Chapter 1168 - Missions To Fend Off Marcus' Attacks (11)

Sarah and Aiden observed three men walk in hurried steps toward the building. Each of them carried a box in their hands which was made out of wood with metal edges.

They moved swiftly while trying to conceal their presence. Considering that Eve informed them how those three men are not residents of the building, Sarah and Aiden were confident that these are the men they are waiting for.

Eve analyzed boxes: it's not a liquid. X-ray, heat signatures, as well as other scans available revealed… nothing. Eve confirmed that the three boxes are not empty. Based on the sounds which were picked up, Eve suggested that a large number of small moveable objects is inside each of the box.

"Robots?", Sarah mumbled. "But x-ray should pick them up."

Aiden shrugged. "Maybe they are made out of a material which can't be seen with an x-ray… or any other thing that Eve has."

Sarah agreed.

"I want to get my hands on them so that I can see what they are made of. Felix would be interested in that as well…", Sarah mused.

Sarah and Aiden went down the building after men. They both grinned when they saw that the men are heading to the basement. There is no second exit, so they can't escape, but the contents of the boxes might be a problem.

As much as Sarah wanted to inspect the contents of the boxes, since the incident when Philip injected a micro-robot inside Sarah, she is uncomfortable around tiny devices which move around.

When three men entered the basement, Sarah and Aiden were few steps behind them. They don't want to give them enough time to release whatever is inside boxes.

"I can't wait to get rid of these…", one man said while cringing.

"Yeah. I can handle many things, but this is making my skin crawl.", second man added.

All three men turned toward the basement door which closed after Sarah. And they were surprised that Aiden is there as well.

"Who are you?", one of the men asked Sarah and Aiden.

The other two men were not in a mood to chat. They dropped their boxes down and reached for their guns. Before they raised their weapons, all three men fell on the ground. The drones took them out.

"That was easy.", Sarah said while moving toward the boxes. She was eager to see whatever is inside.

Aiden held Sarah back. "Are you sure that you should open it here?"

Sarah paused. She can see that Aiden is uncomfortable with opening these up, and she understands his concerns. What if the small robots (or whatever is inside) can't be contained once the lid is open? "OK. Let's take them with us."

Aiden was not happy to carry the boxes with them, but it's better than opening them in this confined space. And they can't leave them behind.

"We are not taking them home before checking what is inside.", Aiden cautioned Sarah. He knows that she likes to collect things (and people and animals).

She agreed. "Fair enough. We can take their van and drive outside city."

Aiden messaged Jeff to send his people to take care of three men in the basement they left behind.

…

In a desert, ten miles away from Fallon…

Sarah and Aiden are in front of a van which they drove off the road. Headlights are illuminating the two of them and the box in-between them.

Sarah reached for the box, and Aiden grabbed her arm. "Let me…"

He will not let Sarah open recklessly. What if it's something dangerous?

Aiden flipped the latch open and then slowly lifted the lid. Aiden's heart stopped at the sight of… cockroaches. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them.

Sarah frowned.

"Oh, not robots…", Sarah's disappointment was apparent.

Aiden closed the lid swiftly. 

Both Sarah and Aiden understood that Marcus planned to release these insects in the building. A heavy infestation of roaches will be enough to evacuate people while pesticides are used, and after it's confirmed that the pests are dead, the areas need to be ventilated and cleaned. And that can take days, weeks maybe. 

Sarah was thinking about the box and roaches and Eve's scans. It's clear why Eve's sensors didn't pick them up. They are obviously not made out of metal, and roaches are cold blooded insects, so they don't have a heat signature. Sarah took a mental note to discuss this problem with Felix and see if they can add some way for Eve to detect cold blooded creatures without bones. Sarah suspects that Eve would pick up something with some of her other scans, but because there are so many of insects in each of the boxes, it looked like blurs filling the box.

Sarah glanced at Aiden. "Are you OK?"

Aiden inhaled a choppy breath and reminded himself to be cool about it. Telling Sarah that he hates cockroaches because they are oily and stinky, and they are super-fast and get everywhere, and they are gross… is not manly. Aiden can do many things but appearing non-manly in front of Sarah is not one of them. He needs to maintain his image! How can he have a meltdown in front of the woman he loves over a box of roaches?

His sight darted over the dirt ground as he watched in horror few dozen insects scurry into the darkness. Luckily, they went away from him.

Aiden cleared his throat. "Yeah, yeah… why do you ask?"

Sarah didn't think much of it. Many people are repulsed by insects. Sarah does not care much about them as long as they are not the biting types.

"Let's start a fire and burn them.", Sarah suggested.

"Do we have to? Can we just leave the boxes here?", Aiden asked anxiously.

"There are too many of them. What if they get out? They can cause damage to the ecosystem. What if they carry some bacteria or a virus?", Sarah guessed. "We should get rid of these. I saw a shovel in the van. Let's dig a hole and start a fire…"

They found plenty of branches and used dry grass to start a fire. The hole was deep and wide enough for the purpose of burning the insects while still inside boxes.

Sarah flipped the latch and threw the first box in the fire swiftly.

She grabbed the second box and glanced at Aiden. "Get the last one."

Aiden stood in front of the box and repeated to himself to ignore what is inside. He needs to pick up the box, carry it in the fire and that's it. Right. Simple. He can imagine that it's empty. It's just a box. He can do this. If he is fast enough, it can be done in three seconds…

"Can we finish this and be home in time for breakfast?", Sarah reminded Aiden to hurry up.

Aiden took the box and walked swiftly while opening the latch. He was ready to flip the lid before throwing the damned thing into the fire. Two steps later, he felt something move at the back of his neck and he froze.

"Sarah, it's NOT FUNNY!", he growled.

"What?", Sarah's voice came from the front. She was next to the fire, poking the boxes with a long stick!

Aiden realized that whatever it is, it's not Sarah and considering what is in the box he is holding, he got a good idea what is that thing on his back.

"AHHH!", he screamed, and the box from his hands fell near the fire with the lid cracked open.

Sarah saw Aiden waving his arms like he is trying to reach something on his back frantically and realized that he is having a panic attack. She swiftly ran to him.

"Got it! I got it!", she assured him while kicking the box into the fire. She didn't see any cockroach on him, but she had to calm him down.

Aiden was shaking when she hugged him.

"It's OK. Breathe… Breathe…", she chanted while rubbing his back. Sarah never saw him lose it like this. He must really-really hate insects. But she saw him handle all kinds of small creatures, so it must be only roaches, she concluded. Sarah took a mental note: 'Aiden hates roaches, and... don't talk about it.'

When Aiden stopped shaking, Sarah inched away from him, to look into his face. She saw that he is embarrassed, and she tried to come up with something to say to make him feel better.

"Ah!", it was her turn to cry when she realized that the icky feeling on her forearm is a cockroach. She does not have an insect phobia, but the feeling of a roach crawling on her is gross.

Aiden swiftly grabbed the insect and threw it into the fire.

Sarah looked at Aiden in surprise. "I thought you hate roaches."

"I do. But I need to save the woman I love."

Sarah hugged him. Somehow, this was one of the most romantic things he ever did for her: ignoring his fear in order to save her. She remembered how he prioritizes food, but he will tolerate hunger because of her. And he goes above and beyond to make sure she is comfortable and safe. Sarah's heart swelled with love at the thought how he puts her first, regardless of his discomfort.

"Let's go home.", she whispered.

Aiden agreed. He could not leave this place soon enough. "Let's make sure we are roach-free before we board the helicopter."

Sarah laughed.

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