Chapter 15. Crime and punishment.

It was another sleepless night for her. Carroll tried to reassure her about Dean, saying they were safe. But she didn't really believe her. Why did he leave without warning? Where is he now?

Sarah had been tossing and turning in bed for three hours and couldn't sleep. Sitting up in bed, she made another attempt to call. It's no use. "The subscriber is outside the network access zone."

Soft footsteps could be heard in the hallway, someone knocked lightly on the door.

Sarah: "Yes, come in" - half of the face appeared in the opened crack and the child's eye looked directly at her. Sarah glanced at her watch. Half past two in the morning.

The boy entered the room and, without asking permission, sat down next to her on the bed.

Sara:"Did you see the time? You should be dreaming your tenth dream already," she shot him a reproachful look.

Nigel: "I don't want to. I'm scared."

Sarah lay down and turned her back to him, covering herself with a blanket.

Sarah: "If there was anyone there, they would already be dead. So go to sleep and don't worry."

She heard him close the door and go to his room. Nigel became an unexpected guest for Sil. There weren't many rooms, so someone would have to make room. As a result, Eva gave way, saying that she would sleep in the living room on an old sofa.

This night promised to be not calm, the streets are patrolled by soldiers. They also heard rumors about looters appearing. Although they hoped that they would be spared.

Sleep still wouldn't come. She heard footsteps again, now it was running, and someone was clearly scared. Nigel burst into her room.

Nigel: "They're there, I saw them."

Sarah answered calmly, without turning to him.

Sarah: "Who are they Nigel?"

Nigel: "Ghosts, I've seen them. They're in the house."

Sarah got up and left the room with a tired look: "Come on, I'll prove to you that there are no ghosts."

Sarah moved in the direction of Nigel's room when she heard a noise downstairs and Eva's voice, which sounded both enthusiastic and menacing: "Hi boys, you decided to stop by our place for a light. I love uninvited guests."

Nigel: "What is it?" - he wanted to go to the stairs, but Sarah grabbed him and shoved him into the nearest room.

Sarah: "Stay here and don't come out until I tell you."

Two men, wrapped in dark hooded jackets, wearing masks and carrying backpacks on their backs, were making short runs to a house located on the outskirts of this city. The house looked empty and there was little light in its windows. They already knew that there were only a couple of girls and a boy here now. The case promised to be easy and go through without unnecessary hassle. The plan was as simple as a mousetrap: go in the back door, tie up the tenants, pick up all valuables and get out quickly. This was not their first case, and everything went quickly and smoothly. Now they were preparing to go around the back of the house.

His partner Lois took out an old cz.75 from his pocket. and after checking the cartridges in the magazine, he clicked the shutter.

"Are you serious? There are a couple of girls there. Or you're afraid they'll kick your ass like that biker girl at the club when you molested her." - He laughed, remembering this story that happened a couple of weeks ago.

"Fuck you" - his partner swore angrily, hid the gun and, coming out of hiding, ducking, quickly moved to the back door.

Surprisingly, the door was not closed. It was dark inside and seemed to be empty. They were behind the stairs leading to the second floor, in front, apparently, was the living room. In the middle of it was a large sofa covered with a green material with a fancy ornament.

A young blonde with short hair was sleeping on the couch, covered with a blanket. She couldn't have been more than thirty. It's a small matter, quickly shut her up and tie her up.

As he got closer, he noticed the passage to the kitchen, which was to the left of the living room. There should have been a passage to the garage on the right side. Perhaps there is something valuable there.

"I'll tie her up, and you check the kitchen" - His partner had already moved towards the peacefully sleeping girl.

As he walked around the couch, he saw Loyd reach out to clamp his hand over the girl's mouth, and what happened next resembled some kind of hellish nightmare.

When his hand touched the girl's lips, she opened her eyes, and then her jaw opened much wider than any human's, and two rows of sharp fangs sank into her arm.

