Chapter 17. Just memories...

"You have the Sunday newscast with you, and I am its host, Jeremy Fisher. According to the latest data, West Virginia has been quarantined due to an outbreak of a new strain of the virus. In this regard, we remind all residents of the importance of preventing viral infections..."

The sun burned his eyes unbearably and flooded the entire interior of his modest trailer with its light. The heat in Nevada at this time of year was just hellish. The stuffiness forced him to turn off the TV and go outside. The cool evening air at least slightly reduced the heat and pleasantly blew on the skin.

His old Chevrolet G30 was parked right in the middle of a huge desert in the southwest of the state, about 20 miles from the town of Gabbs.

The thermometer mounted on the car door showed +42 degrees. "The infernal inferno." Arthur took the flask and moistened his face and neck with water a little. Today he will wait out this heat here, and at night he will move north. You will need to get to the settlement of Red House in the north of the state. 214 miles if you drive on the highway. Not so far away, but not too close either. Sitting down on a small red-hot cobblestone, he took a crumpled photo card out of his pocket. It depicted a beautiful smiling woman, a blonde with a square and inviting blue eyes. Then it took a lot of effort to persuade her to take this photo. She didn't like being photographed. Although she could become a model, be published on the cover of the best fashion magazines in the world and earn fabulous money... if she were... a person.

Smiling at his thoughts, he plunged into his depths of memories. "Where did my whole series of adventures start from?" Looking up, he peered into the white circle of the scorching sun above his head. The glare in his eyes reminded him of the day when he, a promising graduate of Sheffield University, a young information systems specialist, was invited to work in the United States. Then, at the interview, he met another woman who played a role in his fate. Laura Baker. The name makes your stomach churn and your jaw clench in a spasm. A real devil in human form. The atrocities that were committed under her leadership in the underground laboratories of the Athena project make the blood run cold.

Or maybe... it all started even earlier. When his friend got a computer and he invited him to play a game. And then, looking at a black-and-white monitor, a little boy, Arthur Lloyd, caught fire with the idea of becoming the one who would create such things and make them work. "The computer is the engine of progress.". That's what he thought at the time.

Or... even earlier. When at the fair in his native Liverpool, he went into a colorful tent, inside which two people were sitting in the semi-darkness. An old blind gypsy woman and a boy with brown hair about ten years old. Then, approaching him, he noticed that the boy's eyes were unusual, but it was difficult to see anything in detail in the darkness. Placing the coin on the table, he held out his hand. The boy's palm touched his palm, and he felt as if a chill had crept into his head. It was like washing down a mint with coke.

The boy closed his eyes and said then: "Hmm... an interesting fate awaits you ... you will achieve a lot" - but then he squeezed his hand hard, painfully – "But you will have to repent for everything."

Then he was wildly afraid of this strange guy, at the exit of the tent, he turned around and asked him: "What awaits you?"

The boy smiled and grinned: "It won't be sweet for me..."

Maybe that's when it all started. Now the Athena project has been gone for a long time. And he played an important role in this. Working in the security service provided many advantages, including the ability to get any information without any problems. He took advantage of this advantage. Leaking top-secret data to the Russians was not the best idea. But he understood that this lawlessness had to be stopped. Public disclosure would hardly help. An attempt to release data to the Internet would have ended in complete failure, all data on the network was strictly monitored, and any leak was immediately blocked. No one would have had time to even catch a glimpse of the video of the horrifying experiments.

But he did not play the role of a spy for long. He was found out and is now on the run. No close contacts, permanent housing, or anything at all to get attached to. If Baker's people notice him, he's screwed. He didn't even want to think about what that rabid bitch would do to him when she caught him. He'll probably quarter it and feed it to the dogs.

When did their really first meeting take place? Not there in the lab when he saw her behind the glass barrier. No, not there. Then she just gave him a fleeting glance and turned away. Their meeting took place much later, several months after her escape.

He was already on the run then. The exclusion zone in Pennsylvania appeared back in 1978. When the accident occurred at the Three Main Island station. A real tragedy that claimed the lives of thousands of people and after which a part of the state within a radius of 30 kilometers from the island was declared a closed zone, where entry was prohibited. No one knew what was going on there. But on the black market, you could get the necessary things, maps, and even find a guide who would take you through the cordon of the National Guard. Thousands of deserted houses, abandoned cars, empty towns and villages. It all looked like pictures of the apocalypse or the aftermath of a nuclear war. It was a black spot on the reputation of nuclear power. An indicator that taming an atom is like taming a wild beast. One mistake... and everything goes to hell.

