Chapter 482: Lucy Curious

“Resonance Disruptor,” Sydney said as we walked toward the State Marina. “That’s a nice name.”

She looked at the rectangular case in my hand with clear interest.

“I’m pretty sure that’s only the English translation,” Christopher said. “The Starakian name probably sounds completely different.”

“Right.”

Cindy looked thoughtful.

“Speaking of that, did Kunta learn English somehow? How can she understand us and speak so fluently?”

“They have some kind of chip implanted near the neck,” I said. “It translates languages and works with their vocal cords.”

Sydney stopped walking for half a second.

“What?”

She looked at me.

“That’s amazing.”

“Yeah,” I replied.

It was hard not to be impressed by some parts of Starakian technology.

Their weapons were terrifying. Their devices could create sounds strong enough to drive Infected into a frenzy. They had technology that could hurt Symbiotes, energy systems that could potentially restore electricity, and machines we barely understood.

But something as simple as instant language translation still felt impossible to me.

Rachel glanced toward the Resonance Disruptor case.

“Well, we already know the Starakians are much further ahead than us technologically.”

“Kinda sad,” Cindy said.

She looked toward the dark streets around us.

“We’re basically back to zero now, aren’t we? After the apocalypse.”

“I don’t think everyone is,” I said.

Cindy looked at me.

“There are the people in protected places,” I continued. “People who were warned. People who had time to prepare. They probably have electricity, supplies, security, and everything they need to rebuild.”

Rebecca’s expression tightened.

“You mean the people who made an agreement with the Starakians so they wouldn’t die?”

“Yeah.”

The words left a bitter taste in my mouth.

“They sold the rest of us out. But I’m sure a lot of them are living comfortably right now.”

I imagined cities untouched by the chaos outside.

Working lights.

Running water.

Food stored in warehouses.

Soldiers guarding the streets.

People sleeping in warm beds while everyone else fought Infected for scraps and shelter.

“They had time to prepare,” I added quietly.

Lucy, who had been walking behind us, finally spoke.

“You think entire cities could still be standing?”

“It’s possible.”

I looked toward her.

“You heard the news when this all started, right?”

Lucy nodded.

“It caught everyone off guard,” she said but frowned right after. “But everything also seemed disorganized.”

Her expression tightened.

“Too disorganized.”

“Yeah.”

I could still remember it as we were watching panicked in the classroom.

The first reports.

The strange emergency broadcasts.

People getting sick.

Videos spreading online of infected people attacking others.

Then the electricity becoming unreliable. Phones losing connection. Emergency services disappearing. Government messages becoming shorter, more desperate, and eventually stopping entirely.

Everything had collapsed too quickly.

Or at least, that was what it looked like from the outside.

“Governments fell really fast,” I said. “We lost communications almost immediately. There didn’t seem to be any real operations to help people.”

Christopher’s face darkened.

“Back then, I didn’t think much about it.”

He shook his head.

“But after hearing about the Starakians, after listening to Kunta… it leaves a bad feeling.”

Sydney looked toward Lucy.

“So the military was part of it too?”

Lucy did not answer.

Cindy looked at her with concern.

“Then why weren’t you chosen?” She asked. “You were a Marine. If they were choosing people to save, wouldn’t they choose soldiers?”

Lucy’s gaze dropped to the road ahead.

“I was on leave when it happened,” she said.

Christopher looked toward her.

“Leave?”

Lucy’s face twisted slightly.

She did not look angry.

She looked like she regretted saying it.

“I took a sabbatical year,” she said.

Sydney raised a brow.

“And why would you do that?”

Lucy shrugged.

The movement was casual, but the silence afterward was not.

She clearly did not want to talk about it.

Cindy’s expression softened.

“So something happened,” she said. “And because you weren’t active, you weren’t selected?”

Lucy did not reply.

“I mean,” Cindy continued, “you were a Marine. If they didn’t choose someone like you, a trained soldier, someone who could protect these people, then who did they choose?”

Rachel nodded slowly.

“I was thinking the same thing.”

She looked toward Lucy.

“Maybe if you hadn’t taken that year off, you would be somewhere safe right now.”

Lucy’s expression became complicated.

For a moment, I thought she might get angry.

But she only looked away.

Maybe she did regret it.

Maybe, if she had stayed in the Marines or whatever that happened didn’t happen to her, she would have been warned earlier. Maybe she would have been inside one of those protected settlements. Maybe she would have had food, weapons, a safe bed, and a place behind secure walls.

But maybe she would have been ordered to abandon people too.

Maybe she would have been forced to stand by while the Starakians decided who lived and who died.

Nobody knew.

And that was the worst part.

I did not know how they chose the people who were allowed to survive.

Mei had said wealth and status were probably important. That made sense. Politicians, powerful families, business leaders, scientists, military officers, people who already had connections and resources.

But could that have been all?

Some soldiers must have been chosen too.

Scientists, doctors, engineers.

People who could keep cities running.

People who could rebuild the world after the infection destroyed everything else.

But what happened to everyone outside that circle?

People like us.

People who had not been warned.

People who had woken up one day to find their cities collapsing and their families turning into Infected.

“Now I’m really curious to see those settlements,” Sydney said.

Her voice had lost some of its usual playful tone.

“The cities they kept safe. The places where those cowards are living.”

Cindy looked at me.

“Elena and Alisha are in one of those places, aren’t they?”

I slowed slightly.

“Elena is at her father’s home,” I said. “But yeah. He’s one of those VIPs.”

Christopher nodded.

“He had the money, influence, and connections. If anyone would be warned early, it would be someone like him.”

Rebecca looked thoughtful.

“Wait.”

Everyone glanced at her.

“Does that mean Saint Petersburg could be one of those safe cities?”

The question made the group fall quiet.