There was a crunch of grinding bones, and a clawed hand, like the paw of an alien monster, appeared from under the blanket. A short wave, a flash of claws in the dark, and now his partner was standing in the middle of the room with his stomach ripped open. Crouching down and falling to his knees, he supported his protruding insides with trembling hands.

The girl got out of bed, and now he could see that curved spikes were sticking out of her back.

I didn't know what to do, looking around, I realized that I had to run to the exit, which was behind me.

But this one.. I no longer knew what to call the terrible creature that I saw now, as if reading my thoughts, turned around and looked at me with its bright, glowing eyes in the dark. Instead of the usual pupils, she now had thin vertical slits.

"Hello, boys, you decided to come over for a smoke break. I love uninvited guests." - having said that, she showed her long tongue covered with thorns, licked her lips and moved towards me. My legs gave way and I felt like I couldn't move anymore. Grabbing me by the throat, the creature that a minute ago was a sleeping woman ran its tongue over my cheek, I felt a sharp pain from the thorns tearing my cheek.

- "Please... I'm begging you... Don't" is all I could say at that moment.

The creature seemed surprised to hear this. Smiling with an unnatural, evil grimace, it threw me across the room, and, crashing into the wall, I slid limply to the floor.

"What, you don't like me anymore? You wanted to play with me, didn't you? So let's play, as you can see, I just got in the mood."

"Help!" - I began to scream, squeezing out all my strength, although my vocal cords froze and my scream turned into a pathetic squeak.

In response, she clamped her hand over my mouth, and her grip was so strong that it seemed she would break my jaw.

"Hush, don't scream. You don't want to be heard. You're a grown boy and you should be able to take responsibility for your actions. You came to this house thinking that you would make an easy profit. But you will be the profit for me."

My heart was about to jump out of my chest. The woman straightened up and her mouth opened completely, showing a predatory smile. But the scariest thing right now was behind her back. A biorobot-like creature covered in armor came out of the darkness and stood next to her.

The two creatures looked at each other, and for some reason it seemed to him that they were talking now.

But he will never know what it is about. Turning around, the blonde raised her hand and with one short blow extinguished the light in his eyes.

Phillips led them into a small room of the morgue, which was located in the forensic department and pulled off the oilcloth from one of the two corpses.

Two bodies were found this morning by local homeless people in the woods on the outskirts of the town. Now, after the introduction of a special situation and quarantine, the life of these poor people has become completely hopeless. They were expelled from the city, forced to move to the forest, depriving them of their usual habitat and access to food.

"Your mother," - the Press standing next to him clamped his hand over his mouth.

"The body has no head. More precisely, there are remains of the head found next to the body that are difficult to identify." - The criminologist adjusted his round glasses and covered the body.

When he got to the second table, he moved the film from the side of his legs. The sight he saw already made Growe hold back the urge to vomit.

- "The second victim's abdominal cavity was opened, as well as his left hand...It looks like she was put in a meat grinder."

Growe moved away from the tables so as not to see this sight. The press waved his hand and went outside.

After lighting a cigarette and thinking about everything they saw, they decided that they needed to go to the place where the bodies were found and maybe they could find something there.

Grow : "It's useless. More mutilated corpses. It's good that they left a face for one and it will be possible to establish an identity."

The crime scene was already empty. As before, we found nothing interesting. In a small area among the trees on the trampled grass, you could still see the remnants of blood that had not soaked into the ground. The press was walking around the ground, but suddenly stopped, lifting his foot off the ground and hurriedly took a step to the side.

Press: "Carl! Come here."

Grow, who was enjoying the fresh air, immediately ran up to the place where the Press was pointing. A footprint was visible on the ground, and the footprint could have been mistaken for a human footprint, but there was one "but". The toes were longer than an ordinary person and ended in claws, judging by the footprint.

The press squatted down and examined everything carefully. Then he took out some kind of jar from his shoulder bag, and with the help of forceps took a soil sample.

Grow: "I've never seen such tracks. I wonder if the criminologists saw this?"

