The Red Nights

Jamal was heading for MontClay , the second city. The soldiers he brought with him were only the half of the army he had saved in Short-river, however this result didn't bother him on the contrary he thought it was rather a good number. As it was the city the most in crisis, he didn't expect so many of them to agree to join in . That was why he was not very insistent during his speech.

" We should be within 10 minutes " Volga shouted. They were rolling for quite a long time now and the shape of the city started to be perceived forward on the horizon while, on the side, the sun was slowly falling, putting them further in the darkness.

" Would they provide some greeters as we did for you ? " she asked while glancing at the sun with worried eyes.

" I don't think so " he responded " they had plan that I would take two days to treat your case , therefore they are expecting me to go there only tomorrow ".

" Oh I see . And do you know where we have to go? Did they tell the location of their headquarter ? " she said still taking worried look at the sun .

He noticed it and quickly caught the source of her agitation, he didn't comment about it immediately but responded to her question first " Yeah they already told us as well as the location of the enemies. So I propose to not go directly to the HQ. "

" What are you plotting again? " she asked all curious.

" Before that, tell me what is the problem? "

" huh ? "

" I see that something is bothering you right now, you didn't stop glancing at the sun and backward through your rearview mirror. So what is it? " he said.

She chuckled " what's a silly question. I'm wondering if we will have the time to reach a safe place where we could hide before the darkness of the night appears and I'm also wondering if the people behind us are as worried as me ".

He then got it [ it's as Lina has said, due to that tragic night people are scared to be outside when the sun is not in the sky ] . He didn't consider that factor when they left and honestly he didn't imagine that Volga would be one of those who were afraid [ even the most brave people still have some weaknesses ] .

Hopefully they already reached the city. He got up on the car , he quickly scanned the zone and found a spot. " Let's head there " he told Volga while pointing the supermarket nearby.

" What? Why ? " she responded, confused.

" Just do it , I will explain to you later " while he said that he was, at the same, making signs to the other cars to follow them .

They parked their vehicles, got off from them . Jamal ordered them to have their weapons in their hands and to not drop their guards while they were entering in the supermarket, and so they did . They walked around all the store , checked every single place and it was clear that they were no one else besides them inside, they gathered up to make the point of the situation.

" Well now we are sure it's safe, can you explain to us what we are doing here ? " Volga asked him.

" OK , in fact I think you all felt uneasy at the thought of be rolling on the streets in the darkness of the night... " , they looked down, uncomfortable, what confirmed what he had said "... so I thought it would be better to stay here until tomorrow morning " he looked around and brought his eyes back to them with a smile " as I have expected, we can find some food and water, so no need to use our own provisions , even if it is not that much but enough for tonight . The second fact , it's actually a good timing because from the start I didn't intend to join the HQ "

People looked confused and started to interrogate each other, with low voices, about what did he want to mean . " What he wants to say that he has already a plan, so let him the time to explain himself " Volga quickly brought the calm back, she looked at him interrogatively with insistance as she was the first one who really wanted him to cease being too mysterious.

" Thank you " he simply said before he quickly began to expose them what he had plotted as he understood by the look she was throwing on him that she would not stand more secrets , " among the informations about the war which is happening in here from the city army it's said that they actually fight every day at a specific time of the day . You can notice that the situation is a bit odd "

" That explains why their current state is somehow stable " Sania highlighted as she remembered the reports, about the trials the neighbors cities were going, their mayor Howard shared with them.

" Yes that's true it's said that the number of casualties they are suffering is more or less similar to those of their enemies , what means that actually they are in a balance of forces " as he was developing his statement some people started to get where he wanted to come.

" So... if I understand well, all what MontClay's army needs to obtain the victory is a disturbing element to break up this balance of forces and bend the advantage over their side... right? " shyly said a young man among the crowd.

