NINE
The stiffness in my arm woke me as I tried to roll over. The bandaging had loosened up during the night but it still prevented me from having full movement.
I was surprised at how light it already was outside. I must have been asleep for nearly nine hours. I then remembered what Avian had said about my body feeling pain, even if my brain didn’t register it. Apparently it had needed the rest.
I felt like there were two parts to me. There was the part that my body registered, the part that told me to do things I shouldn’t normally be able to do. And then there was my brain, the part that felt things that I didn’t.
A soft snore reminded me that I wasn’t alone and I rolled over to see West sprawled across Sarah’s bed. He lay on his back, his arms spread out, his head lolling to the side facing me. I gave a little half smile as he gave another quiet snore. Apparently he had needed his rest as well.
I noticed something on the floor that didn’t belong and reached across the cramped space for it. It was a notebook, its edges tattered and frayed. As I opened to somewhere in the middle of it, evaluating its shape and size, I realized this was the thing West always carried on him.
I wasn’t one to invade another’s privacy and was about to close the notebook when some of the writing caught my eye.
Test subject Eve shows signs of extreme endurance. Block capabilities of chip X73I seems to be successful.
I read the line twice to be sure I had read it correctly.
Quickly, I glanced up at West to make sure he was still asleep. Suddenly I had to reevaluate everything I had ever known or thought about him.
Unable to keep from doing so, I turned my eyes back to the pages. I continued from the line I had started with.
Subject Eve was tested on treadmill for two hours straight with no indicators of tiredness. Vitals remained stable, peaking little during fastest speed. Tests have yielded same results for the past five days.
Eve continues to show lessened need for sleep. After close monitoring for the past four months, we have recorded subject sleeps for little more than five hours a night, at times less.
Tomorrow weight endurance testing will begin.
I stared at the scribbled words for a full two minutes when I came to the end of the page. My stomach knotted. I realized I had been holding my breath.
My eyes focused on the page again and I noted the date written in the top right corner. I would have been roughly five years old at the time.
I flipped through the pages, seeing words and equations and endless things I couldn’t comprehend, but taking nothing in really. All I saw was my name. Subject Eve, tests done on Eve, problems with Eve.
“What are you doing?!”
The notebook was suddenly ripped out of my hands and I looked up to see West glaring at me with burning eyes.
“What is that?” I asked as I stared with wide eyes at the notebook in his hand. “Where did you get it?”
He didn’t say anything for a second, just continued to look at me, his expression softening. I could see the internal debate going on in his head.
“Don’t you dare lie to me, West,” I said, my voice cold and sharp as ice. “I will hurt you if you lie to me.” I would have surprised myself, the seriousness of my threat, if I hadn’t meant it so gravely.
He continued to look at me for a minute. I didn’t expect to see all the emotions that played through his eyes: fear, agony, regret, among other things I wasn’t so sure about.
“I told you my grandfather was a scientist,” he said, his voice hoarse sounding. “Those are his notes. About a third of them are about you.”
I couldn’t make my throat form my loss of words. My chest felt oddly hard as West confirmed what I had already known.
“He experimented on me,” I finally managed. “For how long?”
“I remember you always being there. Maybe since you were a baby.” I had never seen West look so hesitant and so vulnerable as he did when he said those words.
“You remember me?” I said slowly, never breaking my eyes away from his.
“Like I told you, my grandfather was the scientist. My father was the doctor who monitored you. We lived at the testing facility. On rare occasions they would let us play together,” his voice trembled a little as he spoke.
“I don’t remember you,” I forced my voice out. “I don’t remember any of it.”
“Someone released you after the infection started. They probably wiped your memory.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, my voice suddenly shaking with rage. “Why didn’t you tell me right away? I had no idea who I was, but you knew!”
“I wasn’t sure,” he said, the tone of his voice picking up with defense. “It’s been five years since I’ve seen you, Eve! I had thought you must have died a long time ago! It wasn’t easy for me to think you were dead. You were my best friend! My only friend!”
I glared at West. I wished he hadn’t said that. I wanted to be angry with him. I wanted to throw him out and to tell him to leave Eden and never come back. But a part of me wondered if what he was saying was the truth. Maybe West had been my friend at one time. But I couldn’t remember any of it.
“I trusted you,” I whispered as I glared at him. “You should have told me sooner. Were you ever going to tell me?”
He was quiet for a second as he looked back at me. “I don’t know.”
“Well at least you’re being honest about that,” I said coldly. “You should leave now. I have to get ready to move.”
“Eve, I’m…”
“Get out!” I shouted, cutting him off.
He stood and went to the flap of the tent. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly as he walked out.
Attempting to keep myself from doing something violent, I quickly set to packing my things. Everything I owned would fit into one bag.
I had just finished putting my clothes into the bag when the flap of the tent was pushed aside. Avian stood there, his expression open, waiting for me to attack him again. I wasn’t sure what to say so I just kept gathering all of my things.
“Sarah told me to come get her things. She’s strong enough now we can move her. Those allergy pills are what finally did it I think.”
I just gave a nod as I rolled the bear hide up, vowing to give it back to West later. I suddenly didn’t want it.
Avian set to gathering Sarah’s belongings and stuffing them in a bag the same way I did. Within a few minutes we had everything cleared out of the tent.
“I can get this myself,” I said as we stepped out and Avian started taking down the tent.
“I know,” he said simply as he untied a tether.
We worked quietly as the tent came down. We then packed the poles into their bag and set to rolling the canvas up.
“We wanted to thank you for what you did,” Avian said as he worked at my side. “I wanted to thank you. It was incredibly dangerous but you did it anyway.”
I just gave a nod as I held the bag open and Avian slid the bulk of the tent in. I tied the opening after the poles went in and set it on the ground.
“The wagon should be back in just a few minutes,” Avian said as he looked out to the east. “Sarah went this morning with Bill. West set out on his own a little bit ago. It’s just the two of us now and our things.”