Rachel had finished plating the eggs, each serving perfectly portioned and still steaming from the pan. The golden yolks were intact, the whites cooked to just the right consistency—it was remarkable how she managed to maintain such culinary standards even with our limited resources and the ancient equipnt in this house.
I took my first bite, savoring the familiar comfort of a well-prepared breakfast. "Once again, it’s delicious, Rachel," I said, making sure my appreciation was clear in my voice.
"Thanks," she replied with a smile as she settled into her own seat with her plate.
I found myself smiling back naturally, caught up in the simple pleasure of the mont. But when I beca aware of Rebecca’s pointed stare from across the table, my smile faltered slightly, and I looked away. There was sothing in her expression—suspicions and wariness.
From her perspective, I realized with growing unease, all our exchanges and easy smiles probably looked exactly like we were flirting with each other. The thought hit like a cold splash of water: Wait, weren’t we flirting with each other actually?
We spoke naturally to each other, comfortably, but maybe too naturally. Our interactions had developed an easy intimacy that could easily be misinterpreted—or maybe it was being interpreted exactly correctly, which was even more troubling. Rachel’s casualness around , the way her face lit up when I praised her cooking, the lingering quality of our eye contact—Rebecca, as Rachel’s younger sister, would be particularly attuned to picking up on those kinds of subtle signals.
Eager to dispel the increasingly awkward atmosphere, I turned toward Liu i, who was thodically working through her eggs with the sa focused attention she brought to everything else. She’d clearly co specifically to eat, which was unusual behavior for soone who typically preferred the solitude of her room and her endless supply of books. Rachel must have specifically asked if she wanted breakfast, and Liu i must have given one of her characteristically economical nods.
"How do you find it, i?" I asked, hoping to redirect the conversation into safer territory.
Liu i paused mid-chew, fixing with one of her trademark withering looks. "Since when are we close enough for you to call by my na, Abraham Lincoln?" She retorted, then resud cutting her fried egg with surgical precision before slipping another piece into her mouth.
Daisy looked genuinely puzzled, her brow furrowing behind her glasses. "Abraham Lincoln?"
"That’s the nickna she gave Ryan because he cos from so third-rate high school in New York," Rebecca explained, her tone carrying more edge than usual.
"Hey, Rebecca! That’s rude!" Rachel imdiately scolded frowning.
Rebecca just shrugged, unrepentant. "I’m just stating facts."
Rachel sighed deeply, the sound carrying the weight of soone who’d had this conversation before. She shot an apologetic smile, clearly embarrassed by her sister’s behavior.
I shook my head slightly, giving her what I hoped was a reassuring ’it’s fine’ look. Rachel’s smile in return was grateful and relieved, which unfortunately only served to intensify Rebecca’s scrutiny.
The tension that had been building finally reached its breaking point. "What’s going on between you two?" Rebecca suddenly snapped, standing up so abruptly that her chair scraped loudly against the floor.
Rachel flinched as if she’d been slapped, looking up at her sister with genuine confusion. "Rebecca... what’s wrong?"
"What’s wrong? You’re what’s wrong, big sister!" The words burst out of Rebecca with the force of long-suppressed frustration. "Since when did you get this close to him?"
Rachel’s voice remained steady, but I could see the tension in her shoulders. "Since when... Rebecca, we’ve all been through a lot together. You were there too. You know what we’ve survived."
"No, no, I’m not stupid!" Rebecca’s voice rose with each word, her composure finally cracking completely. "You two beca way too close, way too suddenly! Like... do you love him or sothing?"
Rachel’s eyes widened in shock, and I watched as a telltale flush crept up her neck. She looked away slightly, unable to et either Rebecca’s intense gaze or mine.
The silence stretched on for what felt like an eternity. Rebecca stared at her sister, waiting for a denial that never ca, and I could see the exact mont when understanding dawned on her face.
"N—No way!!" She shook her head in disbelief.
Unable to stand the situation any longer, she bolted from the table, her feet pounding on the stairs as she fled to her room. The sound of her door slamming echoed through the house like a gunshot.
