Gene. Sys. (15 page)

Fe’s screams clear my head and I snap into
action. “Go! Now! Get all the girls and head to the simulation room!”

She stops screaming and looks right at me. Fear
has filled the depths of her eyes. “What about you?”

“Just go! I will meet you down there with the
guys.” I push her towards the hole. The booms of more explosions thump in my
chest and I hear the sounds of guns as I follow her down the hole.

We run down the hallway and she continues past all
the guys who have now spilled out of their rooms. I stop by them.

“What’s going on?” Ox asks.

“We are being attacked!” I look them over to
make sure they are all there.

“Why?” Sil steps closer to me.

“Don’t worry about that now. Go in your rooms,
grab your pillows and as many protein pouches as you can. Then head down to the
simulation room.”
 
They all stand in
shock. “Now!”

This gets them moving and they all run into
their rooms. I run down the hall to help Fe with the girls. As I turn the
corner I see her running at me with her group. The girls run past me, but Fe
stops.

“I couldn’t find Ev,” she says, panting between
words.

“What?” I look behind her and see an empty
hallway. “Go down to the room with the others. I’m going to find her.”

“But—” she grabs my hand, concern in her
eyes “—be careful.”

With that she runs off and I run deeper into the
compound. I make my way through the maze of hallways, screaming for Ev. Just as
I turn one of the corners, I almost run into her. We stop inches away from each
other.

“Where were you?” I ask.

“Not now.” She runs past me and towards the
simulation room. I follow close behind.

The booms of the blasts seem closer as we turn
corner after corner until we reach the hallway that leads to the elevator. We
are a few yards away when a blast blows in the wall next to us.

I am thrown against the wall, my head slamming
into the hard concrete. A dust cloud fills what used to be the hallway. “Ev
?!
”

There is no response, so I pick myself up. A
sharp pain shoots through my left leg but I fight through it. I pull my shirt
over my mouth and work my way through the dust cloud to where I saw Ev hit the
wall.

I almost trip over her when I finally reach her.
I kneel down and see her face covered completely in blood. “Ev, are you all
right? Ev
?!
”

She doesn’t respond so I check to see if she has
a pulse, my heart breaking in anticipation. When I feel a tap against my
finger, a wave of relief fills my body. I see her chest rising with short
breaths so I decide I need to get her down to the simulation room as soon as
possible.

I place my arms underneath her and pick her up.
The pain rising in my leg forces a scream from my throat. I carry her as
quickly as I can to the elevator and set her down. After I press the button for
the simulation room I look back down at Ev. Her chest has stopped moving. She’s
not breathing.

11

The elevator doors open and I drag Ev out as
quickly as possible. I make sure she is on her back and I kneel down next to
her. As I pinch her nose and tilt her head back, I see the Genesys run over. I
put my mouth over hers and inhale into her mouth twice.

“What happened?” Mag screams.

“Is she okay?” Ox adds.

I ignore them as I lean down to listen for a
sign of breathing. Nothing. I pinch her nose again and give her two more
breaths. “Come on, Ev!”

“Is her heart beating?” K leans in.

“Everybody shut up and step back!” I can’t
handle their questions; I need to focus. I lean in to listen again, still
nothing. I pinch her nose and breathe into her mouth again.

As I pull away, I see Ev’s lifeless face. There
is peace there and she looks more beautiful than ever, but I am not ready to
let her go.

“Don’t leave me!” I shout at her. Tears streak
down my cheeks and cloud my vision. I check for her pulse and I feel a faint
beat. She doesn’t have much time. I tilt her head back one more time and put as
much hope as I can into my breaths.

The Genesys begin to shout encouragement at Ev,
pleading for her to come back. I lean down to listen for breathing and still
don’t feel anything. I bring my lips closer to her ear and whisper, “I can’t do
this alone. I need you, Ev.”

I wipe the tears from my eyes and go in for two
more breaths. As I pull away, arms shoot up and pull me down. Ev coughs as she
convulses back to life. The Genesys cheer around us and I’m pulled to the
ground next to Ev.

“I’m here,” she whispers to me. “I’m here.”

Relief runs through my body and suddenly I feel
very weak. My brain remembers that my leg is injured and the pain I feel is
unbearable. The light around me begins to fade.

“We need to go get help,” Al says.

“No! Nobody leaves the simulation room. It’s too
dangerous. We take care of our own down here.” The voice surprises me. It’s
Titan’s.

As much as I can’t stand him, Titan is a good
leader. Knowing that the Genesys will be safe with him calling the shots for a
bit, I let exhaustion overtake me and I pass out.

I teeter in and out of consciousness. Just as
I’m about to fade completely to black, a shot of pain pulls me back into
awareness. I can’t open my eyes or move my body, but I can hear the muffled
sounds of frantic conversations around me.

