Wake
Part Four of The Runners
By Logan Rutherford
Copyright 2010 Logan Rutherford
Smashwords Edition
The right of Logan Rutherford to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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Find out more about the author and upcoming books online at http://existentialbacon.wordpress.com or @jaloru95
The Following Begins Moments After the End of RESCUED.
Chapter One
Adam and Eve sat hunched in the darkness behind one of the counters that filled the massive underground lair. Eve wrapped her arm around Adam’s, squeezing tight out of fear. Adam’s cheeks flushed red, but the fear that was in his brain quickly pushed those thoughts aside. There are men with guns that are going to kill us. He reminded himself, although, something like that was hard to forget.
“I heard the scream come from down here!” One of the men shouted. The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs echoed across the basement.
Adam cursed. They heard Eve scream.
Flashes of light appeared above Adams head as the soldiers spread out, and searched for them.
Adam wiggled his arm from Eves grip; she was reluctant to let go. He slowly crouched up to peer above the counter. His hands touched the cold metal countertop, as he slowly inched up until he could barely see above the counter.
There were eleven separate beams of light, which meant that there were at least eleven men. He could not tell if there were more hiding behind the others. He hoped there weren’t.
Eve’s head appeared next to him. “What are we going to do?” She said in a barely audible whisper.
Adam shook his head, trying to make as little noise as possible. He had many plans forming in his mind, but he does not want to elaborate on it until he has them all figured out.
“Keep your eyes on them,” he whispered to Eve.
She nodded.
Adam
slid back down behind the counter, giving himself the illusion of
safety, so he would be able to think. He began exploring his options.
He could scream, it would alert them to his position, but maybe Felix
and the others would hear him as well. No,
he thought. They
could be dead, or captured by now.
He began to think that they could sneak out quietly, but there
were too many men. They would be spotted.
He could knock one of them out – he had mysteriously become a kung-Fu master all of the sudden, thanks to what he assumed was Kappa and their memory…whatever. He dismissed that plan, since it was too dark, and his karate skills would be useless if he could not see.
No other idea was coming to mind. All they could do was sit there, and wait for them to find them. And judging by the noise they were making as they searched through the cabinets, and knocked things off the counter tops, they were getting close.
Then, he remembered something. The two dead Kappa soldiers that were at the entrance. How were they killed? Eve answered his question for him.
“London,” she whipered.
Adam took his place next to Eve and saw that now, instead of ten beams of light there were only nine.
“She must still be down here,” Eve said.
Adam began to go through everything he knew about London – which wasn’t a lot. He knew that she never came out of the basement; which he did not blame her for. This place was so large – it had everything you needed down here. He is sure that there’s a bedroom down here somewhere.
She knows just about everything possible that there is to know about Kappa, too, which would make her a target. He’s sure that she is one of the reason that these soldiers are here.
She also is obviously skilled in combat. It would take someone very skilled to quietly take out one of the armed soldiers.
We just need to sit here, and wait. Adam thought.
He
looked over at Eve, and she is looking hopeful, but at the same time,
nervous. But he can’t blame her. He was nervous, himself.
She
took her eyes off the soldiers, and looked down at herself. “Come
on,” she said to herself. “Where are you?”
“Where’s who?” Adam asked in a barely audible whisper.
“Don’t
worry about it,” she said, looking back up at the soldiers. “Just
keep your eyes on them. We need to figure out a way to help London.”
As she said that, another beam of light disappeared, along with a
barely audible thud.
“They’re getting too close. London will not be able to take them out before they get here.” Adam said, a little panicked, but trying not to show.
“We just need to wait a little bit longer,” Eve whispered confidently.
The footsteps were growing closer and the lights brighter. The men were only five rows away, which equals to fifty feet.
“Eve, we need to go,” Adam said in a very loud whisper.
Eve cursed. “Fine. Let’s go.”
They crouched down to the ground, and began crawling. The tile floor was cold to the touch, and Adam felt dirt, and other substances poking into his arms. The two of them crawled pass another row, then another, then another. Finally, after they crawled past ten rows, they took shelter behind one of the counters.
“Why are there so many stations, and counters underneath here?” Adam thought aloud.
“Be-…I mean, I don’t know.” Eve quickly sat up to look over the counter.
Adam is not for sure what Eve was about to say, but he would question her about it later. Right now he had other things to worry about.
He sat up to look over the counter. Now, there were only eight beams of light. They were starting to notice.
“Captain!” One of the soldiers shouted. Adam and Eve watched as the beam of light that was on the far right bobbled over to the beam in the middle. They had a conversation, but Adam could not hear what he was saying, because he was being very quiet.
“Men!” The one who Adam assumed was the Captain. “Watch your backs! They’re taking us out one by one. Don’t worry, we’ll find them! If you guys do a good job, maybe we can have a little fun with them before we take them back to Headquarters. I’m sure a bullet hole or two won’t make that much of a difference!”
A few of the men chuckled, as they returned to searching for the hidden Runners.
“They aren’t going to kill us, but we cannot let them take us,” Eve said, looking into Adams eyes.
“I don’t know….They say they’re taking us to Headquarters, and that’s where our families are. Maybe we can fool them, get our families, and escape.” Adam said hopefully.
“No. You do not know these people. That won’t work with them.” Eve said.
“Oh, and you do?” Adam said sarcastically.
“Better than most,” she returned her gaze to the men, ending the conversation.
And so they sat watching the men slowly make their way towards them. Adam and Eve even crawled back a row or two a few times. Eve was constantly checking her jeans for something. What, she would not say.