"Rebecca!" Rachel imdiately stood up, her sisterly instincts overriding her own embarrassnt and confusion. She hurried after her sister, leaving her half-finished breakfast cooling on the table.
The kitchen fell into an uncomfortable silence, broken only by Liu i’s thodical chewing. She seed completely unaffected by the dramatic scene that had just unfolded, as if emotional explosions were rely background noise to her daily existence.
"I feel like I’ve been reading the sa page over and over while watching those two," Liu i comnted dryly, standing up and collecting her plate. "Boring."
She moved to the sink, washing her dish with the sa attention to detail she brought to everything else with water from the bucket of water we had filled up. As she headed toward toward her room not far away, I caught a glimpse through the partially open door of what appeared to be Miss Ivy sitting cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed in what looked suspiciously like so kind of ditation pose as if she was going to go in sage mode.
What the hell was happening in that room exactly?
Liu i disappeared inside closing the door, leaving alone with the aftermath of Rebecca’s jealousy-fueled outburst. Rebecca’s fear that I was going to steal away her big sister had created exactly the kind of complication I’d been hoping to avoid.
Now I was stuck in an increasingly embarrassing situation with Daisy, who had witnessed the entire exchange and was giving aningful looks that she probably thought were subtle. She kept glancing at from behind her glasses, clearly waiting for to confirm or deny sothing about what had just happened. She seed to think that because her glasses created a slight barrier, I wouldn’t notice her obvious staring, but she couldn’t have been more wrong.
I chose to ignore her pointed attention, focusing instead on finishing my breakfast, but she maintained her insistent gaze with the persistence of soone who had just witnessed a significant piece of drama and wanted answers.
Thankfully, before the situation could beco even more uncomfortable, the sound of footsteps on the stairs announced new arrivals. Elena and Alisha descended into view.
Or maybe this was just adding fuel to the fire, making the situation even more awkward after what had happened last night and by that I ant having sex with Elena in the basent secretly and Alisha discovering it and I then proceeding to reveal about an alien race.
"Lena! Alisha!" Daisy imdiately stood up to greet them. "You’re waking up pretty late today," she said with a giggle.
"I couldn’t really sleep with Elena snoring too loudly," Alisha said with a teasing smile.
"Hey!" Elena protested, cheeks flushing.
Daisy’s giggle this ti seed more genuine. "You must have been pretty exhausted to sleep this much, Lena."
Elena’s gaze found mine across the room, and I saw her expression change subtly, a slight flush coloring her cheeks as mories of the previous night clearly surfaced. "Y... yes," she stuttered.
Alisha caught the exchange and turned to look at .
"Ryan," she said, her tone carefully casual, "may I have a word with you?"
"Yeah, sure," I nodded, accepting the inevitable confrontation with as much grace as I could muster.
We made our way out of the house, through the back door that led to what had once been a modest backyard. The small garden we’d been working on over the past week was our work and our attempts to create so semblance of sustainability. Margaret from the Jackson Township Community had gifted us seeds when she learned about our situation—vegetables that could grow relatively quickly and provide essential nutrients when hunting beca too dangerous or when we were forced to venture too far from safe territory.
The neat rows of freshly planted seeds represented hope for the future, a belief that we’d still be here in a few months to harvest what we’d sown. Tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, and herbs were just beginning to show the first tiny green shoots breaking through the soil.
Alisha stopped near the small tool shed we’d repurposed for garden equipnt, turning to face with an expression that was both serious and strangely understanding.
"To be honest, I still have a hard ti believing it," she finally started, her voice carefully controlled, "but what I witnessed last night is true."
I felt my stomach tighten. "I know. I was feeling the sa way..."
She nodded slowly, her blue eyes never leaving my face. "I don’t know much about you, Ryan, and from what I’ve seen, you appear to be a good person. After talking with Elena, I think I can guess what kind of situation you’ve found yourself in." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "But Elena... I’ve never seen her defending soone this much before."
So they had indeed had a long discussion about after I left. The thought of Elena standing up for , explaining whatever she could without revealing the full truth, filled with a mixture of gratitude and guilt. If Elena had defended that strongly, I could only be thankful, even as I worried about what it might have cost her.