Another surge of pain rushes through my body and
I can tell it’s originating from my legs. I scream, or at least I try to, but
my mouth won’t open. Panic sets in as I desperately call out for Ev or Fe or
anyone, but without the ability to move my mouth, they are just thoughts.

Frustration sets in followed immediately by fear
when I realize that I’m paralyzed. I’m alive but my body is dead. I put all the
effort I can into moving a muscle, any muscle. My fingers, I’m going to move my
fingers. I focus on my right hand and picture my thumb and index finger. I
envision them curling towards each other until they touch and, with every ounce
of my body, I try to bring them together with an internal scream.

The scream in my head suddenly climbs to an
unthinkable level as a pain I have never experienced before rises from my legs
through the rest of my body. I give up and the clouds of darkness consume me
entirely.

Slowly, my eyes open to a blur. I blink a couple
of times and my vision clears. Above me is the distinct ceiling of the
simulation room. The same one in which, just a few weeks ago, I was teaching
the Genesys to jump up to touch.

I roll my head over to the side and am
immediately met by Fe’s eyes. She smiles at me and sits up. “He’s awake.”

“What happened?” I try to sit up but a dull pain
in my leg keeps me on my back.

“Just stay still.” She squeezes my hand and I
realize that she’s been holding it this entire time. A small group gathers
around me, including Titan.

“Welcome back from the dead, buddy,” Cal says
with a sly smile.

“How long was I out?” I push myself onto my
elbows.

“Maybe twelve hours,” Hydro responds.

“What?” My head struggles to make sense of this.
It felt like seconds.

“Easy, man, you were injured. Remember?” Al
looks down at my leg and I follow his gaze to see it wrapped in bandages.

Everything rushes back into my memory.
The missiles; scrambling to get everyone down here; Ev.
I
shoot up into a sitting position, ignoring the pain. “Where’s Ev?”

“Take it easy, Atom,” Titan interjects. “She’s
fine. She’s in that back corner, sleeping.”

I look towards the corner and then at Fe.

“She’s doing fine,” Fe says. “You really should
rest some more. You lost a lot of blood, especially after Mag pulled the piece
of shrapnel out.”

Mag has kept her distance from me. Her shyness
is endearing. When she looks over at me, I mouth the words ‘Thank you’ and she
smiles back.

“We need to figure out what’s going on.”
 
I look around at the group.

“Titan has got it covered. Just rest up,” Cal
says. It surprises me coming from him with the rough past he shares with Titan.
It does however put me at ease.

I look at Titan. “Any news?”

“Sodi and I took the elevator up a couple of
hours ago.” Titan explains. “We didn’t get out of the elevator, so all we could
do was listen. It seems like the missiles have stopped. I figured that, with
you and Ev recovering, we would be better off down here until one or both of
you were ready before we tried to leave. Either that or wait until someone came
down.”

I’m impressed by Titan’s instincts. There isn’t
much that I would have done differently. “Thank you, Titan.”

He smiles at me and walks away. Cal, Al, Hydro
and K all take a seat around Fe and me.

“What happened?” K asks.

“The outsiders shot missiles at us,” Fe jumps in
before I can say anything.

“Why?” K prods.

The group looks at me and I can tell that the
others who are sitting a little farther away have turned their attention to
hear what I’m about to say. I adjust my legs to put less pressure on the one
that’s bandaged up.

“Because they are trying to survive. They know
that the scientist’s plan is to set off nuclear bombs to purge the earth of the
current population, so that the twelve of us can start it over. The outsiders
are doing everything they can to stop us.” I look around and see that every eye
is on me. In the far corner, Ev has woken up and is also listening in.

“Why do they have to die in order for us to
live?” Fe asks.

“Rene and the other scientists believe that
their tendency towards selfishness and war will rub off on us,” I say.

“They also don’t want us to mix our superior
genes with their inferior ones,” Ev speaks up. I smile at her but she doesn’t
return the gesture. She continues. “We were created with enhanced genes that
make us immune to most diseases. Our genes also give us the advanced physical
and mental ability that will help us survive through the ice age.”

I actually had not thought of that before. Even
if the outsiders were to be spared, the ice age would most likely kill off the
majority of the population.

“Well the outsiders can all die for all I care,”
Sil says as he leans back against the wall.

“Exactly,” Sodi adds. “Anyone who wants to kill
us doesn’t deserve a place on this earth.” A few people mumble in agreement.

“They aren’t savages. They are just defending themselves,”
Hydro yells back. This kicks off a shouting match between the Genesys. Titan,
Sil and Sodi all seem to be in favor of the eradication of the outsiders. The
rest, with the exception of Ev and I, seem to be outsider apologists.

