The Arcanus Door: Veronica Journey Ii:

By Juan Rodriguez

Veronica crash landed on earth all alone with her new found powers. She does a lot of self-reflecting and then goes on her journey to find Celsta.

Jessica is guiding Celsta and planning her wedding with Stephen. An intensely dramatic love triangle ensues where Veronica and Jessica fight for Stephen’s love since he is dying soon from the virus. Everyone is concerned because of Veronica’s powers and the desperate desire the Pope has for finding her. This could be a danger to Celsta.

Ally and Luis, who are the contacts from Australia trying to keep everyone around the world alive, are not to be fully trusted. It is also believed that Ally is another prescient character with superpowers. The love triangle escalates to people getting physically harmed and dissension dividing the town into factions.

After Veronica wins over Stephen’s heart once again, Sheva and Shaddrach convince Jessica to calm down. Karishma and Reve (who is one of the leaders of Celsta) begin making biological weapons using spider venom. When Celsta is attacked, they learn that their contacts from Australia could be working with the evil pope. They assemble together, hoping to use Veronica’s powers over the elements and Karishma’s bioweapons to make a last stand against the Shermanites.

They take out an Aargon ship using arrows with the spider venom and use the ship to their advantage to fight against the villains. In an all out brawl of vengeance and violence, Veronica finds a way to trigger her powers and save the town by doing incredible things that are never before seen in any sci-fi or fantasy adventure novel or movie to this day. Unfortunately there is nothing that she can do about Stephen’s mortal condition. Stephen is dying slowly with no cure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781796092288

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 by Juan Rodriguez.

ISBN:      Softcover            978-1-7960-9196-0

               eBook                  978-1-7960-9228-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 03/03/2020

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

810507

CONTENTS

Preface

BOOK ONE

The City of Despairity

Chapter 1    In the City of Solitude

Chapter 2    Alyssa’s Words Live On…

BOOK TWO

Jessica vs. Veronica

Chapter 3    Camaraderie

Chapter 4    Vows Unfulfilled

Chapter 5    He’s Mine Not Yours!!!

Chapter 6    Dechipher

Chapter 7    Hold Me Like You Used To

Chapter 8    Sacrifice Over Passion

Chapter 9    Wave the White Flag

Chapter 10    Is That Really Jessica?

BOOK THREE

The Happily Ever After Tale

Chapter 11    The Ultimatum

Chapter 12    The Wedding

BOOK FOUR

Preparing for the Day of Trumpet Sound and Battle Cry

Chapter 13    Everything Seems Too Perfect

Chapter 14    Show and Don’t Tell

Chapter 15    Influential Innovation

Chapter 16    The Flames Below

Chapter 17    Ambushing Shermanites 101

BOOK FIVE

Oh Valiant Army of Celsta

Chapter 18    XB-197-44 Full Throttle

Tory’s Story

Hosea 4:7-9 GNT The more of you priests there are, the more you sin against me, and so I will turn your honor into disgrace. ⁸ You grow rich from the sins of my people, and so you want them to sin more and more. ⁹ You will suffer the same punishment as the people! I will punish you and make you pay for the evil you do.

Preface

THE HISTORY OF CARNEM VOL. 3 UNABRIDGED

FINDINGS AND AUTHORED BY SR WILSON S. SHERMAN

EXCERPTS FROM PAGE 75-119. Words of Sherman

"Similarities between Hindus and Catholics are phenomenally similar. Let’s continue dissecting these with the legends of both religions. Keep in mind that Hindus have thousands of gods they supplicate to loquaciously. In similitude, Catholics have many saints they do the same with.

One legend is of a god named Indra who is the god of weather. Indra’s legend is very similar to Saint Medard’s legend. Both were prayed to for weather related sycophancy. And both had twins. Saint Medard’s twin was Gildard and Indra’s twin was Agni. Almost too similar, but it gets more obtuse. Indra was in trouble and needed help; so he called out to an eagle who brought him Soma which is a special drink, and it saved him. In similitude, Catholic Patron Saint Medard was in time of need and called out to an eagle, and the eagle brought him a Communion drink that saved his life.

