Free Eve of Man (The Harvest Book 2) by Anne Ferretti Page B

him there as well, since he
refused to go to the diner where his dog dish was usually kept.
    “Any change?” Madison walked over to Luke.
    “No. Same today as yesterday.” Luke swallowed hard,
choking back the lump in his throat.
    “Zack’s doing more tests today. Maybe he’ll find
something.” Madison rubbed Luke’s shoulders. They’d been through so much
together, she thought of Luke as family. Him, Ed and, and darn it to hell
anyway, Austin as well.
    “We need a real doctor.”
    “Zack’s pretty smart. He’ll figure it out. I know he
will,” Madison said this with more conviction than she believed. And her doubt
wasn’t because she didn’t have confidence in Zack, he was a genius for heaven’s
sakes, but they had no idea what they were dealing with. She wondered more than
once if maybe they shouldn’t be near Austin at all, if maybe he was contagious
and should be quarantined. This suggestion wasn’t well received when she
broached the topic with Luke, so she stopped asking, but didn’t stop wondering.
Madison pulled a chair next to Luke’s and sat down. She wanted to tell Luke
about what’d happened when she went to see Austin, but no matter how she worded
the scene over in her head everything sounded like craziness. Luke wouldn’t
want to hear that she thought Austin had changed, that something was seriously
wrong.
    “Tell me about Bliss,” Madison said, deciding it best
to keep her doubts to herself for now.
    “It was beautiful,” Luke replied. “Like a tropical
island.”
    “Warm and sunny?”
    “Very.”
    Madison sighed. She missed the sun, the beach, her
mom. She missed hearing her mom nagging at her. For the longest time she had
been able to conjure up her mother’s voice. After the initial drop, when
Madison had feared she was the only human left alive, her mother’s voice kept
her going, kept her from losing her mind. She hadn’t heard much from her of
late.
    “Memories fade,” Madison said out loud not meaning to
do so.
    “What?”
    “Nothing. Um...never mind. So tropical and what else?”
she asked. 
    “Weird creatures, like dinosaurs, and giant birds with
huge colorful feathers. It was crazy, like Alice in Wonderland crazy.”
    “What about the temple? And the Adita? What were they
like?”
    Luke glanced at Madison, his lips pressed tightly
together. “Have you ever watched a lion stalk its prey?
    Madison nodded. “Not up close, but you know on TV.”
    “My dad took me to Africa when I was ten. Most kids go
to Disney World, I went to Africa. Anyway, we were riding across this open plain
when the guide stopped and pointed. Fifty feet from where we’d stopped a pride
was lying in the shade under a tree.  It was the lions and their cubs. My dad
let me use his binoculars and I remember looking into the lion’s eyes. I knew
she was looking right at me and was going to eat me. My dad thought it was
hilarious, but I had nightmares for months.”
    Luke turned from Austin and lowered his voice. “The
Adita remind me of the lions.”
    “Like animals?”
    “Yeah, kind of, but highly intelligent,” Luke replied.
“And I don’t think we’ve seen the last of ‘em. I think they’re getting ready
for something bigger and probably a whole lot worse for us.”
    “What makes you think that?”
     Before Luke could answer the overhead lights began to
flash. Madison and Luke shared a look of trepidation. Who could be approaching
the bunker? Other survivors seemed unlikely and, even more so, that they would
know how to find the bunker. Luke and Madison rushed out of the room. They were
joined along the way by Colin and Charlie. By the time they reached the command
center twelve of the fourteen bunker occupants had crowded into the room. 
    “Where’s Zack?” Ed asked.
    Zack burst into the room. “I’m here.”
    The group parted allowing him to reach the computer
controlling the cameras. On the screen they watched a vehicle turn off the
highway onto the road leading to the