"Virus" B2 | Chapter 44. The Weight of Hope

B2, Chapter 43 | B2, Chapter 45

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Despite it being well into the night, plenty of people still moved through the streets. Most huddled around makeshift camps, readying for sleep. Others, though, remained wide awake, testing some of their abilities or heading toward the Safe Zone’s border. Obviously, the Hosts Isaac had seen in the swaps weren’t the only ones planning to spend the night fighting monsters.

Good for them.

Other than that, walking through the city on his own two feet showed him just how much better off LA was compared to Sacramento or Galt. The roads? Somewhat cracked and uneven, but still usable, as proven by the few trucks that passed them. Most smaller houses and businesses? Still habitable based on the weak light behind some of the fractured windows. Really, it was quite a contrast to what he was used to.

At the very least, no one tried to stop him or James. To be honest, Isaac had half expected his unnatural eyes or the strange dark veins on his skin to draw some unwanted attention. Yet none of that happened. Sure, some people they passed threw a curious or confused look in his direction, but aside from that it seemed like they couldn’t care less about his appearance.

Which was quite fair. After all, he was far from the only person here transformed by their abilities. Hell, not long after entering LA, he had seen a woman whose hair had turned into a crown of white feathers. In his opinion, that beat different eye color any day. Besides, the darkness probably also somewhat helped to hide his more “unique” features.

All this made the trip across the city completely uneventful and almost silent. James only ever said anything when they entered Long Beach. Isaac considered asking for more details about his family, but with how tense the man looked, he thought better of it. He would hopefully meet them soon anyway.

Please let me be right this one time, he begged in his head as they rounded yet another corner.

“We’re almost here,” James muttered.

That instantly put Isaac on alert, his gaze washing over the street they had just entered. For the most part, the houses here seemed to be somewhat intact despite how large all of them were. He had never considered this before, but it was obvious that James’ family had to be doing quite well to afford a place in an area like this. Or maybe not, what did he know about real estate anyway?

Still, just like with most of the city, this street was far from abandoned. There weren’t really that many tents or people outside, but at least every third house had light coming from within.

That has to be a good sign, Isaac thought as he trailed behind James, carefully scanning the area.

Before long, they came to a stop in front of a two-story house that, in Isaac’s opinion, could easily fit two large families. The only problem with it was the half-collapsed roof—courtesy of a massive fallen palm tree—and lack of light inside.

“Car’s gone,” James mumbled, his gaze on the empty driveway.

He’s hesitating, Isaac noted, stepping up beside him and placing a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go inside.”

James swallowed hard and nodded. Without another word, he headed for the front door, which opened with a weak tug. No key. If that was a good or bad sign, Isaac had no idea, not yet.

Slowly, they stepped into the narrow and dark entrance hallway.

“Sarah!? Lisa?! Mom?! It’s James! I’m back!”

Yet, nobody answered. The house remained as silent and dark as before.

“Mom!” James called again, louder this time. Still nothing. “Fuck!” he growled, punching the wall next to him. “Of course they aren’t here. What if… what if—“

“Stop,” Isaac hissed, handing him a flashlight from his Storage Brand. “They could have just moved. Let’s look around first. No use jumping to conclusions.”

James closed his eyes, took a deep, ragged breath, and nodded. “Yeah… yeah, you’re right. I will check upstairs.”

The man didn’t even let Isaac answer before he walked off, mumbling something under his breath.

This is going great, Isaac thought, grimacing. All right, let’s get to work.

He stepped through the first archway on his left, into a living room easily the size of his entire apartment back in Galt. His gaze scanned the floor, searching for signs of struggle and blood among the scattered and fallen furniture. To his utter relief, he found none, just chaos caused by the earthquakes.

Still, he lingered in the room, his gaze drawn to the photographs that had fallen from the walls. A bit younger James featured in almost all of them, alongside two blonde girls with wide, mischievous grins. In some, a much older blonde woman joined them. Most likely their mother, based on how similar she and the two girls looked

Guess James took after his dad, Isaac mused, yet he couldn’t see a single picture where that would be confirmed. It was always just the three children, or them and the mother. We all have our stories…

He shook his head and averted his gaze from another fallen frame. It wasn’t his business, and he had a job to do anyway. If James ever wanted to tell him more about his family, then that was his choice.

Okay, kitchen next…

And so, he went from room to room, searching for the same signs. After all, if people here were transformed into Wretched and then were killed, then finding some remains of struggle shouldn’t be that hard. Even if the monsters disappeared after death, they still bled.

However, just as in the living room, Isaac found nothing in the kitchen or the three rooms that followed. Even if something happened to James’s family, it definitely wasn’t here.

Last room, he noted, placing his hand on the doorknob. He was about to twist it when a muffled voice, one he didn’t recognize, reached his ears.

“Hello?! Anybody inside?”

Unsure what to do, Isaac crept back to the main corridor. He opened his mouth to call for James, but didn’t have to. Within seconds, the man ran down the stairs like possessed, going straight for the exit of the house.

More than a little bit confused, Isaac followed.