These legends are too unambiguously similar to be taken nonchalantly. I will give you another example. Saraswati was the goddess of fertility and wealth. In the same way, the Catholic Patron Saint Catherine of Sweden was saint of fertility and wealth. They both supposedly took the form of a Red Deer. That was their special power. Coincidence? I think not!! There are dozens of examples. I delve deeper into these in chapter thirty. Hinduism originated in the ancient Ganges River and passed down to Media-Persia. Media-Persia had recently adapted Babylonian and Egyptian legends upon conquering those countries. Later Greece conquered them, and Rome conquered Greece.

Where did the Catholic Church come from? From Rome. This goes to show that all of the ancient customs that we follow and believe today all came from these ancient societies. They have nothing to do with a God or with a Holy Book. We all originated from these societies. Not just the religion, but the genetics of the human race were completely different. I will explain more about Carnem, The First Human Society that I am attempting to recreate, in chapter twenty and six. For now stay tuned on the origin of religions.

Next I will discuss the Islamic conspiracy. How the Pope created Islam as a gimmick to gather Arabs under a leader just to conquer Jerusalem. And how the sycophancy grew out of proportion once they began worshipping the Pope. That is the real reason why the Crusades began."

Book One

The City of Despairity

Chapter 1

In the City of Solitude

VERONICA: Life hits you really hard even when you’re never expecting it. I had a life at one point, and it was hard, but it wasn’t impossible. My mom and my dad died, and I was in unbearable pain. I thought it would never end; the pain, the anxiety and the misery. But one person got me through it all. Stephen was my life and my heart. Now I don’t even know where he is or what he’s doing. I don’t even know if he’s alive. How am I supposed to live with this pain?

I left angry. I almost got attacked by these junkies and low-lives. I was in turmoil because I wanted to stop leading rebellions and outbursts of people defending their country from the evil government that we had. I was worried that my wedding wouldn’t go the way I wanted it to. I was worried that on the wedding day, Tory might call me to do a job or something. I was worried I wouldn’t have the proper honeymoon. I was concerned that my brother would never let me and Stephen be happy. Everything was about me, me and me. What I didn’t realize was that I was so stuck on me and on Veronica Woodard that I didn’t see Stephen. I didn’t see how much he loved me and how much he would sacrifice for me.

Now he’s gone. Just like that, he’s out of my life. Now all that I could think about is him, him and him. For once in my selfish life, it’s not about me anymore, it’s about him. But he’s not here, and I don’t know where to find him. I want to die. I have always been so comfortable with my life. I have always wanted to be healthy and be happy. I never wanted to risk my life or put myself in harm’s way. Always thinking about how I can keep myself safe and if this or that would lead me to any harm. But right now, at this moment, right here, this very second, I have never wanted to die more. If I were to drop dead right now, I think that I could be okay.

I realize now that the only reason I wanted to stay alive and be healthy and be well, was because I knew that I would be spending all my life with Stephen. But now, where is he? Is he dead? Is he just gone, or was he ever real? I ask myself that every night when I cry myself to sleep. The hole in my heart feels so deep it almost feels like, just maybe, I made Stephen up just to cope with the pain from my life and my family’s death. Even if he wasn’t real, even if there was never any Stephen Moody, I would rather be with a fake Stephen than not be with any Stephen at all. Sherman took everything from me, and he’s invincible. He can’t even be touched with his super speed and strength. He was moving so rapidly I couldn’t even see him. How did I escape from his hold in the labs and in the arenas?

How am I here on Earth again, still alive? I kept telling myself that it was the hope that my one true love could still be alive. That the thought of Stephen still having a pulse somewhere out there. That thought is what gave me hope. The thought that he could still be alive. But am I really happy he’s alive, or is it more about how much I need him to be alive? I want Jessie to be alive too. He’s my brother that took care of me and did way more for me than Stephen ever did. I want Jessie to be okay too.

But how come the thought of Jessie being dead isn’t heart ripping and painful like the thought of Stephen being dead. Is it the selfless love that hopes he’s okay and happy? Or is it the selfish part of me again that wants to feel good and wants to be happy with him because of how he makes me feel and because of how much I need him? Am I doing all of this for Stephen, or am I doing all of this for me? Would I have fought off over one thousand men if I knew Stephen was dead? Or did I use Stephen as an excuse to save my own skin? I do love him, but I am afraid that I might love myself more.

