CHAPTER 3: A Lonely Soul

Álverez leaned on the old, moss covered camper. She had driven over five hours to get to essentially the middle of nowhere to chase up this "Lead". Two weeks old, however, she was keenly aware that the US military would also be onto this.

They had listed Eve under a false name as an Escaped Convict and begun a "Have you seen this Individual" social media campaign. However, it had taken a while before anyone commented on having actually seen her. The young clerk of a run-down gas station had apparently just taken a while to see the article and make a connection. Now a follow up post was out there, a CCTV clip showing Eve buying supplies.

Lennox had managed to get them on site rather quickly though one of his contacts. He had mercenary friends in almost every corner of the world, each of whom with an impressive skillset.
Among them he had a good rep, and word had gotten out regarding the BS circumstances of his fall from grace.

The slightly odd man she had met at the landing strip and driven out here, however, was something of an anomaly. Anomalies, it seemed, had been her life the past few years since literal aliens overran her town, and then one of them had appeared, as if from nowhere, and helped her save the remaining civilians.

The Gas Station where Eve had briefly surfaced was roughly thirty miles from here. Álverez had flown out under one of her many false identities and linked up with another acquaintance of Press and Laura's by the name of Dan Smithson, an "Empath".

Despite an odd disposition and tendency to make obvious statements, she had found him pleasant enough company on the drive out here.

Upon reaching the Gas Station, Dan had indeed proven himself quite adept with his "Ability". Almost like a psychic bloodhound, he had set off into the woods and along what appeared to be an old railroad track following a sense only he could perceive. Luckily Press's local contact had furnished them with a 4x4 otherwise they would never have reached this spot.

Though he had stated he was an "Empath", Álverez suspected his abilities extended into the psychic range. She had given voice to this question and he had all but confirmed it.

Given a deep enough connection, or time in someone's space, whether or not they currently occupied that space, he could get a general sense of them, imagery and even a sense of someone's future intention.

As for his ability to find this place, he described it as falling away, or getting stronger the closer he got. Several miles in they had discovered this old wreck of a camper, situated near a rare hot spring.

Apparently Eve had been living out here. It overlooked a small town and was no doubt used as a place for local young lovers to make out, but not for a very long time.

Álverez didn't need to be an Empath to see how Eve had chosen to live. Not so much a life, more of an existence, a self imposed isolation. Eve had retreated from the world. Poor thing, she must be so lonely, thought the former Police Lieutenant.

Smithson finally emerged from the interior of the Camper. Álverez was taken aback to see he had tears running down his cheeks.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"She's so alone" he finally said.

No shit Sherlock, look around you she thought. But Dan had led them to this place, so he was onto something.

He paused to collect his thoughts "She's been having horrible nightmares".

Álverez waited, he was clearly troubled by something and looked to be struggling to put it into words. "Are you ok, Dan? Why don't you sit down and tell me"

Dan found a nearby boulder and sat down. Álverez knelt beside him and waited for him to continue. When he didn't, she offered something for him to comment on.

"She's brave isn't she?" putting a hand on his shoulder, whatever well of emotions he had gleaned from this place had clearly shaken him. She had to help him along to get any details that could potentially help.

As much as she found this strange, it was on the right track, she just needed something from this man she could use.

"Did you pick up on anything? Anything we can use to find her? Is she in danger, Dan?".

With this, Dan seemed to collect himself. "Sorry, the well is deep here, there's a lot to unpack"

"Just tell me what you can and we'll go from there" she said.

"She's confident but… she's so utterly lost" he began. "She liked it out here, but left suddenly. It's like after months of being here, she simply woke up, picked a direction and started walking, as she's been doing for years. But there's also a sadness in her, a deep longing that she can't satiate. She has no idea where she's going" he paused. "And… I think, deep down, she's scared".

"Scared of what, of Burgess finding her?" Álverez asked.

"She's not so much scared of humans, she's afraid of herself, of what she is, what she can do, these Dreams she's having are only reinforcing that".

"What do you mean, is there anything that can help us find her before someone else does?" Álverez asked.

"West" he said abruptly, as if it had just come to him. "She wants to head West, towards the sea, and then… further".

Yes! A general direction, that's something Álverez thought. She stood and walked around the clearing, pausing to look out at the small collection of buildings in the distance. Eve was on foot, but could move with ease though day and night, rain or snow, and didn't need to stick to trails or roads, emerging briefly, only when she felt like it. Two hundred miles maybe. She didn't appear to be in much of a rush but that was a lot of ground to cover.

Álverez thought of how Eve appeared on the monitor. Her clothes were soaked through, tattered and worn. When she first met Eve back in Mexico, she looked like any other backpacker she'd ever seen. Now she looked beaten down, like someone who was just going through the day-to-day motions of existence.

Dan finally stood. "I'll find her, I have a good sense of her now. If you can get me anywhere close, I can find her".

Álverez "So, we head West"

However strange this was, it was all Álverez had to go on, but it was still more than the US military were working with. She had no doubt that they had assets in place in this region by now, ready to pounce on the slightest whisper of Eve's presence in the area.
Eve had helped her once, saved her. Now she was going to get Eve as far away from those who would do her harm as humanly possible.

While, Press, Laura, Eve, and Dan, the familiar characters are part of this story (Gamble is in it later but I still need to iron out his role) Álverez is the new character.

As I mentioned, I did most of this during lockdown, what I'm doing now is essentially dusting it off and giving it it's day in the sun.

Let me know what you think in the comments and reviews, I wanna hear your thoughts and speculations. This is the first time I've shared any of my material.