When the rains may come (Science Fiction)

23. The Plan

"Yes, what is it?" Lisa Neville frowned at Clint.

"Um...can we go downstairs maybe?" Clint said, catching a glimpse of Cathy who was sleeping soundly.

Lisa nodded. As they came to the living room, Clint said, "I-I'm the one who shot your husband."

Lisa froze. Clint kept talking.

"And no, I didn't do it out of mercy because he had the virus," he said. "It was a cold blooded murder." He stared down at his hands grimly. "I was only thinking of myself. I didn't care about him or you and the child you are gonna give birth to. And the fact that he had the virus doesn't give me an excuse to get away with murder. My intentions were still selfish and what I did was a heartless thing." He turned to her regarding her with extreme honesty. "I know an apology will never be enough for the crime I committed. But I'm deeply sorry for what I've done. I wouldn't dare ask for forgiveness. But I want to let you know that I regret my actions. And I wasn't in the right mind when I did it. I'm really sorry."

Lisa stared at Clint for a long time before bowing her head and softly muttering something under her breath, as if chanting a prayer. When she finally looked up at him the first thing she said was, "Thank you, Mr. Harris."

Clint was flabbergasted. "W-What are you thanking me for?"

"For respecting me enough to tell me about it," Lisa said. "I don't think anyone else would've been as honest as you, had they done something like this. And thank you for letting Richard leave this world as a human being. The end he got was still better than becoming one of those monsters and much better than getting washed away in that rain."

Clint shook his head. "Mrs. Neville, are you sure you're seeing the whole picture here? I killed him without thinking of you or the fact that I was ready to rob you and your baby of a chance to escape, just so my family could get away before it rained. Are you really going to thank me for being heartless?"

"Mr. Harris, I understand completely what you mean. But I don't think of you as a bad man," she said. "Bad men don't apologize after doing bad things. Bad men don't have a conscience. For me the only bad guys here are the operatives that chased my husband, chased me and Cathy. They are the reason why any of this is all so bad." She clenched her fist. Before letting out a deep breath and looking at him. "Don't blame yourself, Mr. Harris. No matter how you look at it, for me, what you did will always be the thing that led my Richard out of his misery." She smiled wistfully. "Also, all that I've been through in the past two days and considering I still managed to find people like Gemma and Erik, really makes it all feel worth it. It's all well if it ends well, Mr. Harris."

Clint kept staring at her, not sure how to respond. This clearly wasn't how he'd imagined it going down. But to some degree, he found himself agreeing with her reasoning. Yet that didn't make him feel any less guilty. So in the end, he just thanked her for showing such understanding and left to go be with his own wife and son again.

On his way up, he thought of Richard Neville. He hoped the man's soul was at rest.

###

When Gemma walked into the big garage behind the manor, the first thing she noticed was the soot-stained chrome like truck. A metal beast ready to charge. And on the hood of the truck, sat Erik, smoking a cigarette.

Gemma felt a bit jealous of the freedom Erik's EpiFreeze gave him. She missed smoking out in the open air like she used to. She sighed under her gas mask and shook her head.

"Close the door." Erik hopped off the truck, landing on his good leg, nimble as a cat. She had told him to be careful with the wounded leg since the stitches could come off, yet there he was, jumping around like a monkey. She didn't bother to warn him again.