Wounds from the past

Ryker and Vance stared at him as if he had grown three heads. Dave's expression was no less different, and Lucas immediately realized what he had just blabbered.

'Fuck my life! I need to control my stupid mouth.' 

Lucas wanted to smack his forehead. Why didn't he think before speaking?

"I mean I'm happy I got my EchoTag. Otherwise, how was I supposed to contact you?"

He made a bleak attempt to cover his slip-up, which worked to some extent. The three men no longer looked at him strangely.

"I'm hungry. What's for dinner tonight?" Lucas asked, shifting the topic, immediately diverting Vance and Ryker's thoughts.

"Not sure. Let's find out, shall we?" Ryker said, pushing his palms into his pant pockets.

"Come on." Lucas almost dragged the two men out and considering that he had spent his entire time after lunch at the lab, Vance and Ryker weren't surprised to find him famished.

The huge canteen was filled with people. To make it easier for everyone, there were eight canteens in total, each occupying one full floor in the massive building.

Lucas hadn't noticed the previous day for he had been trying to come to terms with his new life and accept it. Now, that he did, he saw how everyone was unbelievably welcoming. There was no hostility or any sort of discrimination. 

Outside the city, there was blood and death everywhere. Inside Velomore, however, there was only warmth and kindness.

Once their plates were filled with food, they found a table and sat down.

"Hi, Ryker. I was looking for you."

A sweet, feminine voice interrupted them before they could start eating and Lucas raised his head to find a woman who seemed to be in her twenties smiling faintly at them.

"Hi, Alice. Is something the matter?" Ryker asked, maintaining some distance from her while being polite at the same time.

"I just wanted to check up on you," Alice said, her expression turning bashful and Ryker smiled at her assuringly.

"I'm fine, Alice. Thank you for asking."

"Well... okay."

"Did you have your dinner?" Ryker asked out of courtesy.

"Yes, I did."

"Alice," Just then, a man called from behind called and Alice turned around, her eyes quivering in panic. 

"Ryker, I've got to go. See you around." 

Alice didn't even wait for the man to say anything. She fled as quickly as a rabbit as if a wolf was hot on her tail.

"Can't you be more cordial towards her? The lady likes you," Vance admonished Ryker helplessly. 

Ryker didn't reply. His smile slipped and he stared at his food absent-mindedly.

"Am I missing something here?" Lucas asked, sensing something amiss with Ryker's expression.

"It's nothing. Eat your food." Ryker didn't allow Vance to say anything.

Some secrets were better left buried.

Ryker's mood was completely off and not wanting to push him into more misery, Lucas didn't probe further.

"I'm starving. I might faint soon if I don't start eating." He spoke, adding some dramatic intonation and Ryker finally smiled, amused by his antics.

"By the way, we forgot to ask. What about your family, Lucas? Are they safe?" Vance asked, half-way through their dinner.

Now, it was Lucas's turn to go silent and he lost his appetite completely. He was instantly reminded of his family who were still on Earth.

It wasn't that he hadn't thought about them or missed them dearly. Every time he was left to himself, he'd think about them. 

Would his parents be missing him? Would they be crying their hearts out now that he was dead to them?

What about his older brother? Was he worried for him as well?

How about his friends? Were they sad? Did they attend his funeral?

Painful thoughts haunted him whenever he had nothing to do. So, he had drowned himself in other matters, forcing himself not to think about them.

Vance realized his the truth when he saw Lucas's expression. Assuming his family to have become victims of the monstrous atrocities, he felt terrible for him.

"I'm sorry, Lucas. I...I..." Vance sighed, not knowing what else to say.

"We're sorry for your loss, Lucas," Ryker added and Lucas snapped out of his trance and looked at the two blankly.

At first, he didn't understand what they were saying. But when he saw their eyes filled with pity and grief, he perceived what was happening.

Vance and Ryker had misunderstood. But he didn't clarify and smiled dismally.

"You have us now." Ryker dropped a hand over his shoulder and Lucas nodded gratefully.

"Did you have a partner before or..." Vance probed. It was a very personal and possibly terrible question for him to ask. But he was curious and he couldn't help but wonder.

"I am single," Lucas answered honestly.

"Don't worry. You'll find someone here," Ryker teased.

"Right, right. We have lovely women here. I'm sure you'll find someone to your liking," Vance agreed, quirking his brows playfully.

However, Lucas wasn't sure about it. He had been in a few relationships while on Earth. But they hadn't lasted more than a few weeks. 

Lucas didn't know why it never worked out. 

"Let's talk about it in the future," he said, leaving it to fate.

"How was your first day at the lab?" Ryker asked, resuming his dinner.

"It was good. Learnt some new things."

"How was it working with Patrick?"

"Good. He's quite insightful. But he could be bossy."

"He sure is." Vance agreed with a laugh. "Had any breakthrough?"

"Can't be sure. Unless we have the fiend's blood or the fiend itself here to run the tests, we can only settle for trial and error during the rescue mission."

"Hmmm. I understand your troubles. But we can't do anything either. We can't capture one of them and bring them to Velomore, can we?" Ryker shrugged helplessly.

True that. So, Lucas hoped to find something crucial on their quest the next night. 

"Since the monsters have evolved and the tranquilizers don't work on them anymore, we'll have to be careful too," Lucas warned.

"Yeah. We had a meeting about it with Stinton while you were at the lab," Vance started.

"Stinton?" Lucas frowned, trying to recall who that man was.

"He's Velomore's leader and Alice's father, the man who called Alice some time ago."

"Ahh..." 

"Yeah. Thankfully, the border walls are almost impenetrable. But we'll have to be careful. Velomore, which had been relatively safe, has become susceptible to attacks now."

"If only we can find out how the monsters are entering the city," Lucas sighed and Vance and Ryker looked at each other thoughtfully.

Until that day, they had assumed that the monsters didn't perish and the same ones moved and targeted another city. Now, it didn't seem so.

"I just hope we find something tomorrow," Lucas mumbled absent-mindedly. "Otherwise, things will become a lot worse than it already is."

Vance and Ryker too had the same opinion. Otherwise, their bloody end was inevitable.