Ev and I have been through and learned enough to
accept both sides of the argument. We have come to the realization that there
is no right answer and we just need to accept things as they are. As the voices
rise, I see that I need to get control of the situation before it gets any more
heated.

“Enough!” I yell over everyone. I pull myself to
my feet and place all my weight on my left leg. It only helps to alleviate the
pain in my right a little. The Genesys have all quieted and have turned to face
me. I close my eyes and take a deep breath to ease the dizziness that is
climbing to my head.

“It doesn’t matter.” I open my eyes. “Agree with
what the outsiders do or don’t. It doesn’t matter. The scientists have already
decided their fate.”

The group looks around at each other. Some
appear to want to say something, but they bite their tongues. They know that I’m
right. Continuing to argue their point won’t change the eventual outcome. After
a few moments, everyone disperses into small groups. Some lay back and others
talk.

Fe has joined Hydro and Al near the weapons
cache. I decide that, before I join them, I should go over and check on Ev.
Mag, K and Ox have all joined her. As I gingerly make my way over, I see that
Ev is moving around as she talks and I’m glad to see that she has recovered
from the brink of death.

“How are you feeling?” I sit down amongst the
group, wincing as I do so.

“I’m fine.” She looks at me without making eye
contact. “Thank you for what you did.”

“You would have done the same.” I smile. She
gives me a slight smile, but still won’t look me in the eye. It makes me feel
uncomfortable, but I’m guessing that she’s embarrassed about what happened. Now
that things have settled I see that her face and body are covered in cuts.

Ev and I sit in an awkward silence. K, Mag and
Ox aren’t making it any better with their quietude. I’m about to get back to my
feet when K breaks the silence. “How bad do you think it is up there?”

“It was pretty horrible,” Ev replies.

“I was on the roof of the library when it
started and they were launching a lot over the walls,” I add. Ev shoots me a
disappointed look that takes me by surprise. I know that she isn’t a fan of the
roof, but the look seems to carry more weight than mere disapproval.

Just as the blanket of silence is about to
settle on the group again, the sounds of the mechanical gears of the elevator
come to life. Everyone turns their gaze to the elevator doors and I see out of
the corner of my eyes that the other groups have done the same. A sudden fear
tears through my body. What if it’s the outsiders?

“Everybody take cover! If you are close to the
weapons cache, grab a weapon!” I scream as I jump to my feet. The pain in my
leg rushes blood to my head and I fall back to the ground. I take a deep breath
as I rise to my feet again.

Titan is at the weapons cache handing out the
rifles and I see the Genesys hide behind pads and pillars. I run to the
simulation computer and manage to put in a code just as I hear the elevator
doors open. Instantly the room transforms into a dense forest in the middle of
the night. I look around and can’t see any of the other Genesys. The simulation
has hid us all well.

“Do not go after them! Let them come to you!” I
yell, knowing that I just gave up my position, but I need to be the general.

When the slight echoes of my voice fade, the
quite of the room is only broken up by the sound of footsteps of the intruders
exiting the elevator.

“
Apokalupto
!” I hear
Rene’s distinct voice say. The simulation disappears and I see Rene surrounded
by drones. A shot fires from my left and it hits one of the drones in the
chest. The drone falls to the ground.

“Hold your fire!” I yell.

“Sorry,” Sil says as he steps out from behind a
pillar.

The rest of the Genesys step out from their
hiding places and walk towards the center of the room. Rene begins to walk
towards the middle, so I slowly make my way to the assembly.

“Is everyone okay?” Rene looks around. He sees
my bandaged leg. “What happened to you?”

I look down at my leg and then towards Ev. “A
hole blew in the wall as I was running towards the elevator and some shards hit
my leg. Mag and the others took care of it.”

“We will get you to the medical ward when we get
out of here. Actually, all of you will head down there to get looked over.”
Rene speaks with an authoritative tone that I have not heard in a while.

“What happened?” Cal asks.

“The outsiders attacked us with short range
missiles. They caused a lot of damage but we have it all under control,” Rene
explains.
 

“Is everyone okay?” Hydro asks.

“We lost a lot of drones, Dennis and a few
others,” Rene says. I look over at Titan and see that he is hurt by the news of
Dennis’ death. They must have gotten to know each other when I broke his arm.

I start to feel a sadness grow within me too.
Dennis is the first person I have known to die. Grant and 80 both left the
compound, but as far as I know they are still alive. There is still a chance I
will see them again and maybe talk to them. Dennis, however, is gone, and even
though I didn’t know him well, I still knew him. I look at the group and see
tears rolling down Ev’s cheeks. She knew him too.