One of the times they crawled back a row, she sat down harshly and let out a gasp of pain. She reached underneath her. Adam’s eyes grew big at what he saw. In Eve’s hand, was a 9MM pistol, with a silencer attached to the end.
“Thank you, Brutus!” She exclaimed. “It’s about time!”
“Where did you get that?” Adam asked, shocked.
Eve stammered. “There’s one for you,” she reached into the back of her jeans, and produced another pistol. “Here.”
Adam took it in his hands. It was warm – almost hot to the touch. It was front-heavy thanks to the silencer attached to the front of it, but it felt nice and comfortable in Adam’s hand.
All of the sudden, he felt a chill go down him, but at the same time, he felt warm. It was like when he fought those Kappa soldiers in the Applebees parking lot. He felt as if a barrier that was blocking him from accessing part of his brain dissolved.
He looked down at the pistol he was cradling in his hand, and he knew exactly how to operate it. He knew exactly how to disassemble, and reassemble it. He knew where to shoot his target depending if he wanted to kill, or injure him.
He looked at Eve who was watching him with a smile on her face. “Wha-” he could not even finish his sentence.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll explain it to you later. Right now though, we need to kick some Kappa butt.”
Chapter Two
Adam sat hunched at the edge of one of the counters. He glanced over to his right, where Eve was mirroring his pose two rows over. It was hard to see her in the darkness, but the red hair that was obscuring most of her face gave away her position.
Adam waited for her to give the signal. He was hoping that London did not have any plans of her own, so she would not get in their way. Earlier, Adam and Eve concluded that she was either hiding, or left, since there were no more lights going out.
He scooted over to the edge of the counter, and glanced pass the side. The Leader of this group was about thirty feet ahead of him. Eve said they should take out their Leader first, because without direction, hopefully, the rest would scatter. It was a long shot, but it was all that they could think of.
Adam checked his pockets to make sure the extra clips were in there; they were. He still could not figure out how Eve got a hold of the pistols, but he would worry about that later.
Adam looked back at Eve as she brushed some of the hair covering her face behind her ear. That was the signal.
Adam pointed his gun at the flashlight that the Leader was holding. He extended his arm all the way, and using his left hand, steadied the gun. He let out all of the air in his lungs. He was completely still.
He squeezed his right hand, pulling the trigger. In the matter of a second, there was a flash of light; the click of the silenced gun; the sound of the bullet hitting the flashlight, and exiting the back; the sound of the bullet entering the Leader; and the thud of him hitting the ground.
A second later, Adam heard the same thing coming from his right. Eve had hit her target, too.
“Captain!” Yelled one of the men. Adam could hear the sound of the soldiers footsteps running towards his fallen leader, along with a few others.
As soon as the first soldier made it to the Leader, Adam shot him. Although this time, he didn’t aim for the flashlight. The soldier fell dead to the ground.
Another soldier fell as Eve shot him.
There is only five left.
One of the soldiers saw Adam before he could hide behind the counter. The soldier began to fire his machine gun in his direction. Adam scrambled away as the bullets ripped through the counter, barely missing him.
He made it to the edge of the counter. He ducked down and ran to the next one. The bullets followed him, but he heard the click, click, of an empty gun. He took a chance. He looked out from cover, and quickly shot the man twice in the chest as he was reloading.
The other three men were making their way towards Adam. He scrambled to the counter next to him, then to the one behind him before the men could see.
Adam could barely hear the click of Eve’s gun being fired, but he heard the man yell. “I’ve been hit in the arm!” He screamed in pain. In the darkness, and in the confusion of the men running around, she must have missed. “My arm! It hurt-” Thud. Eve didn’t miss that time.
“Where are they?!” One of them shouted.
“I don’t know, but we have to find them!” The other said.
One pair of footsteps got quieter, while the other got louder.
The man was coming directly towards Adam.
The footsteps got closer, and closer. Adam couldn’t risk looking around cover, or he would risk being seen. Instead, he waited.
An foot appeared from around the counter, and Adam kicked it right above the ankle. There was a snap, as the man’s leg broke. He came falling to the ground, yelling and reaching for the bottom of his leg. Once he hit the ground, Alex shot him in the head, putting him out of his misery.
There was another click and thud.
There
was only one more soldier that needed to be slain. Adam peaked from
around cover, and searched for the lone man. He could not see him at
all. Adam heard a click, then a gasp from behind him. He turned
around as fast as he could, and saw that the man that he was looking
for was standing right behind him.
Eve had seen him, and shot him
in the head.
“That’s all of ‘em!” Adam heard Eve shout.
Adam let out a sigh of relief as he stood. Once he stood, a sudden light blinded him. He ducked down, and shielded his eyes. Once they were adjusted, he slowly stood. Standing by the exit about a hundred yards away, was a girl. Adam could barely make out her features, but he could tell she had blonde hair, was wearing a white t-shirt that had splotches of red on it, and had on a skirt.
“Well done!” He heard her shout, as her voice echoed throughout the basement. She had a heavy British accent. “Took long enough, though! And it was a little sloppy. You could have used a bit more…style. Like me!”
It clicked it his mind exactly who she was.
London.
Chapter Three
Adam began to make his way over to London – side stepping the bodies on his way. He saw that Eve was making her way towards London, too. He weaved through the countertops, and started jogging alongside her.
