Chapter 21. The Tasmanian devil.
A few years ago.
Pacific Ocean – Neutral waters – coordinates 31.91487 S.S. 159.03809 V.D.
The mini submarine was moving like a shark towards its target. The radars showed that there was not much left. "10 miles to the target" ... "5 miles"... "3 miles".
"This is a secret operation. Remember, if you get caught, no one knows you. Act fast! We penetrate, take all the necessary data, clean the ship and leave."
A signal sounded, and the submarine slowed down. "Attention! The torpedoes are coming! You will have 20 minutes for everything, after that the ship will go to the bottom." A wave of water hammer shook the hull of the submarine and the metal cracked, as if ready to burst at the seams. A couple of seconds later, there was a second jolt, but much weaker. The pumps pumped out the water, there was a hiss and thermite pyropatrons burned a hole in the hull, enough to pass inside.
"Everyone get ready! We don't take prisoners... kill everyone you see..."
Standing in front of all the commandos turned the handle and opened the hatch. The squad moved forward. There was already a lot of water inside now, they docked below the waterline. There will be a ladder on the left, which they will climb up. Screeching and screams of people could already be heard. Entering one of the rooms, they saw a group of several dozen people huddled here and found shelter. They raised their hands to the top and one of them shouted something in Russian. "Пожалуйста... не стреляйте..." (Please... don't shoot...)
Their screams were drowned out by the noise of automatic bursts from several MP5SD. People were falling down getting a lot of bullet wounds and all the walls and floor were splattered with blood.
The noise in the radio made them nervous. "Attention everyone! We're leaving, we have the data. Wait... what is it? What... no... you saw it... what the hell…Shoot her…Shoot! ...Fire! ...Fire! ...Aaaaaaaaa"
Pacific Ocean – territorial waters of Japan – Chibo Prefecture – coordinates 35.56379 S.S. 141.0236 V.D.
Today was a bad catch day. There were almost no fish. It rained heavily all night, which was not uncommon in these parts. A lone fishing boat was preparing to sail back to shore when a young sailor saw that something was caught in the net.
"Uncle ... it seems we have a catch" - running up to the winch, the guy began to actively rotate the steering wheel lifting the nets. His elderly relative came out of the control room to look at what they had managed to catch this morning.
When the net appeared from under the water, they saw inside the upper half of the torso of a man who was torn in half. He was wearing a black uniform and an unmarked mask. An elderly sailor ran up to the net and began to push it away from the boat so as not to leave traces of blood on board.
"Akira! You idiot, bring the saw, we'll cut the net and sail away from here! I don't want any trouble with the police."
With frightened eyes, the guy rushed into the hold and brought out a large saw. Having cut off and thrown the net with the terrible find into the sea, they quickly retreated towards the shore.
Our time
West Virginia
Dean touched his shoulder and stopped his friend, who was peeking out from behind the shelter. "Paul, are you completely crazy? I will not steal a jeep from the military."
Paul winked cheerfully and leaned close to Dean's face. - "Don't drift. I'm going to distract that soldier now, and you jump behind the wheel and step on the gas. I'll catch up with you. Don't go straight to the house, we'll confuse the tracks, try to drive through the forest. Do you understand?"
Dean shook his head, still not believing that he had decided on such a crazy adventure - "Okay. But remember that my skin doesn't hold bullets."
Slapping his friend on the shoulder, he jumped over the fence and began to crawl on his haunches towards one of the quarantine military posts. The post blocked the road and prevented from going further. He was guarded by several soldiers who had an army "hummer". When he got to the car, he gave a sign and Dean fell on the grass and began to crawl quickly towards them. When he crawled closer, Paul took a stone and forcibly threw it at the soldier who was standing next to the trunk. Despite the protective helmet, he swayed from the impact and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
They are lucky that the military keeps the ignition keys in the lock. After breaking through the fence, they drove onto a forest road and began to wind around, trying to confuse a possible chase. Had to drive in complete darkness without using headlights. They stopped only at the shore of a small river that crossed this area. Dean stopped the car and cautiously looked at the wave barrier. "Are you sure? Does the have enough clearance?"
Paul looked out of the window and appraisingly surveyed the rapid flow of the river - "We can handle it. It's a damn Hummer."
Putting aside his doubts, Dean pressed the gas and the car drove into the icy water. The fast current stubbornly tried to knock them down and turn over the transport, but after a couple of minutes they had already left for the opposite shore.
- "It seems to have passed" - Paul turned around and listened for any pursuit. But it seems they were lucky this time. The military was not as efficient as they had expected.
- "I screwed up again..." - Dean looked up at the cloudless sky, where the moon and stars were visible.
"What are you talking about? You're a cool dude. I couldn't have stolen this Jeep without you." - Paul pushed him in the knee. "Now let's get away from here. If you want, we can make a stop in a small clearing, it's right next to here."
Dean breathed in the fresh air while sitting on the roof of a military jeep and dangling his legs. Paul was searching the back of the truck for more trophies. Finally, he climbed onto the roof and sat down next to him. He had a transparent bag of herbs in his hands. Dean smiled and shook his head, "Damn, dude, no! No! I won't do this shit!"
Paul had already started twirling the joints and handed one to Dean -"It's just going to help you relax, dude. Don't take on too much."
Inhaling the sweet smoke, he felt his body filled with some kind of lightness and his soul became calmer.
"So what did you want to talk about?" - Taking a deep drag and releasing clouds of steam from his mouth, Paul leaned back on the roof of the armored vehicle.
Dean thought about the best way to say it and tried to find the right words - "I... I love her. I just screwed up again. Damn phone call, he ruined everything."