Veronica looks around; she doesn’t see a sign of life. Decelerated, she raises her hand — seeing how wrinkled they are from the water. Laughing at the thought of how much older water makes her look. She is wrinkled, weak — not to mention pruned up from being under the water too long. Painful thoughts arise of how she could have grown old with Stephen in another life if she didn’t leave in such a fit of rage. It’s too painful to look away from her hands.

Even I wish her pain would end. She pictures Stephen’s hands the same way, pruned . . . ugly. She could almost feel Stephen’s wrinkly hands under hers as they sit at some porch talking about all the years upon years of life that they spent together. However, when she opens her eyes, she realizes none of it was real. No, Stephen, you can’t be gone, she screams in her head. I came back for you. You have to be alive, please. How could you be gone now? This isn’t fair to me or to you. We were supposed to be together forever. The thought itself breaks our hearts. I feel so bad for her.

She goes back to the river, jumping in. The cold water hits her with the force of a dozen bricks. It feels like hundreds of stabbing needles going right through her skin. She swims under the water, feeling her hair sway back and forth. Trying to remember a more blissful time when all she had to do was get up to head to the beach or to the pool with Stephen and Jessie, she closes her eyes, imagining herself at the pool again with Stephen swimming.

She pictures him grabbing her leg while laughing. I can see it. When she opens her eyes, she could see she’s all alone. Maybe she’ll just stay underwater to let herself drown to death. Why should she live if she’s not going to be happy with Stephen for all eternity? She waits and waits until she can’t breathe anymore. She holds her breath a little bit more to see if she has the courage to just kill herself, but she’s not brave enough. Gasping for air, she swims to the top, shooting her head out of the water promptly. She takes one deep, dramatic breath. Now, she gets out of the water, staring at the pavement.

VERONICA: I am too selfish. I do just want to live. It is all about me. Why am I so selfish? I should just die right now.

She reaches for her curved sword, putting it to her wrist. She hesitates at first but finally thrusts it sideways, slashing her wrist. A squirt of blood hits the floor as her skin vibrates then regenerates itself before her eyes.

VERONICA: How can I die when Sherman mutated me into some freak? Am I immortal now?

She stabs herself in the leg, but her leg’s laceration and skin both heal in under a minute, so she cries.

VERONICA: I can’t even end the misery!!!

Veronica goes searching for answers or at least human life throughout the city. She walks far from the ocean. Her shoes make squishy noises as she walks on the pavement. It’s all wet with water and sticky with blood. All that is seen is a destroyed city. Half of the pavement is gone with coagulated blood smeared everywhere.

There are dead carcasses of people, even animals on the floor. The skeletons of military soldiers who were fighting on the day Sherman came. Even the Shermanites are dead too. Veronica notices cars on the side of the road unharmed. Half of the paint is scraped off, but that won’t matter. All she needs to do is survive, nothing more and nothing less.

VERONICA: Is there any clean water here, at least?

She goes inside of a building that looks like it endured a great fire. She slowly creeps in, careful not to make any noise. The windows are smashed, and there isn’t any sign of life at all. You can almost hear an empty, hollow sound coming from the rooms. Noticing that there are holes on the floor plus blood on the side of the stove and on the wall, Veronica tries not to get too close to anything because she’s fearful of catching an infection.

VERONICA: Did we really deserve this, Sherman? Did we really deserve to be slaughtered like pigs while you stand on top, rejoicing? I know we were a disgusting race, killing and raping each other. I know we used drugs, indulged in debauchery, but you did the same. We did this to each other. For some reason, I feel like something tried to save us so many times, but we never saw His hand. Or was it even there?

She goes up to the sink, but as she does, the floor beneath her cracks, allowing her foot to go right through. She gets up rapidly, being paranoid that there might be something under there, waiting to bite her. Grabbing the faucet in anger, she turns it. As it breaks off, the water comes out. At first, the water is golden yellow, then it lightens up, but Veronica is afraid to drink any.

VERONICA: I bet my immune system would burn off whatever type of infection I could possibly get from that nasty water, but still, I’m clean, and that’s nasty. If it comes to it, I guess I will have to drink it eventually. But I can hold my thirst for now.

She goes upstairs, opening a door to a room. When the door creaks open, she sees, on the bed, the body of a girl. She lies there with her intestines exposed, and her head has been ripped backwards. Veronica moves the girl to see if she’s alive. Her hand touches her tenderly; she feels the girl’s cold skin as she turns her over. When she turns her over, an ounce of blood spews out from the girl’s mouth. She sees a notebook next to the girl’s lifeless body. She grabs it and jolts at the site of the girl’s morbid remains.