As they grew closer, Adam was able to see her features easily. She had wavy blonde hair that had light brown streaked throughout; she had deep, dark blue eyes; high cheekbones, and perfectly red lips. She also had blood splattered on her face.
Once they reached her, she smiled, revealing large white teeth. She extended her right hand, which Adam shook. “Name’s London. You must be Adam?” She had a thick British accent that made it a little hard to understand.
Adam nodded, smiling.
“You’re British, and you name’s London?” Eve asked mockingly. “Wow. That’s so dumb!” She said sarcastically, as she flipped her hair, laughing.
London’s smile disappeared. She gave Eve a piercing glare. “Your name is Eve, and you’re full of yourself. How ironic.”
Eve huffed, and looked away.
London turned to Adam, and her smile returned. “I’ve heard all about you from Felix. You were quite the hero yesterday, saving Nick and all. I’m sorry you couldn’t save Twi, but hey, you can’t win them all!”
Adam cringed a little at her lack of sympathy towards Twi. But yet, just the day before, he was arguing that they shouldn’t rescue her. “Is that yours?” He asked, pointing at the blood on her shirt, changing the subject.
“Nope. This blood is from those Kappa bastards,” she seemed to smile even bigger, her face glowing. “Being shut up in this basement all the time does give me a slight blood-lust. For Kappa, of course. Not for any of you,” she said, directing her gaze at Eve.
“What is this place, anyways?” Adam asked. Not only was he curious, he did not want any catfights breaking out.
“This is my laboratory!” Her face began glowing again.
“All of this is yours? This place is huge! Bigger than huge! It’s massive!” Adam exclaimed.
“Well,” London said, hesitating. “It serves its purpose.” She didn’t elaborate further.
They all stood there in awkward silence for a moment. Adam was the first to speak. “We better go check on the others.”
Adam
started to walk towards the stairs. London grabbed his arm, stopping
him. “Don’t bother. They’re not up there.”
“Kappa got
them?” Eve asked.
“Not exactly,” London kept her gaze on Adam.
“What do you mean, ‘not exactly’? Did they, or did they not?” Adam asked, beginning to grow tired of London dancing around his questions.
London let go of his arm and looked at the ground; her smile fading.
“Did they, or did they not?!” Adam was beginning to get angry.
“Adam,” Eve walked to his side. She placed her hand on his arm just like London did. “Just listen to her. They’re not here.”
Adam shook his arm loose from her grasp. “What are you guys playing at? Why the sudden change of heart, Eve? One second, you’re making fun of London; the next, you’re all buddy-buddy with her!”
Neither London nor Eve responded.
“Eve,” London finally said. “I need to speak with you.”
Eve looked at Adam, before nodding. The two girls walked a couple of feet away, and began arguing in hushed whispers.
Adam could only hear snippets of their conversation. “We need to do it” “I’m not going to do it,”
Finally, London began to scream. “Don’t let your feelings get in the way! You have a duty! For Christ’s sake, this is protocol!” She pulled out a gun from the back of her jeans; it was silver and turquoise.
London pointed it at Eve. She pulled the trigger.
Eve disintegrated with a quite zap.
London turned to Adam, pointing the gun at him. He stood there, not moving. He was in total shock.
“I’m not going to lie,” she began, smiling. “This is going to hurt like hell.”
Adam saw a flash of light; he felt immense pain, worse than he ever felt before. His whole body shook, it felt like he was being torn apart piece by piece.
Almost as soon as it started, it stopped, and everything went black.
****
Adam opened his eyes, but all he could see was darkness. There was no difference when he had his eyes opened, or closed. He tried to lift his hand, but it wouldn’t move. He was tied down. He tried moving his other hand, his legs, even his head, but they wouldn’t budge. He struggled against his restraints, but they wouldn’t budge. The cool metal was cutting into his arms, legs, and across his forehead.
After what seemed like an eternity, he gave up. He lay there in the darkness, out of breath, trying to figure out what was going on.
He couldn’t believe what London did to him and Eve. But he did feel somewhat at peace with the fact that if he wasn’t dead, than neither was Eve. But then again, maybe he was dead. He had killed a lot of people lately. Maybe this is where murderers go in the afterlife. It was self-defense, but maybe whatever higher power – if any – did not differentiate between self-defense, and murder. He prayed that was not the case, but if the higher power put him here, then he doubted that it would pay any attention to his pleas for help.
And so, that is how he spent the night, or what he thought was night. He would pray to the higher power that he had created in his insanity; struggle against his restraints; scream for help; and lie there crying.
Eventually, he fell into a dreamless, restless sleep.
****
Adam was woken by a hissing sound. He tried to rub his eyes, but his hands were still restrained. The hissing continued, growing louder and louder. He felt air blowing on his face, and down his body.
Light seeped through the hole that was beginning to form above his head. The hole grew larger and larger. The light made his eyes squint, giving him a headache.
When
his eyes fully adjusted, he saw that he was in some sort of chamber.
He could see rounded walls surrounding him in his peripheral vision.
He also saw a girl standing above him wearing white scrubs, and a
big smile. It took him awhile to recognize who it was; the fact that
she was bald made it hard to do. But the green eyes and big smile
were a dead giveaway.
“Welcome to Eden,” Eve said.
Chapter Four
“Eve,” Adam said, out of breath. “What is going on? Where are we? Where is your hair? Get me out of these restraints!”
Eve chuckled. “Do not worry, Adam. Athena will answer all of your questions.” Eve lifted her hand, and waved somebody over. Two men dressed in silver jumpsuits stood behind her. The hand their hands casually placed on the strange silver guns that were draped across their chests.