Paul slapped him on the back several times with his palm - "Relax... She loves you too. Simply... You need to be a little bit braver with her."
Dean leaned back and now they were lying together on the roof of the jeep in the middle of the clearing and looking at this starry sky. It seemed to Dean that he could see the entire arm of the Milky Way. It was as if someone had poured milk across the sky and in this white trail could be seen the twinkling of billions of stars and systems. Turning around, he saw that the Floor was completely relaxed, and his flesh had already begun to take on a dark hue. "I wonder what planet you're from?"
Paul raised his hand, which had already completely changed, and his long claw pointed up somewhere -"I think... That my house is there."
"Hmm. It seems to be the constellation of Volopas. It is 37 light-years away on average. Not so much"- Dean took another drag, and his head became completely heavy. But the remnants of his mind still allowed him to maintain common sense. - "Dude, they can come here..."
Paul couldn't answer him anymore. The hybrid had completely changed and his heavy and hoarse breathing could be heard. Dean rubbed his eyes and realized that these were not hallucinations. Throwing away the half-smoked joint, he slid down and grabbed his friend by the ankles, which were already covered with chitinous protection and pulled his body down. The floor hung in Dean's arms and slid down powerlessly. - "Dude, come back! We need to leave!". Dean put his friend in the back seat and only now realized that he was not afraid of his other appearance. Now a real alien from outer space lay in front of him, dangerous and deadly. The perfect predator. But he was not afraid of him, or even disgusted by him. Nothing. For him, he was first of all a friend who was fun to be with and who had already helped him more than once. Dean took the tent cover and covered him. If anyone saw this sight now, they would have thrown away the ends out of fear. A real monster was sleeping in the backseat. After leaving the field, he drove the car towards the city.
The garage was empty. Now it was necessary to do something about the Paul. Taking out his phone, Dean took a picture of his friend to show him this photo tomorrow. "It's going to be hilarious. I'll post this on Redit with the note "What if a stoned alien sleeps in your backseat?".
"What the hell is this?" - Sarah's sharp voice startled him. The phone fell out of hands and the screen almost cracked. - "Dean! I knew you were an idiot, but not to this extent! You two crazy jerks!"
Sarah seemed to be just furious, she put her hands on her hips and looked at the Jeep with eyes that read shock. Dean hugged her - "It's okay. It's just that Paul smoked a little, and that's what happened to him."
Sarah pointed her finger at the car - "Did you steal a military car? We're all screwed!"
The buzz clouded his mind and seemed to give him more courage and freedom. He buried his face in Sarah's hair and inhaled the smell of freshness and new shampoo-"Yes, I'm an idiot! I know this... Will you forgive me?"
Sarah threw his arm over and took him by the torso-"I see you're stoned too. The junkies are miserable. Eva will beat the crap out of you." Her voice sounded less stern.
Dean felt fatigue begin to roll in waves and seemed to drain all the strength out of him. Sarah held him tightly and didn't let him fall- "Oh, no. Not this one. I didn't know you'd start smoking weed. Are you serious?"
Dean wrapped his free arm around her and hugged her again, "I love you... More than anyone in the world."
Sarah smiled, although she tried to remain serious-"You're just a crazy stoner! Come on, I'll take you to the bedroom."
North Carolina
The area of the napalm-scorched forest, a square of several miles, was fenced with posts and well guarded.
The soldiers acted violently and even shot at random tourists or just locals who decided to take a walk in the forest.
No one cared about the distorted island of auto standing alone, not far from the remains of a burned-out hut on the shore of the lake.
A patrol of two National Guard soldiers lazily passed by, quickly illuminating the area around with a flashlight beam and did not pay attention to the movement inside. A creature the size of a large spider got out of the remains of the car and quickly moved its ten chitinous paws into the nearest bushes.
"Did you hear something?" One of the soldiers shone a beam into the bushes, hearing a rustle behind him.
His partner took his m60e3 off his shoulder and pointed it towards the bushes. - "No. What is it?"
- "That's right... Nothing... It seemed that something was rustling in the bushes."
Lowering the lantern, they moved on along the route. Their voices could be heard moving away.
"When is this shit going to end? My girlfriend is already eager to see me as soon as possible. I don't want to be late."
- "I do not know, I hope to be home by the end of the month."
The creature crawled further and climbed through a hollow into a large old tree, which was empty. It was warm and dry inside the tree, and there were a lot of nutrients. The creature dug into a pile of dust at the bottom and firmly clung with its paws to the burnt walls of the trunk. It has fulfilled its task, now it will become the main one, the root for something more. Just as before the seed and the sprout became the beginning for this already dead giant oak, so his body will become that very sprout.
Northern Nevada
The roadside cafe was half-empty on this stuffy evening. He was there at the agreed time. Everything is as it should be. All that remained was to wait for a contact.
He didn't know this man. Previously, it was the one to whom he transmitted data about the Athena and Ares projects. The goddess of wisdom and the God of War from Greek mythology. What an irony. Ares was a personal project of Borgess. The crazy Colonel, as he was usually called behind his back. A real psychopath who has passed Vietnam and Iraq. This half-wit got it into his head that with the help of alien genes it is possible to create super soldiers. Why sacrifice human lives if you can produce alien soldiers on an industrial scale. The issue of obedience and manageability was solved with the help of cyber implants and brain firmware. Neural sociointegration. Whoever came up with this procedure has a separate place in hell. An immeasurable number of chips and microchips are sewn into the brain, which suppress the activity of the frontal lobe and cortex of the brain. The personality is erased, there remains just an obedient "Dummy" who executes any orders and does not ask questions. According to the colonel, this is exactly what ideal soldiers should be.
