Chapter 411: Maribel’s questions
It did not take long for Lucy and me to reach the Boardwalk.
Theo was as always the one at the barricade.
He stood behind the rough wall of stacked furniture, scrap metal, and reinforced boards with his weapon resting against his shoulder. He noticed me first, then his eyes moved to Lucy. His mouth twisted right away.
"Well, look who we have here," Theo said as he moved enough of the barrier for us to pass through. "Welcome, Ryan. And not welcome, Miss."
Lucy did not even look at him.
She walked past the opening without giving him the reaction he clearly wanted.
"Marlon here?" I asked Theo.
"Yep," he replied with a nod. "Been around since earlier."
"Thanks."
Lucy and I headed farther along the Boardwalk.
Most people were awake by then. A few were sitting outside their rooms with cups or bowls in their hands. Others were hauling supplies between buildings, cleaning weapons, arguing over work that needed to be done, or simply standing around because there was not much else to do. The Golden Nugget had changed things for them, but nobody had suddenly forgotten three months of living under Callighan’s pressure.
A lot of people saw Lucy.
And a lot of people stared.
I felt the glares from both sides as we walked. Some people looked openly angry. Some were curious. Others just watched her with that wary look people gave anyone they did not fully trust.
Honestly, it could have been worse.
Nobody spat at her. Nobody reached for a gun. Nobody shouted for her to leave. That was already more restraint than I expected from people who had spent months suffering because of Callighan and Gaspar.
We found Marlon near one of the boardwalk railings, speaking with Molly and Rico.
Marlon spotted me first.
"Oh, you are finally here, boy," he said.
Then his sharp eyes settled on Lucy.
"And you as well."
"I heard you called for me," Lucy replied.
"I did." Marlon gave one short nod.
"Then should we get this over with?" I asked, stepping forward.
Marlon raised a hand before I could say anything else.
"No, boy. I will handle this alone." He glanced at Lucy again. "I hope a former Marine does not need a little boy to defend her, right?"
I gave him an annoyed look, but Marlon ignored it completely.
Lucy did not seem bothered.
"I am fine," she said.
"You will not be once we start asking questions," Rico added trying hard to involve himself in the discussion.
"Shut up, Rico," Molly said, rolling her eyes.
Rico closed his mouth immediately.
Marlon started walking away, and Lucy followed him without looking back at me. Molly went after them, while Rico stayed near Marlon for a second before moving too.
Just like that, I was left standing there alone.
Theo had already gone back to his position at the barricade.
I looked around the Boardwalk and sighed.
What was I supposed to do now?
"Ryan."
I turned at the sound of my name.
Maribel stood a short distance away from me.
"I was looking for you," she said.
The tone in her voice made me nervous right away.
"Something you need to tell me?" I asked.
She nodded once, turned around, and started walking without waiting to see if I would follow.
I did.
She led me away from the busier part of the Boardwalk and down toward the beach. A few people had come out to sit near the sand, enjoying the quiet while it lasted. Some children were playing closer to the water, their voices carrying over the waves while adults watched from farther back.
It was open enough that nobody could easily listen in.
Maribel stopped near the edge of the sand with her arms crossed.
"Are you okay?" I asked first.
I had not forgotten what she had gone through. She looked physically better than before, but that did not mean she was actually fine.
She did not answer.
Instead, she stood there facing the sea, watching the waves push forward and collapse against the shore.
"I want you to be honest with me," she said.
"Alright," I replied, nodding.
Maribel kept her eyes on the water.
"How many women have you cured so far?"
My stomach dropped.
"T...that is...well, a couple."
I should have expected her to ask sooner or later.
There was no way Maribel would not wonder about it after everything I had told her. She knew the Symbiote had cured her infection. She knew it had entered her body through me. It made sense that she would want to know whether she was the first person it had happened to.
"I was not the first," she said.
Her voice was calm, but there was something tense underneath it.
"Was your girlfriend Cindy one of them? Is that how you two became so close?"
"Wait, Maribel—"
She had hit the truth directly, and I did not know how much I was supposed to tell her. Cindy would probably not care if Maribel knew. She had gone through something similar herself, and she would understand why Maribel was asking.
Still, if I explained too much, the conversation could easily reach the subject of my relationship with Sydney, Rachel, and Cindy.
I really did not want to get into that unless I had no choice.
"What about Sydney?" Maribel continued.
She turned toward me at last, giving me a hard look.
"I think I understand why so many women are always around you. Did you cure all of them too?"
"N...No, I did not!" I said quickly. "Look, it is true that I cured other women, but Cindy..." I paused, realizing I could not keep avoiding it. "Cindy, yes. I cured her."
Maribel looked at me for a long second.
Then she turned back toward the water.
"I cannot believe a power like that exists," she said quietly.
"It is not really a power on its own," I replied. "I already told you. The Symbiote eats away the Infection Virus and cures the person, but while it does that, it injects itself into their body too. It spreads through them."
Maribel remained still, staring out at the ocean while the wind pushed strands of her hair across her face.
"Then did she get used to it?" Maribel asked.
She was still talking about Cindy.
"It is complicated," I said. "But what we have is real."
When I said we, I did not just mean Cindy. Rachel, Sydney, and even Elena came to mind too. Nothing about any of it had happened in a simple way. There had been fear, mistakes, things we had hidden, and things we still had not figured out. But none of them were with me because of some effect from the Symbiote alone.
They were important to me.
Maribel glanced over her shoulder at me.
Her eyes searched my face like she was checking whether I truly believed what I had said.
That gave me a better look at her, and I noticed something that made me uneasy. Her skin looked pale beneath the sunlight. Not just tired from living through a bad week. Pale in a way that made the shadows under her eyes stand out.
Before I could ask whether she felt sick, she spoke again.
"I think I am ready."
I needed a second to understand what she meant.
"Ready... you mean for the stabilization?"
She nodded and turned away.
Relief came over me first.
At least she had not decided to remain stubborn until the very end. I knew how difficult this was for her. Maribel had only recently learned what the Symbiote was, what it had done to her, and what continuing the process would involve. Nobody could blame her for being scared or angry about it.
Still, the timing caught me off guard.
"You mean now?" I asked.
Maribel did not answer directly. She started walking, expecting me to follow.
I looked up at the sky.
It was past noon. The sun was high enough to make the sand almost painful to look at, and the Boardwalk was full of people moving around, hauling supplies, fixing defenses, and preparing for the evening.
"Now?" I repeated as I followed after her. "It is the middle of the day."
"I do not have time tonight," Maribel said. "It is Shannon’s birthday. I want it done now, while everyone is awake and busy. There is less chance of somebody noticing."
She had a point.
Trying to disappear later that night, when everyone would be gathered together for Shannon, would probably make people suspicious. Maribel did not need more attention on her. She was already carrying enough without everyone in the Boardwalk watching and guessing what she was doing.
Still, it felt strange walking off with her in the middle of the day for something so private.
"Okay," I said in the end.
Maribel did not look back. She just kept moving, and I followed.