Grant closes the side door and heads for the front of the aircraft.
“I’m sorry,” I cry out before he disappears. I look at 80. “Why did you leave me back on the ground?”
He smiles. “I went back to the party because I had seen them eating something. I wanted to get us some. They were calling it chicken.”
I remember learning about chickens. They are a flightless bird. The thought of eating one did not sit well in my stomach. “I’m glad you didn’t…”
“Here.” 80 hands me a small, greasy bone with meat on it. It feels dirty in my hand and it reminds me of the dead bodies we saw. I look up at 80 and he’s tearing a piece of the meat off in his mouth. He speaks as he chews. “This is amazing! So much better than those pouches.” He tears off another piece.”
I smell it and the odor is actually quite sweet with a bit of a kick. Staring scared at the meat, I chuckle because I realize that I just jumped off of a building into a moving aircraft and I am afraid to try this. I take a bite and instantly fall in love with the taste. The juicy texture floods my mouth and the sweetness has a hint of orange. There is an aftertaste that is not unlike smoke but it’s perfect. “Do you have more?”
80 pulls two more from his pocket and hands me one. We laugh as we eat the bones clean.
We land in the middle of the field and two drones run up and take 80 away. I give chase but Grant pulls me back by the collar.
“Let him go! He’ll be fine,” he says but I’m not sure if I can believe him. He leads me into the building and straight for an elevator. I’m too preoccupied to realize that I have been in this elevator before. When the doors open I recognize that we are in the Center for G.O.D.
“Why are we down here?” I ask. He doesn’t answer and leads me down the steps to the floor. We pass the incubation tubes but they are all empty.
“Where did they go?” I look around but, again, he doesn’t answer.
“Hawk. He doesn’t come out until I say so. Make sure of it.” Grant grabs a bag off of one of the tables and leads me into the back room. He hands the bag to me and shoves me into the room.
I turn but before I can take a step the door slams in my face and I hear a series of locks click. “What are you doing? Let me out!” I slam my fists against the door. “Don’t kill him! It’s not his fault! Don’t kill him!”
I pound on the door until my hands and head hurt. Tears streak down my face and I sit on the ground. I close my eyes and let the tears come until I fall asleep.
6
I dream again of being in the white, cold abyss. This time I am completely alone. I begin to walk but no matter which way I turn it feels like I am heading in the wrong direction.
When I wake, I pound on the door and call out for a few minutes but soon realize that no one is coming for me. A door on the side wall catches my attention. I had not seen it before, so I open it and am instantly disappointed that it’s only a bathroom. I give up and open the bag that Grant threw in with me. It is stuffed with protein pouches, a couple of extra jump suits and a tablet.
I walk to the computer on the table to see if I can access the camera feeds but none of it works. I’m stuck in here until they decide to let me out. I grab one of the protein pouches and the tablet and sit against the wall.
The tablet comes to life and immediately begins to lecture me on the geography of Africa—the terrain, the weather, the animals and trees. It’s not really anything I want to listen to right now so I put it down and stare at the opposite wall. My mind wanders from 80 to Rene, Ev and the other Genetic Systems, to the outsiders and the end of the world. How will it happen? Who will survive?
Hours pass and boredom leads me to engage with the tablet. I eat, sleep, work with the tablet and think, a cycle that seems to repeat itself nearly half a dozen times before they let me out. I’m not sure how long they have kept me down here but it feels like it has been about four days.
The door opens and Ev stands on the other side. “They wouldn’t let me get you until now.”
“What did they do with 80?” I push past her and head for the elevator to take me upstairs.
She follows close behind me. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him.”
“Did they kill him?” I stop and look right at her eyes.
“No. I don’t know. Things have changed, Atom.” She pushes past me and into the elevator.
“What do you mean? How long have I been down there?” I ask.
“A week.” She looks at me apologetically.
“What?!” I scream. “How could you let them keep me down here?!”
“I didn’t have a choice!” She gets right back in my face. “You’re not the only one who’s had it rough, Atom. Do you have any idea what kind of pressure I was under because of your recklessness? I’ve had to deal with the Genetic Systems alone.”
“You’ve met them?” My tone calms down as my thoughts are briefly pulled to the Genetic Systems.
The elevator doors open and Ev steps out. “Just leave me alone.” She walks away.
I need to find 80 so I head towards the medical wing. Before I reach the end of the hallway, I hear Rene’s voice.
“Atom,” Rene calls out.
I turn but I don’t move. “Where is 80?”
“He’s still alive.” He walks towards me. “Head back to your room and wash up. I’ll be there in a bit and will answer any questions you have.”
I stare at him as he walks towards me. I’m not really sure if I should trust him. He puts his arm on my shoulder and looks into my eyes.
“I’m glad you’re okay.” I force a smile and walk off to my room. The thought of standing under hot, streaming water sounds like a dream right now.
I reach my room and strip out of the same jumpsuit I’ve worn for the last week. I smell the horrid stench that I must have been carrying around as I lift my shirt over my head. My right arm feels sore as I do this and I look to see that I have dried blood and the early hints of a scar. Suddenly everything catches up with me. I was shot and I jumped off the roof of a building into a moving aircraft.
