by KM Fortune
Matthew stepped closer to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “I cannot imagine what you are feeling but this is very serious. If Samuel catches you, he will kill you.”
Raven nodded. She understood even if she wished she did not. “Okay. What now?”
“Please come with me,” he said and took her hand to lead her into the hallway. After Matthew checked both ways and saw no one, the two of them walked down a number of corridors and ended up at a door. Matthew used a key to open it and led her into a stairwell. The stairs went both up and down. The space was much colder than the hallway and not very well lit.
Matthew paused and, looking up, said. “It will be harder for you going up but I think it would be less expected. Are you too tired?”
Raven thought about it, looking up the stairs. They went on forever it seemed. She could not see the top. Can I climb those? she thought. Taking a moment to assess her body, she was surprised to realize she actually felt very well. Even in the middle of all the chaos around her, she was amazed at the way her body was recovering. Even though it was not long ago she was bedridden, her muscles were now strong and capable.
“Yes. I feel powerful,” she said as she stepped onto the first stair leading upward. Matthew followed and they began to climb. “Matthew, how can it be possible I am already so strong?”
“I gave you a complex steroid solution as I replenished you. It allowed your muscles and sinew structure to repair rapidly while you slept,” he answered. “Although to be honest, you have gained strength at an extraordinary rate. I believe you will continue to grow stronger actually, for a month or more, as the solution runs its course. If only I had more time to run tests...” His words faded off and they climbed together in silence.
THEY ASCENDED FLOOR-after-floor until they were both out of breath from climbing. Raven stopped at an unmarked level, still with no view of the top of the stairs in sight, and motioned for Matthew to stop with her. Thankful for the chance to catch his breath, he sank down to sit on one of the steps. Gasping a little, she joined him and asked. “Much further? We must have gone a hundred flights.”
Matthew nodded. “We’re almost to the exit level now I think. I didn’t realize how many flights it was. I’ve always taken the elevator. Maybe we should have risked it.”
Raven smiled and nodded. “Maybe.” Matthew shook his head, amazed yet again she could find anything to smile about considering the situation. He was not sure if she was simply so resilient she felt no fear or if she was mentally unstable. It’s certainly possible her brain was damaged during her hibernation and restoration, he thought. The scientist in him could not resist inquiring.
“You just smiled. Aren’t you afraid?” he asked. Raven looked at him, her eyes serious but not filled with the fear he expected would be there.
“I was at first,” she said. “But as we have been climbing, I have found my peace. Everything happens for a reason, Matthew. If it is my destiny to die here, I cannot stop it. Not that I won’t put up a hell of a fight though.” Matthew was surprised by her answer and yet her words calmed him. She was right and for once Matthew knew a true meaning behind his existence. Everything which came before this moment was destined so he would be able to help this woman from the ice.
Matthew grabbed the handrail and pulled himself back to his feet. “Come on. We’ve used up a lot of time.” Raven stood up and followed him as he moved even faster toward their destination. Twenty-seven flights later the staircase ended at a red door with a bright yellow warning label on it. It was clearly a nuclear hazard symbol. The door was heavily bolted but Matthew produced a second set of keys and began to unlock the latches. He gave Raven instructions while he worked open the rarely used bolts.
“This is an emergency exit that leads to the Outside. A lot has changed since you were last a part of the world beyond this door.” He grimaced as he worked at a stubborn lock which finally gave way. “It’s almost sundown so find shelter as soon as you can and use the blankets to keep warm. We are no longer suffering the effects the nuclear winter caused decades ago but it can still get incredibly cold here in the mountains. Go down into the valley onto the plains as soon as you can. The weather is slightly warmer there and the air is not so thin.” Matthew stopped. The last lock was open. He looked sadly at Raven. “I don’t know if this is the best thing, but I have to believe your chances are better this way. If you stay here, you will undoubtedly die.” He looked at his watch. “In about thirty minutes, Samuel will come see me. I will stall him but eventually he will realize you are missing. I don’t know what will happen afterward but The Creator may choose to have the Patrols search for you. I wish I could do more...” he said, trailing off.
