Part 12: Infected

The Promised Land:
(Part 12) Infected

Eden wasn’t sure how long she stayed with the children. It could have been years. The sun, if this future had one, must have been starting to set because it was growing dark. The streets, once filled with casualties of genocide, were nearly clear. The dead had all been moved away for burial. The injured were stabilized and moved to homes that would care for them. The group of children had dwindled, as relatives of the deceased took in their own. Caden came up to Eden’s group of cold and exhausted children.

“We can go now,” he whispered as he picked up a little girl and carried her in his arms. The girl fell asleep on his shoulder almost instantly. As Eden stood up, an older woman joined them. An orange scarf pulled her curly black hair away from her face. A worn smile was swiftly replaced by a heavy sigh as she observed the kids. She picked up one of the sleepy toddlers and took the hand of an older child. Eden took hold of the remaining two youngsters’ hands and followed the woman to a dark blue minivan. All the children piled in with Caden and Eden. The woman took the wheel and started the trip back. The darkness outside deepened. Eden looked for stars, but saw none. She found herself nodding every now and then as she struggled to keep her eyes open. Before she knew it, they were already at the school. Eden yawned as the lady ushered the children out of her vehicle. Looking for Caden, Eden saw him entering the doors of the building. Jogging around the crew and to the door, Eden nearly ran into the girl in the yellow dress.

“You’re looking for Shiloh too, right?” the young girl asked. Her golden dress and bright eyes reminded Eden of a ray of sunshine. After Eden nodded, the girl pointed down a long hallway. “Second door on the right.”

Muttering her thanks, Eden followed Sunshine’s directions. She entered a small room lined with several beds, but only one was occupied. Shiloh was asleep and seemed to be breathing normally. Caden sat on one side of the bed and an older woman on the other.

“Is he… Is he going to be ok?”

“Yes, dear,” the woman replied. It was then that Eden realized she was sitting in a wheelchair. The woman rolled away from the bed and toward the door. “He is going to be just fine. I’ll just leave you kids alone.”

Eden moved aside so the lady could leave the room without restraint. Once she left, Eden pulled a chair over to the bed and sat down. Just as the woman said, Shiloh seemed to be doing just fine. He appeared to be sleeping peacefully. His twin, on the other hand, looked about to collapse. Caden folded his arms on the side of the bed and rested his chin on them. Aside from the bags under his eyes, he had dust, dirt, and dried blood on his clothes and in his hair. The poor kid actually looked worn out. Eden felt she was seeing Caden for who he really was: a child in the middle of a war and he was tired of acting like an adult.

“How are you holding up?” Eden asked.

It took a minute for him to realize she was talking to him. Either that or he didn’t feel like answering right away. “I’ll live.”

“Doesn’t sound very reassuring.”

“It’s more than can be said for a lot of people in Jericho today,” he answered in a low tone, trying to let his brother sleep.

“You’re still upset about that?”

Caden’s eyebrows scrunched up and Eden thought he was glaring at her for a moment. “How can you not be?” His tone of voice suggested his question was genuine.

Eden was hit with a wave of guilt, but she defended her position. “It’s not my world. What happened to those people is horrible, but I don’t want any part in this. I have a home I need to get back to. I’m sorry, but I’m sick and tired of living in this infected world.”

Caden’s head shot up. “YOU’RE sick of it?! You’ve been here three days,” he said, trying to keep his voice down. “You just got here! You haven’t been living in this world since the day you were born! You aren’t the father spilling his blood for his children. You aren’t the mother watching her kids die slowly one by one. You aren’t-”

At that moment, Shiloh shifted in his sleep. Caden sighed and waited a moment before continuing in a whisper. “You aren’t one of millions waiting… fighting… every hour of every day for a cure.”

Eden folded her arms and sat back in her chair. “Is that what these people are looking for… or just what you’re looking for?”

Again, he left the question unanswered.

“Caden… What if no one finds a cure?” Eden asked.

A soft knock interrupted them. Sunshine was standing in the doorway. “Dinner’s ready.”

Dinner? After all the adventure in her day, Eden hadn’t even thought about food. Or rather, she thought about it a few times in the moments of frequent silence, but she hadn’t realized exactly how hungry she was. Eden lightly patted Shiloh’s bed before getting up and heading to the door. When Caden didn’t follow, she turned around and asked, “You coming?”

Caden shook his head and returned to resting his chin on his arms.

“I’ll bring you a plate then,” Sunshine commented as she and Eden left the room.

“Thank you, Hope,” Eden heard Caden whisper as they left.

Eden wanted to ask Sunshine, whose real name was apparently Hope, how she knew Caden and Shiloh. And who the two older women were and why Caden seemed to trust them so easily. And how they managed to stop Shiloh from bleeding to death. Eden had so many questions, but she was too tired to put in the effort of asking. The two walked down the hall, turned a corner, and walked until they reached a room that looked like a refurbished school cafeteria. Many children were already eating at the long tables stretched across the room. Eden made sure to wash her hands at a sink in the back. She had actually forgotten about her bloodstained hands in her conversation with Caden. Her meal that night wasn’t much: a bowl of vegetable soup and slice of bread with a glass of water. She would have complained about it, but she was too hungry to care. Eden was still hungry when she went to bed that night, but the food was warm, the bed had a pillow and blanket, and she could rest in security. Just as soon as she crawled under the clean sheets that night, she fell asleep with one thought, “This isn’t real.”