That day, Arthur was walking through the forest, having gone too far from home, he wandered into the territory where a huge mutated bear lived. Now it was a creature almost twice the size of a normal grizzly with two rows of teeth and a wide mouth.

He heard a huge creature fly out from behind the spruce branches that blocked his view and rush at him with a roar. Arthur left the line of attack and the creature crashed to the ground with a booming sound. Without turning around, he ran, weaving through the trees, trying to hide from the creature. The mutant gave chase and caught up with him in a few jumps, the last jump was supposed to be the last. Pressing his back against a tree, Arthur took an old Colt Python out of his pocket and fired several shots. But bullets of this caliber were like peas for such a carcass.

The mutant was already preparing to make the last throw and devoured his whole

the victim, when something caught his attention. A shadow detached itself from one of the spruce tops and rushed at the mutant and tore a piece of meat from his neck. Blood spurted from the severed arteries in a fountain and the beast began to moan and scream in anger and pain.

The creature, who was already standing on the other side of his opponent, threw something like a whip out of his hand and pierced the grizzly's head. Twitching, the mutant sank to the ground and no longer showed signs of life. Arthur saw how the creature that had saved his life was now looking at him and crouching down, growling softly. Then, turning around, it disappeared between the trees.

Getting up, he adjusted his glasses and putting away his weapon examined the carcass of the fallen enemy by poking it with a stick. Along with the blood, pus and something else vile and smelly flowed from the wounds. This beast has clearly been here for a long time, perhaps since the disaster.

But right now, he was more interested in the one who saved him. "What the hell was that just now?" This creature was clearly not some kind of beast. "Maybe another mutant? Then we need to get out of here right away."

After getting his bearings, Arthur switched to jogging. Before he had run a hundred yards, he heard the rustle of the wind behind him, and then everything swam before his eyes. Hitting his face on a rock, Arthur lost consciousness. When he opened his eyes, he found himself lying by a fir tree and tied up with some old ropes.

There was a silhouette sitting next to him by the fire, which was hard to see in the dark. Sitting by the fire, someone was examining his glasses.

Arthur – "Who are you? What do you want from me?"

Eva – "Do you want to live?"

Arthur – "Please don't kill me. I have some cash with me. I don't have anything else."

Eva – "You're wrong. You have information, and it costs more... any money."

Arthur – "Who are you?"

The silhouette rose and came closer, now he could see her face. "Eve." He opened his mouth in shock and stared at her. She sits down next to him and puts his glasses on her face.

Eve – "you think you are Gods, although you are too weak. You can't see anything without these glasses, can you?"

Arthur – "Yes, I have problems with my eyesight."

Eva takes the glasses, puts them on the ground and leans on them with her shoe.

Eva – "Listen to me carefully. I ask questions, you answer and look me in the eye. The first slip and I break my glasses. Then I'll break your bones. Do you understand?"

Arthur starts shaking – "Yes, yes. Eva, I get it. I am not your enemy."

Eva looks at him with contempt on her face.

Eva – "Of course not, you're such a weakling, how can you be my enemy?"

She laughs maliciously.

Eva - "Did Laura send you?"

Arthur – "No! I'm on the run myself and they're looking for me."

Eva – "Why were you looking for me?"

Arthur– "I wasn't looking for you."

Eva presses her boot on the glasses, preparing to break them.

Arthur shouts, "No, no, I swear to you! I wasn't looking for you. I knew you'd run away. After that, I started leaking information about what was going on there and Laura wanted to eliminate me. I had to run, I almost died myself. Please, I beg you!"

Eva moves her foot away. She returns to the fire and takes out an old, rusty nail. Holding it to the fire, she heats it up to redness and approaches Arthur.

Eva – "Have you ever been tortured?"

Arthur – "Eva, I really didn't want to look for you and I don't work for anyone. Please, I beg you!"

Eva answers thoughtfully, with a bitter smile on her face and an expression of sorrow and suffering – "You know, man, I also begged, I asked. But they didn't listen to me. They just tried to kill me, every day. Like an animal."

Arthur doesn't know what to say to her, he opens his mouth, but he can't find the words. Eve holds a red-hot nail to his eye.

