Chapter Four
At first Adam was elated. He could gain his freedom, but freedom to do what? Did he actually want to continue his endless game with Henry? Molly was right and he knew it. Henry wasn't like him, or like Molly, not really. Yes he was immortal, but only because he could die and be reborn in water. Henry would probably never think like him, no matter how many years the he gave the younger immortal, or how hard he pushed. Breaking him might be fun, but more likely it would be completely pointless. On top of that, Adam wasn't sure he wanted to hang around to find out any longer. No, there were other immortals out in the world that held much more of an interest to him. He suddenly realized that Henry had become… unimportant.
The hour dragged by, but eventually Molly returned and took up her position on the bed once again. "Have you decided?" she asked.
Adam looked up for yes.
"Are we leaving here together?"
Again, Adam looked up.
Smiling at him, Molly nodded. "Good. We're only a few blocks from the East River. If we get separated, there's construction going on near pier 42, before you get to East River Park. Meet me by the fence that runs almost to the water. I've got clothes stashed nearby for both of us."
Reaching up to the light strip above the bed, Molly retrieved the sim card she had put there on her last trip. Looking at it for a second, she walked into the bathroom and Adam could hear the toilet flush before she returned.
"Luckily all our info is backed up. I've already got a new sim with the original data on it. That wasn't anything more than a loose end." As Molly spoke, she produced a syringe filled with a dark amber fluid as well as a tourniquet from one of her scrubs pockets. Setting the syringe down on the rolling cart, she picked up his arm and tied the rubber strip above his elbow. Bending and straightening his arm several times, she then tapped the skin in the crease, looking for a vein.
Once she seemed satisfied, she paused and looked into Adam's eyes. "Last chance, are we doing this?" she asked. When he signaled yes, she picked up the syringe. After releasing the contents into his vein, she recapped the needle and put the empty syringe back in her pocket.
After the needle was removed, Adam waited, curious about the effects of the unknown fluid. A tiny voice in the back of his mind kept insisting that within moments she was going to tell him it was all a trick, but he silenced it firmly. Counting as he'd done before, he was at ten seconds before it felt like every blood vessel from his arm to his heart was on fire. Once he reached twenty seconds the feeling had spread everywhere, including his stomach and lungs. Through watering eyes he could vaguely see Molly down her own dose of poison while shutting down the ventilator. It was the last thing he remembered before the dark tunnel, and water.
Breaking the surface of the river, Adam inhaled large gulps of cold night air and reveled in the feeling of the frigid water against his skin. Flipping onto his back he floated there, staring up at the clouds that enveloped the night sky, until he heard a splash somewhere off to his right. Tilting his head back to orientate himself, he switched to a smooth but slow backstroke. By the time he reached the water's edge, Molly was already standing in the shallows among some large chunks of concrete, not the least bit shy about her nudity.
"Welcome back, Adam," she said with an incline of her head.
Standing once the riverbed allowed it, Adam stared out at the lights of Brooklyn. "I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever stand in this river again," he said.
Molly waded back into the water and circled around, coming to a stop just in front of him. Reaching out, she placed her hand on his shoulder, waiting for him to look at her before she replied. "Last time for that as well, at least for a while."
"And if I go back on our bargain? Walk away and resume the life I was leading before?"
Molly raised an eyebrow at him. "We came to an agreement Adam, and if you think being stuck in the hospital was bad, you really wouldn't like the way we take care of immortals that leave a path of carnage in their wake, the ones we consider... uncontrollable."
"And exactly how do you 'take care' of them? Would you leave me in the care of Evren?" Adam asked, a trace of the old superiority creeping back into his voice.
"No, we bury them," Molly replied lightly.
Adam's musing ground to a halt. "You've figured out how to end our affliction?"
I didn't say we killed them, just that we buried them. You should know that one isn't necessarily inclusive of the other."
From somewhere along the fence line, a male voice interrupted them. "Are you two going to stand around in the river all night, bare for the world to see?"
Adam whipped around, immediately on alert, but Molly just chuckled before replying. "Not if you remembered the clothes this time, Gero."