“These men will escort you to a room where you can get yourself some clothes, and get all cleaned up. After that, you will see Athena, and she will answer all of your questions.”
Adam was too confused to answer. He just shook his head. Well, as much as he could thanks to the bar across it.
Eve leaned down to undo his restraints. She waved a small silver object over each restraint. Each one of them clicked, and disappeared into slots at the bottom of the chamber.
Adam sat up. He rubbed his wrists; his joints were stiff, and they ached from being in the same position for so long.
He stood up in the chamber, and stepped out. He looked down and saw that he was wearing nothing but a pair of stark white boxers. In all his fear, and confusion; coupled with the fact that the temperature in the chamber made it feel like he had clothes on, he had no clue he hand nothing on but boxers. He face flushed red with embarrassment. Eve laughed, and tossed him a white robe. “This should do until you’re able to take a shower.”
Adam put on the robe, grateful to be covered up. He stepped out of the silver chamber, and looked around the room. The walls were lined with wires, and computer screens. They all led to one thing: the chamber he had just stepped out of.
Eve was watching him closely, her eyes following him as he looked around. “I know you must have so many questions. First, get cleaned up. As I said earlier, Athena will answer all of your questions.”
Adam stood there staring at Eve for a moment. Who was this girl standing before him? In the short time they had known each other, they have been through so much. The death of his mom; her dad…
His mom….He tried not to think of her; when he did, he seemed to forget everything else. The only thing he was aware of was the tightness that grew in his chest.
“Adam?”
Adam looked up, and saw that Eve was standing by the door, holding it open, with the two armed men standing in the hallway outside.
“Come this way,” she said motioning out the door.
Adam walked into the hallway. It was long, and the walls were made of metal; there were no doors. Up above were long florescent tubes that gave the place a stark-white shine to it.
Adam had to squint, but he was able to see a large door way at the end of the hallway.
The guards starting walking, so Adam followed, with Eve taking up the rear.
For the next few minutes, the only sound Adam heard was the sound of the guards boots marching down the hallway. Adam’s feet were bare against the cold metal floor.
They finally reached the end of the hallway. The door was large and round; it had gears and locks of different sizes across it. It looked like the entrance to a very large bank vault.
Eve stood in front of the large door. “Eve,” she said loudly. The gears started to turn, and the locks slid into the wall. The door slowly creaked inward.
Adam looked into the place that the door leads to. It was a large round chamber; everything inside of it was made of metal. At the edges of the round room, situated ten feet from each other, were round hallways that Adam guessed lead to other large round rooms.
The guards began walking into the room, so Adam followed.
They walked to the hallway that was directly ahead of them, on the other side of the room. Inside the hallway, were rows, and rows of doors. The guards walked to the first door on the left, and stopped.
“Inside there is a shower, and a change of clothes.” Eve said from behind him. “The guards here will escort you to meet Athena afterwards.”
“And you?” Adam asked, turning to meet her gaze.
“I have business to take care of.” She reached up and placed her hand on Adams arm.
Adam still was not used to her, her bald hair, her…mysteriousness. He was not used to the new her. He liked the old one much better.
He shook her hand off him.
She looked at the ground. “See you around.” With that, she turned and walked back into the large round room, and down another hallway.
Adam sighed deeply. He did not like being rude to her. Then again, did the girl that he knew exist anymore? She had been lying to him, and that made him question the friendship that they had this entire time.
He opened the door, walked into the room, and shut the door behind him. He fell back against the cold metal door, sliding down until he was sitting on the ground with his knees in front of him. He laid his head in his arms, and cried. It was all too much. He was lost, confused, scared; he had no idea who to trust anymore. He was on his own.
Chapter Five
The hot water ran down Adams down his face, washing off the sweat that he had gathered from his night in the chamber. The water felt good on him. Not only was it washing away the dirt, it was washing away all thoughts that he had. He stood there in the shower, thinking of nothing but how good the water felt.
He finally gathered up the courage to run his hands through his hair, but his hand slid across smooth skin. He let out a deep sigh. It is just as he thought. He was bald, too.
He finished the shower, and grabbed one of the silver towels that were hanging on the metal rack. Everything is silver here! He observed.
He walked over to one of the lockers (metal, of course) that were built into the wall. Inside, were white scrubs, a pair of underwear, socks, and some tennis shoes. He pulled the scrubs over his damp body. He sat down on a bench that was in front of the lockers, and put his shoes on.
He stood up, and began running around the bathroom. He needed to get his blood flowing, and stretch his muscles.
When he felt pumped up and ready to go, he exited the locker room.
The guards were standing by the door: one on one side, and another on the opposite side.
“I’m ready,” Adam said.
The guards did not reply. Instead, the stood next to each other, and began walking. Adam followed.
They entered the large round room that they were in earlier. The walked to the center of the room, and then turned to their right; they began making their way down the large hall.
They walked for a long time down the hall, passing lots, and lots of doors. The hall began to curve, and it stayed like that for a while, before straightening out, and coming to an end at another large round room that was identical to the one that they were in earlier. Adam would not have known that it was any different, except for the fact that there were guards walking around in this room. There were also people in white scrubs walking around; flowing in and out of the different hallways.
They all have hair, Adam noticed. He was jealous of them. He missed his curly brown hair.
They entered another one of the large hallways, which lead to another round room. This one had even more people, and even more hair.