VERONICA: Oh God! What the heck. What did they do to you?! You poor, innocent girl!

Veronica leaves the house, continuing to walk on the streets. She sees fires that go on for miles as she witnesses parts of buildings decay and fall off right in front of her own eyes. From the corner of her eye, she sees a car with a man on the inside. It looks like his hands were on the wheel, getting ready to drive off, but he’s as stiff as a board. Veronica approaches the car, knocking on the window. She wasn’t expecting to get a response, but she figured why not try to keep hope alive just to humor herself.

After waiting a while, she decides to open the door to the car. The car door is jammed, but with strenuous force, she manages to open it but not with a little joint stiffness. His body doesn’t move an inch in this whole process. She touches his neck to see if she could find a pulse . . . no pulse. The man looks perfectly normal, even his eyes are open. His hands are perfectly wrapped around the steering wheel. You would think he’s about to head off to drive. Veronica tries to pull his hands off of the steering wheel, but they are colder than ice.

VERONICA: Did you hot glue yourself here or something? Come on, move.

Finally, giving up, she walks away, dawdling as she watches him.

VERONICA: How did his body not decay?

Veronica sits by a manhole that had exploded. She just watches as the smoke rises. She takes little pieces of broken pavement and articles of no value that are lying on the floor. Looking at them in sadness, she throws them inside the fire, causing the flames to grow. For some reason, watching the smoke rise feels like watching her problems leave her. Every time the fire bursts when she throws something inside, she feels an ecstasy of release.

VERONICA: I was going to get married. I was going to have the perfect life with two or three kids in an expensive school. I was going to have it all. People worshipped me, or at least that’s what it felt like. Now who remembers me? Now, who’s telling their grandchildren the difference Veronica Woodard made in this world? Nobody, that’s who. If Stephen is dead, I swear I will find Sherman wherever he is in outer space. I will kill him so slowly and painfully that . . .

A noise by the garbage cans behind the building alarms Veronica. She gets up frantically. Looking over at the trash cans to see if she could find what made that noise, she realizes that she doesn’t want to find out. Veronica walks away quickly, trying to find anywhere that she could go to escape this pain, but there is nowhere in the world she could go.

She sees a fast food restaurant that got blown to bits. Trying to find the safest way in, she enters it. She goes straight to the back, ignoring everything, grabbing bottles and bottles of water. At first, she doesn’t even know where to put them, but then she grabs a bag from the counter to place them all there in the bag. She carries them outside.

VERONICA: Let’s see, where is my new home? Should I sleep in that car, or should I sleep in that car? I’ll pick one that doesn’t look like it might blow up.

Veronica approaches one of the cars, scanning inside of it. It is a shiny silver car with deep slashes like that of fingernails or the claws of a monster. She has to pry the door open — almost falling as she does so. When she squeezes her way in, she lays her head down to take a nap. The seat of the car goes all the way back, leaving her relaxed as she stares at the convertible top which is closed.

VERONICA: Why is life so painful? I feel like I have already lived all that there is to live. What if this was my fault for rebelling against Sherman and having concerts and inspirational songs against him. I fired up a nation with my words, and Sherman used that same fire to burn them down. It’s true what they say about words.

She lies down on her side, trying to close her eyes, but the sight of the destroyed city is too painful to bear. She stares through the window as she watches the smoke from the flames rise up. The smoke chokes the trees surrounding the buildings. Even the glasses from the buildings are turning a creamy gray from all the condensed smoke and fire debris. She wishes she would have stayed on Earth and gotten murdered with the rest of her people. Instead, she survived just to be mentally tortured.

VERONICA: Why did this happen? Why did Sherman destroy everything? What is he getting out of turning the world into ash? Is he going to be able to control anybody? No, he won’t because we are all dead. Is he going to show that he is powerful and to be feared? Of course not because no one is left alive to worship him? What does he get out of this? He’s just some psycho that wants to kill everybody for no reason.

