Free EDEN (The Union Series) by Phillip Richards Page B

toxic
atmosphere, and even they had been genetically altered centuries ago. The birds
were just another display of the provincial wealth.
    It was peaceful there
in the park, sat overlooking the awesome metropolis that sprang out of the
crater, but there was something sinister about it that turned my stomach. How
could these people live like this, when others were dying less than a hundred
kilometres away?
    I don’t belong here,
I thought, I belong in the Bosque. Wherever there was fighting, that was where
I was meant to be.
    I suddenly felt a
presence beside me, and spun around to see a young girl standing next to the
bench. She took a step back in surprise at my sudden movement.
    Recovering her
composure quickly, she smiled at me sweetly. ‘Hi.’
    I frowned at the
disturbance to my solitude. ‘Can I help you?’
    She held her smile,
despite my brusque response, one hand fiddling with the golden hair that flowed
over her shoulders. She was pretty - I would have to have been blind not to
notice - and probably in her early twenties, not that it was relevant. I wanted
a rare moment of peace and quiet, and she was ruining it.
    ‘I saw you walking
around the city,’ she continued in a strong Paraiso accent, ‘and just wondered
if you’d like for someone to show you around?’
    There was no way the
girl had followed me all over the city on her own, I thought, her friends were
probably nearby. Where were we? At school?
    ‘No, thanks,’ I
replied, ‘I’d rather be left alone.’
    The smile faded. ‘Are
you sure? I know …’
    ‘I’m pretty sure,’ I
cut in, shocking her into silence. ‘Otherwise I wouldn’t have said it.’
    With that I stood,
walking across the grass to make a quick exit. I had been with women before, it
wasn’t that I didn’t know what to do, but I just wanted to be left alone.
     
    ‘Andy, you unsociable
bastard!’
    I cringed, coming to
a halt just outside the gate to the barracks. I recognised the voice shouting
out from behind me - it was Myers, his confidence fuelled by alcohol. I could
almost touch the gate, I was so close, and I could see the whites in the conscript
guard’s eyes. I was tempted to simply keep walking, but I knew that I had to
respond, I couldn’t be seen to run away from my own section.
    I turned, seeing both
Myers and Skelton clutching takeaway food they had found somewhere nearby.
    I forced a smile. ‘How’s
it going?’
    ‘Not bad,’ Skelton
replied, taking a massive bite from some kind of greasy mess wrapped in foil.
‘You coming out?’
    ‘I might do later …’
I lied.
    ‘Come on,’ Myers beckoned
insistently. ‘You can’t have the whole section out on the drink while you stay
in camp being boring!’
    I desperately sought
an excuse to make my escape, but couldn’t think of anything that would get the
pair of them to let me go. My men already thought that I was losing the plot,
and hiding away from them wouldn’t help.
    ‘Don’t be a bell end …’
Skelton said, as though his words added weight to their argument.
    I sighed. ‘Fine. But
only a couple.’
     
    Bars in Paraiso were
no different from anywhere else I had been, although the alcohol brands were
different. I sipped at my drink, trying to make conversation with the drunken
members of my section. They were in good spirits, having been told that Gritt
had stabilised and would make a full recovery.
    ‘Here’s to Gritt,’
Puppy held up a glass of oily green liquid, swaying precariously on his
barstool. ‘May he forever shit out the hole on the side of his arse for leaving
Eden early!’
    The lads cheered,
clinking glasses together in their unsympathetic toast. As they did so somebody
caught my eye further along the bar, and I growled as I realised who it was.
    I rolled my eyes up
to the ceiling. ‘Really?’
    ‘What?’ Myers asked
from where he sat beside me.
    I nodded toward the
girl staring at me from the far side of the bar. ‘Her. She’s been following
me.’
    The young