Arthur – "For what? It's not my fault, is it?"

Eva – "It's not my fault either. But you didn't give a damn about me. Isn't that right, Arthur?"

Arthur – "I'm sorry... But I didn't do anything to you."

She thought for a moment, "Why should I feel sorry for you?"

Arthur – "I'm really sorry, I saw everything they did to you, later watching the camera footage from the lab. I worked in another unit where male staff had access. Sorry... I didn't know what horrors were going on there, I'm sorry."

Eva removes the nail. - "Bitch, why? Why do I feel sorry for you now? You were there, weren't you? I remember your face and the badge with your name on it. You only showed up once and that was enough for me to remember. What were you doing there?"

Arthur understands that if he admits that he improved the security system to prevent escape, he will sentence himself. But lying to her is also a sentence. He sat in silence, not knowing what to say. Eve continued to stare at him.

Arthur – "Yes, you're probably right. I'm also partly involved in everything that happened there. I was called in that day to check the security system in yours... The camera. You can kill me... But know that I'm sorry. I'm really... ashamed."

Eva thinks over his words, turning the nail in her hands. Then she drives it into the tree up to the hat, a millimeter from the guy's ear.

She gets up and walks away to the fire. She understands what he meant. Arthur recalled the day when he was called to the block, where men were usually forbidden access. As it turned out, the specialist girl who worked there did not come on shift that day. He was a very experienced specialist, so they decided to invite him to check the system anyway. That was the first time he saw her. When the thick gates of the hermetic lock opened, there was a huge visit to the Hangar in front of him, in the center of which was a young beautiful woman locked in a cage. She was wearing a silk robe and her short hair was combed behind her ears.

He was quickly led into a closed room with no windows. There were relays and control panels. While doing his job, he could see Eve through the screens of the outdoor surveillance cameras. That day, he fixed an identified defect in the security control system in the cell. By doing so, I am contributing to the terrible things that were happening there.

Eve stood up and walked over to him, her fists clenched. Arthur doesn't look at her, preparing that this will definitely be his last second. Surprisingly, she rips the ropes with her claws and returns his glasses with her alien hand.

Eva – "Go away! And don't let me see you here anymore. If you catch my eye again... Then blame yourself."

Arthur flowed numb hands and got to his feet and picked up his backpack.

Arthur – "Thank you... you..."

Eva – "Just shut up and get out of here, man! Run!"

She looked back and shouted at him, making it clear that she did not intend to continue the dialogue. Arthur wanted to warn her that acid rains would begin soon and even mutants would look for holes so as not to boil in puddles. Nevertheless, risking telling her about it, he stopped, standing sideways to her.

Arthur – "Listen... I... live... not so far from here... if you suddenly need help or shelter... then... there is a small abandoned house with gray tiles a mile from here."

She looked at him with a cold gaze, it was impossible to read anything from her expression.

Eva – "I think I told you to get out of here... or you need a kick in the ass boy"

She took a threatening step towards him. Raising his arms and turning to continue running, Arthur's foot touched the root of a tree and he fell face down into the mud again.

Eva rolled her eyes and clasped her hands in a lock – "Unbelievable... how did you even survive"

Jumping up and adjusting his mud-stained glasses, Arthur, in embarrassment, began to step backwards, almost falling again. "I'm sorry... that's it... I'm leaving... I'm leaving."

Now. When the sun was literally eating his skin, he just dreamed of being there in this forest, where it was fresh and cool. Yes, it was not the nicest meeting. But then she saved him and showed compassion and mercy. An alarm sounded inside the trailer. Looking inside, he saw on the monitor screen that an unknown car had left the highway and was moving directly towards him. "Fuck, that's not enough yet." After checking the pump-action shotgun, which was always at hand, he quickly slammed the door and started the engine. A car had already appeared on the horizon, a huge car trailer pulled up to it and stopped in front of the driver's window.

An elderly man's face, covered with perspiration, looked out of the car. Lifting his cowboy hat in a greeting gesture, he turned to Arthur.

"Young man! Tell me, how far is it from here to Grass Valley?"

Arthur, whose hand was clutching a shotgun, relaxed and exhaled.

The man apparently noticed his tension and began to apologize, "I apologize for such a sharp intrusion! You must have mistaken me for a raider when I was rushing towards you. Sorry. It's just that my navigator went down, and I don't understand anything about these damn maps."

