Finally, another post. It's been far too long.
Lots of things have happened.
Finished another semester.
Spent the summer back at home working with the congregation.
Got engaged.
Visited another city for 11 days to hold a Bible camp.
Had a birthday.
Planned birthday stuff.
(С Днем Рождения, Дорогая)
Anyway, without further delay...
The Promised Land: (Part 30) Echo
Eden clapped when they were done. “That was amazing!”
Asher smiled as he rested the guitar on the ground. “Glad you liked it. Did you recognize it at all?”
Eden shook her head. “Never heard it before. Is it new?”
“No, it’s actually pretty old.” He shrugged. “It’s all right. Most people haven’t heard it. I was just wondering. Any requests?”
“Yeah,” Caden cut in holding up the bags. “Let’s eat.”
“Nice to see you too, Blitz.” Asher stood up and clapped an arm around Caden’s shoulders. The blonde towered a good foot above his friend. “Thanks for the food,” Asher said as he made a grab for one of the bags. Caden ducked out from under the giant and handed a bag to his brother. “Nice try.”
Reaching into the other bag, he pulled out a box and gave the bag to Eden.
Peeking into the bag, Eden saw a white box similar to the one Caden had. Taking it out, she opened the cardboard container to find rice, beans, and green vegetables that looked as though they had been canned or dried at some point. “Lovely,” she thought. She took a fork and started eating. “I wonder how long they’ve been eating like this. When was the last time they had any real food?”
As they ate, Asher and Blitz exchanged various stories of their adventures. Asher said he continued to search for someone with a name that sounded like Churro. Apparently, this person had been missing for a while. Caden talked about a couple missions he and Shiloh had been sent on. Eden was particularly interested to hear what he and Shy were doing in Freedom before they met her, but he didn’t seem to mention anything about that. Every now and then, Shiloh would get asked a question. He would respond in sign language and Caden would verbalize what was communicated.
At first, Eden enjoyed the stories. They were full of adventure and close calls. However, Eden lost interest as they went on. The three guys had such different experiences from hers. Aside from her time in this future, Eden really had nothing with which to compare. Her life up until now had been fairly average. Born to two well-off parents, her life might have been better off than most. She never lacked for anything, much less the necessities. Here, these soldiers talked about scrounging supplies off dead bodies or abandoned houses. Eden lived in a house too big for her family with the full assurance of security, but she listened to stories of hiding in poor living conditions while being hunted. She had nothing close to the tales of injuries and scars. There was that one time she fell off a horse, but that was it. Try as she might to ignore it, the gap between these four lives was ever apparent to her. When Eden stopped to think about it, she found herself growing homesick.
Eventually, the chestnut-haired woman from the meeting earlier came by.
“There you are!” She approached the group and gestured to Eden. “I have a room ready for you. Blitz and Boomer, you’re in wing three. Room eight, as usual.”
“Thanks, Misty,” Caden replied.
“No problem!” she said cheerily. “Oh, Blitz! Before I forget, the professor wants to see you first thing tomorrow.”
“Of course. You headed this way, Ash?”
“Just a few rooms down from yours,” the blond stood and picked up his belongings. “I’ll walk back with you in case you’re still scared of the dark.”
“Laugh it up, Ash,” Caden punched his friend. “You were the one who jumped, remember?”
The two continued talking as they walked away. Eden stood to follow Misty. Turning to Shiloh, she asked, “Are we meeting somewhere tomorrow?”
He shrugged then pointed at the floor with raised eyebrows.
“Meet back here? Sure. I don’t know when I’ll be up.” She was already planning to sleep in as long as she could. “See you tomorrow.”
She followed the patient Misty down one of the halls. Her guide tried to get her to talk about various interests, but Eden had already used the last of her conversational energy. She was anticipating a full night of sleep.
~*~*~*~
Shiloh walked out of the doctor’s office and took a deep breath of air that didn’t smell full of antiseptic chemicals. He was never particularly happy to see Doctor Ross. He was a decent enough physician, if one had to rate doctors who prodded him with sharp instruments. But the doctor often seemed to look on the twins with contempt and Shy had a pretty good idea why. Ross didn’t approve of the general’s use of children in military operations, no matter how capable they were. Shiloh actually would have sided with him, had his opinion carried any weight. “He probably just doesn’t like that Grace’s healing ability is better than anything he could pull off,” Shy thought, subconsciously rubbing the most recently added scar. “I don’t know why I’m the one who keeps getting hit. I’m practically invisible everywhere else, but I still attract all the bullets. Maybe I’m magnetized.” The last wound wasn’t his first brush with death, but it certainly was the closest one so far. Shy headed toward the hub. Cay would eventually catch up when he was finished with the doctor. “In the meantime…” Shy looked around for a particular girl with long blond hair. He had just caught sight of Eden when a loud siren went off. A thunderous boom broke out and the whole complex shook. The ever-white lights flickered and dust rained from above. Screams instantly filled the halls as well as Shiloh’s ears. He searched the area again, this time with more urgency. People ran by him in all directions, making it impossible to- there! A glimpse of her familiar face and Shiloh took off in that direction. Fighting through the people, he made it to the spot he saw Eden last just as another blast shook the complex again.
“They found us!” someone shouted. “They’re going to bury us!” a woman cried out. Shiloh pushed by a couple guards who were running toward the exit. Protocol demanded that he join them and protect the base, or more specifically the package. But he ignored protocol and continued looking for Eden.
“Shiloh!”
He turned to his left and saw her, just a few yards away. Shy started toward her, but a force from behind knocked him to the ground. Landing hard on his side, pain laced up his body from the healing gunshot wound. Clenching his teeth with a cringe, he rolled onto his other side.
“Shiloh!” Eden was beside him again. “Are you ok?”
The flickering lights died and the base was shrouded in total darkness.