The press snorted with displeasure: "I don't think so. Have you seen how many footprints there are around here? It was like a herd of horses walking. I'm surprised they didn't trample the trail itself. But everything seems to be clean, I hope the analysis will show the result."

Grow: "What kind of analysis?"

Press: "There may be some remnants of biomaterial, and they can sometimes be found on the tracks. You also need to photograph the trail and show it to experts to determine what kind of animal passed through here. Although I am sure that these footprints do not belong to any animal in this area."

Grow adjusted his hat and moved towards the car, throwing over his shoulder to his partner: "I'm going to the car. As soon as you manage, join us"

After taking all the necessary samples from the crime scene, the Press decided to move another way to the parking lot, passing along the houses standing nearby.

Passing the last house on this street, he noticed a reflection in the window of the upper floor, and stopping, he felt his heart sink down somewhere, and his legs gave way. "Oh shit."

Checking the presence of a pistol in his belt with his hand, he went closer to the back entrance to the house and leaned against the wall, tried to look through the window again.

It was empty now, but a few moments ago, he could have sworn he saw Eve. He couldn't be mistaken, it was definitely her. Short white hair, the curve of her neck and the profile of her face, no, he couldn't confuse her with anyone. He will never forget it all. The memories of that ill-fated night surfaced in his mind.

For a second, it seemed to him that he was standing in that old Ross estate again and aiming at the cocoon inside which Eva and Patrick were performing their mating ritual.

Shaking his head, as if waking up from a nightmare, Press went to the door and paused, holding out his hand. He wanted to knock on the door and make sure that everything he saw was just some stupid joke of his subconscious. These footprints and mutilated corpses, the hunt for the half-bloods, all played an evil trick on him.

"Eva's not here, she's probably already dead. It's all just a mind game, nothing more." In an attempt to calm himself, he clenched his fists and walked away and looked out the window again. Empty again. It really seems like it was just a stupid obsession. Spitting out anger at himself for this panic attack and putting his hands in the pockets of his denim jacket, he moved on.

Grow was already waiting for him in the car and was devouring some kind of hefty sandwich with gusto. When he saw his friend, he took another sandwich out of the bag and handed it to the Press when he sat down next to him.

Grow: "What's taking you so long. I've already bought something to eat. If these are with ham, there is also tuna in another package. The coffee is right in front of you. Don't be shy."

Carl bit into his sandwich with relish, tearing off a large piece and greedily shoving it down his throat.

The food really helped to distract and the Press had already forgotten about the recent obsession.

On the way back to the site, they stopped after seeing another emergency that day. An army SUV was parked between the houses, and several dozen military and police officers gathered around it. A burly sergeant with a Military Police patch on his sleeve tried to drive everyone away from the jeep, flavoring his beliefs with a large portion of insults and threats.

Sergeant: "Well, quickly everyone move away! Run, fuck, I said! Hey, you hairy one, take one more step towards the truck, I'll arrest you and send you to the punishment cell!"

A young guy with a hippie hairstyle retreated under the pressure of the sergeant.

When they stopped and came closer, they also met resistance. Carl was reaching for his badge when two of the sergeant's henchmen raised their rifles and pointed them at the men.

Sergeant: "Stop! Hands, hands out! What have you got there! Guys, keep them at gunpoint!"

Obeying, they raised their hands and Carl tried to explain to the sergeant who they were and why they were here.

Grow: "I'm Carl Grow, Detective, Crime Squad, Police Department."

The sergeant rudely interrupted him, shouting right in his face.: "I don't give a shit who you are. This is a military matter. Civilians don't belong here. Get out of here, now!"

Karl wanted to open his mouth, but the Press touched him on the shoulder and motioned him to move away. Getting back into the car, he explained to him the specifics of the military's actions.

Press: "That bully sergeant is right. This is not your jurisdiction. Military affairs are handled by the military police. Although I agree, this asshole would do well to clean his face for such rude treatment of civilians."

The guy, who also received his portion of flattery from the military, desperate to get closer, decided to retreat and was preparing to cross the roads. As he go their car, Grow called out to him.