One of the small roadside eateries in the Red House settlement in northern Nevada was almost empty. Only a few evening customers sat at tables and ate their burgers with fries and sauces. But Arthur only ordered a large glass of Latte. Nerves were on edge and didn't feel like eating at all.
He has an appointment with the "Tasmanian Devil" today. It was the call sign of the contact who was supposed to take him to a safe place. It was to him that Arthur had previously transferred all the stolen data. And now it was his turn to help him. It's amazing that the meeting was scheduled in such a dump. We could have chosen a more decent place. Although, perhaps this is also part of the conspiracy and disguise. Time passed treacherously slowly and Arthur constantly looked at his watch. It's been over an hour since he was supposed to be picked up. He didn't know who was coming to pick him up. It might even have been a trap, but in this case, Arthur had a good old revolver with him. From nerves, Arthur rubbed his sweaty palms hard and checked his weapons in case the feds broke into the cafe now. It was getting darker and darker, and now the last customers had finished their orders and went outside. He was alone now, apart from an elderly waitress and a grumpy bartender who was constantly muttering to himself while watching TV. The program broadcast about the events in the quarantine zone in West Virginia. A young reporter interviewed high-ranking officers.
The door of the cafe opened and a tall, middle-aged, athletic man with gray hair and a short gray beard entered. Arthur immediately noticed the distinctive tattoo on his neck in the shape of a bat. You don't see them very often. The man's gaze was quite stern and tenacious. Looking around, he noticed Arthur sitting alone and resolutely walked towards him. He visibly tensed, and his hand involuntarily rested on the hilt of the Colt under the table.
"I beg your pardon... Are you sitting here alone?" - The man spoke with an obvious Eastern European accent. Now his face has become good-natured. Most likely it was a visiting tourist. But how did he end up in such a village?
Arthur decided to slow down and gestured to an empty seat at the table. - "Please have a seat. But maybe my friends will arrive soon and you will have to move."
- "Oh... I understand you... Sure..." - The man sat down at a table and called the waiter and ordered two double cheeseburgers and a large Coke. Arthur chuckled to himself, a typical American set. This tourist apparently lives by stereotypes about this country.
- "I'm sorry for distracting you. You... Local?"
Arthur was nervously looking out the window, keeping track of when his contact would appear, and he was not at all attracted to the prospect of entertaining an elderly tourist.
- "I've been living here for a long time. Are you probably a tourist?"
The man smiled - "I'm... I'm... a tourist... Foreigner... Hungary... My country. I've been here two weeks."
Arthur smiled back. Yes, he was right. A tourist from Eastern Europe. In any case, he can relax, it is unlikely that this man is a threat - "Are you here for a long time?"
The man has already received his order and picked up one of his cheeseburgers with two cutlets and a lot of cheese - "No... I'll be moving on soon. Were you born in this wonderful country?"
Arthur shook his head - "No, I was born in England."
- "Great Britain... Good... I went there five years ago... I love Liverpool. A wonderful city... An old friend of mine lives there."
Arthur was surprised - "Have you been to Liverpool?"
The man spoke without distracting himself from eating - "I... was there. I also visit Manchester, London, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Belfast."
Arthur was sincerely pleased that he had met a man who traveled so much in his homeland. - "Did you like the UK so much?"
- "Good... A beautiful country... Good people...It's not hot there... North... I love the countries of the north... I hate the heat."
Looking at his watch, Arthur realized that it was time to leave. He gave them enough time. It's a stupid idea. Maybe the feds have already tracked him down and will come for him soon. We urgently need to go to the trailer and drive into the desert. There he can wait out some time and plan his next actions. Taking out his phone, he typed a message to the Tasmanian Devil: "Time's up. I'm leaving."
"I'm sorry, I have to go now. My friends are waiting for me somewhere else."
The tourist cleared his throat and held out his hand - "I was glad to meet you... Good luck to you. "
Shaking hands, Arthur moved towards the exit with a smile. You will need to delete the contact's contacts and change the number. He was tricked like a boy, it's annoying. When the door of the cafe closed with a bang, the foreigner who remained at the table took out his phone and said a few words in Hungarian into the receiver: "This is the Tasmanian devil, the subject has been detected, I confirm"
West Virginia
- "Good morning" - It was hard for me to bring myself to go downstairs and eat, but I had to do it. There was no one at the table except Eva. I wonder if she's sleeping at all. Nigel sat down on the chair next to her and felt his chest ache. It became difficult to breathe. Taking a few nuggets, he began to try to eat, although he did not want to at all.
"Why are you breathing so hard?" - Hearing his heavy breathing, she became noticeably alert.
"I do not know, I have a pain in my chest. I must have fallen asleep unsuccessfully," - he involuntarily rubbed his chest, noting the unpleasant sensations spreading through his ribs.
- "Show me," - she turned to him.
- "What?"
Eva abruptly threw out her hand and, lifting up her T-shirt, saw a large hematoma on the boy's ribs -"Who did this?"
- "It's okay, I just fell down" - Nigel was stunned by such a sharp reaction
"Who hit you?" Answer me quickly!" - It was noticeable how nervous Eva was right now. She really didn't like what she saw and needed to solve this problem.
"No one beat me, we were just playing football!"
"Your ribs are broken." - She pressed on the skin, which was the color of an eggplant, and Nigel bent over from the sharp pain.
"It's all right. I just caught the ball badly. Nothing terrible happened."
- "Who... This... Did you do that? Look into my eyes and don't you dare turn away!" - She stared at him intently and squeezed her shoulder until it hurt, Nigel thought she was about to explode with rage.
