The south end of the bunker opened on the rocky shore overlooking the ocean. It had been decided that they would depart under the cover of night, in order to escape the city unseen. Sam sat alone and watched the sky melt into the sparkling orange sea. A light and soothing breeze caressed her. Softly she hummed a tune.
“I made you some tea,” said Victor, as he approached from behind and sat down. He tried not to look at the bandage on her hand, and he tried not to think about Astrid.
Sam seemed to be thinking the same thing. She blew on her tea, but didn’t move her eyes from the ocean. “Do you think Astrid was ever really our friend?”
Victor shrugged. “I think in her mind she felt she didn’t belong, and even if she intended on lying to us from the start, her smile and her laugh were real.”
“Do you think she’ll be gone forever?”
“Well, apparently forever is a long time. Whatever Mr. Silver has planned for us, I think our paths will cross again one day.”
Sam sipped at her tea. She sighed and leaned towards him, placing her head on his shoulder. “What do think living forever will feel like?”
“Like an eternity of opportunity.” He felt the warmth of her body mend with the beauty of the sunset. Suddenly he was alive. “But I’m frightened,” he went on. “What if after an eternity of years we forget who we once were? What if immortality changes us?”
Sam turned her eyes to him and smiled. “I’d never forget you. We could live until the sun stopped setting and the stars crumbled into the night, but I’d never forget you.”
Here Victor realised something about living forever; one could never do it alone.
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