The guy went to the window and bent down: "What do you want?"

Grow: "Hey buddy, what's going on out there?"

The guy looked around and shrugged his shoulders and gave a short review: "It's nothing. They say one of the patrols stopped contacting at night and when they started looking for them, they found only their scraps and a truck splattered with blood."

Grow: "Damn it. Okay, thank you."

A few hours earlier at the same place.

A young girl in a coat was walking down the street to her house. It was already late, the curfew was coming into effect, and she was afraid she wouldn't make it in time. Her house, which was on the next street, was not far away at all, she could already see the light in the windows of the lower floor. Her husband is probably awake and waiting for her to return. Behind her, she heard the sound of a car approaching and, out of the corner of her eye, she caught the camouflage coloring of a jeep from the National Guard patrol, who now constantly drive at night and maintain order. However, according to rumors, they were of little use. Some houses have already been attacked by gangs and looters. Several people were killed, but the military did not respond to complaints, pushing everything to the police.

The Humvee stopped in front of her and two men in uniform and with machine guns on their chests got out of it. One stood right in front of her, blocking the passage, and the other came up from the other side.

1 Soldier: "Ma'am, do you know what time it is? You are violating the curfew and will be detained."

Girl: "Uh, wait, I have another twenty minutes, I'm not breaking anything."

She was not mistaken, she still had enough time to walk home. But apparently these two didn't care about this circumstance. They came closer to her, surrounding her and pinning her down with their bodies.

2 Soldier: "Hey, baby. There's no need to rush. Where are you going?"

Girl: "What do you allow yourself? Get off me!"

They started grabbing her and holding her mouth with their hand dragged her to the car. She tried to break free, but what can a fragile girl do against two healthy men.

1 Soldier: "Don't twitch, baby. We're just going to give you some pleasure, relax. You've never had such cool men before."

They took her into some kind of blind alley between the houses and while one rapist was standing guard with a rifle, another leaned on top of her and began to tear off her clothes, pouring stench from her mouth. At that moment, she wanted to die. She tried to throw off this dirty animal, but received several hard blows to the cheekbone and temple, after which her mind went dark and she simply could not move.

Having done his job, he got off her and tucking his pants called out to a friend: "Hey, it's your turn! And she's good! If she kicks, knock out her teeth."

But no one answered him.

Soldier: "Where the fuck are you? Are you deaf or something? Blow here!"

Silence again, only the night wind carried garbage from overflowing tanks all over the alley.

Taking his weapon, he went to look for it, going behind the dumpster, he was first stunned, and then began to scream wildly, as if he had seen a ghost. Behind the tank was what was left of his friend. What was left could not be called a body or a corpse. Just a bloody mess of flesh, organs, and bone remnants. It's like a man was run over by a combine harvester.

Soldier: "AAAAA! What the... what?... Who are you? Stop! Don't come near me!"

Several shots rang out, followed by numerous thuds and the sounds of clothes being torn. There were no screams or groans. It was as fast and brutal as possible.

After recovering a little, she crawled out of the truck and looked around and saw her rapist. Now this formidable soldier was leaning against the wall. His legs were turned inwards with their joints. Like a grasshopper. And the body was torn from shoulder to chest, it looked like a blow from a giant axe that cut the torso in two.

I had to get out of here, whoever did it was probably here. When she went back to the truck to get her bag from the back seat, she heard a hiss behind her. A chill ran down her body, even though she didn't care anymore after what had happened.

She didn't want to turn around, but in the reflection of the rearview glass it was noticeable that something inhuman was standing behind her.

Closing her eyes, she braced herself for the inevitable: "Do it! I don't care anymore."

Closing her eyes tightly, she was preparing to feel the crunch of her own bones, but it did not happen. There was only a touch on my back, it was warm and... soothing. The creature's hand rested on her shoulder blade and she heard a woman's voice:

"Did they hurt you much?"

Opening her eyes and turning around, she faced an adult brunette. "Maybe I just imagined it." But when she looked at her hands, she saw how they were slowly turning into a human, human form.

