“How close are we to filling the first shipper?” Royce asked as he studied the map.
“It’s only about half filled,” Tuck said. “We’ve sealed off the filled areas. It should be ready to send out in another three weeks.”
I’d seen the huge ships once, docked out at the edge of the ocean. Tuck told me they were called cruise ships and that once upon a time people boarded them for relaxing trips out on the water.
“Great,” Royce said, turning his attention to his notebook again, scribbling something down. “The quicker we get those bodies cleared out, the better.”
“And the rehoming crew?” Royce asked.
“We’ve continued with the housing scout,” Elijah said. It was always painful to look at him. He was a harsh reminder that West could have turned out so much worse. “Team one cleared block seven yesterday. We should be able to set up three units in it.”
“Team two finished up block five, as you know,” Avian said. Unlike me, Avian did have a purpose here in New Eden. He and Elijah had their own teams that scouted out new homes for us all to start inhabiting.
I couldn’t stand working on the rehoming crew. Finding a new home in the city meant I would be trapped here forever. Thinking about that made me want to do self-destructive things.
But for everyone else, getting a new home outside the hospital meant the return to a more normal life. One that resembled the world before the Evolution.
“I’ve also been working with them on emergency medical care,” Avian said. “Dr. Reziks and Dr. Sun have been assisting me.”
Royce nodded as he continued scribbling notes down. “Great. Gabriel, what about your end?”
Gabriel cleared his throat, sitting up a little straighter in his seat. I still couldn’t get over how different he looked with his beard neat and trimmed, his hair cut short. He looked like a totally different man. He appeared at least ten years younger.
“We’ve split civilians into two groups. The first is in charge of food and general goods regulation. There are two subgroups of this one. One half is in charge of the garden and scouring the city for non-perishables. The other half is in charge of setting up a supply store. They are currently developing a regulation system so people can go and get what they need.
“The second group is in charge of cleaning up the units the rehoming scouts deem safe. There was a former general contractor here in Los Angeles as well as an electrician. Together they are heading up a team to start in blocks three and six and make them fit to reside in. We’ve already established six homes in block four and they are currently being inhabited.”
It was strange hearing Gabriel try and succeeding in sounding so official. He was attempting to prove that he was every bit as capable of leading as Royce was. Not that he needed to. Royce might have been a genius when it came to leading the military and scientific side of New Eden, but he was often too brutal and blunt to connect with everyone else. People naturally looked to and trusted Gabriel.
“And how are our survivors adapting?” Royce asked.
“They’re… adjusting,” Gabriel said. “It hasn’t been easy for them, but given what they’ve gone through, it isn’t surprising.”
About a week after the second half of Eden arrived in New Eden, Tuck and his then small crew found three people in a building, hiding and terrified. They were young, ages sixteen, seventeen, and nineteen. They’d survived the last five years by holing up in a police station, locking themselves behind bars during the day, boarding up the doors and windows, and only venturing out in the dead of night to find food and supplies. Two of them were siblings, the youngest another girl they had found. They were all half-starved.
And then a few days later a group of four more survivors walked right into the hospital. They’d been watching us for two days, and finally decided we were safe to approach. They’d all been hiding in a similar way the last few years.
In a city that once had a population of nearly four million, there were now only one hundred forty-three known survivors and a quarter of us had immigrated from elsewhere.
“And lastly, Erik,” Royce said, pulling me back into the room.
“The radio message is up and running still, broadcasting on a constant loop over five different stations,” Dr. Beeson said. “We can’t be sure, but we’re estimating the signal should be able to be heard and found within a fifteen-hundred-mile radius. If someone turns a radio on and scans, they’ll find the message.”
I’d been there when Royce recorded that message. The message that said we’d cleared New Eden, that it was safe, that we could provide food and shelter if one could get here. Royce gave our exact location.
So far no one had come.
Considering how the Bane continued to Evolve, how they’d hunted us down, burned our gardens to starve us out, there was probably no one left out there. The Bane were getting too smart and too aggressive.
Yet I felt uneasy about the message. If they looked, anyone could find it. Just because someone was human didn’t mean they could be trusted.
“And we’re checking incoming signals?” Royce asked.
“All hours of the day,” Dr. Beeson said. “Now that they don’t have the Pulse to focus on, it’s something to keep my team busy.”
Royce chuckled, crinkle lines forming around his eyes. “I can only imagine what a team of bored scientists will do to keep themselves entertained.” This time most of the room did laugh at Royce’s more appropriate joke.
“They’re still mourning that they’re done with their greatest creation,” Dr. Beeson joked. “They’re missing their work on the Pulse.”
“I still think that once we’ve gotten everyone settled in their own residences we should rebuild the energy storage devices,” I said. I wasn’t in charge of anything, the only one in this room without a purpose, but they still allowed me to sit in on these meetings.
“I was just talking to Royce about that this morning,” Dr. Beeson said with a nod. “We have no guarantee that the city will stay clear. Once things settle down with the rehoming, my team will be back on it.”
I nodded. Avian squeezed my knee under the table. He and I discussed the possibility of the Bane migrating back into the city often.
“Unless you have anything more, Gabriel?” Royce said. Gabriel shook his head. “Then I think that is all for today. We’ll meet again same time next week.”
FOUR
Dinner consisted of canned chicken, canned green beans, and canned potatoes. I would have fought off ten Bane if it meant I could have gotten my hands on some fresh spinach or wild berries.
When I was finished eating I started down the hall toward the stairs that led up to my room.
I was just about to pass the medical wing when I heard Avian’s voice.
“—getting worse,” he said, his voice low. “I don’t know that it’s going to get any better while she stays in the city.”
“It certainly sounds like conditional depression.” It was Dr. Sun who replied. “Given her history, it is understandable that she would be having a hard time dealing with all of the changes.”
“She’s worked so hard all her life,” Avian mused. “I never thought I’d say something like this, but I think life is too easy here. She doesn’t know how to handle it.”