Fernando Torres was critically injured!

“Shit Tori, what do we do? Let’s take you…”

Viktor started panicking after seeing Tori’s condition. He wanted him to take the truck to any medical facility while assuming that the latter was against it. But Tory shut him up before he could say so:

“Viktor, we can’t afford to take me to any hospital or infirmary in our current situation. Maybe we should…”

…

“Are you fucking crazy, Tori?”

Viktor saw his friend’s blood spreading across his clothes and started getting desperate. As he hastily searched around for anything that might help him help Tory, he spoke up. Anything that he could use to stop the blood loss.

“We can’t go to the ER you say? Do you want to die because of this botched-up job?”

Vik then looked outside the window while trying to remember everything that had happened after the shit hit the fan. He took his time before continuing.

“Listen to me, Tory. They don’t have anything on us. We’ve made sure of that. Just some circumstantial evidence, maybe?

But so what? We’ll be back in no time. If we cooperate..”

Vik looked like he was trying to grasp at straws. The panic had consumed his rational mind. Thankfully, the one who was injured was in a better mental state than the former.

“Hijo de puta, Vik.

Who said anything about dying? What do you think I am? A wuss?

I’m saying we should head to my aunt’s place. She is an ex-nurse. She’d fix me up in no time. Now give me that first-aid box from the back.”

Tory didn’t panic after seeing he was shot. Luckily, he was wearing an all-purpose Kevlar inside his clothes, which negated the major impact of the laser bullet.

But the injured area was close to the heart. And then there was the non-stop blood loss. He’d be dead before they reached his aunt Avril’s place if they didn’t apply first aid.

The duo unceremoniously took out the first aid kit that their “borrowed” truck’s cabin had and started temporarily patching Tory up.

The first aid kit came with an ionizing light that Vik used to disinfect the wound. He then gave Tory a shot of syringed medicine to stabilize his condition.

The kit also had an insta-synth skin generator that’d coat any wounded area with a layer of pseudo-polymerized skin.

Tori’s condition was stabilized but he needed medical care. And for that, they had to drive for another two hours.

Vik took the reins from Tory and told him to rest. Their crisis wasn’t over. The cops must have thought that dispatching four high-class vehicles boarded by a bunch of Metas was enough to take care of them.

However, they will send an aerial patrol once they learn about the condition of those vehicles. And it won’t be long before the chase resumes.

Vik didn’t want to take part in a race with a flying machine he knew he’d lose. Therefore, he got off the expressway and chose a service road that would make their journey longer and yet relatively safer.

​ The duo had already taken care of the geo-tagging system present in the truck. And they had also made sure that their faces weren’t revealed. They were using bot-controlled facial enhancement masks after all.

Now they just need to hide the truck and hide underground for a while till the heat dies down. Aunt Avril’s place was only going to be a temporary resting spot. They would have to travel much farther to go off the grid.

***

“Hola, Fernando! Oh. Vik is also with you. What a pleasant surprise.”

The two guys who had set cops’ vehicles on fire not too long ago were welcomed by a lady who seemed old and gracious. She opened her arms in a welcoming posture and addressed the two endearingly.

“You should have…”

When she saw Tory’s condition, her face turned pale. The guy’s shirt was red all over and his countenance told her he wasn’t doing any good at the time.

Aaaah! Dios Mio (my god)… Nino.. what’s happened to you?”

Aunt Avril was left aghast after seeing her troublemaker nephew closely. He was being supported by Vik as they stepped in.

“Aunt Avril. I’ll explain things to you later. But you have to treat him first.”

Vik thought such an abrupt explanation from his friend would never work on an old lady. But he had obviously underestimated aunt Avril’s coping capabilities. She slapped herself before responding.

“You… you’d never stop being a troublesome nephew would you, Fernando Torres?

Who am I asking? Forget it. Let’s take him inside to another room, Vik. I have a nursing bed there.”

Aunt Avril thought that her anxieties were going to shoot through the roof of her old house after realizing she was going to operate on her nephew. She had been treating minor ailments of patients these days. That too illegally and under the table, since she didn’t have a license to practice medicine anymore. Carrying a license to practice medicine meant paying the city-state an exuberant amount of tax. Something she wasn’t willing to indulge in.

So treating her nephew with his severe injuries seemed quite overwhelming for her. But Tori’s assurance calmed her down.

“Calm down, Tia (aunt). I’m fine. Just remove the laser residue and treat my wounds. And give me something for the road. We can’t stay here for too long.”

It seemed that aunt Avril had seen her share of troubles in her life. After her initial episode of panic, she calmed down and took a deep breath before continuing.

“Al… alright!”

***

“What should we do now, Vik? We can’t return to Ainazi. And we are totally in the opposite direction from our drop site. Do we risk heading there or do we lay low?”

Vik was driving the truck this time. And Tory was resting in the space behind the front seat. Aunt Avril had done a pretty good job patching her nephew. She had also administered him a shot of synth-blood to treat his blood loss.

It won’t be long before the cops start questioning their relatives. Vik didn’t have any parents. And Fernando Torres only had aunt Avril listed as his next of kin.

But she’d be fine as long as she didn’t leave any incriminating evidence of their presence behind. The woman was running an illegal infirmary. She was a pro at these things.

Vik pondered for a bit before answering his friend.

“Well.. we can’t turn back for sure. This whole thing reeks of a conspiracy. It was like they were waiting for us to make our move. And they jumped on us without us tripping any of their fail-safes.

I will not accept that baldy had nothing to do with it.

But first things first. We need to hide this truck and ourselves for the time being. Until we can make sense of things that are.”

Vik said that while taking a puff out of his cigarette. He passed it to his friend in the back and looked aimlessly in front of him while driving.

“Where should we go then?”

Tory asked Vik without a second thought while taking the smoke from his friend. He knew Vik was a better planner between them. So he just trusted Vik’s guts.

Vik tapped onto the levitating control wheel he was in charge of and tapped it with his ever-restless fingers before answering.

“Let’s not waste time contemplating. We find an isolated and abandoned house away from any of its neighbors. And make a nest there.”

Vik said and practically snatched the smoke away from Tory. The latter cursed some more before adding up.

“Hahahaha! Vik, things aren’t as simple as you make them out to be. How can we find such a convenient place…”

Tory was planning to diss Vik for being naïve and unhealthily optimistic. Vik shut him up with a loud yell.

“There it is!”

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