“Mateo?” He heard James say the moment the man stepped outside. “You old dog! You’re alive!”

Mateo? Isaac echoed in his head, stepping outside just in time to see James wrap a tall, gray-haired Latino man in a tight embrace.

“Little James! My dear God!” Mateo exclaimed. “You’re here! How? Last I heard, you were heading to Galt. And then…”

As the old man trailed off and the two separated, the light atmosphere vanished in the blink of an eye. Tension returned to James’ body as his fists clenched at his sides.

“I had to come back. No matter what,” he stated, his gaze momentarily going to the house next to them.

Mateo’s eyes widened. “Ah… yes. Of course. I fear you won’t find your mother and sisters here. About two hours before everything went to hell, I saw their car leaving.”

James’s brow furrowed. “That doesn’t make sense. I called Mom a few hours before communication went down. She didn’t say anything about going anywhere.”

Mateo stepped forward, resting a firm hand on his shoulder. “Are you sure? What about your uncle?”

At once, James’ eyes went wide. “Shit. I’m an idiot. Thanks Mateo. I need to go.” And just like that, he turned and bolted down the street.

Isaac blinked, taking a second to process what the hell had just happened. Then, he sighed and shook his head, already preparing to transform so he could catch up with James. Before that, though, he stepped forward and addressed the only other person here.

“Sorry for him. Emotions are kinda running high. Oh, and I’m Isaac.”

The old man chuckled. “Mateo. A pleasure. And don’t worry about it. I have known little James since he could barely string a sentence together. This is nothing.”

Well, that’s good to hear, Isaac thought, his gaze drifting to James’ fading from in the distance. “I’m gonna… go. Make sure he doesn’t kill himself on the way.”

Mateo laughed again. “You do that. Oh, and please tell him to visit me later.”

Isaac nodded. “Will do.”

Not wanting to lose more time, he reached for his Legacy and transformed. Mateo let out a startled gasp, but he ignored it, launching himself into the sky. His gaze quickly found James running on a neighboring street. Thankfully, he didn’t get far.

Didn’t even notice he left me behind…

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After rejoining James and forcing him to talk, Isaac finally learned where the hell they were going now.

Beverly Hills. One of the wealthiest neighborhoods in LA. And also where James’ uncle lived alone.

Now, while that was somewhat of a surprise, it wasn’t what made Isaac’s eye twitch. No, it was the fact that Beverly Hills was on the other side of the city, the side from which they pretty much entered. If it weren’t for how important this was to James, and how stressed out the man clearly was, Isaac would have punched him square in the face for forgetting a detail like this.

Instead, he just stayed silent and followed after the older man. At least with the speed they were running at, it didn’t take them long to cross the city. The dirty looks some people threw their way didn’t matter.

And so, soon enough, they arrived in the rich Beverly Hills. Like the rest of the city, this place hadn’t escaped the earthquakes. Trees lay upturned, roads cracked, houses with collapsed roofs and missing walls. Honestly, Isaac thought it looked worse than Long Beach.

He didn’t voice this opinion, though, and stopped next to James as the man froze upon seeing his uncle’s house. Now, why such a reaction when previously he couldn’t even stop running?

There could be two reasons.

One, the faint light coming from the right wing of the large house. Obviously, someone had to be inside. And two, the left wing, or therefore the lack of it. Somehow, the earthquake had completely destroyed half of the house while leaving the other almost untouched.

Gotta be brave to still stay in there, Isaac thought as he moved closer to his friend and nudged his arm. “What are you waiting for?”

“I…” James started, then shook his head. “No… I’m going. I have to know.”

Isaac offered him a small smile and watched from afar as the man crossed the yard and knocked twice. Almost instantly, the light in the windows moved before vanishing from view. He held his breath as the front door opened, revealing an older man with a vaguely familiar face.

“James!” the man shouted and, without a pause, pulled James into a tight hug.

Isaac closed his eyes as his friend returned the embrace right away. He heard some muffled words and sobs but tried not to listen too closely. He didn’t need to know, not now. Besides, he didn’t need to be a genius to have a decent idea about what was happening there.

That said, a pair of shrill, overlapping shrieks forced him to open his eyes again, just in time to see two blonde blurs rush out of the house and join the hug.

Sarah and Lisa. James’ sisters.

They are alive.

Isaac let out a long, slow breath. He remembered James talking about how he had to be prepared for the worst, but he hadn’t dared imagine how the man might react if the worst had come true. Thankfully, it hadn’t.

At least not fully, he corrected himself, the smile slipping from his face when nobody else came out of the house. What he heard next confirmed his worries.

“And Mom?” James asked, looking up at his uncle while still holding his sisters.

The short but older man, who had just separated from the embrace, shook his head slowly. There was no mistaking the meaning behind that gesture.

Isaac averted his gaze.

I’m sorry, friend.

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B2, Chapter 43 | B2, Chapter 45

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AN: A quite heavy chapter, at least it's second half. It's also a chapter that closes the first part of book 2, finishing the journey to LA in full. Now... well, we all know what's coming very soon.