12

Cornelius replaced his father halfway through the journey. Radoslav went to sleep in the back seat.

— Cornelius, are you sure that escaping from the planet will help us?—Darek opened the window a little.

The boy's curly hair is blown by the wind.

— To be honest, I don't know. I'm just trying to believe that at least something in this world can be good... Sometimes you have to believe that at least there is something good in this world... Just to keep from going crazy...—

Cornelius suddenly realized that now he feels the road in a completely different way. He can smell his footprints.

And where he walked before his change, he saw a lilac smoke.

Right now, the traces of his presence were purple.

There was no need to look at the road.

The main thing is that there should not be a pink haze of the presence of the most terrible enemy nearby...

Mariusz had a pink trace color, almost similar to the one Cornelius had before.

— Darek, you can sleep too, if you want.—Cornelius turned off the road.

After all, driving off-road seemed safer to him for some reason.

It seems that the spaceport is already very close...

Cornelius felt pressure in his chest.

— Darek! The steering wheel!— he croaked, lowering the seat.

By a huge miracle, he managed to hit the brake.

It seemed even more incredible that the driver's door opened so easily.

Cornelius was breathing hoarsely, looking up at the sky. A black mist bursts out of it.

If only he didn't hurt Dariusz...

turning over on his stomach and shrouded in black fog like a swarm of bees, Cornelius tried to crawl as far away from the car as possible.

Dariusz seems to have realized that it is not necessary to approach him now.

You just have to wait for it to end...

— Dariusz... Dariusz!—Cornelius calls his brother's name hoarsely.— Stay away from me, it's going to be over soon...—

The earth and grass turned to gray ash from contact with his body. It seems that everything is happening more strongly now, too much earth is being destroyed around.

Cornelius feels his breathing returning to normal.

Dariusz went out to him anyway.

— Stubborn kid...—Cornelius says with a smile in a low hoarse voice.—When will you do as I say?—

Darek scoops up the ruined earth in his fist.

Cornelius silently watches as the gray ashes spill out of the child's hand.

— I'm going to get some rest... Darek, you have to listen. Maybe someone will be nearby... I can't fight back right now, but I can release it on them...—Cornelius wiped the sweat from his forehead.

— Cornelius... Does what has joined with you have a mind?—Dariusz asked.

— To be honest, I don't know... I don't know... this one... A star? I'll call her a star... This star helps to protect oneself, helps to use force... How to put it more precisely... The force tells me what to do and when... At the same time, I have the right to choose...—Cornelius listened.— It seems that someone is coming here...—

A military nitrobike passed by at a very fast speed. Two nitrocars flew past him.

Since the natrobike was low, Cornelius and Dariusz were able to notice that ordinary soldiers were driving the nitrobike.

A stone wrapped in paper fell to the ground next to Cornelius.

Cornelius crawled over with considerable effort and unfolded the paper.

"You can't go to the city! If you have thoughts of going to the train station, airport or spaceport, DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! All public places are closed. You need to go to the forbidden lands.

I'll meet you.

James."

Cornelius sighed loudly and long.

— Wake up Dad, Dariusz!—He stood up, grunting with effort like a centenarian.— We need to... We need to leave! I'll tell you later... —

***

Radoslav reread the note for a long time with a tense look.

— Yes, James wrote it. He's alive, and that's good...— He said.— We have almost no weapons... Let's trust James, because with him we had the opportunity to live in peace for a while...—

— And what are the forbidden lands?—Dariusz asked.

— Insectoids from the lost planet have settled in the desert. Since that happened, this desert has been called the forbidden lands.—Radoslav explained.

— And they are forbidden because it is physically impossible to live there. I went there with my classmates, we shot at insectoids from nitrobikes.—Cornelius continued.—Oh, I shouldn't have said that...—

— It's okay, Cornelius, I guessed that you stayed after the races for a reason...—Radek sighed.— So let's go. I'm rested, so I'm driving. If you're tired, Cornelius, you can sleep. I know three ways to the forbidden lands...—

— No, I don't want to sleep at all. I'm fine... I'll be sniffing our way. If there are enemies nearby, I can smell them...—

— Really? That is, my son instead of a bloodhound?—Radoslav asked.

— If you want, call it that...—Cornelius moved into the back seat, and Dariusz sat next to his father.

Cornelius inhaled the smell of the road by opening the window.

— Dad... We need to change course a bit...— He said.— They're too close now...—

— Okay... If you say so... Cornelius?—Radoslav froze. It seems that he wanted to ask something, but did not dare.

— What's wrong, Dad?—Cornelius turned away from the window.

— Can you feel the changes in people with your new feeling?— Radoslav squeezed the steering wheel very hard.— For example, if a person has some kind of disease...—

— Dad, if you want to talk about your illness... Let's see what I can do... When we stop for a rest next time...—Cornelius stretched out in the back seat.—Maybe I'm really tired...—