She closes her eyes, drifting away into a sweet sleep. Her eyes toss and turn in her head as she thinks about Stephen and Jessie. She can’t even think about the fact that they are most likely dead or enduring something really awful. The thoughts keep her tossing, turning, and moving around like an itchy monkey. Eventually, she wakes up in the middle of the night to find herself looking out the window. In her mind, she thinks it’s crazy. In her mind, the thought that her city might even appear beautiful in the night sky, having the fire illuminate the floor, leaving a vivid glow in the dark sky is crazy. The smoke is barely visible even in the light of the fire. The buildings look so shiny from their coat of glossy smoke smeared on them. She thinks that it might look beautiful. The thought makes her cringe on the inside.

VERONICA: Now I see why Sherman destroyed you. Does Earth really look more beautiful when it’s like this in ruins? When there were humans roaming the streets, we were killing each other and destroying life as we know it. If Sherman didn’t destroy this world, then we would have eventually. It’s inevitable, the hatred and chaos that the human race causes. It’s almost as if we are born with the evil that’s inside of us. It’s in our nature to be greedy and hateful. Why should I resent Sherman for being the first one to embrace his true nature? Sherman was just doing what we all would have done eventually. How many Popes have murdered people and committed incest and genocide? How many kings have raped and pillaged towns and women over and over again and again. Why do we honor people like Columbus who just brought diseases and plagues and even raped women? How is it that a veteran of World War 1 caused World War 2 by killing his own half race . . . Jews? Why do we cherish America as our country when we just stole it from the Indians? Why don’t we just have a celebration honoring Osama Bin Laden? Oh, wait, they did in Iraq. Sherman was just the first one to not lie about his true nature; maybe he does deserve a prize.

Veronica cries herself to sleep as her hateful thoughts succumb her mind, causing much tension. When Veronica wakes up the next day, she sees the sun shining inside the car, making everything more full of life with vibrancy. She notices that there is a picture inside of the car. A family picture of the man that owned this car. There is a woman holding a little, baby girl. There is also a man with a big beard holding a flounder that he caught.

VERONICA: A fishing trip. I would love to go fishing right about now. I would love to catch some wild salmon. Matter of fact, I’d love to eat some fish. I haven’t had real food in forever. Maybe I could find something.

Grabbing the picture, she thinks about how that could have been her with Stephen. In the four years that she was being held captive in outer space, she could have borne two children at least and had a happy family. The picture is too painful for her to keep inside the car. She tries unrolling the window, but the car is messed up from the inside. Opening the car door, she flings the picture into a fire. As she watches it burn, she thinks about what she and Stephen could have been. Veronica Moody instead of Veronica Woodard.

VERONICA: Don’t worry, Stephen, I haven’t forgotten about you. I will always keep on looking for you until I die. Maybe even in the next world my soul will always be searching for you, too. My heart grows fonder every day.

Veronica laughs cynically. A fruitful yet bitter cold laugh as if to say how ironic.

VERONICA: I’m not a poet here. You and Tory used to write my songs, and I used to sing them. Now, I’m the one trying to be all emotional and poetic. How the tables have turned.

Veronica walks away back into the car, completely losing the motivation to search for any food. She figures what’s the point. So, she tosses and turns in her car seat, trying to sleep, but she drifts off into nightmares. In one nightmare, she is in her old apartment sitting down, holding Jessie’s favorite knife that he always played with. She twirls it around her fingers like the way Jessie used to do. Jessie walks in, looking her in the eye, laughing.

JESSIE: What are you doing, V, that’s my knife? Why are you messing with it, huh?

VERONICA: Relax, Jessie. I was just playing around. No need to get sentimental.

JESSIE: Oh, I’m not. Do you know where that knife was before dad gave it to us?

VERONICA: Where? I don’t think I ever heard the story.

JESSIE: When dad . . .

A blast of fire blows through the window reducing Jessie to nothing but entrails. Veronica’s scream cries out loud enough to even wake her. She wakes up from the dream, grabbing the car door for support, but she notices how it bends due to her strength. Then, she wonders how she could be superhumanly strong one minute then the next normal. How can she hack into her powers?

VERONICA: Agghh!!! Ohhhh!! Jessie, are you still alive out there? Where are you? You probably hate me. I left angry. I’m so sorry, Jessie. Please forgive me for being so horrible. I love you, Jessie. I do. I never wanted you to get hurt. Please be alive.