Gently, Raven, with tears in her eyes, took his face in her hands. “I owe you so much. You have saved my life, not once, but twice.” She kissed him. Matthew froze. Their few touches before were exciting but her kiss was electrifying. Not sure what else to do, he let instinct prevail and he kissed her back. He felt emotions he never imagined existed within him. I could stand here and kiss her forever, he thought but then realized there was no time for them. He pulled back.
“You must go,” he said pulling her hands from his face.
“What will happen to you?” she asked. Matthew shrugged and looked away. Raven saw a moment of fear cross his face. “Come with me,” she said, taking his arm as if to pull him along. “Come with me and we can both be safe.”
Matthew smiled sadly and looked at the woman he had found in the ice. The female he brought back to life. Her green eyes sparkled with the hint of tears and the black stubble of her returning hair drew out the fine features of her face. Matthew never imagined he would be so close to a woman. His heart skipped a beat as he looked at her this last time and a strange emotion shook him. I love her, he thought. In a million different ways. My Lord, she is the great temptation.
“I can’t go with you,” Matthew said at last. “You spoke of destiny before and to go with you is not mine. I must stay here and try to stall Samuel and the others. Go! There is no more time.” Matthew grasped the door’s handle and pushed it open. The chill wind of winter blew at them from far down the exit’s tunnel. Raven faced the way out.
“Will there be radiation?” she asked at the last moment.
“No. It dissipated years ago. Some mutants remain and you must steer clear of them, but the air and water are at safe levels.” Raven took a deep breath and stepped through the exit. With a last look at Matthew, she started her trek down the tunnel and into the great unknown.
CHAPTER 10
RAVEN WALKED IN DARKNESS. Far in the distance ahead of her, she could see an occasional faint glimmer of light but it was not enough to illuminate her path. She knew she was in a narrow tunnel, an escape exit of some sort, but nothing else. Reaching out with her bare hands, she used the walls to keep her balance and guide her forward. The walls felt of concrete and were a little slippery from the condensation inside the tunnel. The evenness and texture of the surface led Raven to guess the passage was man-made. This reassured her a little. It seemed more likely the path would remain relatively flat and be free of rocks or roots to trip over. Which is good because I can’t see anything! she thought, trying to keep calm in the dark, enclosed space. She shivered. It was damp and a cold breeze blew gently into her face. Just keep walking. This has to end somewhere. With each step, she slowly grew more confident she could get to the end. Her hands on the walls helped her maintain her sense of direction. She was not certain, but the tunnel felt as if it was in a straight line. The glimmer of light ahead of her slowly became more constant. “Piece of cake,” she whispered, stepping along more boldly.
Suddenly the image of a sleeping bear filled her mind. She stopped walking and was very still, listening. What if some animal has decided this tunnel makes a great home? she thought, straining to hear anything in the dark. Don’t imagine that! she reprimanded herself. This is an escape exit. Certainly there will be a screen at the end of this passag
e to keep wild animals out. She started to take another step and then paused again, struck with another thought. What if there aren’t any animals left? For the first time the true reality of how long she had been asleep, frozen in the ice, settled on her. There had not been time to ask Matthew the many questions she needed to know. She had no idea if there were animals or if the wars and the radiation had wiped them out. What will the world be like beyond this tunnel? she wondered. She took a deep breath. She knew if she let herself dwell on the questions now, she would possibly never keep going. There’s time to worry about all of it later. Right now I need to get out of this tunnel. She began walking, feeling her way along, trying to keep all the questions from overtaking her thoughts.
