What was it deep inside his chest, ticking away by the second? What was it that kept him alive and back in the world. Victor waved his own hand through the air, rolling and unrolling his fingers every second. It was normal. He could feel it.

He still couldn’t believe the second chance he’d been given, nor how he had gotten it. But kept wondering, because there was nothing else to do in the car at the moment. He’d taken a glance at the reason for his newly acquired boosts. There was always a requirement for the unlocks. But all they’d told him was that he’d hurried up.

Amadeus was taking the wheel this time. Victor had urged him to go fast, and the man had taken it to heart. They’re destination wouldn’t be far off now, he supposed. Only a few more hours. But those hours were spent restless.

Loki hadn’t had the troubles he did. The man took to his Seed like a bird to flight. Every hour he’d discover a new way to slash, cut and slice apart cans of soda, wrappers and pieces of wood and rock they’d find along the way. It was curious to Victor. He’d never seen a man progress so fast with his own Seed.

“How are you doing that?” Victor asked him. Loki’s hand was held outside of the window. He kept firing slashes even if they hit nothing. Always experimenting, always trying.

“I... don’t know,” Loki replied.

“Keep at it then. The better you get, the easier it’ll be for us to get past those Vintarics,” Victor told him.

“You still have not told me how you know their names,” Loki said. His prim and proper tone was starting to grate on Victor.

“I don’t know. I can see everything like a menu from a videogame. That means the enemies too,” Victor replied. A partial lie, but one that was necessary. He didn’t want to explain something he didn’t understand himself.

Some people saw the menus. Had their powers stratified and given with clear information. While others had to feel around for the powers, like massaging a muscle. He’d met an equal number of both over the years, though Victor could never piece together what made them so different.

Maybe it was just a simple flip of a coin.

“Say, you haven’t told us anything about yourself, Loki.” Amadeus asked him. He seemed in better spirits now, so Victor let him poke at Loki.

“What is there to know?”

“What did you do before all this?”

“I was a mechanical engineer.”

“Could you hook up a generator to the car then?”

“You want to charge the car yourself?” Loki asked.

“If Amadeus can charge our phones, I don’t see why he can’t do the same for a car,” Victor interjected.

“Might be a tall order, though,” Amadeus replied.

“Nonsense. You just need practice,” Victor said from the back seat. He’d said it offhandedly, lost in thought of how to progress his Timewalker’s Origin.

The road bumped by and their conversation continued. Amadeus was cheery throughout the entire investigation, to the clear annoyance of Loki.

“What about a brother?”

“No.”

“Sister?”

“No.”

“You’re an only child?” Amadeus asked.

“Yes.”

“No wonder you’re so gloomy then. When we get to the Group Home, I’ll introduce you to the other kids there, alright?”

“Why would I need to meet a bunch of children?” Loki asked.

Amadeus gasped in mock offense.

“They’re not just ‘a bunch of children’! All of my brothers and sisters are amazing kids!”

“Mother and father often said the same, heh,” Loki chuckled for once, but it was a mirthless giggle. Victor glanced over for a moment but decided to ignore it. It wasn’t his problem. His were much greater in fact.

“Jaune can be a bit of a pain, but he’s great at cooking. Never ask for French toast though, he’ll burn it. Though Tiffany enjoys it, so he keeps making them. And Dean’s been trying to kick sugar out of his diet, so he usually lets her have it…”

Amadeus kept speaking even as Loki started staring out of the window. He even pulled out his wallet and started showing pictures unprompted. Victor chuckled at Loki’s expense, until they almost hit something on the road.

“Hehe…” Amadeus chuckled nervously.

“Really, Am, there’s enough things out there trying to kill us already,” Victor said begrudgingly. His heart had almost leaped out of his chest when they were inches from the truck parked on the road.

“He really is passionate about them, isn’t he?” Loki asked him.

“More than anything,” Amadeus replied. “I wouldn’t know what to do without them,” he added as sparks crackled up his arms. Thankfully the wheel was made of leather, and so the sparks did nothing.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Victor wanted to open his mouth then. Brace Amadeus for the worst. It’d certainly make it easier if and when he found them… gone again. But would he want someone to do the same for him?

No… We’ll find them together. Alive and well.

They arrived back at Los Angelas, and Victor felt a bit of relief. He was here two days earlier, by his estimate. Though the city was still as ragged as ever, those days would be invaluable for getting the fuel they needed right now.

Now, he only needed to get the attention of someone special.

****

They were done for. That’s what Audrey Wilson thought as she sat bleeding from her hands. they’d slashed her wrists and it was bleeding profusely. Dean sat by her and spoke in accented gibberish trying to console her. The monsters, he called them Vintarics for some reason, were going to come down and end them.

Umer stood in front of the blockaded little café they were hiding inside. He and the others were fending them off as best as they could, but she knew that sacrifices would need to be made. The gunfire drowned out most noise, but she could still hear daphne beside her.

“You’re not well, Audrey. Dean, can’t you help her?!” she said. Her thick English accent shined through with every word. Audrey chuckled, she used to find it so annoying.

“It’s a grand situation you put us in, Audrey,” Dean scolded her.

But she could hear the worry in his voice. His hand was pressed over her arms and he was focusing as hard as he could. Green energy flashed in his eyes, but it never stuck for more than a moment.

Daphne looked deep in thought, teeth grinding against each other. Then finally, she took a rifle, something that looked comical in the aged woman’s hands, and rose up.