My body begins to shake and I barely make it into the shower before I collapse to the ground. Fear has overtaken my body and I feel weak. I put myself in danger and, regardless of how liberating it felt, I was inches from death. I don’t care what my purpose is; I should not be so reckless.
I let the water cascade over my curled body as I try to mentally prepare myself for everything I want to ask Rene about—80, the Genetic Systems, his plans for me, the end of the world. He said he would answer anything and I’m going to hold him to that.
I remain in the shower until I feel the heat leave the water and it becomes too cold for me to handle. Barely able to stand, I stumble to my room, throw on a jump suit, grab a protein pouch and fall onto my bed. I lie on my back and close my eyes. The bed feels blissful after spending a week on the hard concrete.
Rene knocks on the door just as I feel myself drifting to sleep. I want to tell him to come back later but I know I might not get another chance to ask him what I want, let alone get answers to those questions.
My body won’t allow me to get up so I call out from my bed. “Come in.”
He pushes through the door and takes a seat at the edge of my bed. “How are you feeling?”
The grunts I let out as I prop myself into a seated position should be enough, but I oblige him with an answer. “Overwhelmed.”
Rene stares at me. His look is very similar to that of someone witnessing something for the first time. “You’ve aged.”
I’m not sure what to make of this so I just remain quiet.
“I’m sorry, Atom. Please understand that I withheld all this information for your safety. I did not do it to be deceitful.” He truly looks regretful and a part of me feels for him. I want to apologize back, but as I think about what I would be apologizing for, I realize that I’m really not sorry for it. Everything I did was in search of knowledge of things that were withheld from me.
“Where is 80?” I decide not to waste any more time. I need to know that he’s safe.
“He got shipped out,” Rene replies.
“What do you mean? What did you do to him?” I try to sit up more but my muscles betray me.
“He’s fine. Nothing is going to happen to him, at least not by our hands. We just sent him to one of the construction sites to be put to work.” He looks away, perhaps trying to avoid the question I ask next.
“Construction sites? What construction sites?” This time my will overpowers my muscles and I lean closer to him.
Rene sighs. “We are building six bunkers that will withstand the Ragnarok. The final battle before the Regenesis. These bunkers are intended to hold you, Ev and the rest of the Genetic Systems.”
“What about everyone else?” I ask, even though I’m pretty sure I know what the answer is going to be.
“They must fend for themselves.” Rene shifts at the end of my bed. He is definitely not comfortable with this conversation.
“Why are you ending the world?” I press on.
Rene sits and thinks for a bit before he answers. A few tears roll down his cheeks. I realize that the reason he is uncomfortable talking about this is because he’s in pain. “Understand, Atom, I don’t believe I have a choice in what I’m doing. Humans as a species are on the verge of extinction. If we just sit back and let things pan out as they may, famine, disease and war will wipe us off the earth. We need to restart.”
“You don’t know what is going to happen,” I exclaim.
He looks at me. “No, I don’t. But I do know that as long as the ice age is still here things will get worse before they get better. By that time it might be too late. You twelve are our best hope. You are the next step in evolution. We created you that way. You are smarter, healthier, physically advanced. Your body can withstand extreme weather conditions and a nuclear fallout. Your offspring will be even stronger.”
Offspring? My palms suddenly feel incredibly sweaty. I had completely forgotten about that part of the plan. It was never really spelled out to me, but I understood. Ev and I are supposed to have offspring. I’m not sure what to ask next. My cheeks feel flush and when Rene looks at me I look away.
He must sense my embarrassment because I can see him smile. “Don’t be nervous about that, Atom. It will happen naturally. Your bodies will tell you what to do.”
“I don’t want to talk about that.” I avoid any kind of eye contact, but I can see him holding in laughter from the corner of my eye.
“Do you have any other questions for me, Atom?” He stands.
I do have more questions but I’m too embarrassed. “No.”
“Very well. Be smart, Atom. You are very important to the success of this project. There are reasons we’ve made these rules and you need to adhere to them.” Rene walks to the door and looks back at me. “No more secrets, I promise.”
“Promise me something else,” I say back.
“What?” He leans against the doorframe.
“No more drones get killed because they can’t protect,” I demand.
Rene thinks for a second. “I promise. We will mend them and send them to work on the bunkers.”
I look at him and see sincerity in his eyes. He smiles and walks away but I know that I shouldn’t put too much weight on his promises. I shift my body back into a laying position on my bed and close my eyes for a quick nap.
A knock wakes me from my slumber, which must have been quite deep because I have lost track of time. It feels like I was asleep for both twenty minutes and six hours. I feel refreshed even though my body feels slow. A second knock gets me up and, moving to the door, I open it and see Ev standing before me.
“Come to the simulation room. Grant wants us for training.” She walks off towards the simulation room. I realize that she’s still upset with me so I chase after her, grabbing a protein pouch on the way out. We reach the elevator at the same time.
“I’m sorry.” I try to look into her eyes but she keeps them facing forward.
“Not now, Atom.” She has a very determined look on her face.