After what seemed hours, Raven could clearly make out the tunnel’s end. The fading natural light gave Raven a chance to see more of the space she was in. Her estimate it was man-made was accurate. Every twenty feet a faded block of yellow numbers was stenciled on the wall. Raven wasn’t certain, but she guessed they were marking off distance. If so, she saw she walked approximately a mile underground. Only a mile? she thought with almost a laugh. The walk underground felt like an eternity. Looking around, she saw darkened wall lamps, which she imagined would normally have been on to guide a person out. There were also some old signs of rodents. Small piles of twigs and fur, animal pellets, and small bones littered the edges of the tunnel’s floor, but all the nests were empty and looked long unused. Doesn’t mean all the animals are gone, she reassured herself as she continued forward. Finally reaching the metal grill, which covered the tunnel’s entrance, she looked through it, and out into the dusk. Raven saw deep drifts of snow and a few trees. A stiff wind, colder but drier than the temperature in the tunnel, flapped the edges of Raven’s blankets.
I will freeze out there, Raven thought, knowing it would only grow colder now that the sun was setting. She was tempted to stay in the tunnel. Although cold, it did provide some shelter and cut out the wind. Raven stood at the gate and contemplated her choices. As she tried to convince herself it was better to stay where she was, a drop of moisture from the ceiling landed on her exposed forehead and ran down her face. Looking up, she saw the icicles which crusted the end of the tunnel. They made her realize the chilled dampness would actually be worse in the long run. Raven knew what she had to do. If I am going to survive this night, I must get out of the tunnel and find shelter elsewhere and fast. Starting to look for the way to open the metal gate, another thought came to mind. Will they come after me tonight? She turned and looked behind her to make sure no one was there. The tunnel was empty for as far as she could see but she knew eventually they would start looking for her. But I can't worry about that right now. Tonight it's just about surviving. Somehow, some way. Pushing the gate open, she stepped out into the snowy twilight and knew another chapter of her life had just begun.
MATTHEW WAITED IN THE laboratory for Samuel’s return. He knew his brother would arrive at any moment but Matthew was not afraid. His actions were the right ones and he would lie or use forbidden acts of violence if need be to allow the woman from the ice a chance to escape. It may have been the devil’s plan to bring her into Eden, but I don’t care, Matthew thought. He was aware the emotion he felt for her was like nothing he ever imagined could exist. He was compelled to protect her and grieved she was gone, even though it was the only way to save her.
Matthew touched his lips with his fingertips and thought of their kiss. It had been powerful. What if I had gone with her? he thought. It seemed a crazy idea at the time. The colony was all he knew. Now though, as he felt the sadness of her leaving, he reconsidered. Perhaps there is still time. Matthew started to get up from the lab table, ready to go back to the stairs to the exit when he heard Samuel enter the suite. Matthew sank back onto his stool at the lab table and peered through his microscope, waiting, knowing his opportunity to be free was gone forever. “Well?” Samuel asked, coming into the laboratory. He was dressed in surgical greens and carried a box marked Collection Station. “What is the delay? Are you ready?”
Matthew calmly slipped the glass slide from its place on the microscope, replaced it with another, and began to refocus before bothering to answer. “Ready for what?” he said, not looking up.
Samuel frowned and stepped closer to Matthew, putting the box on the table. “You know exactly why I am here.”
Matthew looked up at Samuel and nodded. “You’re right. I do know. But I am afraid you are too late.” He turned back to the microscope and said quietly. “The woman is gone.”
“What do you mean gone?”
“Free. She was awake, walking, and speaking our language. I couldn’t let you destroy her so I let her go.”
Matthew watched as Samuel processed the information. If the situation was not so dire, the looks crossing the other man’s face would have been comical. It was clear he could not believe it. He is wondering how the frozen corpse he saw chopped from the ice could be so alive as to walk and speak.
“That’s impossible,” Samuel said turning angrily from Matthew and storming out of the lab into the room where the woman had been kept. Matthew followed him and watched the other man stop and stare at the empty bed. “Where is it?” Samuel insisted. Matthew was silent. Samuel grabbed him by the collar and pulled his face toward his until their noses were nearly touching. Matthew saw the veins at Samuel’s temple pulsing with fury and he knew his existence as an elite scientist in the colony was over. He imagined he would be lucky to escape with his life. “Where is it?” Samuel snarled again, spittle from his words landing on Matthew’s face.
“Outside.”
