10

Cornelius went to the place where their trailer was left when the situation became more or less calm.

This place turned out to be far from their shelter, but Cornelius easily found it.

Those places where he used his amazing and at the same time monstrous power radiated purple smoke. Apart from Cornelius, no one saw this smoke.

The eldest of the Kaminski brothers sat down at the edge of the rift and looked down.

If someone stayed there, you can secretly break down and quench a strange thirst for cruelty.

However, there was no one there.

Cornelius focused on his strength and raised his hands up. Black smoke streamed from his fingers and immediately it became audible how the engine of General Thomas's car rumbled there, underground.

The trailer and the car were getting out of the ground with great difficulty, as if the vehicle was being dragged on ropes.

Cornelius's muscles tensed, and his arms were already hurting very much when the front of the car appeared on the edge of the gap.

If the eldest of the Kaminski brothers were standing now, his legs would definitely break from such tension.

When the car and the trailer were on the asphalt, Cornelius lay down on the edge of the fault.

He can't even blink right now… He urgently need to rest…

When he regained the ability to think, he saw the sight laser gliding across the asphalt towards him.

The instincts of a predator immediately captured the mind.

When Cornelius saw the sniper on a tree branch, he did not think who it was, friend or foe.

The man sitting on the tree shattered into tiny pieces. Maybe even all that's left of him is a bloody mashed moistening the earth.

Cornelius shuddered, surprised at such bloodthirstiness.

How much he wanted to kill someone scared him very much right now.

He looked down at his hands. Suddenly, the way the purple star entered his body flashed very clearly before his eyes.

It seems like millennia will pass, but he will never forget it…

***

When a foot knocked on the bunker hatch, Darek and Lizzie screamed loudly.

— Are you scared?—Cornelius looked into the hatch opening, smiling.

— What do you think?—General Thomas said angrily.

— Get out, it's time for us to go to some good place...—Cornelius threw aside the hatch cover.— Get out one at a time, I'll help you if you need to.—

—Are you sure that the engine is not broken?—Radoslav asked, being the first to reach the surface.

— It's all right! The engine, the gas tank, I checked everything well. True, there was no gasoline there, but I drained the fuel from Mariusz's cars.—Cornelius said.— I think we should have enough for the first time.—

Cornelius helped Darek out and hugged his younger brother tightly.

— For the first time?!—General Thomas looked into the trailer.— How many cars have you stolen?—

— Hmm...—Cornelius frowned thoughtfully.—Fifty, maybe... When I pulled out the trailer, I decided to have some fun...—

Dariusz looked at his brother with a slight feeling of fear.

**

Cornelius fell asleep for the second time when they went somewhere else.

In his dreams, he constantly sees the moment when the purple star connected with his body.

This extraordinary and monstrous moment will be with you all your life…

— We've arrived!—General Thomas says in silence, too loudly in such an environment, and Radoslav flinches.

— Cornelius... We've arrived! I do not know where, but we have arrived somewhere...— he woke up his eldest son.

— Get out.—General Thomas opened the trailer door.— I'll show you everything here. —

— And where are we?—Cornelius looked around.

It looks like an ordinary, albeit abandoned rural house. It is not very abandoned, it seems that no one has lived here for about five years.

— This house was inherited by me and my wife from my wife's mother. To be more precise, there are two houses on the site. I came here under the pretext of relaxing in nature. If none of them managed to send a signal to the command center before they remained red spots on the asphalt, you can stay here with us for quite a long time.—James Thomas turned the key in the lock and with difficulty opened the creaking door.— Now we need to clean up here, as these doors have not been opened for a very long time... If I need groceries, I'll go shopping at the nearest store.—

— We have more than enough food in the trailer. Can we roll our trailer into the house?—Radek asked.— Our trailer is equipped better than any house.—

— I'll think of something now... If the back door is still working properly, maybe we can roll a trailer into the house...—General Thomas sighed thoughtfully.— We'll check it out now...—

Together with Cornelius, James slowly began to move the old creaking door to the side. The creaking of the door resembled screams of agony, as if the door was begging with the last of its strength not to be opened in any case.

— It's yielding!—Cornelius puffed, his face flushed with tension.— Why do you need one?.. Such a big door?—

— I changed the doorway to make it easier to bring in furniture and food boxes.—James leaned against the wall.— Stop pushing! You'll break it...—

— Has it opened?—Cornelius sat down on the ground.— And for some reason I'm tired... —

— Now it remains to roll the trailer there, but I alone have the strength to do this.—James said.

The rest was not as long as it seemed, but now Cornelius felt completely different.

He didn't know what to call such a condition.

Updated, probably... Yes, it must have been renewed...

it was as if his skin had been peeled off and all his feelings were exposed like bare nerves.

So far, Cornelius does not know how to control it. It is unknown what his power can do. And... this strange attack of cruelty.

What else could there be in the future?

But the fact that he now feels emotions more vividly, feels tastes and smells more strongly and has become stronger in general, he really likes it.

***

When they spent more than a month in this house, Cornelius got into the strange habit of keeping a diary.

He stopped treating fights and shooting as something inadequate.

He was not scared or surprised when, after breakfast, Dariusz suddenly came up to him and asked:

— Cory, teach me how to shoot. —

— Why would you do that?—Cornelius asks wearily.

— It is necessary! Won't you teach me?—Darek asks.

— Come on! And take all empty cans.—

Cornelius looks under his bed and pulls out a pistol. Over the past few days, he has improved his skills with a pistol by probably five hundred percent.