Two days later, Lucas could be seen coming back to his room and starting to take off the disguise he used to stay low-key.
After making himself more comfortable, he sprawled on the single bed in the room before, less than a minute later, standing up again a pacing back and forth.
"I can't keep going like this. I already have an idea of what to do to continue my journey and during this period, I have already put things in place.
I can't keep procrastinating with my unsolved business here. My condition is declining little by little so I am really at risk of dying as the old man said."
After two more rounds in the room, he continued:
"Besides, what am I even afraid of? That I will give my mom a cardiac arrest by popping up and saying:"Hi mom, how have you been? Your son is not dead, he is back."?
Yeah, that would not be funny at all."
Imagining the scene, he could only finish his monologue weakly.
Giving himself two resounding slaps that seemed to bring back the determination he had in the desert, he focused because he needed to continue his journey sooner rather than later.
Pushing down his anxiety, he made to put his attire back on and go do what he came back to the country for before stopping again with one hand on the door handle.
He looked out of the window to see the afternoon sun before coming to sit at the sole desk in the room.
"I will wait for the night. It will be more discreet and they will have returned from work already. And why did I not think earlier of seeing my brother first and have him soften the shock for the parents? Damn. After all, a healthy man in his early thirties will surely not have a cardiac arrest, right?"
Turning on his laptop, he opened the default browser and started to work while anticipating the night.
********
That night, in one of the old neighborhoods of the capital city, Lucas was walking on the street while looking around.
There was nary a change, save from the remnants of the new year celebration, disproving the rumors of the end of the world previously predicted for the twenty-third of December of the last year, which was 2023.
Retrospectively, that made the craze caused by them quite stupid now. But that was normal given how they seemed credible and he wouldn't believe it if he was told that there had not been any manipulation. Some people have certainly profited from the situation.
Before he could manifest his disdain through a smile though, he suddenly stopped.
Thinking back, wasn't that the day he broke some shackles and transcended some human limits as the old man described? The day he shrugged off an appointment with the afterlife.
He took the rocket blast on the night of the twenty-two and, after holding on for hours, he should have taken his last breath in the wee hours of the next day, meaning the twenty-three.
So maybe those rumors were not unfounded, they were just misinterpreted.
"It was not the end of the world in the shape of an apocalypse. Rather it was the passing of the old world and the coming of a new one. It was the end of an era and the beginning of a new one and I... I became the bearer of the latter, or at least I will most probably endorse that role by the end of my journey toward survival. Changes are coming."
With a ferocious and ambitious smile at the end, he resumed his walk with greater determination.
Turning one last corner, he continued for one hundred meters before seeing his destination.
It was a not too big house, obviously old but not decrepit, with a metal gate. Ignoring his anxiety that was rearing its head back, he lowered his cap to avoid a neighbor recognizing him and knocked on the gate.
The lights were on, so his family must have already been back. With his heart beating fast, he looked everywhere from the corner of his eyes with his head lowered while avoiding directly looking forward.
He was even taking stock of the number of people passing by, possible hiding places around, dark places good for concealment and so on, as if he was preparing to assault his own home or planning to run at the slightest noise.
So, he froze a little when he heard the gate being opened before breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that it was his brother that came out.
When he became vigilant at the sight of a stranger with a lowered cap, dark glasses and gloves, he smiled a little.
Taking off his glasses, he tried to lighten the atmosphere while taking control of his heartbeat:
"Hey brother, how have you been since we last met?"
He could see the vigilance giving way to confusion, recognition, then shock, finding it amusing.
He could have found him outside without risking coming face to face with his mother by betting on who would open the gate for him but, his desire of staying low-key and avoiding making waves narrowed his options and he wanted to stop going slow.
When his brother was about to speak, probably to rant about how that was possible since he seemed to be in the know about his misfortune, he cut him off, this time with mirth:
"I know, I know, but can we talk inside if you don't mind? I'm trying to stay low-key as you can see."
Schooling his expression, his brother let him in before looking around then closing the gate. Simultaneously, they heard a female voice that couldn't hide its tiredness come from the kitchen in the inner side, loudly addressing his brother:
"Patrick, who was it?"
Even if he wasn't really the emotional type, Lucas closed his eyes as at that moment, he felt a sting when he heard the voice whose owner sacrificed so much for her children throughout their life.