The girl swallowed: "At least I'm alive…Thanks I hope you'll let me live."

The woman turned her face away and went to the trunk and took out several packages of army rations and a pump-action 12-gauge shotgun.

Sil: "I would have done it right away if I wanted to. You better get out of here. Do you live far away?"

The girl: "I don't know, when they grabbed me, I was already near the house. Where are we now?"

Sil thought for a second: "On the southern outskirts. Between lines 14 and 15."

Girl: "Damn. It's far away. We'll have to walk again. Thank you again… Don't worry, I won't ask you anything. And I'll keep my mouth shut."

The girl moved towards the poorly lit street.

Sil: "Wait. I'll take you the other way. It will be faster and safer this way."

Girl: "Okay. By the way, my name is Irene. And you?"

Sil shook her head and stuffed the supplies into her backpack and walked over to her: "I'm Carroll. One of these bastards has a gun, take it for yourself. Hard times are coming."

Carroll led her down a shorter and darker path through numerous alleys and they managed to talk a little along the way. Communicating with this woman, she forgot that until recently she had made minced meat from two adult men. Irene even thought that she was not walking with a monster in human form, but with a good friend.

Irene: "I'm living with my husband now. He's probably already crazy at home. I've already called the police, hospitals and morgues. And you? Do you have someone?"

Sil adjusting the backpack: "No. I used to have a man, but we broke up."

Irene decided to compliment her: "You are sweet and kind. I'm sure you'll definitely find someone for yourself." Forgetting everything, she came up and poked the woman in the shoulder.

A slight smile appeared on her stern face, "Do you think? Have you probably already forgotten who I am?"

She showed her hand, which momentarily changed color to dark green and her nails became longer and blackened. Irene took her hand without fear or hesitation, which made Carroll's face look puzzled. Squeezing her hand, she looked into her eyes.

Irene: "Well, you saved me. It's a good thing. Although, you could have done it differently. You're using your power for good, that says a lot."

Sil snorted with displeasure: "Trust me. You don't know anything about me. In my previous life, I... didn't do very good things."

Irene: "Each of us makes mistakes. There's no getting away from it. We will not learn anything in life without mistakes. The main thing is not what you did before, but who you are now."

After walking a few more blocks, she saw her house. The lights were still on on the lower floor. He was awake and waiting for her to come home. Exhaling and straightening her hair, she turned to her new friend and hugged her tightly by the shoulders: "Take care of yourself."

Carroll's hands squeezed back: "You too"

After such a fun night, there was no time to sleep. She also had to drag the corpses of these assholes away from home. They don't want to arouse any suspicion.

Eva got up from the sofa and went to the kitchen. "It wouldn't hurt to have a little refreshment, how good it is to have an organism that is able to cook breakfast in the kitchen after several sleepless nights and think perfectly as if nothing had happened."

Eva took a pack of some cereal and a bottle of milk from the fridge. "God, what kind of shit do they eat here." Pouring herself a full bowl and sitting down at the table, she began to eat.

These flakes even made her burp.

Nigel: "Good morning"

A sleepy boy came into the kitchen. Nodding to him, she did not distract herself from the meal. Sitting on the opposite side of her, he began to turn a small toy in the form of an astronaut with an American flag in his hands.

Eva didn't pay attention to it at first, but out of the corner of her eye she noticed something familiar about this figure. She narrowed her eyes with a plea:

Eva: "What kind of toy is this?"

Nigel: "My mom bought this for me at the fair. This is Patrick Ross, the first man on Mars!" the boy said with admiration and pride.

Eve almost choked and pushed the bowl of cereal away from her and held out her hand:

Eva: "May I?"

The boy gave her a figurine.

Of course, it was just a child's toy, and a rather crude fake, but the basic facial features were correct. She ran her thumb over her plastic face and smiled bitterly.:

Eva: "Yes, it looks like it. They remembered you as a hero..." - her voice dropped to a whisper, she bent down to the figure's face -"... Dirty bastard."

