Chapter 226
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Eve bega following Adam's directions to the P.O.W. camp and coal mine. He was protecting her once again. Eve might potentially be traded for loyalist soldiers. If she was returned to the collective army, that could have it's own set of problems. But Eve might actually sit out the rest of this war in peace. It might not be a nice place, but it meant food, medicine, noone shooting at her. Ofcourse getting there still wasn't certain. Eve still had to avoid soldiers from either side, variou militias that might have soldiers out here hunting. Although Eve couldn't see anyone, she got the distinct feeling that she was being followed. She had little food, not enough worth stealing, but they might not know that. Eve tried moving faster. While she wasn't looking forward to digging for coal in this prison, it was the safest place for her right now.
Both the wolves and the eagles, as the two sides called each other now, likely wanted her dead, fear was natural. But would they really go out of their way looking for her like this? Eve hoped she was being paranoid. She'd be relatively safe once she could reach the camp. If she could reach the camp. But during her trek some thoughts occurred to Eve. When Adam protected her she never questioned this. Despite oe incident, he'd always protected her, just like Cujo. But it seemed odd that Adam would find Eve in Texas. Had Eve not gone through it herself, she wouldn't have guessed that she'd wind up in the Texas woods. Adam's story did seem to make sense. Didn't it? Eve knew she was being paranoid when she thought that one act of kindness from her oldest friend aroused her suspicions so easily.
According to Adam's directions Eve was close to camp 81. Eve used the last of her water to wash up as best she could. It was funny how, even under these circumstances, Eve still wanted to look presetable for a first impression. But Eve started to wonder if there really was a nearby camp. She wanted to believe Adam would protect her. But it seemed too much of a coincidence that the one eagle she'd run into was the only one who would protect her. Maybe they realized Eve's connection to Adam, used him to try and get her to spill collective secrets. Made sense, but it didn't answer the question about the camp. Maybe it existed, maybe not. The Arks would need coal, Mason and Gardner probably would use P.O.W.s for this grunt work. Maybe the loyalists were following her, hoping she'd lead them to her farm, and its weak points. No PO.W. camp meant no medicine, no water, no warm blanket tonight. And what would the loyalists do when Eve didn't lead them to a windfall?
It was almost sunset. Eve was tired, hungry, thirsty. She feared she might've taken a wrong turn, or that Adam had lied about camp 81. Then Eve heard some voices. Eve tried to avoid being seen, wanting to know who these people were before identifying herself. But these people heard Eve, and ordered her to surrender. Eve quickly put her hands up. She counted five, all with rifles, all with United States army uniforms. Eve's uniform looked worn, smelled bad, but they realized it as collective army. She surrendered, asked for water. One gave her his water. Eve drank it, and poured some on her face. After this these eagles informed Eve that she was now officially a prisoner of war.