The 6 Greatest Errors of All Time | ?

epilogue

"You have a place already? Did Lennon pre-dig a spacious grave for you? So this is where we're really headed to, to get a tour of your cemetery. Makes sense."

Axel exhaled long and hard and made an effort to run over the bumpy hill of his driveway so that his companion felt extra at home. "I already feel guilty for living, don't make me feel guilty for letting you live too."

Pierce pulled his face mask up to barricade his mouth and grabbed his work bag with his medical kit inside. "Keep that thought on hold for now until I finish with your patient."

The two men exited the stationary car and protruded through a veil of canopy trees that provided shade for a small hut house. It was a desolate place, fitting for a supposedly dead hacker, but the scenery was breathtaking and natural to the point where Pierce believed that the house might look better during the day than it would at night.

"Not bad," The agent smirked while he effortlessly slid on his gloves. Axel turned his head and rolled his eyes as if the discovery was already a given.

The moment that they walked through the door's threshold, Pierce stopped in his tracks at the intoxicating smell of medicine mixing in the air like someone had tried to diagnose a patient when he wasn't knowledgeable in the area what-so-ever. He gradually leaned a heavy head at his accompanier with reprimanding eyes. The hacker coughed deliriously before he proceeded through the house's foyer.

Pierce's face softened ever-so-slightly at a familiar aroma he was drawn to in the house. After a swift scan of the first floor, he spotted a bud in a pot on the kitchen counter in the midst of a fog of death. A red rose was there to disperse the faint smell of lavender from wall to wall, door to door, and room to room.

"I'm surprised it's alive when the house smells like combustion and radioactivity are having intercourse," Pierce threw a nonchalant remark while he stroked a petal of the rose.

Axel tossed his jacket down to the couch with style while he sighed at his unpleasant guest. He loosened his collar and cleared his throat before throwing his head back for an ear-rapping announcement. "The stupid doctor's here, ma'am. He'll be with you shortly. I hope you still aren't asleep."

Pierce flashed the hacker a distasteful look before gazing at the direction that he hollered to. While no reply echoed back, they could still perceive a faint shuffling behind one of the closed doors furthest down the hallway. The agent turned back to the man on the couch with chafing eyes. "A woman," His mocking gaze almost made Axel reach up and strangle his throat.

"It's not like that," Axel retorted in defense. "She's someone I respect in my field, so don't make me look bad. I just want you to check on her condition."

"What's her name?"

"I'm still pulling up any files I can of her." Axel stroked his chin with a creased frown while he opened the lid of his laptop. "I don't know, I didn't dare ask. That, and she refused to talk until like three nights ago, so I'm just trying to keep her trust for now before I overwhelm her with questions."

Pierce shook his head and slipped off his coat, tossing it over the counter where the one plant stood. He cracked his neck and rolled back his shoulder to massage it from the long ride. Axel briefly glanced up at him and then gazed back at his screen to continue working.

"But you know, I've never seen someone so resilient. She fought to stay conscious every night. It was like watching her torture herself. I almost had to leave the house several times because I couldn't stand not being able to help."