Capítulo 5: Ellin's pride and joy
When Eve and Ellin approached the base's gates, a couple of sentries approached them. Both of them had swords on their hips, but in their hands they held pistols. At first they were tense, but after noticing Ellin behind Eve's back, they noticeably relaxed and lowered their weapons. Judging by the power of their presence, they both were at level one.
One sentry waved at them with a free hand. "Ellin! We thought you were dead!"
Eve got down from her bike at a respectable distance from the two armed men. Ellin followed right after her. He had cleaned his clothes from blood while Eve was asleep, but still walked slowly and didn't put weight on his hurt leg.
"Oh, I must admit, it was a close call." Ellin smiled at the sentries and pointed with a hand towards Eve. "Thankfully, I was lucky and Eve got to me faster than Grim Reaper."
The sentries looked at Eve with mixed feelings. She glanced back at them and pursed her lips. 'I know I look like an unwashed vegetable in rags with a crow's nest on top, so what? Ugh.'
"Alright, Miss Eve, you want to go into the base too?" the second sentry asked.
Eve folded her hands on her chest and nodded.
"Everybody who wants to live in our base must register first." The sentry put away his pistol and got a pen and a tablet. "Your full name?"
"Eve Ziffer."
"Second level, right? What's your superpower?"
Eve didn't answer immediately. "I can scare away zombies."
Ellin threw a sharp and surprised look at her after hearing this, but said nothing. His eyes met Eve's, and she read understanding in his gaze.
"That's a useful one. You can probably make a fortune as a scavenger." The sentry clicked his tongue with envy. "Reason for coming to Chainsaws Base?"
"Need a place to live."
"Any special skills? Martial training?"
"I know nano-robotics."
The sentry looked at Eve's grey-brown from dirt lab coat and pursed his lips. "Just say 'no' if you don't know anything... What's the point in telling me something so useless?" he murmured.
Eve threw a dark look at him. 'Useless? If your chief is anything like you, the trip to this base was a waste of my damn time.' She bit the inside of her cheek to not say that aloud.
"Alright, done. As soon as someone approves it, you can stay in our base." the sentry tore a piece of paper out of his tablet and gave it to his partner. "Jim, bring it to the Sarge."
Eve watched Jim the sentry run inside of the base for a second, before turning to the other sentry and pursing her lips. "So, am I going to need to wait there until I'm approved? And how long is this going to take?"
"Well, it's evening already, so the Sarge must be resting now. So, you might even need to wait until tomorrow." The sentry shrugged. "Sorry, miss, rules are rules!"
"Dani, friend, this is ridiculous." Ellin came up to them with a wide smile. "Come on, are you really going to make a beautiful lady wait there all day? Just let us in. We will be really quiet. Tomorrow the Sergeant is definitely going to approve her, and nobody will even know! And, of course, we will be really grateful..."
With a sleight of hands worthy of a magician, he produced a wrinkled pack of cigarettes out of his military west and passed it towards Dani. As soon as the sentry's eyes fell on it, his eyes sparkled with greed.
"Oh, Ellin, you always have the best stuff!" Dani grinned and hid the pack of cigarettes in his own pockets. "Well, I remember a saying that a soldier must listen to orders, but a sergeant must know how to think with his own head too. Come in, come in... Just don't tell anybody I let you in, Miss Eve!"
He ran up to open a small door at the side of the bigger gates. Eve didn't spare him more than a glance before getting herself and her bike in, with Ellin following close behind.
Inside of the base met her with disappointing dullness. It looked like before the zombies there was some sort of sanatorium. Or maybe a closed school? Or an athletic complex? It was impossible to tell now. Traces of rough repainting were visible on the walls, and new houses were built out of wood and bricks near the old ones. Several ecologically clean cars stood at the side, gleaming with the sun panels on their roofs.
Ellin sighed. "My last pack of smokes... went out in a smoke, hah!" He chuckled at his own pun and smiled. "Well, they aren't as important as my life, even if I'd wish I did them myself! Now, please, follow me, Eve. Since I'm level one, I have my own apartment. You can have the bed again. And before that, I can fill you a tub with water. It's going to be cold, though..."
"Better than nothing." Eve pulled at a strand of her hair and grimaced. "Where do you get water from?"
In the beginning of the twenty-second century, the time that people called Second Dark Ages, many rivers and lakes dried up because of industrial use or climate changes. Almost all that still had water were so polluted that not to mention drinking it, washing in it would give a person chemical burns. Eve's nanites allowed her to drink polluted water without troubles, but that didn't mean that she could use it for cleaning. She would only make herself more dirty, if anything.
"We have dug a deep well in there and the water from it is very clean. We also have water filters, and people with water power can gather atmospheric water too," Ellin said.
The two of them walked to one of the base's buildings. Ellin showed the way and Eve hauled her bicycle on her shoulder. She wasn't going to let it go. Eve had a feeling that in a moment she did, someone would steal it away.
Ellin's apartment was a small cubicle with a single room and an adjacent bathroom. The latter had old pipes sticking out of the walls where pieces of furniture were removed. All the freed space was filled with a huge iron tub.
"Isn't it great? I worked half a year to get it." Ellin puffed his chest with pride. "I have a friend there with fire superpower, and I call him sometimes to heat the water up. In return, he can have his turn too! It's a pity it's too late right now, or I'd ask him to make you a hot bath."
Eve didn't know what to say. As awful as the situation was... as awful as the post-apocalyptic life was... as sheltered as her heart was... Ellin's honest desire to please her made her touched. 'And I only saved his life once. By accident, no less!'
She picked at her nails. "Thanks. A lot. Do you have any soap?"
In the end, Ellin brought her not only a soap but also a set of spare clothes, before slowly filling the tub with water and respectfully leaving Eve to wash alone. The water wasn't freezing, but it wasn't warm either. She tried to clean herself as fast as possible, but even so, by the time she finally untangled her hair, she became numb to the water's temperature. But the feeling of cleanliness was worth it.
The clothes that Ellin got for Eve were mismatched, but convenient to wear for physical activities. Most importantly, they fit. She also considered washing her old clothes in the tub water as well, but immediately gave up that idea. Even professional cleaning won't save it at this point.
When she got out of the bath, Ellin was lying on his sleeping bag on the floor. Instead of military clothes, he now wore a simple t-shirt and sports pants. Seeing Eve, he rose with a grin. "Wow, you washed well! If Dani saw you like that, he'd let you in just for these beautiful eyes, Eve! Want me to bring you a mirror?"
Eve shook her head, feeling unfamiliar heaviness on her head with every movement. She had long hair before her coma, but after six years without a trim, her dark tresses almost reached her knees. Now that her skin was clear again, Eve's green eyes sparkled on her angular face. At this moment, she looked like a modern witch.
Ellin didn't insist further. "Food, then?"
Eve shook her head again and got to her backpack, where another can of beans waited for this very moment. As she ate her beans, Ellin sat up and watched her. His eyes were downcast.
"Eve, I should warn you about something. I guess I should have done it before we got the base..." He sounded unusually serious.
Eve didn't pause her eating, but moved her eyes at him in a silent urge to continue.
"Tomorrow, there are probably going to be some people who would try to give me trouble since they didn't manage to kill me earlier. If they see you with me, you may become their target too. Even if you are level six... Well, you better just avoid me after next morning. Don't worry, you will still have tub privileges if you wish!"
Presentes
-- Presente
recebido Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder