The evolved men were still watching us.

"Sorry," one murmured.

I shot a fleeting glance of hatred at the three of them and looked back at Anthony. It had not been their fault, but I couldn't help it. The people approached.

"Let's take him to the clinic!" one exclaimed.

I took his pulse, and it was weak. I stood up, and one of the evolved men lifted and took him, guided by the villagers. I swallowed hard and followed them. I didn't want to lose sight of Anthony. I didn't want them to take him away without me noticing. I feared for another second that it was another trap.

The clinic was small but seemed to have what it took. Upon arrival, I burst into the room.

"I am a doctor," I said, showing my identification.

Anthony was on a stretcher, bare-chested. An elderly doctor and two young men were by his side. They had connected an intravenous line.

"How is he going?" I asked, trying to remove the tone of anguish from my voice.

"Stable. These beings are strong, but he has lost blood. We'll put a type O blood unit; it's the only one that works for them. There was no time to examine his blood type, so we turned to it. We don't have much left anyway."

"Mine is type O, please, take it," I said without hesitation.

"Don't worry, for now. I think it will be enough. He has wounds in the upper body, sagittal axis, and dorsal area. They have torn off some flesh..."

I didn't pay much attention to what he said, just enough. I couldn't take my eyes off Anthony. I reached out and stroked his hair, his cheek... I sighed, wore gloves, and started disinfecting and covering his wounds.

"They regenerate quickly. Tomorrow, he'll be on his feet," added the doctor.

"I know, thanks."

"Sorry, this happens here, although they only sleep and take them. I must admit that I had never seen a young one in my life either. They are usually over thirty years old."

"Well, to be honest, I also only studied adults' corpses," I admitted sadly. It was all because he had been exiled for failing his society. They were sent to die, to their fate. They were cruel to theirs too.

"We can't do anything; those government men have EH with them, and you know how dangerous they can be."

I sighed. So, it seemed to be. The stories were real, and this was awfully bad.

***

I stayed with him all night, sitting in a chair with my arms and my head on the mattress, looking at his face tilted towards me. I caressed his hair occasionally, then closed my eyes and fell asleep unintentionally for a few minutes and other times for a couple of hours. They brought me my backpack and a little snack. I didn't want to see him fight anymore; it was horrible.

It was already around five in the morning when I opened my eyes and met his gaze; he gave a slow blink, and his lips curved into a slight smile. I tightened my lips to keep my eyes from betraying me, but they still did, welling a couple of tears that rolled down my cheeks. I wiped them off right away and sighed.

"You are fine," I said.

"Why are you crying?" he asked in a whisper.

"What kind of question is that? It's because of you."

"Why?"

I silently denied it. He wouldn't understand. I smiled and laid my face on the mattress.

I stroked his hair, and we looked at each other for several minutes. My hand went down his cheek, and I touched his bottom lip with my thumb. He curved his eyebrows in some confusion, and I sighed. If he knew how badly I wanted to kiss him.

I didn't only like him. I was falling in love with him, which was not good...

***

I woke up, regretting falling asleep again. It was maybe eight in the morning, and Anthony looked at the three EHs. I was startled.

"...I see," he replied to something the man had been saying.

"Anyways, we'll leave. Surely those from that association will come back looking for the man, so we had better go out, and you should too."

"Yes."

The men glanced at me, and I could see the different colors of their eyes. One had amber eyes, the other had light blue eyes, and the third had a green right eye and a gray left eye. I was surprised. They left without another word.

I stood up and began to check Anthony's wounds.

"I'll be fine. You didn't need to worry about me..."

"Stop saying that!" I answered somewhat abruptly. "You almost died; how do you think I feel? How am I supposed to feel?"

He looked down in frustration. I didn't understand why he didn't like me to worry about him. I didn't understand why he insisted on saying he would be fine.

I lifted the bandage from his wounds and found out he was healing. The scratches and scrapes on his chest and the bruises were already lightening. He removed my hand from the last wound I reviewed and sat down.

"I'm going to get ready to go out," he said as he stood up. "You heard what they said. That dangerous people could come back."

He took his things from the backpack and left the room. He met the doctor at the door, thanked him without looking at him, and continued. The doctor turned to look at me.

"I see he's feeling better," he said, cleaning up his glasses.

I nodded. From one moment to the next, I felt overwhelmed. I had forgotten that the government's man had fallen dead next to me. Who gave him the death blow? Was it an accident? Also, I was afraid and didn't know why.

Or maybe I did. Fear of Anthony not considering that I should worry because he didn't feel what I felt for him—fear of discovering that he was very different from what I saw.

I carried my backpack, and the doctor stopped me at the door.

"Excuse my meddling. I couldn't help but listen. I know that some evolved people can behave like humans, but you should understand they don't think or feel like we do. I haven't seen otherwise so far. They hardly care about dying. You only anguish him more by getting worried because he understands that we are more sensitive and cannot help you. Now, he must be frustrated at having failed in a fight. So please don't be distressed. Try to understand his nature."

I nodded again and forced a slight smile, although it was evident that I was sad, very sad. I went to get ready, feeling an emptiness in my chest. I had forgotten that they were different. Anthony was not going to waste fighting with another. They loved to fight. He appreciated me, but I was sure he would never bend down to kiss me, hug me romantically... or love me.

