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Concern sounded very different coming from Tony compared to when it came from Yinsen.
"Just habit," Jimmy said as he tossed more wood onto the fire.
Yinsen studied him for a moment, then spoke carefully, "You do not look very old. Would you mind telling me about your past, or maybe how you ended up in that cave?"
Tony looked over as well.
Truthfully, Tony had wanted to ask this from the very beginning, he had even been poking at Jimmy with sarcasm, trying to provoke a reaction, trying to figure out what kind of man he really was.
Why had he helped them?
Tony had learned long ago that someone in his position could not afford to trust blindly; wealth and status made you a target, and hesitation got you sold.
Still, he had chosen not to ask earlier, because once the question was asked, and the answer turned ugly, whatever fragile bond the three of them shared might shatter on the spot.
Yinsen was different.
He asked directly, because he genuinely believed Jimmy was a good person.
"Ended up in the cave," Jimmy repeated, then gave a helpless smile, "if I told you how, I am not sure you would believe me."
He shook his head slowly.
"I remember going through a blue ring of light, after that I felt dizzy, then I woke up there."
"Before that," he added, "a group of people who looked like soldiers were hunting us."
"Soldiers," Tony frowned.
"Us," Yinsen repeated quietly.
"Yes," Jimmy nodded, "me, a group of kids, and one adult, it was not a chase, it was a slaughter."
"I stayed behind to cover them."
"I was trapped, no way out, when I turned to fight back, I ran straight into that blue light, then I was in the cave."
"You are sure they were soldiers," Tony asked.
"Not completely," Jimmy admitted, "but they wore military uniforms, drove military vehicles, and that M2 came off one of their trucks."
Tony leaned back and tossed another stick into the fire, letting out a breath. "Your story is strange, but I will accept it for now. Still, whoever was chasing you was not regular military; the M2 is obsolete, no modern army uses that anymore."
"That is true," Yinsen agreed, "local militias use weapons like that all the time, but what about before that, before the chase?"
Jimmy thought for a moment.
There was no way he could say he had died in a subway station and woken up somewhere else.
"I do not remember," he said finally, "I remember the fighting, then everything we went through together."
He paused, then added quietly, "I also remember a large open facility, doctors everywhere, blood draws every day, electricity, tests."
"Maybe I was different from the others."
Human experimentation.
The word formed silently in both Tony's and Yinsen's minds.
Tony and Yinsen exchanged a glance.
"How old are you," Tony asked.
Jimmy thought about it, then shook his head.
"Then how do you know your name?"
"The man who escaped with us told me," Jimmy replied, "he said my name was Jimmy, Jimmy Halstead."
Silence followed.
Tony said nothing.
Neither did Yinsen.
In their minds, the picture formed on its own, cruel scientists, endless experiments, one guilty soul unable to bear it anymore, secretly freeing the children.
Then the chase.
Then the slaughter.
When they looked at Jimmy again, there was sympathy in their eyes.
"The meat is done," Jimmy said calmly, "which part do you want?"
"The middle," Tony blurted out immediately, "I want the middle."
The heavy atmosphere finally broke.
This was already the fifth day of Jimmy dragging the other two through the desert, the water was completely gone, and Jimmy found himself mentally cursing the director.
Why did it look so easy in the movie?
Tony ran maybe a few hundred meters and got rescued.
Jimmy had been walking for five days straight, so where was the military helicopter?
For the last two days, Jimmy had been forcing himself to keep going, barely wetting his lips, saving what little moisture he had for Tony and Yinsen.
At first, Tony could still walk for a while on his own, but eventually he could not go on anymore and had to let Jimmy drag him along.
Now things were getting bad.
No water left.
Yinsen was showing clear signs of heatstroke, and even Tony looked like he was barely holding on.
"This is it," Tony gasped, "Jimmy, we are done, if we do not find water soon, Yinsen is not going to make it."
"That useless military," he added weakly, "taking all our tax money, this is how they protect people, when I get back, I am filing complaints everywhere."
"Save your strength," Jimmy said quietly, looking at the unconscious Yinsen, then at Tony, who was forcing himself to stay upright.
Jimmy reached to his waist and pulled out the knife, then walked toward them slowly.
"What are you doing," Tony panicked, "big guy, you are not thinking about…"
Slice.
Blood flowed into Yinsen's mouth.
Tony froze, eyes wide, as he watched Jimmy's cut wrist begin healing at a visible pace, flesh knitting together in seconds.
"This, this, this…"
Jimmy wiped his wrist, the wound already gone, not even a scar left behind.
If not for the blood still on Yinsen's lips, Tony would have thought he was hallucinating.
Tony grabbed Jimmy's wrist, turning it over, rubbing the spot where the blade had cut.
"How did you do that?"
"I told you," Jimmy said calmly, "I am different, want some."
Tony shook his head immediately. "Who else knows about this?"
"I am not sure," Jimmy replied, "maybe the people chasing me, maybe the ones who escaped with me."
Tony looked him straight in the eye. "Jimmy, you listen to me, you never tell anyone about this, not anyone."
"Got it," Jimmy replied, then added, "and it is not just that, there is also this."
Jimmy clenched his fist.
Three cold metallic claws slid out, catching the light.
Tony swallowed hard. "Are you even human?"
Jimmy stared at him.
I feel like that was an insult, but I cannot prove it.
"Alright," Jimmy said after a moment, "you still have energy, let us keep moving, you point the direction."
Jimmy tightened the rope and started forward again.
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He did not notice the bald woman high above them, watching quietly, nodding once, then opening a glowing ring of sparks and stepping through it.
Jimmy glanced up briefly.
For a moment, it felt like someone had been watching them.
Maybe just his imagination.
Then the sound came.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
A helicopter.
The noise grew louder.
Tony lifted his head weakly, spotted the aircraft overhead, then forced himself upright and began waving a piece of cloth wildly.
"Jimmy, now, flip the car door."
Days of dragging had polished the metal smooth, its surface now reflective like a mirror.
Jimmy carefully set Yinsen down, grabbed the car door, flipped it over, and angled the reflected sunlight straight toward the cockpit.
"Yes. Yes. Ha."
Tony shouted hoarsely, relief flooding his voice, even if the sound itself was weak.
They were finally getting out alive.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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