re welcome.”
The room has gone quiet, but I don’t care. The warmth of Colt’s body, his scent of autumn leaves and apples, and the way his fingers are gently going through the back of my hair soothes the ache in my heart.
“What’s this?” a familiar voice asks.
Colt’s arms drop, and I step away. My father’s standing in the doorway, dark circles under his eyes. My guess is he didn’t sleep at all last night.
“I was just telling Colt thank you for taking care of Max,” I say.
My father scoops up Max. “Yes. We are forever in your debt, Colt. Whatever you need, just say it and I will try and make it happen.”
Colt clears his throat. “I’d like to get Sage and Max to Eden as quickly as possible.”
I close my eyes briefly, unable to ignore the sting of his words. Maybe he doesn’t feel the same way as I do.
My father looks from Colt to me. “I think that would be wise as well. They can leave as soon as the group is ready to go.”
I flinch. “They? Aren’t you coming with us?”
He walks over to me. “I want to, really I do, but I need to be here. There are a lot of people relying on me.”
I’m stunned and not even sure what to say. Eventually the words leave my mind and out my mouth. “And what about your own children who you haven’t seen forever, who have been locked up for weeks, who have come close to dying multiple times?”
He takes me by the arms. “I raised you with all the knowledge I have of this world. I trained you, sometimes hard I admit, but it was all for this day when you would have to go it alone. You don’t need me anymore; nor does Max. I love you both, more than you could possibly know, but there’s a whole world that needs my help. Do you understand?”
“I get that you are important, and that you want to help everyone, but why does it feel like this decision is super easy for you?”
This makes him pause. He exhales and lowers his arms. “It’s not easy, but I guess I just don’t let myself think about it or it will hurt too much.”
Over his shoulder I see Colt. His eyes are on the floor, and his jaw muscle is flexed. “You’ve become like them, Dad. Mom would be so disappointed.”
This makes him bristle. “You’re probably right, but she never had to do the things I’ve done.”
“Regardless, it’s a choice you make. To shut yourself off from feeling.”
“You sound like your mother.” He chuckles quietly as if thinking back to another time. “Look, I’ll make you a promise. You go to Eden now with your brother, and I promise to come as soon as my work is done. Besides, you’ll like Eden. There are so many others like you that you won’t even miss me or anyone else here. Life will go on, Sage.”
And there you have it. He has no intention of following us. Life will go on. For everyone. And I’m expected to just forget what I feel, as if my feelings never mattered at all.
“I’ll be ready shortly.” I pick up Max and leave before anyone can stop me. Tears sting the back of my eyes, but I won’t let anyone see. I walk quickly down the empty hallway back to Max’s room.
There will be people like me at Eden.
Original humans.
Complete strangers.
Tears run into the back of my throat. I thought things would be different when I found my father, but I was wrong. He is part of this world now.
I slip inside Max’s bedroom and close the door. My back presses against it, and with Max I slide slowly to the floor. Maybe I’m being naïve, and it really is better that I go to Eden sooner than later. Had I been in this world as long as my father, maybe I’d have stopped caring too.
Max drops his head to my shoulder. He is all that matters now. I have to protect him and the only way to do that is get him to Eden.
I give him a gentle squeeze. “You ready to go on another trip? I think you’ll like it. There are people like us, but more important we’ll be safe.”
I hold him for several more minutes before I set him on the bed so I can change into a pile of girl clothes someone has left near the door. Probably my father by how perfectly they fit. And the color of my shirt, a dark turquoise, is my favorite color. Max is already dressed in fresh clothes most likely given to him last night.
All that’s left to do is check our pack. I set it on the bed and rummage through its large pockets. It could use more food. And, if possible, a new outfit for each of us. The ones in it are dirty and in desperate need of a wash.
My door opens and Jenna appears. “So I hear you’re leaving soon.”
I unfold a shirt from the pack and shake it hard. “Looks that way.” Dirt billows into the air.
I expect Jenna to say something sarcastic, but instead she says, “You’re better off at Eden, you know that, right?”
I don’t answer because I don’t know what’s better for me anymore. I straighten and grab Max’s hand. “We’re ready.”
“Before we go, your father wants to meet with us.”
“I thought he was busy with his experiments.”
“He’s going to tell us where Eden is, and I don’t know about you, but I’m dying to know. I bet it’s underground somewhere.”
I kneel down and speak to Max. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.” I kiss him on the forehead a
nd follow after Jenna.
She guides me to a part of the building I haven’t been to yet. Only a few lights are on in the narrow hallway. Parts of the plastered walls are broken and crumbled, exposing rotted wood. There’s a moldy smell that makes me hold my breath, but Jenna doesn’t seem to notice it. She’s humming softly.
“It’s up here,” she says.
The room we go into isn’t much better than the hallway, but at least there are more lights. Around a metal table sits my father, Colt, Tank, and Anthony. They are speaking quietly until they see me.
“So where are Max and I being shipped off to?” I ask.
Tank whistles. “Those Original boys don’t stand a chance.”
Colt shakes his head. “Shut up, Tank.”
Jenna snickers and sits down next to Anthony, who seems especially quiet. He’s the only one who hasn’t looked at me yet.
“Have a seat, Sage,” my father says before Tank and Colt can get into a further argument.
“I’ll stand.”
He tightens his lips, but continues. “What I’m about to tell you must stay confidential. Not many Primes know the location of Eden and it has to stay this way. I can’t stress the importance of this.”
“We get it,” Colt says. There is color back in his face, which makes me feel a little better.
My father looks at him sharply. “No, you don’t. I’d rather not tell you this secret, especially knowing your past, but you saved my children.”
“So where is this place?” Jenna asks. “It’s underground, right? Some hidden bunker or maybe a giant cave in a mountain.”
Anthony’s head rises. “Too obvious. The Institute’s already scoured every mountain and used thermal imaging to look underground. It’s got to be in a place that the Institute would never go to. A place where even if they did look and saw people, they still wouldn’t go there. “
Jenna frowns and taps the top of the table with her fingernails. “Where’s that?”
“There’s only one place the Institute avoids, and you can’t be thinking of sending her and Max there,” Colt says. “There’s no way.” His face is pale, and I think he might throw up.
Escape to Eden Page 26