They repeated this process a few more times. They would go down a hallway, and into another large round room, and into another hallway, and another large room, so on, and so on.
Adam’s feet started to ache, which he found strange. He had run for a lot longer than this, and his feet had gone used to it, and never hurt. He had to be running for a long time before his feet started hurting.
Finally, after about an hour of walking, right when Adam was about to fall over from exhaustion, they reached their destination.
It was another large round room like the rest, except this one had a stairs that lead to a balcony, which led to what Adam assumed was Athena’s office. On the wall underneath the balcony, was the word “WAKE” engraved in giant letters into the metal wall.
The guards made their way through the people, which separated whenever they got close to them. They made it to the stairs, and began to make their way up. The metal stairs made a hollow thud with each step they took. The sounds of them walking up the stairs were drowned out by the people going about their days underneath them.
As they were reaching the top of the stairs, Adam began to feel very nervous, excited, and confused, all at the same time. A knot formed in his stomach that grew every time the stairs made their thud sound. When they reached the top of the stairs, and started making their way to the door, Adam thought he was going to pass out from the nausea he was feeling.
After what seemed to be an eternity to Adam, but was actually only a matter of seconds, they reached the door.
One of the guards knocked on the door. A ladies voice that sounded old, but strong, answered from the other side. “Come in,” it said.
The guard that grabbed, twisted the doorknob, and slowly opened the door. He gestured for Adam to enter – which he did – and the guard closed the door behind him, leaving Adam alone with Athena.
Adam looked around the room. Everything was either metal, or silver, just like everything else in Eden. On the ceiling were florescent tubes that gave the room a stark-white shine to it. The walls were bare, except for on one side, where it was white, and Adam could see his reflection in it.
In front of the white wall was a large metal desk, that had computer screens on it. Behind the desk, was a lady sitting in a large computer chair. The lady had grayish-silver hair that matched the rest of the facility. Her face had slight wrinkles to it – even more so around the lips, because she had a big smile on her face. Her blue eyes stared into Adam, gathering every bit of information about him.
“Please,” she said after a few moments. “Sit.”
Adam walked across the office, and sat down in one of the silver cushioned chairs that were in front of her desk.
They stared at each other for a few more moments, before Adam couldn’t take it any longer. “Who are you?” He yelled. “Where am I? What is this place? What do you want with me?”
Athena let out a chuckle. “So many questions. I will answer all of them.” She picked up a phone, and put it to her ear. “But first, I’m going to order us some tea. Would you like anything to eat?”
Adam shook his head no. He was starving, but he did not want to show any weakness, or let Athena think that he trusted her for a second.
“I will get you some anyways.” She pushed a button on the phone. “Mary, would you please bring some tea, and sandwiches up to me? Make sure it is enough for two. Thank you dear.” She hung up the phone, and placed it back on the desk.
For the next few minutes while they waited, Adam and Athena said nothing. They just sat there, and stared at each other, trying to figure one another out. Adam was having no luck figuring out what type of woman Athena was. Her expression was blank, and focused. He hoped that she was having the same luck with him. None.
Finally, a woman who Adam assumed was Mary, walked in with a tray. She placed it on the desk.
“Thank you Mary,” Athena said, breaking eye contact with Adam to do so.
“Let me know if you need anything else,” she said. As she was walked away, Adam noticed her examining him with an unsure expression on her face.
“Please, dig in,” Athena said.
Upon seeing the different sandwiches spread out across the tray, his stomach began to protest his decision to not eat. Giving in to his desires, he grabbed a slice from the tray. He bit into the sandwich, savoring it. He hadn’t realized exactly how hungry he was until he started eating. He ate four more slices in the time it would normally take him to eat one.
He was reaching for another slice, when he realized that Athena hadn’t eaten; she just sat there and watched him. Embarrassed by this fact he pulled his hand back to his side, and sat back in his chair.
“Tea?” She asked, gesturing towards the tea cup.
Adam shook his head. “I was never really a fan of it.”
“Well, you must be thirsty after eating so much. Here,” she disappeared behind her desk for a moment. Adam heard her opening a drawer, and shutting it. She appeared again, holding a bottle of water in her hand. “Drink this.”
Adam leaned over the desk, and took the bottle in his hand. It was room-temperature, just how he likes it.
He drank the whole bottle within a few seconds. He was still a bit thirsty, but he didn’t want to ask for another bottle.
“Well,” Athena clapped her hand together. “Now that your belly is full, and you’re hydrated, I’ll start answering those questions.”
Chapter Six
“First off, my name, as you already know, is Athena. I am head of the operation known as Wake. You are currently at our headquarters located deep underground. I believe that answers your first two questions, am I correct.”
“You are.”
“Your third question, ‘What is this place?’, I believe it was, is going to take me a long time to answer. So please, no interruptions. I am sure that any questions that arise, will be answered by the time I am finished. Understood?” Her eyes burrowed deep in Adams.
“Yes, understood.” Adam said quietly.
“Alright I shall begin. This place contains what is left of society. A few years ago, I was assigned to be head of a team of the world’s best and brightest scientists, engineers, and computer programmers called “Operation Wake”, or “Wake” for short. The objective was to come up with a way to allow the human race to live on.
“I will elaborate further on this in a moment, but I first need to tell you exactly what was wrong with society at the time. The year was 2057, and the human race had become so technologically advanced, that it was destroying us. Everything centered around computers: money – which was no longer paper, it was all virtual – education, jobs, security – national security – everything. We had become too centered on technology. It was easier for people to sneak weapons, drugs, and people across borders, and into the hands of terrorists. Although, normal acts of terrorism was becoming obsolete because of cyber-terrorism.
