Eve sat crouched in the shadows on a fire escape ten feet above the alley. It was a little past eleven o’clock at night and the eatery had just closed. Soon, one of the employees would take out the garbage, including the leftover bread and produce they had delivered fresh every morning. It was this she was after. She’d been in New Delphi for a week and had been subsisting on the refuse from restaurants and supermarkets. The food at the Compound had been nutritious and had filled all daily requirements, but it had been bland and tasteless and had consisted of vitamin-fortified military rations, so she felt no compunction about eating a little wilted lettuce or stale bread.
A shaft of light was thrown onto the street below and Eve tensed expectantly. A young man in a stained apron hauled out three bags of garbage and hefted them into the dumpster directly below her. In the MidCity all eateries and most homes were equipped with biocomp machines which broke down organic material until it was almost nothing, but here in the OuterCity they were not as commonplace and most biodegradable trash was thrown out. She’d have to be quick because she wasn’t the only person who lived off of the discards. The door shut and locked. Eve hoisted herself over the railing and let herself hang for a moment while she positioned herself. Then she dropped and landed on the dumpster, balancing on the rim. She sat on her haunches and pulled one of the garbage bags close to her. Tearing a hole in it she pulled it to her face and sniffed. From the smell she knew that it didn’t contain what she wanted. Tossing it aside she brought a second bag to her.
The noise of a scuffled footstep made her stop her search for a moment. There were several figures standing at the head of the alleyway. They were dressed in filthy rags, they stank, and were obviously after the same thing she was, but she imagined that the sight of her frightened them. That wouldn’t last long, however, and it had been only a few days ago that an emaciated, wild-eyed man had come at her with a broken bottle. She’d been able to easily evade him, but it had put her on her guard. Ripping open the bag she held, she sniffed again. Locating her objective, she tore the bag open all the way. She grabbed several brown-spotted bananas and half a loaf of crusty bread. Sparing one last glance at the group of vagrants now congregating in the mouth of the alley, with a few brave souls daring to slowly come closer, she stood up and flipped backwards off the dumpster, landing facing the small crowd.
She walked backwards a few paces until she reached a junction, then slid out of their view behind another building. Keeping to alleys and side streets, she traveled the nine blocks to the abandoned building where she’d made her home for the past seven days. The building was five stories high, built out of crumbling brick. She climbed up the fire escape on the side of the building until she reached the fourth floor. She removed a board that was covering the window opening and crawled through. Then she replaced the board and went up the stairs to the fifth floor. She figured that if anyone came looking for her, it would be easiest to escape from the roof.
Someone had made this their home before she arrived and they’d left behind a dirty mattress and moth-eaten blanket. It had been evident from the undisturbed layer of dust on everything, however, that the former inhabitant had left one day and not returned. Eve sat down to consume her meager fare. She ate mechanically, not really tasting the food. Not for the first time, she found herself wondering if she was, indeed, the only person to survive the destruction of the Compound.
Later, she curled up on the musty-smelling mattress and listened to the sounds of the Outer City coming to life in the night before falling into a dreamless sleep.
+====*====+
The next night found her in a different alleyway, this time sitting on top of the wall that formed the dead end of the street. A commotion at the entrance to the street caught her attention. Three men had stopped a young woman and were talking to her. The girl made as if to go around them, but the trio wouldn’t let her pass. She became visibly upset and when one of the men reached out a hand in her direction she slapped it away and turned to run. The men caught her before she’d gotten even a few steps and they dragged her farther into the alley. She began struggling and one of the men grabbed her around her waist with one arm, using his other hand to cover her mouth. A second man began closing in on her, but she kicked him in the groin and he doubled over. The third man threw back his head and laughed.
Eve watched all of this with bemused interest. She wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but the young woman involved didn’t seem to be enjoying herself. The girl appeared angry and frightened. The man she had kicked straightened and advanced on her once again. It was really none of her concern, and she’d made it a point to have as little contact as possible with the citizens of the city, but she found herself captivated by the plight of the girl, attacked without provocation by a superior force. Without really realizing that she was doing it, she rose from her sitting position and stood atop the wall. Her lithe form was silhouetted against the full, low-hanging moon, but the foursome didn’t notice. She hopped off the wall, landing silently on the balls of her feet.
Eve walked towards the group until she stood only a few feet away. “If you cease and desist your hostile actions, you may leave unharmed,” she said clearly to the men.
They whirled around, startled, and spotted her standing there.
“Who the hell are you?” One of the men demanded.
“I am Eve,” she replied.
“Well, Eve,” said the man, “unless you want to stick around to play after we’re done with her highness, here, I suggest you get your grungy ass outta here.”
