“No, I don’t. We are capable of self-healing. In our bloodstream there are nanocybots, and they are programmed to look for wounds and heal them,” he explained, tensing up when she laid her hands on him.
With her so close, her scent was even stronger, and it was making him dizzy with sheer need. He had to control himself, or he would scare her off.
“Oh… that’s amazing, I had no idea,” she replied, astonished. “Why don’t they use that technology on humans?” she asked thinking about all the diseases that could be cured.
“Nanocybots tend to take hold of the host body. They change it as they see fit and they have proven to be able to dismiss their programming and acting on their own free will,” he explained. “That would be too dangerous for humans, or so they say.”
She huffed, not convinced.
Taking a deep breath, she started to unwrap the stripes of the sheet she had put on his chest. She gasped when she saw his back. All the splinters were off his skin and fell to the ground when she took the last layer of the bandage.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, tilting his head to look at her.
“The splinters came off.”
“That’s the work of the nanocybots,” he explained. “How does it look?”
She leaned forward for a better view in the dim light of the cave. “It’s awesome. It’s so much better, there’s a new layer of muscle forming over your ribcage. How’s that even possible?”
He chuckled. “The nanocybots seek the body’s stem cells and put them to work at full speed where they are needed.”
“It’s fantastic… they should implement this on humans,” she insisted, making a ball with the bandages before she handed them to him. “Here, if you wash them, I’ll put them on again.” She shivered when a gust of wind entered the cave. “How come you’re not affected by cold?”
“Our body temperature, as all of our functions, is controlled by the nanocybots. If it’s cold, they keep us warm.”
“I’m starting to like those little guys,” she said, in an amused tone.
He chuckled and got up. “It won’t take me long.” With those words, he left the cave, and she stayed where she was, looking at him until he disappeared outside.
Her hands were still tickling from the touch of his skin, and her heart was thundering in her chest. The man affected her like none other had ever. She couldn’t understand why she reacted so viscerally to him, but it was a fact.
Sighing, she turned her eyes to the fire and waited for him to come back. Her life had changed so much in just a few days, she was feeling out of balance. That had to be the reason she was reacting this way to the man.
Of course, she had never met anyone like him, but that shouldn’t be reason enough to have her drooling over him like a teenager with her first crush.
He returned to the cave with the bandages as clean as possible, and though they were still wet and cold, she wrapped them around his wound once again.
“There, that’s the best I can do,” she told him when she was done, her hands a bit shaky after being in touch with his hot skin.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She returned to where she had her bundle of clothes and lay down on the ground, closing her eyes. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Sleep well.” He stayed where he was, staring at her for a few minutes, enjoying the view of her chest going up and down as her breath slowly evened up. She was clearly exhausted, and it didn’t take her too long to fall asleep.
Sighing, he leaned against a wall and closed his eyes. He was still having trouble to believe he had been able to escape, thanks to Khajal’s woman. And thanks to Jarcor, of course. He had gone through a lot of pain and torture to get those codes without letting the humans find out he had them.
So far the humans still thought the cyborgs that had been able to escape, had been through a complete reboot. And they suspected the cyborgs had help from one of the humans in charge of the programming. They hadn't been able to prove anything, and they wouldn’t since no human had helped them, but it was good they thought that way.
It kept them from changing the programming codes, and more cyborgs were being able to escape. He closed his eyes, decided to have some rest. Though the wound on his back was a lot better, he was still in a lot of pain, and pain had a good way of taking energies from you.
Elena woke up feeling stiff and sore. It was still dark inside the cave, barely lightened by the dying fire, but she could see the colors of dawn dyeing the skies. Moving silently, she turned to look at the man she had been traveling with, realizing she didn’t even know his name.
He was sound asleep.
It was the moment she had been waiting for. She needed to find the nearest city, so she could go home and look for her sister Alanna. The man was way better than expected so, he really didn’t need her help.
Carefully, she got up and picked up her things. She would have to walk by him, but if she were careful, he wouldn’t notice her departure.
But he did.
The minute she walked by him, his hand stretched up and caught her wrist pulling her down to his lap. “Going anywhere?” he asked, in a sarcastic tone.
“I didn’t escape the Taucets to become your prisoner,” she grumbled, struggling to get up, but the arms wrapped around her felt like iron bands.
“I still need your help.” He didn’t, but for some reason, he didn’t want her to leave. Not yet, anyway.
“No, you don’t. And I have to go back home.” Elena struggled a bit more until she perceived something poking her buttocks. She looked at him puzzled, and the wicked grin on his face gave her the answer.
Feeling the heat coloring her face, she froze. He was aroused. His hard cock was poking her ass, and she had no doubt her struggling on his lap had a lot to do with it.
“There’s nothing left there. Why would you want to go back?” he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
“I have my reasons. Listen, I’ve helped you as much as I could, but now, we need to go our separate ways,” she said, in a calmed, convincing tone. But it had no effect on him. Even before she finished her sentence, he was shaking his head.
“No… you’ll stay with me.”
There was so much decision in his tone she let out a small cry of sheer frustration. She didn’t stand a chance against him.
She lost control. All the problems she had been through and her concern for Alanna finally exploded. “You can’t do this. I need to go find my sister, do you hear me?” she asked, punching his chest with all her strength. “She’s only twelve years old, and I have no idea what happened to her.”
He grabbed her wrists and forced her to stop. “What do you mean? Where’s your sister?” he asked, in a stern tone.
“I have no idea. The Taucets left the children locked up in the Mayor’s house. They had no use for children,” she replied, in a low tone, as tears rushed down her cheeks. “They didn’t care some were just babies, they just ripped them out of their mothers’ arms and imprisoned them in a room.”