Arthur smiled and began to explain to the man how best to get there. "It's okay. Grass Valley, you say? It's 136 miles as the crow flies from here. Go back to the highway and drive to the town of Gabbs, drive through it and go on to the fork with highway 50. There you turn left and reach the city of Fallon, there is an exit to route 95 and you will orient yourself further along it."

Thanking Arthur, the man turned around and drove on. You could exhale, it's just a lost traveler. He had seen them often. In this country, people love to travel, especially closer to old age. They buy a trailer and go ahead... to explore their country.

Relaxing, he fell back into his reverie.

Arthur was looking out the window, behind which a heavy acid rain was pouring. It was relatively safe in the house, but over there... in the forest. The local vegetation adapted and caustic substances did not cause any harm to it, although at that time the animals preferred to wait out the phenomenon of nature in various shelters.

She was out there somewhere right now. Arthur was thinking about the last meeting in the forest. Yes, she wasn't the friendliest, but she saved his life and let him go without harming him. After all that had happened, the feeling that he owed her did not leave him.

His gaze fell on a new set of special protective suit, which is used by the military to operate in adverse conditions associated with chemistry or radiation. He bought it on the black market at a fairly cheap price. The seller, a former paratrooper, was selling off his supplies of equipment. He also bought weapons from him, stocks of army rations, a backpack and other things necessary for survival in the forest.

Casting a fleeting glance at the storm of acid going on outside the window, and imagining how difficult it might be for her there now, a sense of duty took over the instinct of self-preservation.

Putting on a protective kit, he ran as hard as he could into the depths of the forest, trying to remember the place of their meeting and how far it was from home.

It was far from the most enjoyable run of his life, but luck still smiled on him. He came out into a small clearing, in the center of which the embers of an extinguished campfire smoldered. This place was familiar to him. When Arthur approached the tree where he had been lying last night, he saw a silhouette between the trees. After taking a couple of careful steps, he could now see that Eva was sitting in a lotus position on a stump left over from a huge tree and it looked like she was meditating.

Her eyelids were closed and streams of acid flowed down her face, cheeks, clothes without causing any harm. She was wearing battered blue jeans, a brown jacket, and a plain white T-shirt.

Eva - "It seems... I warned you..."

Arthur swallowed, preparing to give an answer - "I'm sorry, but... It's not the most pleasant weather for the forest right now. This rain will last for several more days. I understand that I shouldn't have come, but I think it would be more comfortable to have a roof over my head."

Eva opened her eyes and lifted her face to the sky. She opened her mouth and swallowed the poisonous drops.

Lowering her head and looking at him, she said, "They poured so many chemicals into me that I could probably spit acid myself. This rain is not dangerous for me... But your costume makes me doubt it. Go home, man."

Arthur stood undecided for a while longer, watching Eva meditate. Finally, he turned around, preparing to leave, when a sharp burning sensation spread over his arm.

Arthur - "Ah... Damn it."

Taking a step, he bent over from a new attack, now it was already a severe pain. It was as if alcohol had been poured into an open wound.

Arthur - "Ahhh... ahhh... What the fuck?"

Grimacing in pain, he grabbed his arm and saw that his suit was damaged. There was a long cut on his forearm, through which toxic water got onto the skin, causing severe chemical burns.

Eva - "What are you like... You idiot. And where did you manage to tear the suit?"

Arthur wanted to answer her, but a new attack of unbearable pain forced him to sit down on the ground and hold his hand in his palm.

Eva-"You don't think I'm going to drag you home, do you?"

Arthur - "That's it... Normal. Now... I'm already leaving... Aaaaa... Why does it hurt so much."

Eva took a deep breath and stopped her meditation and walked over to Arthur, who was writhing in pain. Grabbing him, she effortlessly lifted him off the ground and ran away from where he came from.

When he woke up in his bed, he saw his bandaged arm, and his protective suit was lying carelessly in the corner. The room was empty. "I must have lost consciousness from the shock. She saved me again. It seems that the debt has grown again. But where is she?"

The adjoining rooms were empty. This house has been abandoned for a long time, since the accident. Judging by the things he found here, the owner of this estate used to be a doctor and he was obsessed with survival. It's strange why he didn't stay in the exclusion zone.

The house was full of literature on medicine, life in the woods, mountains,

and survival. And the basement of the house was filled with canned food, water and weapons.