" That's right, and that disturbing element is this group of people here " Jamal exclaimed " tomorrow morning, when the both armies will engage into their daily fight we'll trigger our surprise attack on the outlaws' army and in one time we shall crush their forces ".

They all nodded comprehensively . " You plan to finish it in one day again, don't you? " Volga asked him pertinently.

He smiled " we all wish return back to see our lovers as fast as possible, so we don't have any choice but to end it quickly. Moreover if it is as I have imagined, the battle of tomorrow seems to be more tough and time consuming than the previous one in Short-river as the enemies will be in a better shape and on contrary to them, outlaws here are not organized in a hierarchy, so we can forget about looking for a chief to behead him, we will have to exterminate them until they remain none of them ".

Sania chuckled " that always was what we intended to do ".

" I propose to set up the teams and their captains accompanied with their respective missions since now like that we won't waste time tomorrow and we will head to the battlefield directly " a man suggested.

" Good idea " Volga praised , she turned to Jamal " if you don't mind, allow me to take this restaurant and configure the teams " the man gave his agreement with a sign of the head , then she started to arrange them in 4 groups of 5 people and another one of only three people. She tried to adapt their small number in a way which would be the most effective possible during the attack and Jamal didn't hesitate to give her more details about it while she was setting the mission for each group.

Later they came to the conclusion that the first three groups would play the role of barrage on the back of the enemies to block them in case of retreating. The other groups would be posted in some strategic places in the buildings around to give a support to those who would be in the main battle, Volga purposely chose the best shooters among them to load upon them that mission. And then came the fifth and last group, the team of intervention, as said this team's mission would be diving directly into the action. The only three of them would be the ones to really initiate the attack, it would be composed of Jamal, Volga and Sania . Initially Volga had chosen, Graham one of her former soldiers when they were in Short-river instead of Sania to go with them, she explained that he was was very skillful in the battlefield however they changed their minds to appoint him to the support group as, besides Jamal and Volga, he was far the best shooter among the army and the intervention team would have to rely very much on him .

" Now everyone knows what to do let's look for something to eat " Jamal suggested after they finished to establish the attack of tomorrow.

The all got up and walked along the store's aisles and after a moment of research they all came back with their gains. They cooked what they had to cook and assembled with the snacks they borrowed they got a special dinner and enjoyed it in group . After that they were all ordered to go have some sleep because they would have to wake up early.

" You don't sleep you ? " Sania asked Jamal.

" No , someone have to watch over the others while they sleep so I'm volunteering to do it " he responded " we may have found no one when we came but that doesn't mean that this place is totally safe ".

" Yeah you're right " she admitted " maybe I should stay awake as well to keep company otherwise the night will be long and lonely, you can share with me some of your adventures " she kindly proposed without making any naughty implies.

He smiled, thank her but gently refused.

" Or if you don't want to be alone with me I can Volga, you seem to be more at ease with her ".

Now he laughed slightly, surprised of this new behavior of hers " no need, really, I don't mind to do it alone "

" Or at least we can alternate, you take the first half and you wake me when it's my turn to guard, you too need to get some sleep for tomorrow, don't forget that you're our ace , if you're not fully ready it will be over for us " .

" I ensure you that I will be alright , believe me. It's not my first time doing something like this so no need to bother yourself or Volga " he responded, still amused.

" It's not your first time huh... " she whispered " by the way I always wanted to ask, in which unit of the army have you been trained to have a such level and you are very young likely at the same age as me ? "

His face changed and became cloudy " I wasn't member of any army " he simply said.

She noticed by the change of her expression that it was a sensible subject, that she shouldn't go further but she couldn't help as she was too curious " so where have you been trained, where did you get such skills and experience? "

Instead of being mad as she was expecting he simply smiled at her and told her " go have some sleep, I will take both half of guard, yours and mine " . She didn't insist and moved away where was her sleeping bag beside Carl.

" You should really learn when and how close your mouth " he told her when she lay down .

" Shut the f.u.c.k up " she responded him