“Outside?” Samuel appeared to consider this for a moment. “By what means?” Matthew paused and his brother narrowed his eyes at him. “It’s a sin to lie, Matthew. Your soul is already at great risk and you know I will find out eventually so help yourself now and speak true. Where is the female?”
“One of the emergency exit tunnels,” Matthew confessed with a sigh of resignation. “I have a key which unlocks them. All the science corps have them so the knowledge of The Creator’s science will be able to escape if there is a disaster in Eden.”
Samuel released Matthew, disgusted, and stepped away. Rage distorted the man’s features and when he spoke, his words snapped like venom. “You have set the seed of all evil, man’s root of destruction, free upon the land. The devil himself has used you as his pawn to place a shadow over us.” Samuel reached out and slapped Matthew across the face. “You are a fool. She will not escape. Your act was for nothing. The cold will tear her apart or the mutants will eat her flesh, but she will not survive. And you? You wasted all of this, your role as an esteemed member of the elite, for a woman!” Samuel shook his head in angry disbelief. “You are finished.” He reached for the white phone on the wall and barked an order into it, sending for the colony’s militia.
With nothing else to say, Matthew bowed his head and waited, wondering if Samuel’s words were true. Was it the work of the devil? Was the beautiful woman nothing but a serpent sent to deceive me? He could not believe it. In his heart, he knew Samuel was wrong, and somehow the woman would survive against the obstacles on the outside. Matthew smiled slightly. After all, she is a very special creature.
SAMUEL OPENED THE DOOR to the lab and stepped into the room. The head of Eden’s militia, Gabriel was with him. Matthew stared at them. For a moment, Samuel hesitated, taken aback by the unexpected look of defiance in the other man’s eyes. Recovering quickly, he demanded. “Which tunnel did she go through?”
Matthew closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I don’t remember,” he said. Samuel was shocked. What has come over him? he thought. Truly the devil was hard at work on this man.
“You are committing a sin by lying to me, Matthew. Now confess,” he said. Matthew shook his head.
“I don’t remember,” he said softly.
Samuel felt rage start to pulse up his neck. Balling his hands into fists, Samuel had every intention o
f beating an answer out of Matthew but Gabriel stepped in, held up a hand to stay Samuel’s fury, and said to Matthew. “Do yourself a favor. Tell us how she got out.”
Without bothering to look at the angry men before him, Matthew said. “I’m afraid I don’t remember.” Samuel’s eyes widened, unable to believe the change in this simple man he thought he knew. The devil’s work had happened so fast even Samuel had underestimated the influence of the woman’s presence. He stared at Matthew. What a waste, he thought. Suddenly sick of the sight of the other man, he walked to the door, leaving Matthew in the hands of the militia, but paused to deliver a final message to his lost brother.
“Matthew, from the Seed of Ruth and the House of Levi, remember this,” he said. “I will not let them kill you. I will send you to the Patrols. You will walk the Crusades and work with the lowliest among us as they hunt and they kill the unanointed. Until the end of your days.” Matthew looked up at him and for a second Samuel thought he saw a hint of doubt but then it was gone. Instead the other man nodded and stood up from his stool.
“She is worth it,” he said and stepped past Samuel into the hall to be led away by the guards.
BOOK II - SURVIVAL
CHAPTER 1
THE FIRST HINTS OF daylight glowed through the thin crust of snow which covered the narrow opening in front of Raven Winter’s face. Fluttering her eyes, fighting the pull to come awake, Raven dreamt. She was in a building filled with many small children. For some reason, she was responsible for them, but she could not recall why. The youngsters ran in the halls happily. She even joined in and played with them. Then the dream changed and darkness fell, casting the rooms into shadow. Soon it was hard to see the little kids around her. Not knowing what was happening, she was afraid they would all get lost. One little girl with golden pigtails ran by her and Raven reached out to grab her hand, both in her dream as well as in reality. The movement was enough to jar the thin layer of snow around her and let in the morning light. The icy cold hit her face and suddenly she was awake, the feeling of the dream still fresh in her senses.