- "Listen... No one has done this. I just fell down... I just fell..."
Eve stared into his eyes, as if reading him like an open book. Without saying a word, she turned around and headed for the stairs. Nigel rushed after her and dug his nails into her arm, preventing her from going any further.
- "Please... Don't touch her... It's not her fault. Please..."
Eve stopped and slowly turned around, looking at the boy. "Okay, I won't," - she shrugged calmly and sat back down. Pulling a plate of nuggets and potatoes towards her, she continued to eat. Taking out a package of sauce, she generously poured it over her portion.
"I'm really sorry. Simply... I don't want you to scold her. It really was an accident. Sarah threw the ball to me, and I caught it badly." - Nigel returned to his seat and suddenly felt ashamed of his behavior. He was probably too emotional with her right now.
- "As you wish. But when she accidentally kills you with a ball or a tennis racket, then don't complain to me..."- Eva pointed at him with a fork with reproach in her eyes.
After a while, Sarah went downstairs and quickly went into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator, she took a lot of food for herself. She didn't seem to notice them, her hair was tousled, and her expression gave the impression that she hadn't slept all night.
-"How was your night?" -Eva had a satisfied smile on her face, and her voice was more mocking. It was as if she felt something, and it made her have fun.
Sarah took two doughnuts and smeared them with peanut butter and glued them together – "But you can't see for yourself"
- "I see that it was fun" - They both burst out laughing, exchanging glances full of understanding.
Soon the others began to gather at the table. After Sarah came Dean and Paul, then there was Carroll. The last person to get out of his basement was the Press, which took the last place at the dining table, as far away from Carroll as possible. Everyone sat silently enjoying their meal. Finally, Paul couldn't stand it and wiped his hands and turned to the others.
- "By the way, it was at night that we became owners of a super-cool car. HMMWV. High cross-country ability, speed, armor. Everything is as it should be."
Carroll gave him a look full of surprise–"Stop…Did you steal a jeep from the military?"
Paul pointed at his friend's shoulder - "We did it together. Really Dean?"
"Hmm, I drove a hummer once. It's a really great car." -Eve looked around at the others with a satisfied look.
Carroll began to get indignant–"Don't you understand? We're all going to get caught! This is a dangerous idea... soon there will be crowds of soldiers here. I don't want a lot of blood in my house. Otherwise, you will clean up everything here!"
Paul made a displeased face, which caused Nigel to burst out laughing - "Yeah, okay. We got away from the chase, they lost our trail."
Carroll clenched her fists and her voice turned into pure annoyance - "There's something else. Paul! What did I say about the grass in our house?"
Sarah whistled - "Really? And I didn't know about it."
Carroll stood up and was practically shouting at them now–"You stole military equipment and brought drugs into the house. Are you even fucked up? Paul! You will be punished!"
"You liked to smoke a couple of joints yourself. Have you forgotten?" - The reaction to this remark was not long in coming. - "Immediately throw this trash out of my house! You are both punished! So that by evening this house would shine with cleanliness. To make my eyes water from the shine. Do you understand everything?"
Dean to take on the role of peacemaker and accept Carroll's terms-"Okay, we get it! The house will be in perfect order by evening. Please forgive me, we really didn't want you to get mad. We wanted to do the best we could... get a proper car."
Having calmed down, everyone took their seats and continued to eat. After a while, Paul, dissatisfied with the deathly silence at this family breakfast, decided to try to create a conversation again. - "Well, are we going to sit in silence and look at our plates of food? Can we talk?"
- "Eat and don't get distracted" - Carroll angrily pointed the knife in his direction.
"Ahhh, Mom, it's boring. Seriously. Let's tell stories. Press! You're a mercenary! There must have been a lot of really cool moments in your career. Tell us something?"
Carroll grinned maliciously and the Press coughed, realizing what she was thinking right now. - "Well... Man, I don't think this is the best time for such stories. Let's do it later, OK?"
"Oh, come on! Let's! Sarah, tell us something?"
Sarah shook her head, "I have nothing to tell, we were constantly moving around and surviving as best we could. The only thing I can remember is the story when we broke into a rock concert. There was a huge crowd of people there, but we were perfectly disguised. John got us two boxes of popcorn and hot dogs. It was very romantic and fun..."
Paul obviously liked this beginning - "It's really very romantic. When I have a girlfriend, I will definitely take her to a rock concert.". Everyone laughed at his words. "Okay, that's good. Now your sour faces have finally brightened up. Hey Nigel! Now it's your turn. Tell us something."
Nigel was embarrassed, he really didn't know what he could tell. There was almost nothing in his life to share-"To be honest, there was very little fun in my life. I'm afraid my stories will seem strange to you."
Paul snapped his fingers and encouraged him –"Kamon dude! We're fucking aliens. You definitely won't surprise us with anything anymore. Don't be shy."
Sarah supported this idea – "Yes, come on Nigel! I'm interested in learning something new about you!"
"One day, my mother was once again kicked out of work because of her addiction to drugs. I remember we didn't even have money for food. And then I asked her, "Mom, I'm hungry!" Then she told me to wait for her in the alley. She said not to go anywhere and that she would come soon. She started walking up to the cars and offering herself to them for money. In the end, one man agreed. She sat down with him, and they drove off somewhere... I waited for several hours, it was already night. I really wanted to eat, but my mother was still not there. It was already cold, but I continued to sit there on the lid of the dumpster and waited. There were thoughts that maybe she had left forever and would not come back.
But she came back, she came back and came up to me and offered to go and have a snack at the nearest cafe. We have money. Then we went to the store and bought a lot of delicious food."
