The Red Nights

When Nelson arrived in the QG he was surprised to see that the party had already begun since a while. Half of the soldiers were drank and were dancing in the middle of the court while the other half was standing here and there chatting happily. A large amount of dishes were already empty and looking at how various snacks the other plates were containing, Nelson couldn't guess what were they containing several minutes before.

He turned around and ordered his men to take all the things they had borrowed from Finn and Brett's houses and to transport them inside, " don't hesitate to ask for help if you find something too heavy, don't take any risk to hurt yourselves. " He told them.

Sania detached herself from the small crowd and walked furiously toward Nelson. She passed beside him enough close to bump his shoulder, then she continued walking as if nothing happened. " What's your problem? ". She suddenly stopped and slowly turned around to face him, she stepped forward toward him until their both faces were at 30 centimeters from each others. " What's my problem? " she repeated angrily " are you serious, how dare you asking me that ? Do you realize that thanks to you we have come late to the party, several precious hours I could have enjoyed myself just gone like that and you're daring asking me to waste some time transporting those boxes. " she shook her head dramatically " I refuse, as simple as that ". Then she tried to make a move to leave but before she could go Nelson grabbed her arm and stopped her to do so " hey, don't you think you're a little bit too at ease with me, you better lower your tone ".

She released herself, quite easily as he didn't hold her too tightly, then she tilted her head, crossed her arms below her c.h.e.s.t and gazed at him while slowly extending the corners of her lips to reveal a naughty smile " Oh, didn't you notice that lately I have been promoted captain, what makes me your equal and gives me all the rights to speak to you as I do. So you may excuse me comrade... " she put an accent on this latter word "... but the day is almost over and I have to make good use of each instant to make the handsome Glenn fall for me " and before Nelson could reply she turned around and ran toward inside the house. " That woman " he sighed, he turned to his men who saw all the scene and had the same expression of deception as him, " why are you still here ? Hurry up and go finish what I have told you ".

He sighed and walked toward the core of the party. He was looking for Jamal to make his report about their little mission to houses of the enemies. He walked around the court for quite a long, glancing at right and left in the hope that he would catch a glimpse of the shape of one of his fellows at least without success. The people around him were too drunk to give him any reasonable information. But hopefully after making a another round he found Volga.

The woman was sitting alone at a table a bit afar from the crowd while observing them enjoying the celebration. With her right hand she was holding a cup of juice barely touched and which seemed like she had no intention to drink it and besides her, there were placed many dishes filled with various and delicious snacks.

She noticed him as he was approaching toward her and so he waved his hand to salute.

Nelson took the seat in front of her and before letting her the time to speak any single word he directly plunged into the food set on the table. In only one minute he had already emptied all the plates which were there, then he stared at the cup of juice in Volga's hand like a lion stares at a prey and in a quick move of the hand, he stole it from her and emptied it in one breath. Then he released a long sigh of satisfaction.

" Are you okay? " Volga dared ask.

He nodded " I was really starving ", he made a sign of the head toward the pile of empty plates on the side " seems like you didn't care much about that so I should be thankful that your stomach was already full ".

She chuckled " you're welcome. But it's not that I'm full, the thing is that it is actually the third round, everytime I finish eating what the food they gave me there is someone who come to serve me again and so I got tired and decided to leave it " " when we talk about the devil... " before she finished her sentence a young woman pushed a carriage filled with the same delicious snacks. She set them on the table before collecting the pile of empty plates, then she kindly smiled at them and left them alone. "... you see what I mean? " Volga carried on, she pointed to the dishes and said " seems like Glenn put some particular efforts to prove us all his gratitude. "

Nelson shrugged " it's good for us that he's such a carrying man, at least we're treated well ".

She gazed at him trying to figure out what was he thinking about before she decided to directly ask him, " looking at your mood, it seems like your little excursion has been a little tough, am I wrong? " she guessed.

" A real hell " he directly confessed, " that woman, Sania, didn't spare me, she kept torturing my ears with her complaints for all the time the mission lasted " he started imitating her voice while adding with some hilarious facial expressions " 'do you realize that it all your fault if we are stuck in here' 'are you listening? I told you that it's all your fault' 'I can't believe it, because of you I'm sure I have wasted all my chances to conquer Glenn's heart, I hope you will pay for that' 'since it's all because of you if we are in such situation don't dare asking me to work and don't also ignore me when I have the generosity to talk to you' ".

Volga put a hand on her mouth while using all her mental strength to hold herself bursting out laughing. She waited until she caught her breath before asking " how... how can you imitate her so well? It's so funny. "

He waved his hand as to say that it was nothing, " anyway the point is that, since you have promoted her as captain she put in her head that we are, now, equal and so she has allowed herself to become more insolent and insupportable than before ".

" She has always been a big mouth though, so I think her promotion does not really play a role in her current attitude " Volga replied. " As I know her don't expect being able to discipline her, it will be impossible for you contrary to me who have always been able to handle her so if you want I can make in sort she won't bother you anymore ".