“Cyber-terrorists were becoming more and more advanced. They could get past the firewalls that banks had, and steal all the money that banks had in their virtual vaults, and transfer it to them. They even built their computers, basses, and everything technological that they had, to withstand an EMP blast. As you will find out later, so did we.
“Soon, the people realized that there was more money in cyber terrorism than anything else. Everybody wanted a piece of the very large, money filled, pie. There was more money invested in cyber-terrorism than anything. So, naturally, the cyber-terrorists made more advancements, and much more faster. The anti-cyber-terrorism agency known as the CTTF – Cyber Terrorism Task Force – couldn’t keep up. Soon, nobody was safe, and nowhere was safe.
“At the center of the cyber-terrorist movement, was an organization known as “Kappa”, which you know all too well. The CTTF knew that they were planning something big, but they didn’t know just how big. What they figured out was this: Kappa scientists made a machine that would capture human brain waves, and make the person whose brain waves they captured, obey their will. Their plan was to take over the main world leaders, and make them do their bidding. Doing this would give them control over everything in the entire world. They would have all the money, nuclear launch codes, access to every single army; they would be unstoppable.” Athena stopped, and poured herself a cup of tea. She took a few sips before continuing. “By the time, Wake was already in full swing. We were trying to figure out ways to make man less dependent on technology. Soon, we realized that we were running out of options, and fast. We knew Kappa was planning something big (which as I said earlier, it was the thing about brain waves), and we knew we were on a deadline. Then, one day, we figured out the only way to make man less dependent on technology, was by using technology.
“We worked hard, day and night. We had almost no sleep, and we never got to see our families. A small base secluded deep underground had become our new home. We had the fate of humanity on our soldiers; we couldn’t let people – our families – live in a world ruled by Kappa.
“Finally, after months of building, and re-building; programming, and re-programming, we had it: the first Eden Capsule.
“It
was a programmer by the name of Marcus Wright who cracked the
program. He created a whole new world were humans could live. Inside
the world called Eden, we set the year to 2011, and Marcus programmed
it to not allow technology to surpass a certain point, so what
happened with Kappa would not be able to happen again.
“We
needed someone to test the capsule, but we faced a dilemma: Marcus
said he had to be the one to test it first, since he was the one who
programmed it. If anything went wrong, he would know what to do. But
at the same time, if anything went wrong out here, we wouldn’t know
what to do either. At the same time, CTTF had intercepted a device
from Kappa. Kappa figured out a way to clone people. They would take
what essentially was a person’s life, and tether it from one
person, to the original. They would take the body of somebody who had
recently died, and bring them back to life using “life-force”. As
I said earlier, by this point, technology was very advanced, so they
were able to reverse the decaying process. But the body had to be
fresh; we weren’t that
advanced. The CTTF brought the machine to us. We used it on Marcus,
making two of him. His duplicate didn’t look like him, but he had
all of the same memories. He knew everything that Marcus did. We were
finally able to test the Eden Capsule. Duplicate Marcus went into the
Eden Capsule, we were able to see everything that he saw. And what we
saw was beautiful. It was a world that was primitive, a world that
had promise.
“We made hundreds of them in the matter of months. We built the Eden base that you are currently in, deep, deep, underground in the middle of the North Pole. We made it completely out of metal. We were too far away, too deep. The metal in the base made it impossible for computer waves to pass through. Plus, we had our computer defenses. Kappa couldn’t touch us.
“Only a few hundred people were selected to be a part of the Eden project. The brightest minds in the world. Originally, the Eden program was supposed to allow humans to live freely, away from Kappa. But then, Kappa did something that literally destroyed the earth. CTTF was closing in on Kappa’s headquarters. They had barely an foot soldiers, since they were cyber-terrorism. They were no match for the armies of the world. Kappa knew that they were no match, so they self-destructed their base. But not only did it destroy the base, but they set off a chain reaction that overloaded every electronic device, making it explode; including nuclear missiles.
“Eden was in its early stages. We were only a few hundred strong. But soon, we were the only ones left. Since we were far away, the chain reaction could not reach us. Now, Eden is keeping humanity alive, until the earth is suitable for life again; which will be a very long time. Once it is, though, we will start over. But until then, Eden is the only thing keeping the human race going. Eden is as real to the humans inside of it, as earth once was to them. They are going about their daily lives, living on. They will live, and die in Eden. Just like some of us will live, and die outside of it.”
Adam sat there in silence. He was going over in his head all that Athena had just told him. It was all too much. He buried his head in his hands; he was so confused. “So,” he said, his voice cracking. “My entire life has been a lie. I’ve been living in some computer program my entire life?! How did I not know about this?”
