Regeneration

Chapter 48 - Rather Lose None

My eyes met Romero’s and I knew we shared the same thoughts. Would they come after him again to retrieve what was theirs? They clearly had the skill and resources. We never told Bawden about the night they found us or that they were even after Romero.

A silence fell over the room, everyone trying to make sense of the scene.

Reya glanced at the watch on her wrist. “We only have so much daylight left. We need to move.”

“What about the meds and diesel, It’s somewhere here in the facility, I’m sure we can find it.” Forbes spoke.

“How much time until sunset?” Bawden looked to his daughter.

“Forty-five minutes.”

“We head back,” Bawden said definitely, “It would take us time to find it, we’ll come back.”

“It could be gone by then,” Forbes interjected, “We’re not the only ones looking for resources.”

“We head back,” Dune echoed Bawden sternly as his eyes narrowed on Forbes, making him back down.

I looked between Reya, Bawden, and Dune, remembering Reya’s recollection of the night they lost Ryan. No doubt, their caution was rooted in what happened that day.

We withdrew from the lab, back into the hallway. I found myself at the back of the group, Romero walking beside me.

I watched the backs of the militia members who walked ahead of us, making sure they were out of earshot before speaking.

“This feels a bit too close,” I looked at Romero, “You really think it’s Enzo.”

“No doubt.” He looked at me.

“What if he—”

“I know,” he answered before I finished the question, “That’s why I have to leave.”

I stopped in my tracks at his words. He stopped, turning back to face me. The rest of the group didn’t seem to notice, continuing towards the exit.

“Hailey-,” he began.

My eyes searched his, “Just get rid of it?"

“The fact that Enzo wants it so badly, tells me that the device is important and maybe, the key to all of this, it could be coded with information about the virus, about a cure. I just need time to figure it out.”

“Well how do we figure it out?” I took his hand in mine, “Because, you’re out of your mind if you think I’m letting you do this alone.”

We had come this far together. I felt that I owed it to him to stick by his side, help him however I could. Even though things had been weird between us, it didn’t matter. It didn’t change the fact that, in some way, Romero felt like a part of me now. He had become the most familiar thing in my life. If he left, he would be taking a piece of me with him.

A flash of an emotion crossed his features at my action.

His gaze fell from my eyes and rested on our hands. I felt his hand squeeze mine gently, and I knew at some point I had become a part of him too.

“I know how he found me before,”  His gaze came back to mine.

“That day, I was trying to figure it out, I’ve never seen any tech like it,” his eyebrows drew together, shaking his head as though he were looking at the device right now. “I messed around with it and a blast of glowing energy emitted from its core. The glow lasted for hours before fading out. Then that night, his people found us.”

“I thought, once I kept it stable, left it alone, things would be alright for the time being,” the muscles in his jaw tensed, “But after seeing what happened here, I know I was wrong. I need to leave with the device before he comes looking for it again. Even if it doesn’t set off again, I know he’ll still be looking.”