Even I stopped walking for a second.

Saint Petersburg.

Elena.

Alisha.

Her father.

I had always thought about reaching them as something almost impossible. Crossing the Atlantic. Reaching Europe. Traveling through Russia. Finding Elena somewhere in a country I barely knew.

But I had never seriously considered that Saint Petersburg itself might still be functioning.

Not normally.

Not like before the outbreak.

But maybe it was protected.

Maybe the city had walls. Soldiers. Power. Supplies. Starakian technology.

“Maybe,” I said quietly.

The thought felt both hopeful and terrifying.

Elena’s father was powerful.

There was no way he would choose to live in a city crawling with Infected if he had another option. If he had access to a protected settlement, he would take Elena and Alisha there.

In which case in fact Saint Petersburg might be a safe city.

But if that was true, getting to her would become even harder.

Sydney seemed to reach the same conclusion.

“In that case,” she said, “it will be almost impossible to get inside.”

Her gaze shifted toward me.

“Wouldn’t they shoot you the moment you tried to approach?”

“Like, fuck off, you aren’t one of the elites?” Christopher said.

Sydney nodded immediately.

“Exactly like that.”

I gave them both a look.

“You really think they will shoot you down like that?”

“Who knows.”

Sydney only shrugged.

Honestly, I did not know what to think about the possibility that Saint Petersburg was one of the protected cities.

On one hand, it would make reaching Elena and Alisha much harder.

If the city was guarded by soldiers, surrounded by walls, and controlled by people who had made agreements with the Starakians, then simply arriving there would not be enough. I could not just walk through the gates and expect Elena’s father, or anyone else, to let me inside.

They might see me as a threat.

A stranger.

A Symbiote Host.

Someone carrying an alien creature inside him.

Maybe they would shoot first and ask questions later.

But on the other hand…

If Saint Petersburg was safe, then Elena and Alisha were safe too.

At least, safer than they would have been with us.

They would have food, shelter, protection and likely even electricity.

They would not have to face Callighan. They would not have to fear Gaspar appearing in the middle of the night. They would not have to run from Infected or sleep behind weak wooden barricades, hoping they held until morning.

The thought gave me some relief.

Even if it hurt.

I missed them.

Especially Elena.

But I would rather know she was safe somewhere far away than beside me in a place where every day could become another nightmare.

Yeah, I was glad that both of them didn’t have to deal with Callighan and Gaspar.

“Elena and Alisha,” Lucy said suddenly.

Her voice interrupted my thoughts.

“They were with you during the outbreak, right?”

“Yeah,” I replied.

Lucy’s expression had become thoughtful.

Then slightly bothered.

“Why didn’t their father take them into custody earlier?” She asked. “If he had access to a protected place, why leave them outside where they could be in danger?”

Cindy glanced toward me before answering.

“It’s complicated family issues.”

Lucy waited.

Sydney snickered.

“Basically, Alisha and Elena would rather face the apocalypse than go back to her father.”

Lucy blinked.

“That bad?”

“Talk about hating a father,” Sydney said.

That was one way to explain it.

And honestly, it was not completely wrong.

Alisha didn’t like her father.

She had made that clear from the beginning.

She did not want anything to do with his people, his wealth, or the life he wanted for her and Elena. Whatever had happened between them before the outbreak had left enough damage that she would rather stay outside in a collapsing world than return to him.

At least, that was how she felt at first.

But later, everything changed.

The Starakians.

The truth about the outbreak.

The people being chosen to survive.

The possibility that the world outside was not simply dangerous, but being abandoned.

Alisha had started to regret the decision.

Not because she had suddenly forgiven her father.

But because she was worried, worried for herself and worried for Elena whom I had unfortunately dragged into that war between Starakians and Symbiotes by curing her.

And in the end, she had chosen to return to her father’s side.

Maybe it had been the right choice.

Things had only gotten worse after they left after all…

As much as it hurt that Elena was no longer beside me, I did not want her caught in any of that.

“Well,” Sydney said, smirking at me, “maybe we should think more carefully before deciding to go to Russia.”

Lucy looked toward her.

“Why would you go to Russia?”

Sydney opened her mouth.

But Cindy answered first.

“To bring Elena and Alisha back.”

Lucy stared at her.

“Why?”

Her confusion was genuine.

“Aren’t they safe there? You should be happy your friends are somewhere protected.”

There was logic in that.

I knew it.

If Elena and Alisha were safe, I should be relieved.

I was relieved.

But that did not stop me from wanting to see them again.

Sydney, of course, had no interest in making the situation less awkward.

“Well,” she said, “the thing is, Elena is Ryan’s girlfriend.”

I nearly tripped over my own foot.

The entire group went quiet.

Even Rebecca, who had only recently learned about Rachel and the others, stared at Sydney in disbelief.

Daisy stood behind Cindy, her eyes wide enough that I thought they might actually stay that way.

Lucy looked from Sydney to me.

Then back to Sydney.

“Weren’t you his girlfriend?”

Sydney smiled.

“Oh, I am.”

Lucy’s expression became completely blank.

I could practically see her mind trying to understand what she had just heard.

Before Sydney could say anything else, Christopher stepped in.

“How about we focus on the matter at hand?” he said.

His voice was tired.

“Like getting Mei out of Brigantine?”

Thank God.

Lucy looked toward him.

Then toward me.

She clearly had more questions.

A lot more.

But she did not argue.

Instead, she let out a slow breath and looked ahead as we continued toward the State Marina.

Daisy, however, remained completely shocked.

She kept glancing at me, then at Sydney, then toward Rachel and Cindy.

Oh God.

That made two people who still did not know about my completely messed-up polygamous relationship.

Lucy.

And Daisy.

I glared at Sydney and I wasn’t the only one as even Rachel and Cindy gave her a sharp look.