“Well,” Athena said, sipping some tea. “First off, Eden is not a computer program. It’s a new beginning. Would you rather live your life stuck in an underground base? Of course not! We’re giving people a chance to live their lives! Fall in love, get a job, hang out with friends, go see a movie. Eden is as real as it gets! As far as how you did not know about Eden…” Athena hesitated. She stared off in the distance. “This is very hard for me to say,” she began quietly. She let out a deep sigh. “Marcus,” she said hesitantly. “He was very…upset with us. He believed that since he was the creator of Eden, he should rule over it. We told him that it didn’t make any sense to have a ruler, but he argued continuously. Eventually, he gave up…or so we thought. He entered Eden, and was going to live his life there. The Wake team was going to stay out of Eden, and in headquarters, but he wanted to live inside his creation. While he was inside of it, he figured out a way to clone himself again. It shouldn’t have surprised us as much as it did. Eden was creation; he knew exactly how it worked. So, he was able to bend the rules. This time, he was able to clone himself to look exactly the same. He created a new version of Kappa inside of Eden. He was going to take over it, and rule it. He became the exact thing he had originally fought against. We destroyed his Eden Capsule, killing his body. But his clone lives on inside Eden, ruling Kappa, and always growing closer to taking over. We have been able to keep his powers over Eden to a minimum, but he is still somewhat able to bend Eden to his will. Now-”
“Just
stop dancing around!” Adam yelled, jumping from his seat. “What
does this have to do with me?!
How did I not
know about Eden?!”
Athena, not surprised by Adam’s sudden
outburst, just smiled. “If you would please take a seat, Adam. I
was only explaining the things that were necessary in order for you
to understand why we did what we did.”
Adam
slowly sat down, and looked at the ground. “I am sorry. Please,
explain.”
“As I was saying, we knew that Marcus was a man who
could not be trusted. He was a dangerous man. And so, we had to
decide what was to be done with his clone that was here, outside of
Eden. The clone was a only sixteen-years-old. We did not know this at
the time, but the cloning process freezes the aging process of the
clone, so he would be sixteen forever.
“It was decided that we would wipe his memory, and insert him into Eden under the watchful eyes of the agents we have on the inside. Every year, we would wipe his memory, give him new ones, and send him to a different family. We kept him moving so Marcus would never be able to find him. But one day, he did.”
“I don’t,” Adam began to say. Then he realized it. He realized what it was Athena was trying to say.
“Adam,” she began quietly. “You are the clone of Marcus Wright.”
Chapter Seven
The beeping of his alarm clock echoed throughout the room. Adam hit the top of the alarm clock, turning it off. He groggily sat up, rubbing his eyes. He looked at the clock. Its red numbers said 4:30. He threw his sheets off him, swung his feet of the side of his bed, and stood. He fumbled in the darkness, searching for the doorknob to the bathroom. He groped the wall, until he felt its cold metal touch his hand. He grabbed it, twisted, and pushed it open.
He felt around the wall for the light switch. Once he found it, he flipped it on with a satisfying click. The sudden light blinded him. He rubbed his eyes as the adjusted to the light. He looked around the bathroom. It was small, and like everything else here, was made of metal, and had florescent lights across the ceiling. In the hurry that they built this place, style really wasn’t an option. In the corner, was a small shower. Next to it a toilet. Across from the shower, was a sink and mirror. Next to it, was a cabinet, that had clothes in it.
Adam turned the shower on as hot as he could stand, stripped down, and hoped in. He did the same thing that he did the day before; he let the water wash away every thought that he had. This, after the revelation that he had yesterday, was hard to do. But, eventually, the water won out, and washed everything away, and down the drain.
After he was done with his shower, he threw on a grey t-shirt that he grabbed from the cabinet, along with underwear, a pair of sweatpants, and some socks.
He walked over to the sink, and began to brush his teeth. He spit the toothpaste out, which had a pink tint to it.
Adam let out a deep sigh, and leaned his hands on the sides of the sink. He watched the toothpaste slowly make its way down to the drain.
But finally, after avoiding it as much as he could, he looked up into the mirror. Staring back at him, were a pair of brown eyes that were not his own. They were full of regret, sadness, and shame. He did not want to even look at himself, but his eyes would not budge. He was a monster. He was a man that tortured people, killed people, tore people’s lives apart. His selfishness was the reason that he was here. If it wasn’t for him, Eves dad would still be alive, Twi’s brother would be, too. And his mom…was she still his mom? He had all of these memories of things that the two of them did together, but most of them were fake. But still, he mourned her. She was the closest thing to a mom that he ever had…at least, from what he could remember, it was. The only memories he could trust were the ones that started with his sixteenth birthday…the day of his surprise party. Were those people that were there really his friends? He doubted it. They were probably people that Wake had put there just to act like his friends. He stood there, staring at the mirror, reminiscing about the party. That was the first time that he remembered being happy. Now that? That was for real. It was not some fake memory that Wake had put in his brain; he felt true happiness.
He took that memory – the feeling it gave him – and he bottled it up. One day, and probably soon, he was going to need it.
He was going to get his revenge on Marcus; on himself. He may be alive thanks to him, but he was nothing like him. He never wanted this. He was dead, and brought back to life against his will. He didn’t want to become this. A monster. A monster of a man.
A tear rolled down his cheek, as he thought about who he was, and what he had done. “I’m sorry,” he cried, asking himself for forgiveness. “I am so, so sorry,” he was sobbing now. “I’ll make it right. I’ll make everything better.” He was feeling remorseful. The other Marcus’ may have not been forgiving. But he was. “I never wanted this. Please, forgive me,” he cried. He fell to the floor. He curled up in a ball, crying, and asking himself for forgiveness.
****
Adam was sitting at a round table, while in the middle of a meeting. To his right, was Eve. On his left side, was Nick. Adam learned that by ‘They’re gone,’ London meant that Nick and Felix were taken out of Eden, and brought to Wake.
“…they are finding our safe-houses. They are getting bolder, and stronger. Soon, they will be unstoppable,” Athena was saying. She was speaking to the head counsel members of Wake, which were the original members; the ones who helped make the Eden Capsules. Felix, Eve, and Nick were present, because they were giving their accounts of the attack. Adam was there because, one he was also present for the attack, and two; he was technically, one of the council members.