Eva was sitting in the main room, studying his laptop. Over his shoulder, he saw that she was looking through documents and photos related to the Athena project. One of them showed a young woman whose body was literally turned into minced meat, and there was so much blood that it could have drowned someone in it.

Eva - "Experiment 37/36-A-7789. September 17, 1997. They tied me to a metal shield and fired expansive .50 caliber bullets from Brownings. Ten minutes later, I was back to normal."

Arthur - "Thank you... my debt to you has become even greater."

Eva didn't answer him, but just switched to the next photo. She was lying senseless on it, her body seemed to be flattened.

Eva - "Experiment 53/47-C-3422. December 25, 1997. An attempt to crush me with an industrial press. It hurts, but I survived again. What a shame... Apparently it was my Christmas present."

With a grin, she slammed the lid shut and turned to him.

Arthur - "I saw... all this. This... Terrible and inhuman." Lowering his face, he did not dare to look at her.

Eva - "Hmm... You know. There in the forest... I wanted to kill you. Tell me, why did I stop? Why didn't I do what I had to do to you?"

Arthur sat down on the sofa and looked at her face - "Eva, I am... I do not know what to say. However, I didn't know what they were doing there... I didn't know about anything before you ran away. My job was to maintain computer systems at the other end of the base."

Eve slowly got up and walked closer to him, running her finger over Arthur's lips.

Eva - "Security system maintenance. I remember what was written on your badge. I know everything."

Arthur felt tears begin to flow from his eyes, shame, he was terribly ashamed. Now he began to realize that he was on a par with those monsters who did this to her. Eve got up and walked around the room.

Eva - "Don't cry... Tears won't change anything. Are you sorry? About what? That you couldn't help me when you had the opportunity? I feel like you're not a bad person, Arthur... But you chickened out when you had a chance to prove yourself. You were scared."

Arthur - "I know that... Sorry...Please"

Without answering him, she left the house under the increased acid rain and retreated back into the forest, leaving him to ponder everything she had said. Falling face down on the sofa, he felt that his heart was ready to burst with pain and self-loathing. He assured himself that he was good and not to blame for anything. But Eve opened his eyes. Yes, he did not shoot at her and did not conduct these experiments. But he is also to blame for what happened there. And now, it's time for repentance...

In the evening, despite the weather forecast, the rain stopped for a while. Lloyd went out into the yard and saw Eva standing in front of the wreck of an old car and examining it.

He started toward her, but stopped without getting too close.

Arthur - "Forget it, this junk is not going anywhere"

Eve tore out the jammed door and took the driver's seat. She started touching the steering wheel, shifting gears.

Eva - "What's wrong with her?"

Arthur shook his head - "The engine has been rotting for a long time. This car has been here since the accident."

Eva - "What kind of accident?"

Arthur could barely resist whistling in surprise -"Don't you know anything about this place? Do you know that this is an exclusion zone?"

Eva looked away from studying the car and looked at him.

Eve- "No. I came here not too long ago."

Arthur - "There is an abandoned nuclear power plant nearby. In 1979, an accident occurred on it. Radiation contamination occurred and the entire nearest population within an 18-mile radius was evacuated. No one has lived here since."

Eva - "That's good. So I can stay here longer."

He could see that she was not in the mood for conversation right now, although he had something to say. Turning around, he walked back into the house. Taking one of the chairs, he opened his laptop and continued to view the data from the laboratory that he had managed to steal. He has studied most of them for a long time, but there are still disks that he has not yet reached.

Eva did not enter the house until the evening. Lloyd eyes were already starting to hurt from the strain, although he couldn't find anything worthwhile. This disk was filled with the usual correspondence and reports of the supply service.

Eve entered the house and sat down in the next chair. Her closed his laptop when he saw her.

Arthur - "Would you like something... to eat?"

Eva - "No."

Arthur - "Eva, I wanted to... There's a lot to tell you..."

She shot him a hard, prickly look.

Eva - "I don't need consolation or pity. Don't think that I'm so kind and sweet. I can kill you as easily as I saved you."

Arthur lowered his face, not daring to look up - "I wanted to apologize…Sorry...I'm really sorry..."

Eva - "For what? You weren't a scientist or a soldier. If you had hurt me, your insides would have been eaten by a grizzly back in the woods."

