The Eden Projects (FINAL EDITING)

Chapter 31. Those we Keep.

Zak's chest rose and fell in slow, shallow waves as Fog stood.

Ace paused. "Is he alright?"

Fog nudged Zak's arm with the toe of his boot.

It twitched once before going still again. "He's out cold."

Kasper grimaced. There wasn't much he could say. Whatever the bullets were doing to him felt like jagged glass being pumped through his veins, carving through every delicate pathway with slow, deliberate cruelty.

It hurt.

It hurt so much that somewhere beneath it all, the pain almost felt good. He clenched his jaw and said nothing at all. 

"You know..." Ace rested a hand against the pistol at his side. "They aren't nearly as nice as I am. The humans. They don't exactly have the best track record." He patted the holstered weapon. "This is the weapon of the future. Made to hurt us. Not them." He turned the pistol slightly. "This is what they're gonna use. If your buddy over there got shot with one of these..." He nodded toward Zak. "...it'd be nothing more than a normal bullet."

Ace crouched in front of him. "Are you hearing me?" 

"He's not my buddy," Kasper said quietly. Anything louder would've brought the blood gathering in his throat up with his words.

Ace's brow rose.

He glanced over at Zak's unconscious body before looking back. "Whether you like it or not... He's the only person left who cares about you. No matter what you do. Or don't do. I'd call that a buddy. Wouldn't you?" Ace's head tilted. "Not me, no. I care about what you destroy. Don't confuse the two."

Kasper looked over at Zak.

He lay crumpled in the mud.

Kasper's eyes burned.

Ace rose to his feet. "Take him back to the camp up the road. There are two of mine waiting there. They have orders to shoot if you kill anyone else."

"I only want you." Kasper swallowed against the blood in his throat. "I know you." His voice barely carried. "I've seen you before. I know I have." He looked up at Ace. "Tell me what happened. What did I do?"

Ace regarded him for a long moment. "Like I said, I only care about what you destroy." He rose and turned away. "I do wonder why I was there, though."

Kasper sank back onto his heels with a ragged wheeze.

"There's nowhere else to go now. Nowhere left to run. No more road trips. When it's time for the next move-" Ace rested a hand on the truck door. "-I 'll find you. I'm done dealing with humans. From here on out, my business is with you."

"Wait..." Kasper dragged himself forward. His name. Ace. "Ace."

Ace sniffed once, clearing his throat. "My father used to say something." He lingered for only a moment before speaking. "A lion who eats other lions finds it hard to live among them. Especially when he knows what they taste like. Especially when they act like sheep too."

Silence settled between them.

"What do you make of it?" Ace stood there. Still as stone. Hard as an iron statue. "It'll come to you. The same way it came to me. Then we can really talk. But for now, learn your differences."

"Humans."

"Us."

"There are similarities. That's nature."

"But then there's what we nurture."

His hand tightened around the truck door.

"Learn that, and I'll let you in on the secret."