“I have prepared a plan that will allow us to take down Kappa once and for all.” Everybody’s ears perked up, as the leaned in close, absorbing every word that she said, afraid to miss a single detail. “We are going to kill Marcus.”
Whispers broke out among the council members. “Athena,” said one man. His face was very wrinkled, and he was bald, and Adam didn’t think it was because of the Eden Capsules. “You say this like this is something that we have never tried before. But do you forget that we have been trying for years? In case you do not remember, Marcus has used his control over Eden to conceal the Kappa base. We have no clue where they are!”
Cries of agreement escaped from the mouths of some of the other council members.
Athena kept her trademark smile on her face, and spoke. “Yes, I do remember. We have tried for many years to topple Marcus from his Kappa throne, and for many years, we have failed. Now, we have no other choice but to use Adam.”
All eyes turned on him. Adam shrank back in his chair, avoiding eye contact with the people the he had once known, but now has no remembrance of them.
“We believe that since Eden is a part of Marcus, and since Adam is Marcus, than he has that same power.”
“Why have we not tried this before?!” Yelled an old woman that was sitting towards the end of the table.
“I did not know what would happen. These things are…unpredictable. I did not, and still do not know what would happen if Marcus was able to come face-to-face with Adam, since the two of them are one in the same. Marcus could talk Adam into joining him. Could you imagine what would happen if there were two Marcus’ terrorizing Eden? With their combined powers, they could easily destroy our defenses against them. The two of them together would be…unstoppable.”
Adam hated how they talked about him like he was not in the room. But even more than that, they talked about him like he was Marcus. That monster.
“He is a wildcard, but he is our only card.” Athena finished.
A silence fell across the room.
After a few moments, Eve broke the silence. “Athena,” she said slowly. “I’ve studied a bit about cloning, and if I remember correctly, if the original dies, than the clone dies, because they are the same person. We all know that the reason the Marcus inside of Eden is still alive is because he was cloned inside Eden, which at the time, the original Marcus had complete control over. The original Marcus knew that he would be killed, so using his powers over Eden, he was also able to make Adam – who was also in Eden at the time – tied to the new, Eden Marcus. So, my question is this: what happens to Adam if he kills Marcus? The Marcus in Eden is now, basically, the original Marcus.”
A silence, even stronger than the one that was in the room just moments before, came over the room. The silence was deafening to Adam. A pit grew in his stomach. He started shaking, afraid at what Athena was going to say.
After a few minutes, Athena spoke in a voice barely above a whisper. “If Adam were to succeed in his mission – if he were to kill Marcus, freeing Eden from the tyrannical grasp of Kappa – I am afraid that it would also mean the death of him.”
Chapter Eight
Shouts and cries filled the room. Some people were trying to talk to Adam, but he did not hear any of it. All he could hear was the howling of blood rushing through his ears. He was going to die. He thought back at his life, but then, he realized that he could not remember it. He knew that he had once had one, many, actually, but he could not remember them. He was glad that he could not though, because he wanted nothing to do with Marcus. With himself.
“I’ll do it.” He yelled, making his voice heard over all the noise. Silence once again filled the room.
“Adam,” Eve began to say.
“No, Eve,” he turned and looked deep into her eyes. “I have to do this. This is my one chance at redemption; don’t deny me of it.”
“That
is very noble of you, Adam.” Athena said. “You will be a hero
throughout Earth – both of them.”
“So,” he said, ignoring
her praise. “How am I supposed to “control Eden”, or whatever?”
“I believe that once you enter Eden, armed with the knowledge of who you are, it will come to you. If you find that difficult, then you will meet up with Brutus. He will teach you what he knows. Usually he is here, on base, but right now, he is in Eden. You will meet him there. Although, he already knows you.”
“What
do you mean?”
“The sudden knowledge of martial arts? The
sudden knowledge of how to use a gun? That was Brutus. He was, well,
I guess you could say, “Downloading” that information into you.
He is our brightest programmer, and he has figured out how to
manipulate a very small amount of Eden, he cannot manipulate near
enough as Marcus can, but he can still do some.”
While some of the council members were talking, Adam leaned over to Nick, whispering. “Look,” he began. “I know you don’t really like me, but I promise you, I will get Twi, your family, and everybody else’s away from Kappa.”
Nick, who was looking straight ahead, let a single tear roll down his cheek. He nodded his head.
“Alright,” Adam said aloud. Everybody in the room went silent. “When do I leave? You don’t want me sitting around, talking myself out of doing this, do you?”
Some people mumbled “No” under their breath, while others said it aloud.
“You will be leaving as soon as possible. Kappa’s power grows by the minute. We want them stopped as soon as possible.”
Adam stood from his seat. “You got it, Captain.” He walked out of the room, leaving everybody shocked by his sudden dismissal.
“He listens a lot better than the original Marcus did.” Adam heard somebody mumble as he walked out of the room. There were some grunts of approval.
He was walking down the hallway, making his way to his room, when he heard Eve shouting behind him. “Adam!” She yelled. He turned and saw her running towards him.
“Eve, don’t try to stop me. I have to do this,” Adam said, shooting down any argument she was about to present.
What she did completely surprised him. She stood up on her tiptoes, and kissed him on the forehead. His face flushed red, and he felt warmth start in his stomach, and grow outwards from there. He was warm, but still, goose bumps sprung out across his body.
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