I press on. “I am. I’ve been selfish…”
She enters the elevator. “I need you focused. We don’t know what we are about to face.”
I enter behind her. “It’s just a simulation, Ev. Nothing we haven’t faced before.”
“It’s different today,” she says as the elevator reaches the bottom floor. She pulls me to the side of the elevator as the doors open. “It’s the Genetic Systems’ first time and we are facing off against all of them.”
Through the open door I see the simulation that we have to battle in. It’s one that I haven’t experienced before. The room is completely white and snow is blowing heavily in the room. A gust blows a cold air into the elevator and I feel my flesh contract around my muscles. I look at Ev and notice that both her and my jumpsuits are very bright colors. After unzipping my top I see that the interior of the jumpsuit is a light grey.
“Turn your jumpsuit inside out.” I start to remove my pants.
She does the same and I can’t help but peek at her exposed body. I feel my heart racing so I look back out the elevator as she finishes redressing.
“Smart idea,” she says.
I smile. “We are most likely going to have to hide in an open space, so it’s best we don’t stand out. Any ideas?”
“We stay close and keep our backs to the wall. That way we can each focus on only 90 degrees.” Her face grows with intensity. I can’t help but think how cute she looks.
“I agree. Stay low. We don’t know what weapons or instruments they have.” I crouch down and wrap my way around the elevator door and into the simulation room. The floor feels very slick underneath me. When Ev joins me, the door shuts behind her, enclosing us in an abyss of white. I have a quick flash of my dreams, but that is instantly snapped away when I spot two figures ahead of us. Both of them appear to be men. I signal for Ev to take the one on the right as I go for the one on the left.
We stay low as we sneak up behind them and at the same time we grab our marks by the head and pull them down. Ev grabs a knife from the hand of her pale, redheaded target and plunges it into his chest. I struggle to hold mine down as my feet slip underneath me. He has dark skin similar to Grant’s. Just as I’m about to lose my hold on him, Ev plunges the knife into his chest. I search his body but don’t find a weapon. His eyes show a hint of pain and surprise and I remember how I felt the first time I was knocked out of a simulation. The shock that runs through your body is less than pleasant.
We stand and I look around. No one else is coming. We keep ourselves close to the wall and move cautiously. There are eight left.
After a few moments Ev points to the center of the simulation. “There are four coming towards us.”
Through the snowfall I make out four shapes walking towards us. They weren’t aware enough to have flipped their suits inside out, so the bright colors make them stand out. “Think they spotted us?”
“Doesn’t look that way.” she responds.
“Perfect! Go lay on the ground over there and I will do the same over here. Wait for the first two to pass and then we’ll jump at the last two.” We both move to our spots and lay down.
We wait patiently as the group gets closer. It’s three girls and one guy. The first two pass, a blond haired guy with dark eyes and a chiseled jaw, and a stunning dark skinned girl with short but thick hair. The two in the back are a redheaded girl and a girl with light skin, narrow eyes and hair as black as night. They are both equally beautiful.
When the girls are directly in front of us, Ev and I reach our hands out and drag them to the ground by their legs. Their bodies hit the ground with a thump and their screams draw the attention of the first two, but we make quick work of the girls. Ev plunges her knife into the redhead and I wrestle the knife away from the black haired girl and plunge it into her chest.
We barely have time to roll off of them before t
he other two are on top of us.
“I’ve got him, Titan!” the dark skinned girl yells at the blond haired guy, whose name I can only assume is Titan. Before I know it, Ev and I are both engaged in knife fights.
The dark skinned girl is quite reckless with her knife, which makes her unpredictable. After a few attacks I realize that she relies too heavily on her left side and I easily disarm her by countering one of her attacks. I spin into her as she swings her left arm, knocking her back, and before she can recover, I kick the knife out of her hand.
Out of the corner of my eye I can see Ev holding her own with Titan, but I also see two figures approaching fast from behind her. They must have been drawn by the commotion.
“Ev! Behind you!” I yell.
She plunges her knife into Titan just as the figures arrive. Before they get her takes off running into the white abyss. I look back at my attacker and knock her to the ground before she can retrieve her knife. I kneel down and plunge my knife into her chest. As I stand I grab the extra knife and I run off in the direction that I saw Ev disappear in.
After a few moments I realize that I’m standing alone and vulnerable in the middle of the white, snowy expanse. I tread carefully as I look around for Ev. During a pause in one of the snowdrifts I spot a figure ahead of me and slowly walk towards it. Just as I get close enough to see her blonde hair, she turns and I freeze. It’s the girl from my dream. My heart slows to a whimper as I take in the beauty that my dreams did not do justice. Her nearly platinum hair whips in the wind and her blue eyes pierce through the snow.
I get snapped out of my trance when another figure speeds through the white and knocks the girl to the ground. It’s Ev. After plunging the knife into the girl, she stands.
“What are you doing?!” she screams at me. “You were just standing there!”
I know that I will never be able to explain what happened to Ev. She would never understand. Besides, how could I tell her about the dreams and the connection I have with this girl?
Gene. Sys. Page 7
