The Red Nights

" What do you think about that? " Jamal started asking to the girls, he was leaning on a wall of the living room , the arms crossed and was seriously looking at the small crowd before him .

" The first and most important information is quite obvious I think " Lina responded " an army of monsters is coming to us. We all recognized through the wooden sculpture that the city Matteo was describing is the other half of our own city, right? He was clearly referring to the statue of Abidal Woodstock the founder of the city"

Natasha nodded " We can also infer that this mysterious shadow is the responsible of this strange phenomenon " she stepped forward " When we interpret well the scene with the crow bicolored, it seems like the people from the other half were exposed to a kind of virus which transformed them into monsters when we kill them "

" However the main reason for all this is still unknown " Jamal said while he was shaking his head as he was upset " why this mysterious person would cause so much trouble ? For what reason? "

" Maybe in order to invade your city " Matteo guessed, Jamal immediately corrected him " Our city ! You're one of us since now , don't ever forget that " . It made him smile slightly, it was the first time he had been accepted by anyone.

In his previous hometown he was an orphan until he reached the age of 10, a tranquil boy without any social problems who had always been told that his parents died in a car accident but who was wise enough to infer that he was abandoned. He never had any negative emotions towards the parents who abandoned him, in fact he never had any feelings for them, he even barely thought about them .

Despite his good behavior and his exceptional results at school, no one even wanted to adopt him. When the chief of the orphanage recommended him to the people, they always rejected after seeing him, they said he was too smart and quiet , more like a robot than like a human . These comments did not bother Matteo at all until he realized that even people from the orphanage itself were afraid of him .

He then ran away from there and started to live in the streets of his town by himself and for 4 years he achieved to survive without lacking of anything, for a sharp boy as him it was not very difficult though. However the absence of a family and a warm home always made him feel uneasy. He would probably never acknowledged it but when he looked at other people having fun and being happy with their families, he couldn't help but feeling sad . He couldn't even befriend with anyone , and it became worse after the catastrophe of that infamous night when he started sensing abnormal things and having strange dreams.

With those simple words from Jamal gave him some sentiments of happiness that he never expected to have . Finally someone recognized him , furthermore this someone was the most incredible he ever met. Natasha , who noticed this amount of satisfaction emerging from Matteo , smiled at him and told him " He is not as terrifying as you were thinking, isn't he? " .

Matteo flushed and bowed his head . As he was lost , Jamal looked at one to another and asked " Who is terrifying or rather no more so terrifying? " . Matteo didn't respond and Natasha laughed " never mind... let's continue " . But Jamal didn't give up " It's me , right? The terrifying guy " Matteo was stunned and still couldn't reply " So this is it , that is why you didn't want to talk to me, because you were afraid of me . I'm such a good guy though " , at that moment Lina joined Natasha and they laughed together for more than one minute.

When the calm returned and everyone came back to their senses. They adopted a serious look, Matteo repeated again " As I said they may want to invade the city . History told us that when someone raised an army, it is usually in order to conquer new lands . Moreover in my vision it was clear that they were walking toward us , fully prepared for a war ".

" But why now? They could have come earlier, no ? " Natasha asked

" Is it not obvious ? Because they couldn't " Lina responded " When we observed carefully, the operation started long ago. If I remember correctly, Jamal didn't stop complaining that lately the number of crossing cases increased , however there was no undeads at that time . Yesterday two appeared with excellent physical capacities but easy to defeat when we figured out how to do . Then today five appeared, almost the double of the day before, and with that there was a specimen who was smarter than the others. What can we infer from that. "

Jamal frowned, he and Matteo responded at the same time " It was a test "

" Exactly " Lina shouted " that f.u.c.k.i.n.g mysterious shadow has been testing for all this time how to create those monsters and now he found out the correct formula, he can freely begin his war against us . Now you maybe want to ask me, Pr. Lina why did this bitch choose especially our city instead of another? " Jamal and Natasha rolled their eyes as Lina started to be a bit too much in the character " the answer is simple because we have already provided for him a laboratory with all the materials and guinea-pigs he needed to realize his horrible experiences ".