I wiped away the tears that had welled in my eyes. 'Silly, fool,' I told myself and took a deep breath.

I finished getting ready to leave town. I combed my damp hair, messed it up, and smiled just in front of the mirror to look better.

Upon leaving, Anthony leaned against the opposite wall, waiting for me with his arms crossed and a slight smile. He was in the last shirt I bought for him; it was the gray one I liked the most. Goodness, buying clothes was worth it. I was going to be strong for him.

We left for the next city.

"Listen, if we run into another ghost town like this, we get out, okay?" I warned him. He smiled, and I did it too. Then, I looked down, blushing. "You look beautiful and exotic when you smile," I muttered and smiled at him tenderly again when I saw him confused. "Hey... music, do you want it?" I said, pulling out the player.

We returned to talk only about music. It was at low volume because I couldn't charge it.

"In my town, there are some musicians," he commented. "Maybe... maybe I'll show you."

"I would love that."

"It's close to the capital. We can go later." He hesitated for a few seconds but smiled. "After I have regained my honor, I suppose."

It was tempting. To know where he had grown up and the promise to continue seeing him after clearing things up in the capital.

***

I put the vegetable protein meat to cook and realized it wouldn't be enough, but I didn't care. I would give it all to him and eat some canned vegetables. I also had a couple of milk bottles, and happily, he seemed to like vegetable meat.

"Tell me, do you have brothers?" I wanted to know.

"No, we rarely have brothers. If any more kids come out, it's usually because there was a case of two or three at the same time, things like that." He frowned. "It's weird. Couples disappear for a while and then appear with a baby."

"Oh, wow," I said, trying not to laugh at his confusion. He really didn't know.

"I have someone I trained with almost all my life, and it can be said that he is like a brother. Our tutor instilled that in us. Maybe I wouldn't be here if I had a real brother. You can't leave your brother out like this."

"What does your dad do?"

"He built houses. I mean, he and his companions. The constructor's caste. They draw how the construction will be, and then they build it up," he explained casually.

I was surprised.

"What? Oh sure, you guys do everything in your towns, right? Also, your homes."

He looked at me strangely and smiled.

"Of course, where do you think we live? We are more advanced than you think, girl." He continued to laugh a little.

I blushed. I was not embarrassed by my question, which was apparently silly, but because of the expression he used to refer to me. He had called me a girl, as I called him a kid.

"Oh! I had forgotten something very important!" I exclaimed suddenly. He was watching me closely. "The old books say you spoke Latin, but suddenly, everyone started communicating with us in fluent English."

He chuckled.

"Yes, well, our language was born from Latin, and it could be said that it's Latin, but perhaps some words would have modifications, something that happens with all languages ​​over the years, as I know. As children, we are taught a few words to preserve the culture: words that we only speak in Latin, like mater, which means mom, and those we use to express what we feel in the family. Later, we learn your language, and it's more spoken. We can't protect ourselves if we don't understand the enemy."

"Oh..."

"No offense, you are not my enemy." He smiled slightly. "They taught us English without linking it to Latin because not everything has an exact translation or meaning in English, and vice versa, so those are like completely different things in my mind. Or maybe that is how our mind works. Besides, as I said, we almost don't use it anymore. Only the old leaders of the town do."

"Hm, that's kinda sad. That language dies for a second time."

"I know. Our tutor told us you all spoke it too, but way millennia ago."

"You guys are so smart."

"You are too."

"Yeah, but Evolved humans learn faster than us. Maybe because you are right, your mind might work differently... I barely know some Spanish; Latin is similar, though."

I knew that perhaps he knew the word 'love' but only in Latin and towards his family. So, he didn't associate it with other feelings and the English meaning because his society censured it, just as they censored the word twins so they wouldn't ask about it.

We finished having lunch and got ready to continue. Occasionally, my hand touched his for walking so close to him, and I felt the sweet electricity go through my skin. I had not slept well, and now I felt exhausted.

"Do I carry you on my back?"

"No, don't worry," I replied with a smile. "You are also weak. You must recover..." I stopped when I saw his look of hurt pride.

He took off the backpack and put it on my back.

"Come here."

Without giving me time to react, he carried me on his back, handed me an earphone, and I put it to my ear.

"So, you know Spanish," he commented.

"A little bit. My dad taught me. He was from New Spain... However, I only remember a little. I'm not as smart as you."

"It's okay. You got out of university at a young age. That's awesome. I'm sure if you practice the language, you'll remember."

"I guess."

"Yo sé solo un poco," he spoke almost perfectly Spanish, making me chuckle. He also gave a slight laugh. "See? Just a little. Well, get some rest, miss... Descansa, señorita."

Oh damn, how sexy. He was everything I liked. What a problem. What would I do?

I ended up relaxing, listening to 'Chasings Cars' from some extinct group. I didn't have time to think that maybe something could attack us. I was so out of myself I didn't think about anything other than burying my nose through his hair and smiling, enjoying his fresh scent, trying to forget I wanted to confess to him my feelings simultaneously.

I didn't know if he noticed that I was hugging him, and I didn't care. I was happy that he was fine, and if he required me to be strong and calm, I would do my best.

***