Eden Rising (Eden Rising Trilogy Book 1)

  EDEN RISING

  by

  Andrew Cunningham

  Copyright © 2013 Andrew Cunningham

  All Rights Reserved

  Books by Andrew Cunningham

  Wisdom Spring

  All Lies

  Deadly Shore

  Eden Rising Trilogy

  Eden Rising

  Eden Lost

  Eden's Legacy

  Arthur Macarthur Series of Children's Mysteries (as A.R. Cunningham)

  The Mysterious Stranger

  The Ghost Car

  The Creeping Sludge

  The Sky Prisoner

  The Ride of Doom

  To Charlotte and to Mom:

  Thank you for your love and support. You both made the writing of this so much easier.

  Table of Contents

  Part One: Collapse

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Part Two: The Legend of Ben and Lila

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Part Three: Revenge

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Part Four: Separation

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  An excerpt from Eden Lost, Book 2 in the Eden Rising Trilogy

  Part One: Collapse

  Chapter 1

  The Earth died in less than a minute. Maybe that's an exaggeration. It's not like the planet ceased to exist altogether. It just seemed like it. Cities were reduced to rubble. Millions of people died that day. I've since been told that 95% of the Earth's human population was wiped out. I don't know if that's true—I mean, who can know that for sure? It's not like we still have any of the technology that we once used to determine such things. But I do know that it was almost empty of people—live ones, that is—and that my life changed in an instant. Everything I had known was gone and my world would never even remotely be the same.

  Ben tried to open his eyes. He could hear his name being called and felt a hand touch his neck. Looking for a pulse, maybe? The hand was soft, but cold. So cold. But then, so was he. He was disoriented and his head was pounding. His eyes flickered open, but it didn't make much difference. It was dark. After a moment his eyes adjusted to the blackness and he could just make out Lila looking down at him. She was only inches from his face and he could smell the faint scent of her shampoo. She was talking to him and the worry in her voice was apparent, but there was more. There was fear. No, it was more like panic. What had happened?

  Lila was asking him if he was okay, but he couldn't answer. He realized he was shivering badly. Where was he?

  And then it came back in an instant.

  It all started with Richie…

  *****

  “Ben, I need you to do an inventory of ice cream in the freezer.”

  Ben looked at Richie, trying to read his face. Was this something real, or was his manager once again giving him a crap job in retaliation? He knew he was going to pay for it the moment he stood up to the creep for making jokes to the guys about Lila’s small breasts. He just should have let it go. Every time in his life that he had the courage to speak out about something, he paid dearly for it. Sometimes it was easier to just shut up.

  Maybe it was because he had a crush on Lila, or maybe because he was just tired of that pig making comments about the girls who worked there. It’s why the girls only lasted a couple of months on average. They could sense the slime emanating from him. Ben had worked at Maiden Farms Dairy for five months, serving ice cream, washing dishes, sweeping up, all the while being told that he’d get on the grill “soon.” That was a joke. Ben knew he’d never advance to actually doing any cooking, but the economy was so bad, he was lucky to have any job. People were spooked. With rampant terrorism and the United States being in the crosshairs of just about every major nation these days, employers were scared to expand. ”Keep everything at a minimum” seemed to be the rallying cry.

  “Lila, you go with him.”

  Okay, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all. Ben knew he finally had his chance to muster up the nerve to ask Lila out. He was seventeen. He was only about five years behind the whole world when it came to a first date. It was now or never.

  Lila was sixteen, and a junior, a year behind Ben. Her shiny, black shoulder-length hair framed a somewhat average face, with the exception being a smile that revealed slight dimples and crinkly, playful eyes. Ben felt that, unlike many of the other girls, who were shallow and phony, Lila displayed awareness and intelligence.

  Ben shrugged on his coat, opened the freezer door and walked in, with Lila right behind.

  “Whoa, it’s cold in here,” he said.

  “That’s why they call it a freezer, you dumb schmuck,” responded Richie with a mean smile, as he slammed the door behind them.

  “What a jerk,” said Lila.

  Ben didn’t say anything. He was still smarting from Richie’s words. At a time when Ben needed all of his confidence, the timing of that comment sucked.

  Lila sensed Ben’s embarrassment. “Hey, ignore him. He’s an idiot.”

  “Yeah, I know,” mumbled Ben.

  “I’m glad we’re alone for a few minutes,” said Lila. “I wanted to thank you.”

  “For what?” He finally looked at her and felt his heart skip a half-dozen beats.

  “For standing up for me. Melissa heard Richie make those comments about me to the guys. She said you called him on it. That was brave to do with a sleaze like Richie. You’re paying for it now, aren’t you?”

  Ben got a momentary burst of courage and mustered up a smile. “Well he thinks so, but I’m in here alone with you, so I’m not complaining.”

  He looked down, expecting some laughter from her, but all he heard was a quiet, “I’m glad.”

