West sat next to me, wolfing down his food faster than he could chew it. I chuckled, shaking my head at him.
“What?” he said around a mouthful of bread. “I’m starving!”
“I know,” I said with a chuckle again.
“You going to finish yours?” he said, eying the remains on my plate.
“Yes,” I said as I raised my eyebrows at him. “I intend to finish every bite.”
He chuckled then. Underneath the table he gave my knee a small squeeze. My flesh tingled when he took his hand away.
We finished packing most everything that night. The members of the second group had to open their tents up to those in the first since everything had been loaded into the truck. I was glad I had watch duty that night; I wouldn’t have known how to handle that awkward situation.
I looked out over the tents that night. I realized that this place we were staying wasn’t Eden. Eden was wherever these people were, Eden was them. In this hellish world we had created our own utopia. I wondered if there were any other places like this that existed. It didn’t sound like it from what I had heard others say. How had I been so lucky to have come here?
Sarah wouldn’t have called it luck. To her it would have been fate. Maybe it was.
But Eden would be breaking up in the morning. Would it ever be fully put back together again? What were our numbers going to be like if it did? Who would be lost along the way?
I felt immensely relieved that we would finally be leaving. The event had loomed over us like a lightning cloud. We were all just waiting for it to strike. It would be nice to finally get it over with.
I made a resolution that night. By the time we reached our new location, if we reached it, I would have to have made my choice. Avian or West. I would pick or I wouldn’t let myself have either of them. We couldn’t continue like this. I couldn’t live with myself going on the way I was. And I didn’t even know if Avian still felt the same way.
By dawn, Eden was teaming with life. I wondered how much sleep anyone had even gotten. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep. Nerves were obviously running high.
People said hurried good-bye’s, giving hugs, tears pooling in their eyes. I realized then that they knew this could be a permanent good-bye. My chest hardened as I watched Avian talking to Victoria again, gave her a slightly longer than necessary (in my opinion) hug good-bye.
Bill and Graye walked up to me and to my surprise, a pang formed in my chest. These two had been my team. We were part of the elite, the best. In a way they had been my brothers.
For some reason I wasn’t all that surprised when Bill wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a hug. “Be careful out there,” he said quietly before he released me.
I gave him a small smile. I looked over at Graye and he could only give me a tight lipped smile and a nod of agreement. I didn’t expect to get a hug from him. Graye wasn’t one to hug. “Just remember that they can still blow you up,” he said with a smirk.
“Thanks,” I said with a chuckle as I shook my head. “You two be careful, too. You’re smart, you know how to survive. Just keep doing what you’ve been doing.”
“Promise,” Bill said, his cool gray eyes on me.
I walked back to the truck, joining Avian and West. “Everything ready?” I asked, feeling both anxious and reluctant to leave.
“I believe so,” Avian said as he hoisted his bag of half the medical supplies into the back of the truck. We couldn’t fit much more in it.
Gabriel walked up to us, his hands stuffed into his pockets. His lips were invisible in his beard as he pressed them tightly together.
“We’ll reach the first destination this evening,” Avian said as he turned to Gabriel. “We’ll leave the marker with any notes on what we encounter today.”
Gabriel nodded. “I wanted to thank you,” he said, his voice suddenly rough sounding. “For keeping things going when I snapped. It was selfish of me.”
Avian pressed his lips together and nodded. “No one can really blame you.”
Gabriel extended his hand and Avian gave it a tight shake. He then shook West and I’s hands as well. “Be safe,” he said. “We have to keep Eden alive. We may be all that’s left out there.”
Final good-byes were said and all the members of our first group loaded onto the trailer and into the truck. A man I did not know very well had volunteered to drive. He had only been a member of Eden for a short time. I believed his name was Tuck. Morgan climbed into the front cab with him and so did another woman by the name of Bea. The other fourteen of us got to ride the bumpy thousand miles on the trailer.
The members of the second group gathered around as Tuck started the truck to life. As he pulled away they waved, tears falling down half their faces.
Would we ever see any of them again?
The first hour was slow going as we made our way through the forest over uneven ground. We had worked hard to keep ourselves hidden so that we couldn’t be found by any still-remaining marauders or Fallen. We each had to hold onto the short railing that lined the edge of the trailer to keep from being bucked off.
No one said anything for the first few hours but we all knew what the other was thinking. There was uncertainty and fear about traveling into the unknown. There was the very real possibility that this truck wouldn’t continue to run for more than another mile. Or it could break down in the middle of the desert, only half way to our destination. Helicopters could buzz over our heads at any time, reign down on us with dozens of Fallen and infect them all.
There were endless horrible ways for us to die on this journey.
But it was death by starvation or infection for sure if we stayed.
We jarred over a rough patch, everyone jerking violently to the right. “Careful!” I was surprised when Avian shouted to Tuck.
“I’m sorry,” he called. “I don’t see a clearer path.”
Avian said something under his breath as he turned his eyes forward.
“You okay?” I asked quietly. I suddenly felt all too open to everyone. There wouldn’t be too much privacy for the next week or so.
Avian shook his head, his eyes darting to the cab of the truck. “Morgan’s pregnant,” he whispered.
“Pregnant?” I repeated. I glanced at the back of her head through the window. It explained why she was sitting up there.
Avian nodded. “Sharp, rough movement like that isn’t very good for the baby.”
“Should she be coming with us if she is carrying a child?” I asked. Suddenly this journey seemed all the more perilous.
“I thought it would be safer. Victoria would be able to stitch a wound or anything basic but her training is limited. Not that I know that much about taking care of a pregnant woman but I thought it would be better. She’s not that far along anyway. She should be just fine.”
I glanced at Morgan’s husband, Eli, saw that he was watching us. I thought I was supposed to say congratulations or something but it didn’t seem like something you could say anymore. This wasn’t a happy world to be bringing a baby into. Our world wasn’t a good place for children.
After two hours the truck pulled to a stop and Tuck poked his head out the window to look back at us. “This is going to get really rough and I’m going to have to go really slow. I think it would be best if everyone got off and walked for a bit.”
Without another word, everyone hopped off and we started the slow journey down the rocky face of the mountain on foot.
As we moved I watched people, gauging their ability, strength, and skills. A few of them moved carefully, watching their step as they moved over the rocks. Others had more confidence, some of them more practiced from helping with scouting.
And at the front of them, walking to the side of the truck was Avian. He held a shotgun tight in his hands, his eyes scanning the trees and sky before us. I couldn’t recall ever seeing Avian with a gun. But his hands were perfectly positioned, his frame aware of everything around him. His shoulders were set tight, his knees bent slightly, ready to run or fight at any second.