We Need to Hurry.

David, feeling startled, looked at the place where his wife was right a second ago. Marcus disappeared so unexpectedly after what had happened that no one had time to react. Sean swayed and fell unconscious to the ground.

The man ran to the child and, making sure that his son was all right, he looked around. Sean's condition was important for him, and he planned to figure out this situation later, now David's attention was focused on more acute issues.

His friend lay motionless on the cold earth, his pulse was so weak that it was practically not felt. "Damn it, you managed to get into trouble again," David scolded Rick as if he had done another silly thing and required strict discipline. The man's wound was serious, and no matter how much David did not want this, but Rick's chances to survive were striving for zero.

"I will try to help."

David turned and saw Lina, she looked pale and emaciated, the girl's legs stumbled on the ground, and Armand had to hold her so that she would not fall.

"Are you sure?" Armand asked with dismay in his voice, she has just come to her senses and was feeling a little disoriented, but the couple of minutes when Lina was unconscious, along with the bleeding wound on her head because of the stone that hit her, made the man scared to death.

If something had happened to her ... He could not imagine the next decades of waiting in the hope of seeing her again...

Lina sat on the ground and laid her hands on Rick's chest, a green light began to emanate from her hands. For a second, everyone froze in surprise, but soon they forgot about it. Everything that happened to them over the past half-hour was so unpredictable that if at that moment a meteorite suddenly fell or aliens landed, it would not cause any reaction.

David was looking at the movements of Lina, as if into the void, and did not notice the looks of friends directed in his direction. This question was in everyone's head, but no one dared to voice it out loud. No one wanted to believe in a possible terrible truth that happened with Elena.

David's behavior was strangely calm, for an instant it seemed to Daniel that his brother had lost touch with reality. Knowing David's over-concern about his wife and everything connected with her, the restraint and concentration of the younger Anderson did not fit into this situation.

"David," the older brother turned to him cautiously, but when David raised his head and looked Daniel in the eye, the latter did not see anything strange in his look. Daniel, knowing his brother from birth, could easily understand what condition he was in right now. And the calm, which seemed strange, was indeed reflected in the eyes of the man.

David, as if having read his brother's thoughts, answered briefly, "She's fine. Now we need to solve more urgent issues." To some extent, the man was even grateful to Marcus for his evil joke with an illusion, since now David knew for sure that Elena's life was not in danger. Because if something serious happened to her, he would be the first to feel it in the literal sense.

Now he was focused on saving his friend and getting out of this place as quickly as possible. He will deal with everything else later since the questions that lined up in his head required a calm mind and cold calculation.

"How is he?" the man asked Lina, whose appearance caused no less anxiety.

"I managed to stop the bleeding of the internal organs, but I don't know for how long. He urgently needs to be taken to the hospital. I tried to transfer my energy to him, but his body does not perceive it, and my abilities are limited on the physical level," Lina swung to the side, she herself was on the verge of losing consciousness.

Armand supported her by the shoulders and leaned her on himself, she felt the warmth of his body behind her, this gesture gave her another bit of hope that she could do something more. The girl looked at her wrist, a bracelet with which she practically did not part, flashed in the sun.

"It may help a little," Lina took off her bracelet, and with this gesture, her appearance changed beyond recognition. The skin became a half-ton lighter, eye color and hair color changed their shade.

"This bracelet can freeze the state of his body for a while, but we have no more than an hour," Lina clicked the bracelet in several places, its diameter expanded and the woman easily put it on Rick's hand.

"Oh, long time no see, Polina," said David, this time he was really surprised. Lina smiled shyly and only nodded her head in response, at that moment she more than ever resembled the modest girl who was his Lena's roommate in Wewelsburg.

Noting that Armand was not surprised by this discovery, David added, "I think you will have something to tell me later. Daniel, take Sean. Armand, you're driving. If we have only an hour, then we need to hurry."

"You won't make it."

Ahh, that's right. He was also there. David turned his head and looked at Nick, his emotions were unreadable. Either anger, or wrath, or irritation, or disgust. David did not know what he felt about this guy at that moment. Either he was angry with himself that he did not pay enough attention to Nick, although he noticed something was wrong with the guy. Or he was angry at the young man himself, because of who Elena was ready to sacrifice her life.

Who was he that Elena decided to take such a dangerous step? In theory, it was just their distant cousin, whom she had known for a couple of months. To risk her life for the sake of a close, but hardly familiar person? Could she have done the same if Daniel had been in Nick's place?

Nick cringed slightly under David's heavy gaze but did not show it. At that moment in his head there were too many different thoughts, and the opinions of others or questions to his person worried the young man least of all.

"An hour is too long, you won't have time," he looked around and saw a knife lying on the ground not far from him. It was this knife that was in Rick's hands when they got to this place. Nick snapped his fingers, and a sharp object was in his palm. "May I?" the guy went up to David and silently signaled to the latter that he would better move aside.

David just as silently stepped aside, watching every single movement of the young man. Nick tried not to pay attention to the gaze of his cousin, although he felt like under a microscope. He took Rick's hand, ran his fingers from his elbow to his wrist, feeling his skin, and made a small incision.

"Marc Technologies chips are connected to the synopsis of the human nervous system, so when overheating occurs, in addition to rupture of internal organs, signals are blocked. Even if Lina stopped the bleeding, an hour is too long. Without nerve signals, this guy's brain will die before we get to the road. Even if he survives, he will still be like a complete deadhead for the rest of his life."

Nick gently pushed the edges of the skin with one hand, two small square chips were located under the cut. With his other hand, he took a phone from his pocket and opened one of his applications, "Alice, commence scanning objects."

The phone's camera flashed, a light beam touched the chips, a second later a pleasant female voice said, "Objects are identified. The chip models are A007 and S003."

Nick put the phone aside and touched his left wrist with his fingers. His skin was highlighted in blue, a set of numbers resembling a code was displayed on the surface. He changed a few numbers and put his wrist on Rick's wrist.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to unlock the chips so that nerve impulses go through without problems," Nick answered David's question, avoiding eye contact with the man. He simply could not bring himself to look in his face after everything that had happened.

David did not ask anything, although Nick's every action created even more questions. He was now confident with 99% accuracy that this young man was hardly his real cousin.

"Mom, what is with dad?"

Corey flinched, suddenly hearing her daughter's voice. A little before, Daniel made it clear that everything was fine with Ashley, and Corey did not even think that the girl would regain consciousness at such a moment.

"Ashley...," Corey squeezed Rick's hand in her hand, subconsciously hoping that this would somehow help him feel her presence so that he knew that he was still needed.

"Don't worry, Princess, everything will be fine with him," Nick's heart sank, he didn't want to see Ashley so scared, and preferred to lie to her than to tell the truth. "Alice, the coordinates of the nearest hospital... Damn, it's too far," Nick muttered under his breath when he heard the report of the voice assistant.

"Nick, don't even think! Are you crazy?!" Lina immediately realized what a crazy idea this disobedient young man came up with.

"Sorry, LinLin, I can't calmly watch when this girl is sad," the young man answered, but his light smile on his lips did not coincide with the pain that was in his eyes. "Can I use your boyfriend as a battery?"

"What?" Armand did not have time to get an explanation to his question, as Nick's hand fell on his shoulder with such weight as if it were metal.

The next second, not a single soul remained on the site in front of the pyramid abandoned in the jungle.