Fortunately, Nigel didn't hear it. He saw Eve studying the toy intently.

Nigel: "He's so cool! I watched all his interviews on TV and also made a cartoon about him! You know, I'd like to meet and chat with him. And fly with him on the shuttle. He's a hero..."

Eve smiled at him. Despite her outward indifference, she was already struggling to contain herself. Memories of that night flashed through her mind like lightning. She remembered how dirty and disgusting he had been to her. "I'm going to throw up, damn it." Suppressing a wave of nausea, she grabbed a bottle of milk and poured it almost completely into herself.

Noticing this, the boy asked: "Do we have any more milk?"

Rising from her chair, she took out another bottle. Nigel followed Eve's example and made himself a plate of colorful corn bagels.

Eva: "Do you like this stuff? These are sugar, starch, corn syrup, dyes and chemical additives. If I were you, I'd eat something more healthy."

Nigel shrugged his shoulders.: "But it's delicious. Would you like to meet Patrick?"

Eve felt sick again. She bit her tongue so as not to answer the child, "Yes, damn it, I've already met him and he...He took me for a ride on his shuttle... up to the tonsils." But restraining this rude and sarcastic impulse, she exhaled and said:

Eva: "I think... He would be happy to chat with you and give you an autograph."

Nigel: "Did you know him?"

Eva: "Yes... you could say that. I saw him once." She managed to suppress the treacherous tears in her eyes.

Nigel: "Cool. And what was he like? What did he say to you?" he moved closer to her.

Eva hesitated, but still found the right words: "He ... he ... was strong, brave. This is what a real astronaut should be!"

The boy just lit up with happiness from this: "It's a pity that he died. They say that he contracted an infection during the flight and doctors did not save him. But if he were alive, I would ask him for an autograph for you too!" he gave the woman a childish smile with kindness. He sincerely wanted to please her.

Eve bit her tongue again. "Oh yes, I have already received my autograph. And the main gift is sleeping in his room right now."

Eva: "Thank you..." she took the astronaut figurine and looked into his eyes and said softly, "... I won't tell the child what a scumbag you were, Patrick."

Her insides boiled up again and unable to stand it, she clenched her hand with the figurine into a fist, crushing it into pieces.

Nigel saw this and stared at Eve in shock: "I'm sorry... Did I say something wrong?"

Eva came to her senses and, shaking her head, began to try to fix the figure somehow, but it was useless.

Eva: "Please forgive me, I'm such a clumsy person. As soon as possible, I'll buy you a new one."

Nigel took the pieces of the figurine from the table and put them in his pocket: "I think I can glue it together later."

He returned to his breakfast periodically, cautiously casting an interested glance at Eve.

She felt ashamed of what she had done. She broke a toy for a child, offended an innocent child because of her own troubles and unfulfilled dreams. This is her weak point, which she still has not been able to overcome. The one where it's hard for her to contain her emotions.

She caught the boy's gaze and broke away from her thoughts: "Is there something you want to ask?"

She sensed that he wanted to bring up the subject again, but didn't dare. It even seemed to her that deep down he guessed something and was beginning to be afraid of her. "I definitely can't let that happen." She didn't want her friends to start being afraid of her.

Eva: "Listen, I'm sorry about the toy again. I just remembered something very bad. If you want to ask something, then you shouldn't be afraid to ask. I am open to any questions."

Nigel wanted to ask something, but he didn't have time. The door opened and three guys stumbled into the room, one of whom was paler than death. And his leg was bandaged with various bandages and rags that were soaked in blood. Putting the wounded comrade on the sofa, Dean, whose sweater was smeared with mud and blood, threw off the machine gun from his shoulder and, catching his breath after a long run, shouted: "Is Sil here? We need a doctor!"

Paul helped the wounded man to replace the bandage and replied to Dean: "I called her, she will be here soon."

Thank you all for your support, friends. There will be big events in the next chapters and it will take me a lot more time to process everything.