The man she had addressed as Gero stepped from the shadows and hoisted what appeared to be a duffle bag. From where he stood, Adam gauged him to be at least several inches shorter than his own height, and built squarely. Any other observations would have to wait, as it was too dark to size him up properly.
"Hmph, It's been fifty seven years, you'd think she'd have let me live it down by now," the man said, not sounding the least bit perturbed. Adam got the feeling this was an old game they played.
Gero started swinging the bag back and forth, with each repetition growing larger. "I could always toss them to you Molly, see if you've gotten any better at catching."
Moving past Adam, Molly started for the river bank. "And offer our guest nothing but wet clothes? Not very hospitable of us." Seizing the shoulder strap of the bag as it came near, Molly tugged it out of Gero's grasp. Dropping the whole thing on the ground, she knelt to unzip a side pocket which yielded up a flashlight. Once turned on, the low, red beam of light shown over the top of the bag and she quickly unzipped the main compartment. As she pulled out clothing, she automatically sorted it into two stacks and eventually handed one to Adam. They were followed by a pair of lace up boots with socks stuffed inside.
"Gero, I know you have a penchant for tactical wear, but did you have to make us all look like some kind of paramilitary organization?" she asked, briefly rotating the flashlight up to play over the other man.
With the help of the red glow, Adam could now tell that Gero was indeed broad shouldered, with arms bulky enough that they didn't quite meet his sides. He was wearing a black silk thermal shirt, which looked to be stretched to its limit, and a pair of black cargo pants tucked into the tops of combat boots. A square face, slightly heavy brow and classic greek nose hinted that he was probably somewhere in his late thirties or early forties, but the light brown or reddish full beard he wore could be adding a few years. Straight hair a shade or two lighter than the beard was pulled back into a queue at the base of his skull.
Turning his attention the clothes Molly had handed him, Adam realized the reason for her comment. The pants were identical to Gero's, but closer to his size. Instead of a thermal shirt though, he found he'd been given a sweater that looked to be the style commonly worn by British commandos. It was olive drab in color from what he could tell, and even came complete with leather elbow patches. Pulling the clothing on, he glanced over at Molly to see that she was dressed in her own black cargo pants combined with a dark gray fisherman's sweater, and was currently lacing up black boots.
"The more intimidating you look, the less likely it is that people will pay attention," Gero replied. "It causes their normal little minds to skitter right over the details."
Molly gave a rather unladylike snort. "Unless it's their job to notice, and there happens to be three of us." Snatching up the bag at her feet and dropping the now dark flashlight inside, she glanced over to make sure Adam was completely dressed before adding, "We've been still too long, let's move."
Gero motioned toward the pier and headed that direction, with Molly following closely behind and Adam bringing up the rear. When they reached the parking lot, Adam stopped and let the other two get ahead of him. Glancing behind her, Molly noticed that he had turned and was facing the lightening sky. She tapped Gero on the shoulder, handed off the duffle bag and then backtracked.
"Hey, is something wrong?" she asked from behind him.
"Where do we go now?"
"We fly into Prague later today. We have a house on the outskirts. Evren and Martin will be waiting for us there," she said.
"Did you know... other than tracking Henry here, I don't remember ever having a true destination?" Adam asked.
"Well you do now." Letting her breath out in a whoosh, she paused before adding, "I know what it's like, to feel as if you're the only one. It may be a strange concept but you have friends now; people that share your condition, that understand what the years can do to your mind, your soul.
Several emotions tumbled through him; anger, fear, amusement, but none of them grew strong enough to come boiling to the surface. Finally he said, "I'm not sure I have a soul."
"If you didn't, you wouldn't have been looking for someone like yourself, Adam," she said.
Later, he wouldn't be sure if he spoke the next word to her or the rising sun. "Joseph."
"Excuse me?"
"I was known as Gaius Julius Cartacus, but my given name was Iosephus. Joseph might be easier."
Walking around to look him in the eye, Molly reached out, placed her hand over his heart and smiled up at him. "Salve, Joseph."