Nigel stopped talking and looked at everyone. The press covered his face with his hands and said only one thing - "Mother of God..."
Paul's face turned pale as chalk, and his eyes turned red. Nigel began to feel that he had said something very bad and upset everyone - "Hey! What happened to you? I told you, my stories are pretty weird. Forgive me..."
Paul – " I the one who's sorry... I'm just a complete idiot..." He couldn't speak and it seemed like there was a real lump in his throat.
Carroll leaned across the table and slapped Paul hard on the back of the head–"You're even worse!" It was obvious that her hands were shaking and she got up with difficulty and went to the closet. She took a pack of cigarettes and lit up. She couldn't stop her hands from shaking and she was shaking all over. - "I need to get out..."
Nigel, not understanding why his story made such a stunning impression, looked at Sarah. She sat with her eyes wide with shock and looked at her plate.
- "Hey, what happened? Sarah, is everything okay?"
He touched her shoulder, and she flinched–"Nigel... Is this all true? Did you really see all this?"
- "Well, yes... It was a long time ago..."
Sarah rushed to him and hugged him tightly. She was sobbing
- "What's going on with all of you? Eve?"
He looked at Eva, whose whole face was shaking and her eyes were like glass balls. Walking up to them, she put her hand on Sarah's shoulder, "You have a wonderful friend. Take care of him and try not to kill him when you play football. Excuse me…I have to go out too."
Nevada
"Are you sure she's there?" - Arthur's voice sounded uncertain.
"I do not know, but I hope that I will find at least traces of her. This is the main clue." - Eva was grateful to Arthur for the work he had done. Through his many friends on the web, he managed to get the data of the person who stole her child, they found secret FBI reports on the mysterious disappearance of two professors at the University of Virginia at once, one she recognized. Eve remembered the man's face. Now she knew his name. Bruce Abbott. She needed to go to Virginia and find all the answers there. If that old bastard is still alive, it won't be for long. Eve imagined breaking into his house and slowly killing him. She would punish him for what he had done. Stole her baby. She can forgive a lot, but not that. The report also included data on an accident at a local power plant with an experimental reactor. There was information about the discovered bodies of two male half-breeds. One of them was dissected and disassembled, his body was already at the stage of decomposition. The second was killed with gas, his remains were found in a swamp.
"I wonder what she looks like now? I'm sure she's as beautiful as you are" - Arthur gently touched her shoulder.
- "I don't know. I only remember the baby, which I didn't even have time to hold in my arms. Then the half-breed twisted my neck, and I lost consciousness, I was too weak to resist. When I woke up in that car, everything was empty. I remember running through the damn forest and swamp, screaming, beside myself with grief and rage. I could feel her trail, but it grew fainter and fainter until it was completely lost. I ran until my strength left me and fell on the road, I just lay there. I lay there unable to move until the helicopter shone a spotlight on me. Then there was a downpour of lead. It hurt, but after all the experiments, I didn't care about bullets. The pain gave me strength, and I ran again, jumped off a cliff into a waterfall and swam like a fish under water until they left me alone."
Arthur tightens his grip on her shoulders, realizing how much pain this man who stole her child and all those people who kept her locked up for so many years caused her. Eva kept talking, she had never told this story to anyone, and it was only now that Arthur found out these details of her life.
"In one of the settlements, I took clothes and a car for myself. I waited until the sun went down and robbed one of the houses. The owners were lucky that they were very drunk and slept senseless. Otherwise I'd have to... you know. Then I just left and tried to get to know this world better and survive in it."
Eve was quickly stuffing her things into her backpack. She led a Spartan lifestyle. And took only the most necessary things. Arthur brought a pistol, boxes of ammunition, canned food and water, as well as a set of jackets and pants to protect against bad weather. Eve glanced at the pile of things he had brought and grumbled in displeasure.
- "What's all this for?"
"I think you'll need this. I don't want you to need anything."
Eva looked at him gratefully and smiled modestly. - "Keep it for yourself. You're going to need it more than I do. Trust me."
"Eva, I wanted to tell you. What, I ... I..." Arthur hesitated and blushed deeply.
She came over and pressed his head against her chest. - "I know Arthur, I know..."
"Eva... Please... Take care of yourself. And I promise I'll find you... We will definitely meet." - He lifted his face and looked into her eyes, touching, they merged into a long and romantic kiss. "Don't miss me... Arthur. If something happens, don't go into mourning. Remember that I'm just an alien who escaped from a cage..."
He grabbed her hand - "Why are you saying that... You know I don't need anyone but you."
He saw her eyes fill with moisture. - "Arthur... You are a very kind and good person... I'm so glad we were together...I will never forget you... If we meet again..."
Arthur held her tightly in his arms and fought back tears. He understood that she needed to leave. She had to find her daughter, but it was so painful for her to leave her and be alone again. It will be a great torment. And when she left, he remembered every second he spent with her, and he could have sworn that he was the happiest guy in the universe. That last long kiss on the porch of a dilapidated house was the sweetest. It seemed to Arthur that he could still taste it on his lips. And it was an incredibly amazing feeling.
A black SUV parked behind the trailer brought him back to reality. Tinted windows, no license plates, lights off. Arthur went to the entrance of the trailer, took out a revolver and went inside. After taking a couple of steps, he heard the click of the safety catch, and the cold steel of the barrel pressed uncomfortably against his temple on the left.
- "Arthur Lloyd, you are under arrest on charges of espionage and disclosure of classified information. Drop the weapon. Please don't force us.