“I’m sure the army has gotten to them. They must be safe and sound in some military facilities,” he assured her, but she wasn’t convinced.
“I need to go back to back in town. I had taught Alanna to hide in case of danger and wait for me at a predefined place. I need to get there as soon as possible,” she explained, tugging her hands and jumping out of his lap.
“Are you sure she was able to escape?” he asked, getting up as well.
“No, I’m not. I wasn’t able to see her in the group of kids they locked up,” she admitted. “Either way, I have to find her. She’s the only relative I have left. I’m not abandoning her,” she stated, in a firm tone, standing in front of him, in a challenging position, with her hands on her hips. “And you’re not stopping me.”
He smiled, amused. He could stop her if he wanted, and they both knew it. But he wouldn’t. “I’m not. I’m joining you. I can find your town easier than you and you would get to your sister faster this way,” he announced.
She looked at him with a deep frown. “Why would you do that?”
“I still need your help,” he replied, shrugging.
“No, you don’t,” she insisted.
“Yes, I do. There’s no more arguing. I’m going with you.”
She looked at him for a few seconds, trying to understand his motives, but they were a total enigma. She guessed she could use his help. She would take anything that would take her faster to where her sister was.
“Very well.”
“Tell me the name of your town and where it was located.” His brain was provided with a few nanochips with all kinds of information he was able to access. One of them included a map of the planet with its coordinates, making it easier for him to move around.
She gave him the town’s location. “It shouldn’t be that far from here, but I’m not sure.”
He shook his head. “It’s about four days from here.”
Her jaw dropped. She hadn't expected for it to be that far. “Four days?”
“Yes… we could try to find a vehicle, but since neither of us has money, that might be a bit difficult. And the roads have way too many soldiers. It’s not safe for any of us,” he added.
“Then, there’s no time to waste. We should leave.”
“We should eat something before we do,” he pointed out. “I can find another rabbit in a few minutes, and we would be on our way in a couple of hours.”
“I’m not hungry, we can stop later,” she dismissed his suggestion, too eager to leave.
He nodded and put out the fire, erasing all traces of their stay in the cave.
A few minutes, they were on their way. Fortunately, it had stopped snowing, and it wasn’t so cold. But after a few hours, she was having trouble to control her shivers. She had forgotten to put on a second jumpsuit.
“We need to stop,” she told him when the shudders were too violent for her to bear. “I’m too cold.”
He stopped and turned to look at her. “Yesterday was colder, and you didn’t protest. Are you alright?”
“I forgot to put on a second jumpsuit, that’s all. I need to put it on.”
“Why didn’t you mention it earlier?” he asked, with a frown, closing the distance between them.
“I just wanted to get as far as possible, but I can’t stand it anymore,” she confessed.
Shaking his head with disapproval, he pulled her into his embrace, lending her some of his heat, while he rubbed her arms.
“There’s an abandoned village not far from here. We should be able to get some shelter there, and while you warm yourself, I’ll get us something to eat,” he informed her.
“That sounds perfect. How far is it?” she asked, still shaking.
“I’m guessing half an hour from here. Do you think you can make it?”
She buried her head in his warm chest, inhaling his scent for a few moments before she nodded and stepped back.
“I can make it.”
He took her hand and dragged her for the rest of the way to the village he had seen on the map. Incredibly, he seemed to send his heat through his hand, and though she was still cold, it wasn’t as bad as it had been.
The town was devastated. It was obvious the war had reached the small town, and there wasn’t a building standing. But there were some ruins where they could get some shelter. He guided her towards the nearest one.
“This place seems safe enough.” It was the ground floor of what used to be a bigger building.
The upper floors were gone, but the ground floor still had its roof, and though most windows had their glasses broken it would provide enough shelter for them.
“Yes, I’m sure of it,” she agreed, walking inside. The place was a total mess. It must have been some kind of office since there were papers everywhere, and you could still see some desks and broken chairs scattered all over the place.
“Get changed while I’ll go find something to eat. Try to stay here, while I’m gone and don’t try to leave without me. I would find you in a blink of an eye,” he warned her, as he walked out.
Elena stuck her tongue out at his back and let out a nervous giggle at the childish act. She wasn’t going anywhere. She wasn’t sure he was taking her in the right direction, but she had better chances of surviving this trip with him at her side.
She had planned to find a river or a road she could follow to the nearest town. But like he said, there were way too many soldiers around, and she could have bumped into some, which wasn’t in her plans. She didn’t trust the soldiers, especially not now that she was carrying a Taucet tracking device. Not that she thought the Taucets would waste their time looking for her, but the soldiers would think they would. Who knows what they would do to her?
Once she was alone, she searched the place to find some water. There shouldn’t be any on the pipes, but there could be some from melted snow, or some gathered from the rain. She needed to wash herself a bit before she changed clothes.
But there wasn’t any. Knowing he would be out for a while, she decided to explore the main street and see what she could find.
Not far from the building he had chosen, she found a broken pipe, coming out of another ruin that still had water in it. Happy, she washed her hands and face. The water was very cold, but it looked clean enough for her to wash herself, as much as possible.
A few minutes later, shuddering but clean, she returned to the place he had left her in and put on two clean jumpsuits. Her last cleaned pair. She would have to wash the other two if she wanted to be able to change into clean clothes again.
So, she decided to go back to where she had found the broken pipe and wash her dirty clothes. If he were so good at finding people, he would be able to find her there, in case he returned before she was done.