Matteo nodded " By separating the population . When you isolated the bad people from the others, you give the opportunity to practice with them secretly and to test his creation within the other half of the city " . Lina turned to Jamal " We are not saying that you were wrong Honey, however the enemy made a good use of you great idea "

" Now the main question is how would we proceed to defeat them, we don't know whether they will come by wave or rather in one time " she asked to Matteo " have you been able to estimate their number? " .

He shook his head, " it was a too huge crowd , as we are now we should just consider that it was composed with all men remnant there " . " It would be complicated since they were more than the half of the total of men who has been living here after that tragic night. "

" But you have been chasing them for two years, there shouldn't be so much remaining " Natasha said. Although she intended to be optimistic she could see through the eyes of Jamal that the situation was far to be positive. But since she didn't want people to depress , she knew that she had to cheer them up in order to find out a solution to their problems " Whatever it is still not a big deal since we have my super strength and my burning katana " . However it was not enough to convince Jamal " it's true that you're strong but you cannot face an army of more than one hundred monsters all by yourself, they wouldn't destroy you "

One time again his talk was sharp and convincing, how could she imagine beating such a huge army according to what Matteo said, it was more stupid than impossible. As she started to feel discouraged Lina quickly came to support her " how could we find any plan when actually you've been rejecting harshly all the ideas she came out with. Can you at least contribute instead of discouraging everyone? "

Jamal sighed " I'm not trying to discourage anyone, however you must understand that as his teacher when I'm for a plan , I'm expecting for her a better answer than 'it's not a big deal since we have my super strength and my burning katana'. " he turned to Natasha " now I want you to come out with a better and a wise plan according to all what I have been teaching you " . Natasha closed her eyes, breathed deeply, cleared her mind and then reopened her eyes " since I'm the only one person able to kill them definitively, I must be in the front line but I cannot fight them and protect myself at the same time since they are too many, so I will need you to support me and to watch my back " .

All eyes were on Jamal who was smiling happily " yeah now it's quite better , but Stiller not enough . Firstly since we assumed that they are coming to invade us, I bet they will not concentrate all their forces on you , you are alone but the ways to penetrate the city are too many. You cannot protect them all " he landed his arm on Lina's shoulder " So my cute lover here must tell us the way to ensure that they will focus just on you "

" Firstly I want to know exactly when would they come, can you do it for me Matteo? " Lina said. Matteo felt again heavy weight landing on his shoulders, but at that moment it was different, it was not a mere request for the random guys he had been working for when he was in his hometown. At that moment it was a request for his dear new family, and in spite of the pressure he was determined to try all his best in order to fulfill his duty . He looked at her his eyes sparkling of confidence and answered " I don't know exactly but be sure that I will do whatever it takes to find it , and I will give you the answer as soon as possible. "

" But don't we need it now? Urgently? " Jamal asked a little bit anxious. " Stay cool honey. The boy must have figured out that the army will definitely not come tomorrow or day after . Raising such a big army is not a deal of 6 six hours or even one day , moreover I don't think that the mysterious shadow is able to transform so many people in one time "

" So actually all we can do is waiting ? " Natasha asked , then Jamal started laughing " oh god , surely not. We still have to train you to use correctly your katana and if it's possible your entire powers . And we must also reinforce the patrol, it's not like I don't trust you babe but ... "

" I know you're a preventive man " Lina cut him " So you guys have to wake up earlier than usual and survey the barrier to avoid anyone to penetrate the main city . On my side I will work to obtain all what I need to elaborate the plan which would permit Natasha to catch all the attention of the undeads during the upcoming war and Matteo will help me in this task. Do we all agree with that? "

Lina lifted her head to see at the face of everyone while they were nodding . When she saw that all people accepted their respective jobs , she cleared her voice and said " OK , so the reunion is hanged , see you again when they are any advancement of the plan " which concluded their meeting.