“What happened to you?” she asked, concern breaking over her face as she looked at me.
I hadn’t seen Morgan awake since I had returned from the Underground. She didn’t know that the top of my skull had been cut off and a device had been implanted in my head.
“You don’t think bald is a good look on me?” I tried to joke. I was terrible at it.
A small smile pulled at her chapped lips. “I didn’t say that. And I wouldn’t call you bald.”
I tried to return her smile, unsure if I succeeded. It was true; my hair had grown out to about two inches long. I stood there for a long while, unsure what to say.
“Are you okay?” she asked, breaking the silence. “You look terrified, like I might bite you.”
An awkward laugh bubbled out of my lips. “Sorry,” I said. “I’m not really sure what to say.”
“It’s okay to feel awkward, Eve,” she said with a warm smile. “It’s part of being human.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that.”
Morgan nodded and then a small grimace crossed her face. Her hand went to her stomach and she crunched in on herself.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, jumping to the side of the bed. “Do you want me to get the doctor?”
Morgan shook her head and rolled onto her side. “No, there isn’t anything else they can do.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. All of the heat drained out of my body in an instant.
“You know what I mean, Eve,” she said, her eyes locking with mine. “I’m dying. I probably don’t have more than a few weeks left.”
“What’s wrong?” I croaked as I sank into the seat next to her.
“I don’t remember exactly what the doctors said, but it has to do with the damage done when the building came down on me. Something about arteries being damaged beyond repair. My heart can’t pump the blood to the rest of my body fast enough. And with the pregnancy, it just makes it twice as bad.”
I took a hard swallow, feeling as if ice were coursing through my veins. I imagined my mother, the babies inside killing her.
“What about the baby?” I asked, my voice almost too quiet to be heard.
Morgan’s eyes reddened and a bead of moisture slipped from her cheek. “When I go, they’re going to try an emergency C-section, see if they can save the baby. But the odds aren’t good. The baby isn’t getting enough blood. It could die any second.”
I took a deep breath, shaking my head. “C-section, what does that mean?”
“They’ll cut my stomach open and pull the baby out,” she said, her voice wavering. “That is if she doesn’t die before I do.”
“She?” I asked.
“What?” Morgan questioned, confused.
“You said ‘she’,” I said, trying to smile. “It’s a girl?”
“Oh,” Morgan gave a small laugh. “I don’t really know. They’ve done ultrasounds, but they didn’t tell me what it is. I guess I just think it’s a girl.”
“She’ll be beautiful,” I said, trying to think what Sarah might say in a situation like this. She knew how to handle these very human moments.
“Thank you,” Morgan said, smiling. She started coughing and soon she was moaning in pain. A nurse rushed in and shooed me out.
Once in the hall, I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes.
Half a percent. That was all that was left of the human population on Earth. In reality, it was probably far less than that now.
Morgan was only one person. But when there is only half a percent left, or less, one person makes a huge difference.
And one baby lost was one less person to live in the hope of a restored future.
SEVEN
“I’m just now realizing that I have no clue where NovaTor is,” I said as I looked at the map.
Dr. Evans stood inside his glass room. He had spread the map out on a table in front of him. This was our final planning meeting. The van would be ready in three days.
He placed his finger on the map. The place was a few hundred miles northwest of the original location of Eden. Made sense. I had probably walked for weeks after he released me.
“NovaTor’s location is secluded. Not many towns nearby, and the ones that were close are small,” Dr. Evans said, looking up at Avian and Bill. Almost as if he forgot I had no idea what NovaTor was like either. “That was on purpose. We didn’t want to be disturbed. But the climate there this time of year will be cold. Arid. There may or may not be snow to deal with. Pack warm clothing that will keep you dry.”
“We can go scouting this afternoon,” I said, nodding.
“How long will it take us to get there?” Avian asked, placing a hand on the glass wall and leaning in for a closer look at the map.
“Since the vehicle we are taking is large and solar powered, it won’t travel all that fast,” Dr. Evans said, that annoyed tone back in his voice. “We’ll be lucky to get to speeds of forty miles per hour.”
“So,” Bill calculated as he studied the map. “Roughly twenty hours of driving time.”
Dr. Evans nodded. “Thankfully, most of the trip is through desert, so there won’t be many towns, but we will still hit plenty.”
“Vegas could be fun,” Bill said, shaking his head.
“We’ll try to swing around it,” Avian said, studying the map.
“Shouldn’t take us more than two days to get there, right?” West said.
“Who knows,” I said, shaking my head. “We could be walking out into anything. There are likely to be more packs of Hunters. They’re getting smarter, more aggressive.”
“Hopefully your army is quick at their job,” West teased. “But if not, it’s a good thing we’ve got the queen of the Bane to protect us out there, huh?”
I punched him in the arm and tried not to smile.
“Damn woman,” he hissed through a laugh. “Not all of us have cybernetic skeletons. That hurt!”
“You’re not getting an apology out of me,” I said, shaking my head and letting the smile crack through.
Everyone in the room laughed, except for Dr. Evans.
“Do you really want to mess with Eve these days?” Avian asked, raising an eyebrow.
West just chuckled and shook his head.
“How is the packing of the supplies going?” Dr. Evans asked, back to business.
“The kitchens have two weeks’ worth of food packed for us,” I said. “More of that last-forever crap, but we’ll survive off of it. We’ve also got plenty of water.”
“I’ve put together an emergency medical kit. Nothing too extensive, so don’t anyone go and get blown apart,” Avian said.
“We’ve collected firepower—assault rifles, grenades, the usual,” Bill wrapped us up.
Dr. Evans nodded. “Sounds like we’re ready to go. Just got to wait on the vehicle.”
“You’ve become quite the traveler considering it’s the end of the world,” West said, elbowing me in the side.
“And whose fault is that?” I said, raising my eyebrows at him. “Are you wanting me to knock you out today?”
A teasing grin spread on West’s face. Avian chuckled as he slapped his hands down on West’s shoulders and steered him toward the door. “Best not push your luck.”
After lunch, the four of us headed for an outdoors store. We had looted all the ones that were closest to the hospital, so we hopped in one of the electric cars and crossed the massive city. This was close to our Pulse perimeter. About fifteen miles inside it, maybe a bit less.
Bill parked on the sidewalk, right in front of the building, and we all stepped out. Avian checked the doors and found them locked. Taking out his firearm, he shot it open.
The store was pretty dark, one of those double-storied, spiffed up warehouse types that only had a few windows scattered on the bottom floor. But unlike most of the buildings around us, this one was completely free of bodies.