Arthur - "When you ran away, I saw them shooting at you, and I saw before that how Laura treated you. It's horrible. No living creature deserved this. Then I decided that I had to make public everything that happened there and started stealing data from their servers. I've seen all the recordings of the experiments they've done on you. This is... this... Inhumane. They are worse than fascists, worse than animals. "

Eva - "And what do you want from me?"

Arthur - "I'm sorry I didn't help you… Then I could have disabled the security protocols, but... damn... I... chickened out. I'm sorry..."

Eva - "Who did you work there?"

Arthur - "Security systems specialist."

Eva - "Did you know that I tried to escape before too?"

He nodded.

Eva - "If you felt such sympathy and pity for me. Why didn't you just shut down the system and let me escape?"

Arthur - "I... I..."

Eve - "Don't bother answering. You knew that Laura would send you to the rack after that. You were afraid of this. You people, you're all like that. Your skin is always more precious to you. So shove your apologies up your ass. I've already said that I don't blame you and it's not your fault. And there's no point in regretting that you couldn't help me when you had the opportunity."

Lloyd fell silent and didn't know what to say to that. Treacherous moisture began to accumulate in his eyes and roll down his cheeks. As if Eve felt it, she stood up and put her hand on his shoulder.

Eva - "But thanks anyway for being honest and caring. Unlike some people, you can admit mistakes."

The desert was slowly cooling down after a hot day. It seemed that the sand and stones were literally smoking, moving away from the midday heat. The trailer drove onto the highway and quickly accelerated towards the northern border. The radio helped me fall asleep on the way. Switching the receiver to the next station, he heard the intro of a very familiar song, the tune of which reminded him of one of the most ...he grinned at his own thoughts "the most important moment." The chorus made him tap his fingers on the steering wheel and move to the beat of the music "Get up...Everybody's gonna move their feet...Get down...Everybody's gonna leave their seat"

Over the next week, spent under the same roof, they managed to communicate better and their conversations were no longer so intense.

One day they managed to successfully go hunting together. Although he wasn't much of a hunter, they managed to work out a joint tactic.

Eve, assuming her other form, simply drove prey at him, and Arthur fired a rifle while in ambush. Not all animals became mutants, some could be completely eaten if the meat was well processed. Their prey then became a young roe deer.

Eva slowly changed her appearance to a human one: "Next time you will chase them yourself."

Arthur got up and dusted off the leaves and earth from his jacket.

Eva sat next to him on the porch and watched him roast meat over the fire. They built a big bonfire right on the street. They seemed to have lost all sense of danger and secrecy at this moment, not afraid to attract unnecessary attention.

Arthur - "So, what do you prefer? Neck, shoulder blade, back, ribs?"

Eva grinned and pointed at one of the pieces - "Give me this one."

She took a big bite with gusto and began to swallow it almost without chewing. Arthur watched her eat, frozen. Noticing his surprised look, she was distracted and her entire mouth, cheeks, and lips were covered with leftover meat.

Eva - "What?"

Arthur - "Have you been wanting to ask for a long time? Don't you have to chew your food? So you can swallow it in chunks like that? Like a pelican or a snake?"

Eve squinted at him and made a disgusted face: "You're a snake yourself... Leave it alone, let me enjoy my meal. It's just very tasty."

Arthur - "Laura probably even spared food for you?"

Eva stopped and threatened him with her finger - "Please, please... Don't say that name in my presence..."

Arthur - "Yes, I'm sorry... I forgot again that..."

Eva - "I was fed, but not so tasty... These were usually various vitamin or protein mixtures. They are nutritious, but... the taste... none at all. although I was given various sweets as a reward for good behavior. Damn... Just like an animal... Like a dog is given sugar for a trick performed."

She slammed her fist down, smashing through a wooden step.

Arthur stopped eating and put his plate on the floor and moved closer to Eva, who covered her face with her hands and was shaking soundlessly. He slowly reached out his hand in an attempt to somehow calm her down and feel her. In fact, at that moment he expected that she could easily break his arm for such insolence, but her reaction startled him. As soon as he touched her shoulder, she immediately wrapped her arms around him and fell face down on her chest. It was really hard for her now, as if the pain, resentment and humiliation that were accumulating inside had now found a way out.

It was probably the only time she cried when he saw her like this. The rest of the time she was there... A very strong woman. Inhumanly strong not only physically, but also internally.

That evening, she knocked on his door. When she entered, she leaned against the door frame and looked at him laughing.

