Genesis (Cain and Abel #1)

Chapter Two

"Eve! Eve!" Cain shouted, a wide grin across his face.

"What is it, dear one?" she asked, plastering a matching grin on her face. She had been shielding her eyes, watching a gull flap frantically until it gave way to exhaustion and fell with a sickening thud onto the solid sea below, its final cry echoing in the wind. It was the first bird she had seen in the past week, and it was likely to be the last. She'd need to retrieve that, if the boys were going to eat today.

"We think we found others!" Abel exclaimed, finishing his younger brother's sentence.

Eve swallowed, uncertain how to take this news. She knew she could give nothing away.

"Oh really?" she said. "What makes you think that?"

"Cain and I were wandering through the woods, trying to gather wood for the fire, when we saw smoke coming out of a cave in the cliffs," Abel said, practically bubbling over with enthusiasm and excitement.

"Hmm," Eve said, trying to think on her feet of what best to continue. "Did you explore the cave further?"

"We couldn't, Eve. It's in the middle of a cliff," Cain said, his voice gently mocking. "Can we go try to see it? Will you come with us?"

"What if it's our tribe?" Abel said. Abel was usually the quiet one, but now he looked positively ecstatic. He kept waving his arms about, his dirty blond hair flopping over his face.

Eve looked down at the boys' muddy feet. She had been certain for months now that there were no other humans left. But where else could the smoke have come from? She bounced back and forth between keeping their hope alive and telling them the truth.

"It's certainly possible," she said, deciding to go with her heart and covering her doubts with what she hoped was an optimistic voice.

"So can we go explore?" Cain squealed. He swung his arms, dancing about her.

"Sure," Eve replied. She thought with a sudden clarity of the gull on the ocean surface.

"But wait a few minutes until I get back, boys. I have a surprise for you," she said, starting off.

"Ooh, what is it?" Cain cried.

"I'm not telling, but I will give you a hint!" she shouted over her shoulder. "We'll be having meat for dinner!" Leaving the boys behind, she carefully made her way down the cliff and walked over the sand-which was one of the few things left that was still soft and in its natural state. She revealed in the feeling of it beneath her toes. It'd be covered with snow soon, though. Just like everything else.

Beyond the sand was an icy tundra that had once been the ocean. She walked out onto it without hesitation. Being over a thousand years old, she understood the planet's elements intimately and knew that the water was solid enough to hold her insubstantial weight. She looked down and thought she could see fish swimming under the surface and bumping against the murky ocean top. They would survive, she thought, though she couldn't tell for how long.

Eve reached the gull and picked it up with one hand. It was heavier than she expected, a good thing for the children. It had been days since they had had anything resembling warm food to eat, and their thin faces were getting more and more skeletal.

The bird's beak was open, and she spotted its pale pink tongue beginning to develop a layer of frost. She checked it over quickly, but it seemed free from disease and infestation; exhaustion had killed it, nothing more dire.

Eve turned around and began to walk back towards the beach. Looking to the cliffs above, she noticed that the boys were missing. Well, missing was a strong word. They had probably retreated further from the edge. It was a sensible move, and nothing to be concerned about.