Veronica tries to go back to sleep, but her heart becomes heavy at the thought of Jessie being dead. How did he die; did he experience pain; is he even dead or is he dying right now as she thinks about it? I know the truth, but she doesn’t yet. The seat is soaked with sweat from her night terrors about Jessie. She opens the car door to get out — leaving the car door open to allow it to air out from all the pungent sweat smell.

Leaning against the car, she tries not to think too much. She just lets the fresh air swish past her, blowing her hair back. Soon, the brisk wind becomes a piercing wind; she resides in the car with the constant smell of her sweat. She decides to just sit there and not go to sleep. Since it is nighttime, the sensible thing to do is go to sleep. The painful reality that hits her every time she goes to sleep wakes her or frightens her. So, she just sits there, staring at the window.

As the flames rise, the iota pieces of glass drift away, scraping against the pavement forcefully as the wind pushes them along unwillingly. She hears the trash cans bang against the buildings with the violent wind slamming them. She looks at her hands like they’re useless weapons. To Sherman, she is the most precious thing alive. She is the most useful thing that he has ever created. He calls it GEM (Genetically Engineered Mammals). In her own eyes, she’s like a gun with no bullets or an immune system with deactivated cells.

VERONICA: If Sherman turned me into a monster that could conquer the world, then where is the power he gave me? Why can’t I use the power he gave me to destroy what’s left. I can’t even hack into my powers in, anyways. If I could, I swear I would have killed him on sight. If I could go back in time, I would murder him slowly using my powers.

Veronica eventually begins to feel sleepy even when her indignation subsides. After all, she is sitting in a warm car for hours with absolutely no energy in the middle of the night. The cozy, car cushion relaxes her, and she drifts off into a nightmare. . . . Continuous dreams about Jessie blowing up and buildings falling.

Chapter 2

Alyssa’s Words Live On…

She goes into another dream at her own mental leisure. In this dream, she is running really fast. It seems that there is something chasing her that she is trying to escape from. She keeps on running as rapidly as she can even though her outfit is so heavy. She picks up her hands. They sway back and forth as she dashes down the road quickly. Soon, she falls to the ground, tripping over her dress. She rolls on the floor. Finally, coming to a halt, she attempts to get up. When she gets up, she realizes what she is wearing. It is a wedding dress. Not just any wedding dress, but the same wedding dress that she picked out the nights before she was abducted. The dress is broken and decrepit. When she looks up, she sees Stephen running toward her.

STEPHEN: Run. Run. He’s coming after us. He wants you, Veronica. He wants you!! You were his most valuable possession!! He was going to use you to destroy everything. He’s not going to stop, V!! You have to go!! V, go!!

VERONICA: I can’t leave you. I don’t care if he takes me. Let him kill me. I rather die happy with you than run away.

STEPHEN: You don’t understand!! If he gets his hands on you, it will be the end of all of us!! You have to go!!

In this dream, Veronica turns around as she hears a voice. It was the voice of Sherman saying the same things he said before she left to Earth.

SHERMAN: You have ruined my plans. I will revive my projects. I will come after you, Veronica. This time I won’t be coming to make friends. I will kill you next time I see you. You will pay for what you have done, Veronica. You are my property. How dare you rebel against your ruler? Aggghh!!!

Suddenly, Veronica wakes up in sweats, wishing the dream would have continued. She pictures Tory alive again and even The Numui Project. Even though it brings chills to her very bones, her wedding dress was so gracefully caressing her skin. As painful as the dream was, it had Stephen in it. That’s all that she could ask for. She just wants to see Stephen and hold Stephen and kiss Stephen. She longs to be by his side eagerly.

VERONICA: Stephen, come back, come back. Stephen, come back, please.

Veronica cries overly dramatic. Her face turns salty wet with tears for Stephen. She could only wish that she was with Stephen right this very moment. How much she would kill to be with Stephen right this very moment.

VERONICA: I love you, Stephen. I wish you were here. Why did you have to go away? You promised you would wait for me. If you’re breathing Stephen, then please wait for me like you said you would do. Wait for me a little bit longer. I will find you, I swear.

Veronica sees the first sight of sunlight in the sky; she gets out of the car quickly. She is on her way to find food — maybe goods. She needs things that she can use to keep herself alive. Her stomach is heard growling loudly like a wild lion craving a zebra. She takes out her curved blades, holding them in a defensive mode, not knowing if something could pop out and try to attack her.

Walking with the blades, she heads to the same fast food building