Arthur opened his hand and the Colt fell at his feet, the second agent kicked it under the seat. "Now lie down and put your hands behind your head!" Arthur was thinking chaotically about what could be done, but was caught off guard. However, he was right, it was a trap. Perhaps no one was tied up, he was just used as a lock pick.
- "I'm sorry... You forgot your... oh... I see there are problems here," turning around, Arthur saw the same elderly tourist who was now standing at the entrance to the trailer and holding a wallet in his hands. One of the agents moved towards him and pointed a gun: "Don't move, old man... You're going to get shot." The man seemed to laugh at this threat. "Did I say something funny?" Raising his hands, he continued to laugh. The agent went outside, holding the old man at gunpoint.
- "I am a foreign citizen..."
The agent approached him and put a gun to his head. After a moment, Arthur couldn't believe his eyes. This man grabbed the agent's arm, broke it and took away the gun. Hiding behind his body, he shot at another agent who was holding Arthur at gunpoint, then turned around and fired the remaining clip into the windshield of the jeep.
Throwing the body away from him and throwing it to the ground, the man took out a knife and approached him, seeing how he was trying to crawl away, bent down, turned him over on his back and plunged the blade into his chest to the hilt. When the agent stopped moving, Arthur had already pulled his revolver from under the seat and pointed it at the strange tourist who had just dealt with the agents in cold blood.
- "Mr. Arthur, why are you acting like this? Is this your gratitude I saving you?"
- "Who are you? Please don't come any closer."
The man smiled good-naturedly again and gave Arthur a mocking bow: "Let me introduce myself. The Tasmanian devil. In England, I am also known by the nickname "The Sherwood Fox". But it hardly means anything to you. Am I right?"
Arthur lowered the gun - "You're late for a meeting. I thought you had given me away." The man came closer and stopped on the threshold of the trailer. "May I come in?"
Deciding that if this man had saved him and, as it turned out, was a contact, then perhaps he could be trusted, Arthur stepped aside and let the stranger into his modest mobile home: "I needed to make sure that you were not being followed. It's a pity that you had to face the feds. I have nothing to do with it. By the way, I'd rather get out of here already. Other agents will arrive here soon."
Arthur got behind the wheel and started the engine, driving onto the highway, he quickly gained maximum speed. His new acquaintance sat down next to him and pointed out the direction: "In a few miles there will be a fork, we will turn on it. We'll need to drive towards Oregon."
"Why there?" - Arthur looked at the man questioningly. The bat tattoo caught his attention again. He had seen such tattoos before. When one scout from Russia was caught, he had exactly the same bat on his forearm. - "Are you a Hungarian who works for the Russians?".
This question made his interlocutor laugh again: "Of course not. I have lived and worked in Hungary for a long time, so I know their language well. My name is Nikolai Kuznetsov, I am a resident of foreign intelligence. We are very grateful to you for the information you have provided to us."
Arthur grunted back - "You're welcome. So now we're going to Oregon."
"Yes, this is exactly where we are. More precisely, we need to go to Coltan, it's not far from Portland. One of our safe houses is located there. There we will discuss our further cooperation, and you can finally rest in safety."
Arthur turned the fork where Nikolai pointed out to him and the trailer accelerated along the highway to the state border "Why do the Russians need all this data?"
Nikolai took Arthur's shotgun, an old Winchester 1300, and after checking the cartridges put it on his lap - "I see you are well prepared, Arthur."
"I'm not a soldier, but I had no other choice. I'm being hunted. You haven't answered my question," he looked from the gun to Kuznetsov's face.
"We were aware of the suspicious activity of the United States in the field of genetic technologies. Our informants provided fragmentary information about experiments at an air base in Utah. Our satellites also detected unknown signals from space, but it was officially forbidden to decrypt them."
Arthur looked surprised – "Why"
Nikolai lowered his gaze – "Our laws prohibit any genetic experiments."
He took a metal cigarette case out of his inner pocket, opened the lid, took out a cigarette and offered Arthur a cigarette. Refusing, he still noticed a small photograph of a woman in glasses and a medical gown, which was attached inside the lid.
Arthur - "Your wife?"
Nikolai smiled - "Daughter... My pride. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine."
Arthur - "Is she probably waiting for you at home?"
Nikolai slammed the lid and put the cigarette case in his inner pocket - "She's missing, this photo is the only reminder..."
Arthur - "I'm sorry..."
Nikolai - "She was a biologist and a doctor, worked on the scientific vessel Eagle in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. It is not known exactly what happened there, but... the ship sank with all the crew. No one managed to escape."
Arthur - "I'm really sorry... This is a great tragedy."
Nikolai nodded - "I know that something was wrong on that damn ship. My daughter said that they were preparing a breakthrough in science. I was serving in Britain at the time, and we were hunting a Russian mobster who was selling weapons stolen from military warehouses on the black market. And then I didn't care about her. I was happy for my daughter, but I didn't go into the details of their work. When all this happened... Then I started my own investigation. I did not believe that they had sunk just like that. My management found out about this and decided to send me away."
Arthur - "Do you think that the ship was sunk intentionally?" -News from years ago was popping up in his head. The sunken Russian ship. The ultramodern vessel was sunk by an ordinary storm.
Nikolai turned to him and in his gaze there was a determination to find the truth - "I have no doubt about it. They're all hiding something... Something is being hidden from us in the depths of this sea."
West Virginia
They didn't have much to do today. Basically everyone was sitting in their rooms or spending time in each other's small companies. Sarah, Paul, Dean and Nigel gathered to play in the living room. She didn't know who had suggested the stupid idea this time. They glued pieces of paper on each other's foreheads and wrote the names of superheroes and various animals on them. And then they tried to guess who they were. It was funny for Eva to watch such children's games. But they seemed to have fun. And this is the most important thing. The landline phone rang. Carol, who was not far from the phone, angrily picked up the receiver - "I'm listening."