Eve looked to the girl and saw the stark fear in her eyes. “Your suggestion is unacceptable.” She approached the man holding the girl. One of the other men reached out and grabbed her arm. She grasped it with her other arm and twisted it, pulling upward and tearing it out of its socket. The man cried out in pain and backed away, cradling his injured limb. The other man grabbed her in a bear hug from behind. She snapped her head back, breaking his nose. She broke his grip and then turned, punching him in the solar plexus and leaving him gasping for breath.
The third man abandoned his hold on the girl and squared off against Eve. He picked up something from the ground which turned out to be a length of heavy chain. He began swinging it in circles over his head. He darted forward and extended his arm, but Eve ducked out of the way. He continued swinging the chain. The second time he attacked Eve didn’t duck. She stepped back and raised her arm, allowing the chain to strike it and then wrap around it. She immediately pulled it toward herself. The man refused to let go, though, and was dragged forward. She grabbed the opposite end of the chain next to his hand and dashed around so she was behind him. She brought her hands up until the chain was around his neck and tightened it, choking him. She maintained her grip until he went limp, and then allowed him to drop to the ground.
The other two men were huddled together by the wall, watching her with fearful eyes. The girl was staring at her with something akin to wonder. The young woman edged forward and nudged the man on the ground with her toe. “Is he…dead?” She asked breathlessly.
Eve shook her head. “No, just unconscious. He will awaken in a few minutes with a headache, but nothing worse.”
Evidently not thinking that enough, the girl drew back her leg and kicked him.
Eve turned and began walking away, and heard running footsteps behind her. The girl came up alongside her. “Hey, aren’t you going to give me a chance to thank you?”
“It’s not necessary,” said Eve, and continued walking.
“I beg to differ,” replied the girl, remaining beside her. “If it hadn’t been for you, those guys would have seriously messed me up. Among other things.”
“You’re welcome.”
There was a moment of silence. “My name is Sara.”
Eve didn’t know how to respond, so she didn’t. Another moment of silence.
“I don’t want to be a pain, or anything, but after what just happened, suddenly I don‘t feel so secure out by myself. I live just a few blocks over, and I was wondering if you’d walk home with me. I know that sounds weird, but I’d feel much safer knowing you were with me. I’m really not supposed to be out alone anyway, and when my brother hears about this he’s going to be furious. I’m sure he’ll be grateful that you helped me, and I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but you look like you could use a shower and a hot meal.” The girl said all of this very fast while struggling to keep up with Eve.
Eve stopped abruptly at looked down at herself. Her appearance hadn’t been a priority since she’d left the Compound, but she suddenly realized how ragged she must appear, even in New Delphi. Her polylycratine suit was intact, but was dirty and stained. Her arms were equally filthy and she had no doubt that her face was smudged and grimy. Her short hair was lank and greasy, and was beginning to grow out and obscure her eyes. She also thought she’d lost perhaps ten pounds since she’d been living in the city.
Taking her reflection as a silent acquiesance, Sara cheerfully hooked her arm through Eve’s and began leading her toward one of the more densely populate areas of the OuterCity, chatting away about her home, her brother, her friends, and anything else that apparently popped into her head. Being assaulted and most likely very nearly murdered obviously hadn’t had a long-lasting impact on her, a likely consequence of growing up surrounded by violence.
Later, Eve wouldn’t be able to say exactly why she allowed herself to be led away by Sara, but as a GELF she’d been taught to obey unquestioningly, so perhaps it was a holdover from her former life.
An Interlude with General Merrick
General Merrick stared at the report on his desk. According to it, there was a good probability that approximately 150 GELFs had survived the destruction of the Indian Lake Compound. That meant that 350 or so of the experiments had been killed, but Merrick was uncomfortable with the idea of so many of them remaining.
He knew that engaging a military detachment to track them down would attract unwanted attention, and that their chances of success would be slim. There was really only one option, but he was hesitant to put it into action. It would mean employing a squad of the GELFs currently residing at his training facility in Colorado to locate and eradicate them. A case of fighting fire with fire. He had no doubt that they were up to the task, but if Colonel Solane sent out her own unit, which he had no doubt that she would, he ran the risk of her encountering his GELFs. That would be unacceptable.
After a few more moments of silent contemplation he prepared to compose a communication to Brigadier General Carl Whitaker, the head of operations at the Rocky Mountain facility. He gave instructions for a team of twenty-five GELFs to be outfitted for a seek and destroy mission. They were to track down and eliminate all of the surviving GELFs from Indian Lake. And if they encountered any U.S.N.M. troops they, too, were to be eliminated. The emphasis, however, was on stealth.
The General sighed and ran a hand through his thinning, iron grey hair. He had been sitting behind a desk too long, ever since being promoted to his current rank. With the United States' recent policy of near-isolationism, there had been little call for soldiers with his field expertise. He briefly toyed with the notion of leading his GELF corps himself, but decided that his absence would be too conspicuous.
He sent the communication on a secure line and decided to take the rest of the afternoon off. Maybe do a little fishing.
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