Arthur - "Hey! What's so funny? I almost fell asleep."

Eva sat down next to him, laughing all the time - "You're so funny... Are you still sulking at me?"

Arthur put on his glasses and looked at her in disbelief - "What do you mean? Why did you decide that?"

Eve tilted her head, trying to hold back the gusts of fun- "Come on... I can feel everything. Do you understand that? You thought that... We're faster... let's get closer..."

Arthur leaned back on the back of the old bed: "I didn't think about anything like that... And at all... Why are you like this..."

She didn't let him finish, but just snuggled up to him.

Eva: "Shhh... Not a word more..."

«Get up…Everybody's gonna move their feet…Get down…Everybody's gnna leave their seat…You gotta lose your mind in Detroit Rock City»

On the other side of the country, two women left the house late in the evening and walked along a narrow path into a dense forest thicket. One of them, shorter and younger, put her hands in the wide pockets of her hoodie

Sarah – "Well, what are we going to talk about? Or will we just walk in silence?"

Eva – "Actually, I wanted to tell you so much, but now all the words have slipped out of my head. How are you and Dean?"

Sarah – "Don't start..."

Eva – "Why? Did you have a fight?"

Sarah–"He won't accept me... He's afraid, I can feel it."

Eva – "I think it will pass. He just needs time. I think you need to talk to him, tell him that you won't hurt him."

Sarah – "He should understand that anyway..."

Eva – "These are men, they often need to say everything in plain text."

Sarah–"What about you?"

Eva – "Well, I had one friend, but I had to leave to find you."

After an awkward pause, Sarah finally decided to ask the question that had been tormenting her for a long time.

Sarah–"Who was my father?"

Eve clasped her hands together and sighed heavily.

Eva – "Patrick Ross. Have you heard of this?"

Sarah - "Oh, that's the one... wow...That's the dude who was on Mars."

Eva - "Yes, and he was also a monster and had no control over himself."

Sarah – "Wow, so that's why I turned out so clean."

Eve nodded.

Sarah–"Did you love him?"

Eve shrugged her shoulder.

Eva-"Laura activated my alien abilities to track him down. At first it seemed to me that this was the man of my dreams and I wanted him so much.. But when we met, all I saw was a monster that craved offspring. When I connected with him, there was only dirt, lust and emptiness in his soul inside him. There was nothing human there. I was just a piece of meat to him..."

Eve cringed at the unpleasant memories.

Sarah–"That is... Was I an unwanted child?"

Eve stopped and looked at Sarah, shock on her face.

Eva - "Who told you that? If I didn't love you, do you think I'd look for you? I love you... Maybe I'm not that sweet and kind... But I will tear up anyone for you, I will do everything to make you happy."

Sarah - "I'm sorry, you just said that..."

Eva - "Yes, Patrick did something ugly to me... But he gave you to me. And you are the most precious thing in my life."

Eve grabbed Sarah by the shoulders and hugged her tightly.

Eve-"So don't even think about it... You are my life. I'm sorry, I did everything in my power to find you, just know that. I've never forgotten about you for one second."

Sarah – "You have nothing to apologize for, just let's talk more often... I miss it."

Eva hugs her daughter tighter.

Eva - "You can always talk to me. I will always be in your head. And I will respond to your signal at any moment."

Hugging each other, they lay together for a long time, moving away after what had happened between them. Arthur ran his fingers over Eve's back ridges. The song Kiss - Detroit Rock City was coming from the radio. To the beat of the chorus, Arthur abruptly ran his fingers over the plates of spikes, as if on the strings of a guitar that he loved to play in his youth.

Eva - "Hahaha, what are you doing?"

Arthur - "Oh, did you think you'd like it?... I love this chorus, I imagine that your spikes are guitar strings."

Eve - "What? Hahahah. You fool... The guitar has only 6 strings, but I have a lot more."

Arthur - "Well, why. There are also 12 string guitars. And the Russians have 7 strings."

Laughing, Eva slapped him on the shoulder with her palm-"Shut up for God's sake... So you like guitars?"

She gets up and sits next to me.

Arthur - "Well, I loved playing it when I was a teenager. I love music, especially rock."

Eva starts laughing down the stairs - "So... you... You love.. Guitars. Great... I like ... Flutes."

It took me longer to create this chapter! I hope you are not bored. I wish you a pleasant viewing.