"I trust my sister," Alisha continued, "and I trust that she would never be easily tricked by n or people in general. So her faith in you must be genuine."
"I... I just did what I could," I replied, not knowing what else to say. The words felt inadequate, a pale reflection of the complexity of our situation.
"Yes, but Ryan..." Her tone shifted, becoming more serious, more protective. "I love my sister more than anything in this world, and I wouldn’t support anything that could harm her." She fixed with an intense stare. "That’s why I need you to be completely honest with . Does your presence near us—near Elena—put her in danger?"
I could have deflected, could have tried to minimize the risk or explain the precautions I was taking. But looking into Alisha’s eyes, seeing the fierce love and protectiveness there, I knew she deserved nothing less than the truth.
"Yes," I nodded without hesitation.
Regardless of my growing power, regardless of any promises I might make about protection, the fundantal truth remained unchanged: I did put Elena in danger simply by being near her. The virus inside , the transformations I was undergoing, the attention it might draw—all of it represented a threat that couldn’t be completely eliminated.
"I see..." Alisha nodded, her expression unreadable as she looked past toward the house. "How many tis do you need to do it before you can stabilize Elena completely?"
The clinical way she phrased the question caught off guard, but I appreciated her directness. "I don’t know exactly. Maybe two or three more tis," I said, trying to give her an honest approximation despite the uncertainty that plagued every aspect of this situation.
"Once you’ve done that," Alisha said suddenly, "I’ll leave this house with Elena."
"W... what?"
"Asking you to leave would be tactless and cruel after everything you’ve done for us," she continued with the sa calm determination. "So instead, I’ll take Elena sowhere else."
I stared at her, trying to process what she was saying. "Wait, are you serious?"
"Yes." The single word carried absolute conviction.
"Alisha..." I felt panic rising in my chest, a desperate need to make her understand. "It’s true that my presence puts you in danger, but right now we’re relatively safe in this house. You’re safer here. Going out there alone, just the two of you wandering aimlessly—that’s incredibly dangerous."
"We wouldn’t be going aimlessly," she said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out what looked like an old-fashioned black phone with a thick antenna. "I’ll call my father to pick us up."
I felt my world tilt. "W... what? Phones don’t work. All the networks are gone, the infrastructure—"
"This is a satellite phone my father gave to call him in urgent situations," she explained with the sa matter-of-fact tone. "It works through a private satellite owned by my father. It doesn’t need conventional networks."
I was speechless for a mont, trying to reconcile this revelation with everything I thought I knew about their situation. Why would her father have access to private satellite technology? What kind of resources did their family have?
But before I could fully process those implications, another question struck . "Then... why didn’t you use it when you were trapped at Lexington Charter? You could have died there."
Alisha looked away, carefully tucking the phone back into her pocket. When she spoke again, her voice carried a weight of regret and complicated family dynamics I was only beginning to understand.
"I wanted to take Elena away from my father. I thought we could survive on our own together, but I suppose I was wrong." Her voice grew quieter, more vulnerable. "Near him... at least she’ll be safe."
"Who is your father?" I asked hesitantly, though I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.
The way she spoke about him carried undertones that made deeply uncomfortable. There was fear there, mixed with love and resentnt and a dozen other emotions I couldn’t parse. Why was she talking as if her father was so kind of dangerous figure, soone to be feared rather than welcod?
"And are you sure he’s still alive?" I pressed. "Wouldn’t he have contacted you otherwise?"
"He is alive," she said. "He sent a ssage, but I disconnected the main chip so he couldn’t track us down."
She had actively hidden from her own father, gone to great lengths to avoid being found, and now she was considering calling him back into their lives. What kind of man inspired that level of fear in his own daughter?
I an in the case of my father I might have done the sa thing maybe...
I stood there in silence, trying to process everything she’d revealed.
"Regardless," Alisha said finally, giving a small smile that didn’t reach her eyes, "thank you for saving Elena."
She turned and began walking back toward the house, leaving standing alone in the garden with more questions than answers and the devastating knowledge that I was about to lose Elena.
I stood there before raising my hand to my beating heart.
What was that...
Was I upset or panicking after what Alisha said?
"Ha..."
I have really fallen for Elena as well.
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