The voice to an obviously grown man and sounded quite peaceful-"Miss Carroll, I dare say. It's nice to hear from you. We don't know each other... But nevertheless, I want to make you an offer that you cannot refuse."
Carroll turned away in surprise and began to move his eyes around the room, looking at everyone present –"What? Who are you?"
The voice – "You understand that you are hiding dangerous criminals in your house. I do not know who they are to you, but believe me, I need these people more than you..."
Eve went over and listened to the voice coming from the receiver. She looked at Carroll questioningly. She just shrugged her shoulders in response – "And what do you want?"
The voice – "It's very simple, you give us the guy, I guarantee you the inviolability of your family."
Carroll straightened her hair and decided to pretend that she did not understand what was being said – "Actually, I do not understand what you are talking about... You got the wrong number..."
The voice – "Oh, believe me, I was not mistaken. Miss Carroll, I know a lot more about you than you think. I even know that Carroll is not your real name..."
Carroll's eyes widen and her voice hardens–"Who... are you... Fuck... Like this?"
The voice–"Why so rude, Miss? I thought we were going to talk like well-mannered people. Mr. Dallan Hastings, I presume, must be familiar to you... And also Mr. Dean Ashland... Give them to me... and no one will get hurt."
Putting her finger to her chin and rolling her eyes, she replied - "Hmm, let me think for a second... I have no idea who you're talking about..."
The voice – "Then let me remind you that your position is very precarious. You are inside the quarantine zone... At any moment, something can go wrong..."
Carroll was clearly tired of this dialogue, realizing what it was all about – "I'm not used to it... I have something going wrong all the time."
The voice–"I'm giving you exactly one hour, Miss Carroll. In an hour, those of you who remain alive will be jealous... Dead..."
Carroll gripped the phone angrily and her voice changed completely, turning into a growl–"Then I'll give you some advice too... Stock up on body bags."
The abrupt change in the situation took them all by surprise. There was little time and they needed to prepare well. There was no plan. Carroll, Eva and Press were sitting on the porch of the house and thinking about their own things.
The press finished smoking another cigarette - "So in an hour, right? Who was that?"
Carroll finished the brandy bottle and casually threw it on the grass–"They didn't introduce themselves. I think they were the people who kidnapped Dean's friend."
Eva adjusted her T-shirt, "We need to leave. It's urgent."
Carroll – "Go away. And take Paul with you."
Eva – "And you?"
Carroll – "This is my home. I won't give up without a fight."
Press – "Carroll, I understand everything. But there's a damn quarantine zone here. Soldiers will come to the shots. There will be a big fight."
Carroll waved him off – "I don't care"
Eva – "Then I'm staying here too. I'm not leaving you alone. I didn't find you all to lose you all again."
The press turned to Carroll - "Well, if we're all going to die tonight, then I wanted to ask. What do you think... Did you manage to survive?"
She looked at him blankly and a bitter smile appeared on her face: "I didn't survive that night... Don't worry."
Press – "But how?"
Carroll – "I have no idea. Simply... I don't remember that. Is that clear? I just remember tearing open the cocoon and falling out of it in some smelly basement. Then I just tried to come to my senses and start living again."
The press scratches its unshaven face – "I still can't believe what happened."
Eve – "Into what exactly?"
Press – "I could imagine that Eva was alive, but that I would meet so many here... New"
Carroll hit him on the knee–"Don't be shy, tell me straight out that you didn't think you'd find a whole house with aliens."
Press – "Honestly... Yes, I didn't think about it."
Sarah, accompanied by Nigel, lazily left the house, shivering from the evening cold air. - "There are 50 minutes left. I don't want them to be late. Then it will be boring."
Nigel sat down on the step, squeezing between Eve and Carroll. Eva wrapped her arm tightly around him and leaned closer to her–"Don't worry, they won't get close to you... I promise."
Press – "The child should be removed from the house. If the military descends here, there will be a massacre."
Carroll looks around and looks at Nigel, winking at him cheerfully –"Do you like fast driving, guy?" Nigel nodded.
Carroll – "So we'll put you, your friend, and her boyfriend, the scientist, in the truck and Paul will go with you. Get as far away from here as possible. We'll cover for you and hold them off as long as we can."
The press chuckled - "Are only old men going into battle? Fine, then I ask you to release me from arrest and give me a weapon."
Carroll gave him the middle finger–"Don't you need a bald fuck?"
Eva – "I agree with the Press. He is a good soldier and will help us in battle."
Getting up and going into the house, she soon returned with SPAS-12 and M16A4 in her hands – "Hold the Horseradish Rimbaud. But remember, if you try to escape or shoot me in the back... I'll tear..." she brought her face closer and showed her fangs.
The press checks the weapon – "Excellent. Don't worry, I'm not an idiot... Moreover, they have no chance against two hybrids."
Sarah squatted down and put her hands on her mother's shoulders–"I'm not going anywhere."
Eve looked back at her–"Don't even dare. You're going to leave here."
In response, she wrapped her arms around her neck and forced Eve to lean back a little–"I'll be with you... Dean and Paul will take care of Nigel."
Paul and Dean came out of the garage and approached the others – "My opinion is not taken into account as always? I'm not going anywhere without you, Mom." Dean was wiping his hands of engine oil with a rag and sat next to Sarah, resting his head on her shoulder– "I won't leave you here."
Carroll came out in front of everyone and looked at everyone with her stern but proud gaze. She bit her lip and seemed to assess their chances in the upcoming fight. - "Great. So we're all going to die here. Awesome Then get ready to fight."