  *****

  An ear-splitting screech pierced the moment. The lights surged in brightness, then flickered, before dying altogether. Ben fell to his knees clutching his head. The pain was unbearable and he couldn’t breathe. The screeching disappeared, but was followed by a hissing and crackling. He tried to call out to Lila, but nothing would come. He lost consciousness.

  *****

  “Ben, are you okay? C’mon, wake up.”

  He finally found his voice, but his head was still pounding.

  “I’m okay…I think. Are you?”

  “I think so,” replied Lila. “I’m scared. Really scared. What happened? I passed out and I don’t know how long we’ve been in here. I’m really cold!”

  “Nobody checked on us,” said Ben. “Richie probably lit out of here. Of course he’d forget us.”

  Lila helped Ben up.

  “I’m afraid to open the door,” she said. “What’s going to be out there?”

  “I don’t know, but we’ll freeze to death in here.”

  Ben was shivering so badly, he could barely walk. He pushed on the inner handle and the door opened.

  How could anyone be prepared for the world we were entering? We were kids. Acne was our biggest concern. Okay, I checked out CNN sometimes when I was online. I knew that we were pissing everybody off. It had something
to do with bringing democracy to the rest of the world—forcing it down their throats is what I heard. It was our way or the highway. Things had become ugly even within this country. Everything was “us” vs. “them,” and everyone was a “them” if they didn’t agree with “us.” I didn’t even know who “us” was! Like every other kid, I was doing my best to ignore it all. It really didn’t concern me. Maybe I should’ve paid more attention. But then again, would it have mattered? I would still be walking into hell.

  Everything was quiet. Ben pushed the door open further. All the lights were off, even the emergency lights, but it was daytime, so light shone through the windows. Then he saw the people. Everyone was asleep. Customers were slumped over the tables, in some cases with their heads in their food. Richie was lying on the floor directly in front of the freezer. Ben spied two waitresses lying nearby.

  “Omigod!” exclaimed Lila in a whisper.

  “They’re all unconscious,” said Ben.

  They couldn’t bring themselves to talk loudly in the tomb-like atmosphere.

  Ben leaned over Richie to feel the pulse in his neck. There was none. He fumbled for his wrist and did the same. Richie was dead. Ben jumped back in panic.

  Lila was looking at Melissa’s body. She bent down and checked for signs of life. When she turned toward Ben, tears were running down her face.

  “They’re dead. They’re just dead. There’s no blood or anything. They’re just dead. Why?”

  “I … I don’t know,” answered Ben. “Maybe there was a gas leak or something and we were saved by the freezer. But where are the cops or the fire department?”

  They looked at each other and had the same thought. They had to get out of there. Ben grabbed Lila’s hand and they made their way to the front door, each dreading what was on the other side of it.

  It was far worse.

  Cars were stopped in the middle of the street, drivers slumped over in their seats. People were lying on the sidewalks. Ben didn’t have to check them. He knew they were dead. It was one thing to see the adults, but seeing little kids dead was something else altogether.

  Then they smelled the smoke. Ben looked down the block and saw buildings on fire. There was a single car on fire as well, and he could see the form of the driver engulfed in flames. They pulled out their cell phones at the exact same moment. Both phones were dead. Traffic lights were out. There were no alarms, nothing. Just total silence. No, not total. Ben heard a dog barking.

  He felt a cold wave of panic growing inside him, but Lila’s presence forced him to suppress it. “I’m not going to lose it in front of her,” he told himself. Still, his stomach felt like it was about to erupt.

  “The cars,” he said suddenly. “The cars didn’t crash when the people died. The cars died too. See how they’re just stopped in the middle of the road? The cars died at the same time as the people … at the same time all the other electricity stopped.”

  “I don’t understand.” Lila’s voice was cracking. “They’re all dead. People, cars, lights, phones.” A bird flew by. “But not the animals.” She started to shake uncontrollably and seemed to lose the ability to stand. Ben helped her into a sitting position on the sidewalk, where she broke down and sobbed. As Ben held her, he felt his own tears washing down his face. She suddenly rolled away from him and, on her hands and knees, began to throw up. That was enough for Ben. He did the same, uncontrollably heaving until there was nothing left to come up. When they were done, they sat holding each other, saying nothing, wondering what had just happened to their world. Then they realized that their families were probably dead as well, and the sobs began again.

  It didn’t occur to us at the time that if there was no bomb and all the electricity was dead, what caused the fires? I learned later that it was cigarettes. Most of the cities in the world burned out of control, and it was simply people dying with lit cigarettes. What may have started as a couch fire, consumed a whole house. The breeze took it to the next house. Whole blocks went up in a matter of minutes. Cities burned for days. In some ways, it was good, as the fire took many of the corpses with it.

  “I know the answer, but I’ve got to check on my parents,” said Lila, when they had cried themselves out.