“Dean, take her out the back entrance. Me and the boys’ll try our best to fend off these wretched beasts,” she told the both of them.

And then she ran out. Dean picked Audrey up even at her protest and started hauling her backwards. They made it out and into the alley too. All throughout they heard the sounds of gunfire, until it suddenly stopped.

“What’s happening?” Audrey asked, delirious. The loss of blood had really done her in.

“You can come out now!” a voice called out from far away. But it wasn’t anyone she knew. It was young and determined sounding, like a boy might.

When they didn’t respond, the voice called out again.

“Audrey! Listen to the boy!” Daphne shouted, and that was enough.

Regrouping on the other side of the building, she saw three new figures meshed in with her group. A young black man, broad shouldered and with amber eyes. A blonde pasty-faced boy and a Korean behind the two of them.

All of them looked like they were fresh out of college, and had had various levels of success professionally.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t make it sooner, Mrs…” their leader asked.

“Wilson. What about you, boy? You don’t look like you’re from around here,” Audrey asked.

“We were going home. Ever since all of… ” he waved a finger through the air, “We’ve been driving across the country. We saw you in the middle of it all and well, we had the weapons already, so why not help?”

She could tell something was off about the boy by his looks. He tried to put on a brave face but there was something hidden behind them. The part that annoyed her the most was that despite those signs, she couldn’t ignore help when given.

“What’s your name?”

“Victor Amadi. This here is Amadeus Levine and Loki smith,” the boy pointed towards the rest of his crew.

“And where exactly are you headed?” she asked him.

“Charleston,” he replied without a beat.

That one didn’t seem like a lie. Which means he’d be out of her hair soon enough.

“Well, let’s not stay here to talk. We don’t know when those bugs will show up again,” Audrey grumbled.

Victor helped some of the other survivors who were in bad shape. That included the Irina couple, who had made it by the skin of their teeth. Vladimir complained as always, but at least he was alive. His wife fussed over him, hefting a rifle much too big for her.

Victor helped them without complaint, listening to the man’s ramblings all the way back to Angel Heights.

****

He’d finally gotten in. The new faces were troubling for Victor though. Vladimir and his wife were the only people pale enough to be Elsa’s parents, so he was glad to have gotten them out, so it wasn’t them.

It was the other woman, Daphne. He’d never heard about the Englishwoman before, but then again he’d been at Angel Heights for a scant few days. There had been enough hustle and bustle that leaving out details wouldn’t be amiss.

Whatever. Just need to get myself out of here fa- Victor’s train of thought stopped immediately.

Lillie was walking down the stairwell with a confused expression on her face. Her unblemished face had faded from his mind so long ago. He’d wanted to shove those feelings deep inside. She was the first… the first person he’d ever let die.

But not the last. He’d failed many more after that. Each time, forgetting what they looked like help. Made it so that they didn’t haunt his nightmares. He’d even had people with specific Seeds excise them from his mind, just so he could sleep at night.

But seeing her here again, he wanted to run and wrap her in a hug. Victor started to, even, before a finger raised towards him.

“Who did you bring in, Audrey?” she asked with an accusatory tone.

“Lil….” The name died in his mouth. Seems it hadn’t set in for him yet. These people didn’t know him.

“Victor Amadi. He’s a good lad, so treat him nicely, will you?” Audrey asked of her.

“If you say so,” Lillie replied, shrugging. She walked past him and towards the injured without another word, leaving Victor wondering. She was all over me last time. What happened?

“The cold shoulder, huh? Guess you made a bad impression, Vic,” Amadeus told him.

“Perhaps try again later,” Loki said. They both patted him on the back. He shot a look towards the man. Later. If only Loki knew how far Later really was for him.

Lillie tended to the injured, helping them up to Dean’s medical room. Victor came along and tried to break the ice as the doctor worked.

“So, how’s it going?” he asked.

She gave him a pointed look.

“The world’s gone to shit. I can’t say I’m doing good,” she said curtly.

“Ah… yeah. Sorry about that.”

“Not your fault,” she replied. They stood a while watching Dean getting used to his Seed. The old man struggled, and Victor couldn’t help but interfere.

“You’re supposed to feel out the Seed,” he said with his hand in Dean’s.

“Think of it like a warmth. Let it spread across me. It should be easy for you since you can see the screens,” Victor told him.

“Maybe he has to think about medical things to make it work?” Lillie added in her own bit of wisdom.

“No, that’s not usually how it works for a Seeds. It’s more like… using a limb you never knew you had before,” Victor replied. Though that was his own experience. Others described it in their own ways, and even the Seed you got could vary the results.

With his efforts, the old man actually got his powers working. In but a scant few moments he’d even patched up cuts and bruises across many of the other patients. But the old Irishman was tired by the end of it and asked for a nap, leaving both Victor and Lillie to soothe the more heavily injured among them.

“He’ll be back. He just needs to get some rest. Using a Seed is intensive,” Victor explained to them. Lillie eyed him a few times, just like she had before when he’d been explaining how the powers worked.

“You’ve got one yourself, don’t you?” she asked him outright.

“One what?”

“One of those Seeds.”

“And if I do?”

“…Could you get me one?” Lillie spoke.

He smiled.

“Of course. I’ve got just the idea too,” he told her, looking out of the window by the nurse’s office. There shone the light of the Gate, one he’d been itching to get back inside. There is where he’d get a Seed again, and arm himself for the future to come.