Mount Airy - North Carolina
The ATM screen emitted a faint glow, in which one could see the agitated face of an adult woman. Her trembling fingers barely hit the buttons. She unsuccessfully tried to collect her thoughts and enter the code and the amount of money. Glancing nervously at the car parked next to her on the corner, she entered the four-digit code once more. Wrong again. She had one last chance, otherwise... She didn't want to think about what would happen if she couldn't withdraw the money. Gathering her thoughts, she began to recall the numbers that, as luck would have it, flew out of her head. In the reflection of the screen, the silhouette of a tall young man with short black hair, dressed in a warm jacket similar to that worn by the military, was noticeable. The rest of his appearance bore little resemblance to a soldier. Dark jeans, hiking boots, knitted gloves with cropped fingers. She saw the guy in the reflection looking back in the same direction as her. She didn't want any trouble, she needed to give the money to the scumbag who was holding her daughter hostage.
"Please leave! Please." She tried to keep her voice as low as possible.
The guy seemed to hear her and stared at her intently, as if trying to read her thoughts.
"Are they in that car? Are you afraid of them?" his voice sounded confident and calm and it was impossible to understand how he guessed this.
"Please leave. My daughter is there... They'll kill her." - her fingers finally stopped obeying her and her face twisted in convulsions.
The young man moved towards the car without saying a word. She watched in horror as he approached them. She thought he was some kind of drug addict or a psycho. This man in the car is armed and he has no chance. But the scarier thing was that her daughter would be killed if they suspected that they were in danger.
Coming close to the back door, the guy jerked out the glass and pulled out half the torso of a thick and bald bandit, in whose hand was a MAC-10. The machine gun immediately fell out of his hands when the guy first bent body up with a crunch, breaking his spine, and then quickly bent it down, smashing his head against the door. Skull fragments and brain matter splattered the doors and part of the road under the car. Having done this, the guy turned away and picked up a shortened machine gun from the ground and put it in his jacket.
The woman rushed to the car, trying to get away from the guy who had just easily dealt with a man much stronger than himself. Her daughter ran out of the passenger seat and, trembling with fear, rushed into the woman's arms. They were both looking at the man who had saved them and was now looking around as if they didn't know what to do next. Approaching him, the woman took out several hundred from her wallet.
- "Thank you... Take it!"
After looking at the outstretched bills, the guy turned away and looked at the night highway. For a second, the woman thought she saw blue flashes in his eyes.
- "Is there any way I can thank you?"
Looking at her, he seemed to open his mouth to reply, but changed his mind and turned away again.
- "You have nowhere to go? There is a church nearby. They give shelter. I'm sure you can find help there. Thank you again... I will never forget you."
After listening to the words of gratitude, he nodded and threw on his hood and walked towards the street, which was now empty. The woman's daughter ran up and grabbed her mother's hand. "Hurry up, we need to leave..."
They managed to walk the rest of the way home without any problems.
"Who do you think it was?" - the girl was still barely moving away from the incident, trying to figure out who their mysterious savior was.
"I don't know, baby, he's wearing a military jacket, but he doesn't look like a soldier. At first I thought he was just crazy or homeless. Such people often dress the same way." - the woman's voice trembled, but she tried to answer herself this question more tightly.
"I think he was a veteran after all. Anyway, it doesn't matter. He saved me, and I will remember that."
One of the old churches was warm and smelled of incense. There was a large open book by the Altar. A young guy wrapped in a warm hooded jacket came closer and ran his finger along the lines written in red ink "I will go the way of the shadow of death... And I won't be afraid of evil." He has been here for several hours and the church should close soon. The remaining priest came up to him and bent down.
- "Sorry, we're already closing."
The guy jerked and said quickly.
- "Yes, of course, I'm leaving now" - turning to the exit and taking a step, he felt someone gently take his elbow and stop him.
"Do you need help? Do you have somewhere to go?" - The male priest led him to one of the long pews flanking the aisle.
Sitting on the edge of the bench, the guy leaned over and his voice sounded low - "I've lost everything...I don't understand why they brought me back..."
The priest sat down next to him - "The ways of the Lord are inscrutable... No one knows their purpose... Why are we born? What is our essence? We have to find the answer to these questions ourselves."
The guy raised his face, and the priest saw two clear blue eyes on the stern face of the young guy. - "Man created me, not God."
The priest put his wrinkled hand with traces of burns on the man's shoulder - "You are mistaken, my son. We are all created by the command of God. He decides who should be born and who should die."
"And if I do not know why I was created?" He looked hopefully at the priest, who seemed to understand him.
Looking at him, the man said encouragingly, -"So someone needs you. Someone needs you, and you have to fulfill your mission." - The man got up wearily and went to one of the candelabra with many candles. "Everyone has their own goal and their own path... Find him, my son. Find. When my family died in a car accident, then I didn't want to live either... I thought, "God, why?"... But this test hardened me, gave me strength. After that, I realized that my duty was to help other people. Nothing in life happens for nothing. Everything has a purpose..."
- "Thank you... I have to go..." - Getting up, the guy left the church and looked around and went towards the night highway.
Hello again, everyone! I think I've got some creative potential. I am writing and I want to write non-stop. There are a lot of interesting things in our history, aren't there? Someone has risen from the dead to complete a task. Arthur has friends and patrons. And don't forget about that ship. He will have his own story. What will happen next? Follow the publications and you will get answers to all your questions. And most importantly, "Get ready for battle!" It's going to be hot in the next chapter. I hope you have a nice time reading this new chapter! Good luck to you!