The Eden Projects (FINAL EDITING)

Chapter 49. Reaction.

The drive was long.

Much longer than Kasper expected.

Their strange, quiet journey stretched on for what seemed like hours. It could have been hours. By the time they reached their destination, the afternoon was already threatening to slip away. The truck crawled to a stop with a slow, lurching sweep. Jack guided it gently onto the roadside.

"This fog is terrible."

The key turned.

The engine died.

Jack stepped out first.

He walked down the road without a word, disappearing slightly into the haze.

"Jack."

Kasper followed, slamming the creaking door behind him.

The world beyond the truck was nothing but snow and silence. Abandoned vehicles sat half-buried along the roadside. The place had been stripped bare long ago. What was now left was either unwanted or already claimed by the wilds.

"Where are we?"

It was still strange seeing pieces of people's lives left behind like this. Little fragments of who they were, slowly swallowed by the starving world.

"This is the road in."

Kasper's hand drifted to his belt. The gun was still there. His fingers lingered against it. The air filled his lungs, cold and strangely sweet. Sweet like he hadn't tasted in a long time. Wine on the tongue, dampening the lungs. 

Is this hope?

Behind him, Jack checked the sights of his rifle. "Well... a back road in, anyway."

Kasper barely heard him.

Something heavy had settled over the air. A waiting silence. As if Jack already knew the question forming in Kasper's mind, he adjusted the strap of his rifle and started walking again. "If Ace was in contact with Ark, flying back and forth between them, that tower, and us, then it couldn't have been too far away." Jack pulled the map from his pocket. He pointed to their location. A large X sat marked dead middle of the page. Along the edges were strings of coordinates, street names, and notes scribbled in tight handwriting. "I did some digging. Talked with Riley about what this area looked like before the collapse." His finger moved across the paper. "I can't say for certain this is where they are, but I'd bet on it."

He tapped the X.

"This spot. See how it's cleared but unmarked? If you draw the tower, the camp, and this point together..." He traced the lines. "These are clear flight paths." Jack looked up. "There are technically three Ark locations in Michigan. This one is the closest to town, and it completes the triangle."

Kasper nodded.

Now he was listening.

"If they're sending out single scouts and they're not coming from town, then they have a concentrated force somewhere nearby." Jack folded the map away. "I think they're using the kills to triangulate our position."

"We led them straight to us." The realization settled in as the words left Kasper's mouth.

Jack didn't deny it. "You did. More or less." He tucked the map away. "We're sending them postcards. Deaths, locations, vitals. Those are the stamps."

Kasper frowned.

Jack looked ahead. "How quickly can we find their units? How many people can we handle? How far does our scouting reach? They're figuring out what kind of threat we are."