  “I know. Me too. But I don’t want to. I’m just having trouble believing that any of this is really happening,” replied Ben. “And to think that I was so excited just a little while ago, because I was just getting up the courage to ask you out.”

  Lila looked up at him with a sad smile. “I was hoping you would. You know, I’d give anything just to hear Richie call you a dumb schmuck again. It would mean none of this is real.”

  Ben squeezed her harder. “Yeah, Richie doesn’t seem so bad now.” He got up and helped Lila to her feet. The pain in his head was subsiding. “Let’s go check on our parents. Then we can figure out what to do from there.”

  It was a couple of miles to Lila’s house, and another mile beyond that to Ben’s, but they just walked it slowly, not talking, trying to take in the devastation around them. This part of town had no fires, but the dead were everywhere. By the end of the two miles, they were almost immune to the sights. Almost.

  They arrived at Lila’s house. Everything looked normal from the outside.

  “You ready?” asked Ben.

  “No,” Lila answered in a tiny voice. But she moved robotically toward the front door anyway.

  Her mother had been making the bed, and seemed peacefully at rest, spread across the mattress, sheets still clutched in her hands. They found Lila’s father lying on the back lawn where he had been cutting the grass. Lila never said a word.

  “Do you want to bury them or something?” Ben finally asked.

  Lila shook her head. She looked at Ben.

  “Is it bad that I don’t want to bury them? I just want to leave and never come back. Is that wrong?

  “I don’t know what’s right and what’s wrong,” replied Ben. “I don’t know what I’m going to think when I see my family. Let’s leave, and you don’t ever have to come back. Is there anything you want to take?”

  Lila went to her room while Ben waited in the living room. When she came down, she had changed out of her waitressing outfit and into jeans and a t-shirt. She carried a small backpack with some more clothes and some personal items. They walked out of the house silently.

  Halfway to Ben’s she asked, “What does it say about my life that—other than a couple changes of clothes, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and some other things from my bathroom—all I could think to take was a picture of me with my parents? Nothing else.”

  “That we’re already in survival mode?”

  “Maybe. Do you think anyone else is alive?

  “God, I hope so,” said Ben. “Whatever happened, the freezer must have protected us. There’s gotta be other things that offered protection. Someone’s got to be out there.”

  “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” asked Lila. “I’ve seen all those apocalypse movies. The end of the world seems to bring out the worst in people.”

  There was something funny about that comment and Ben found himself suddenly laughing. “Sorry,” he said. “I can’t believe I just laughed with all this around me.”

  “Laughing might keep us alive,” answered Lila.

  They were at Ben’s house. No one was home. His parents were probably running errands—now dead. There would be no way to track them down.

  Lila reached out and took his hand in hers. “Maybe it’s better this way. You don’t have to see them.”

  “Maybe. But at least you got to say goodbye to your family. I don’t know which is worse.”

  “They’re both worse.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “The sun will be going down soon,” said Lila. “How do you feel about staying here tonight?”

  Ben nodded his head. “I don’t know how I feel, but it makes sense. And we can figure out what to do and where to go from here.”

  Neither one knew where to begin.
They knew they had to prepare for the night ahead, so Ben hunted down candles and matches, while Lila searched through the lukewarm refrigerator and the kitchen cabinets for something to eat. It was all done mechanically—they had no more emotions to vent. They discovered that the water wasn’t working, so they couldn’t wash up. They took turns going outside to relieve themselves. As the sun went down, they closed all the curtains and locked the doors, Lila’s “apocalypse” comments still hanging in the air.

  Lila found some leftover spaghetti and meatballs in the now dead fridge, as well as bread and butter. They sat at the kitchen table with a single candle to see by, neither of them overly hungry, as they stared at their cold spaghetti.

  “I can’t eat,” Ben finally whispered. “Seeing as how my mom made this spaghetti and she’s now dead, it’s just creepy.” He was trying desperately to hold back the tears.

  “Did you have a good relationship with your parents?” asked Lila.

  “Yeah. My mom was great. My dad was okay. He was always afraid I wasn’t going to be enough of a man, so he tried to get me to do ‘manly’ things. He took me to the rifle range once—That was a joke. I really sucked at it—and signed me up for boxing, which again, I sucked at, and hated too. My mom knew I hated boxing, so she signed me up for karate. I still do that … well … did. I’m not any good, but at least I like it. I have … had, I guess … a brother in the Marines. We liked each other.”

  Ben broke off, shards of memories of his brother filling his head. He could no longer hold back the tears.

  “Where was … is he stationed?” asked Lila, trying to divert his attention from the past.

  “Camp Pendleton in San Diego.”

  “Well you don’t know that he’s dead. It’s a long way from Massachusetts to California.”

  “Maybe,” said Ben, “But have you noticed that we haven’t heard any jets? Don’t you think if there was life in another part of the country, they would be checking up on this area? Sorry, I don’t mean to be negative.”