The Future of Eden

Chapter 3

(Lark's pov)

Just as we have organized ourselves to carry him, Lachlan wakes up. Well, not really, but a little bit. He groans and rubs his eyes, then he's out again. A minute later, he opens his eyes and looks around. He reaches up and touches the cut on the back of his head, wincing in pain. Flame starts asking him simple questions like where he is, what his name is, etc. "Well, it doesn't look like you have a severe head injury. You seem fine to me, but you will still need to get that cut looked at," Flame says. "Can you walk? Or at least stand so we can get you out of here without dragging you up these stairs?" Angel asks. Lachlan nods, and Ash and Carnelian pull him up. He stumbles and almost falls, but catches himself on the wall. Rosalba offers to help, but Lachlan is very independent and makes it clear that he can walk on his own.

A few minutes later, we all made our way out of the Control room, up the stairs, and out of the garden. Lachlan seems perfectly fine as if nothing ever happened. I know for a fact that everyone one of us had a million questions for him, but I don't want to overwhelm him, especially if we were wrong, and he doesn't know about... about Rowan. So, we wait for Mira in a clearing about 30 meters from the garden's entrance. In dead silence. Surrounded by the real, natural, living world. Oh Earth, what did we do to deserve such beauty? I marvel in the presence of a massive tree with a trunk at least 10 feet wide. Ash, Angel, and even Flame seem mezmorized as well. Deep down, we all knew from the second Rowan told us that there was life outside of Eden, but to see it with our own eyes... it was incredible.

I hear voices and footsteps behind me and I stand up from my spot on the ground. The rest of the group do the same, calling out our location. Mira and three others find their way to us, surprised to see Lachlan standing and awake. One man Mira brought steps back abruptly and yells, "That's the man from the desert! That's the one that crossed the desert by himself to find us!" He and the other two men begin running off through the forest, Mira calls for their return, but they are too far off or just too scared.

"My Earth, Lachlan. What did you do to make them so scared of you?" I scoff. It's the first time I've spoken directly to him since the night before. He almost looks annoyed at the question, or more so, who it came from. "Oh, er, I'm not really sure...," he says, looking up from the ground. I give him a look of that's a load of bull. "Well, I did threaten them... a lot, when I was captured." He chuckles sadly. I see Mira and Carnelian's faces change to the same look of concern and confusion. "What do you mean 'captured'? They told us you were so sick from crossing the desert that you weren't waking up..." Carnelian says, speaking to Lachlan but looking at Rosalba. She hangs her head, though I can't tell if it's out of shame or grief.

Lachlan laughs sarcastically and narrows his eyes at Rosalba, yet not daring to disrespect her. "Is that what they told you? No, I was out for a few hours but I definitely woke up. Originally, they were trying to heal me for whatever reason, but apparently it started to get out that there was a refuge from Eden, so they tried to kill me. I heard them say that they wanted to make the death look natural, that I had died after crossing the 'big deadly desert,'" he scoffs. Both Carnelian and Mira look surprised. I know that they both thought this 'Harmonia' place was perfect and that they were shocked when they found out they were going to kill Lachlan, but why were they surprised that the leaders didn't want people to know that? Seems pretty obvious to me, especially after being under control by Chief Elena. I learned a lot about corrupt leadership from her.

Lachlan starts walking in the direction the men ran off in, and we all follow shortly behind him. He barely looks where he steps, and nearly trips over a tree root. Lachlan stops abruptly letting everyone pass him. When I approach I stop next to him, hesitantly placing my hand on his shoulder. I'm not going to pretend like I'm the only one who may have lost a lover. "Hey." I say softly. Once we are out of earshot, Lachlan and I continue walking. "I'm sorry...I..." Lachlan stutters, finally looking up to meet my eyes. I almost stop, and I can't stop the look of pity that crosses my face for less than a second.

He's not apologizing for his behavior. He's talking about Rowan.

I unconsciously tilt my head, looking at his face, puffy and red, stained with tears. I suck in a short breath, my heart racing with the inevitable. I've only seen Lachlan cry once - after the explosion - when Rook told him that Rowan was dead and I happened to be in the room with a few others. My eyes grow wide with realization. A realization I had from when I first saw Rowan lying under that sheet of glass. On the surface I had hope, hope that we could save her and that I could kiss her again once more. "I'm sorry..." he repeats as we walk, falling farther and farther behind from the others.

Rowan is dead.

"Rowan is gone, Lark," Lachlan says miserably. "She's gone and... and it's my fault," he whimpers, looking straight ahead. "What?" I ask, with no idea what he means. I hear him choke back a sob as he walks with his head hung. He's tall and muscular, yet he looks more broken than anyone I have ever seen. He once again looks me dead in the eyes, sending a shiver of fear down my spine. He tells me everything.