He shook his head negatively " no need, I used to deal with teenagers more troublesome than her. She is not such a big problem for me ".

Volga shrugged " if you say so ".

" Oh Yeah I have something I wanted to ask " Nelson remembered, he looked around and then he asked " where are Jamal and Carla. I have been looking for them in all over the court but I couldn't find them, are they maybe inside the house? "

" I don't know either " she honestly responded, " once we arrived I directly left them to go take a shower and the last time I saw Jamal was when I finished washing myself and decided to pass a call to my lover, Don. Our discussion lasted very long and he wanted to use the phone too, I think he felt bored and left. When I hung on and came outside he was no more there. A man told me that he came to take Carla apart and they disappeared from the party. I think he may have brought her to an isolated place where he could give her the punishment you've asked him ".

Nelson chuckled nervously " I hope he didn't ask her something too hard. He's taking that too seriously. Honestly twenty push-ups in front of everybody would have been largely enough for a punishment ".

" You may be right but I still think that he did that to take revenge on me because I monopolized the phone and didn't let him talk to his girlfriend " Volga replied.

" No, I'm sorry but you're totally wrong " the voice of Jamal came from behind her, she quickly turned her head to look at him. He was stanssssding there his hands in his pockets and his face still revealing his bright smile. Carla was calm at his side bowing curiously her head.

Noticing her odd attitude, Nelson couldn't hold herself anymore and stood from his seat and he stared at Carla before redirecting his attention toward Jamal.

The latter quickly raised his hands to calm the anger which was growing in him " I didn't make her do anything painful or which would have hurt her ".

" So why does she look down in such a pitiful manner? " he replied but calmer than before.

Jamal shrugged " I don't know, maybe before you jump on me you should ask her directly ".

Nelson nodded and looked at the young woman " Carla. What did he do to you? "

She suddenly raised her head in incomprehension and started to gaze at right and left as she had been taken out from her thoughts. " Excuse me, what? "

" Weren't you listening? I'm asking you what punishment did Jamal give you? " Nelson repeated.

" What kind of punishment, huh? " she repeated too while gazing at him, " he just asked me to tell him about my story ".

" Just that? " Nelson asked before she nodded.

" In fact " Jamal carried on " it's just a basic education. I believe that no one here would dare showing off a total happy aspect of their lives. We have all gone through difficult situations where we were victims of injustice, so by asking her to tell her story, I would indirectly force her to recall those moments what would make her realizing her fault and would ultimately correct " he extended his arms " recognizing our mutual and own pain hold us to hurt each other ".

Everybody was staring at him speechless, at the point that he felt like he had to ask " Am I wrong? "

" Well " Volga was the first to break the silence " it is actually not about whether your methods are good or bad but the point is that our friend, here, still doesn't fully trust you ", she turned around to ask for two more chairs.

Nelson was about to open his mouth to apologize when Jamal landed his hand on his shoulder, " don't worry, it's alright " he made a sign of the head toward Volga " she is just trying to tease you. So never mind, you don't have to apologize for not being as naive as Volga is ".

" Hey " she protested " I'm not naive. I'm just really good at seeing through the lies and at discovering the true faces of people ".

Jamal lifted his eyebrow " are you telling me that you know actually my true face? " he defied her.

" No " she honestly responded " it is true that I do not know who you really are however I do know who you are not. You're not an evil person neither a hypocrite " she justified herself, what made him smiling.

A man brought two wooden chairs in each of his hand and placed them around the table. Carla and Jamal stepped forward to have a seat.

" So if he didn't give a too hard punishment why are you looking so desperate " Nelson was sitting just beside her and had to turn his chair to face her.

The young woman bowed her head to look down again, she was stroking her fingers nervously as she said "um... the truth is that I want to ask you a favor, and I was wondering how should I express it ".

" Just say it " he replied.

She took a deep breath before raising her head to look at his eyes, she had a very serious face and when she was talking, her voice was clear " for all the next battles I would want you to let me join Volga's team ".

" Yes " Volga expressed silently, she tightened her fist and looked like she was holding herself to shout " victory! ".

" Before you talk let me please explain myself. With all the respect I have for you I think that for the well going of our journey, it is the best thing to do. I may have never say it before but I have always felt like my actual comrades of Montclay's army were holding me back, they are unable to keep up with my rhythm. I'm trying to be disrespectful but even you, sometimes, you are too slow ".

Nelson was completely stunned, he glanced at the two captains beside him and was even more shocked that they both had their hands on their mouths and were holding themselves to not laugh. " Are you serious? My subordinate has just told me that I was too weak for her and you... you are mocking me " he reproached them.

Jamal waved his hand " sorry sorry... it's just that the face you made was too hilarious. "

" It's not a joke! " he said.

" Of course not " Volga replied, she coughed, pushed Jamal with her elbow before taking back a more serious posture " I'm sorry, we didn't want to be mean ", she turned to Carla " please carry on ".

" OK, what I was saying was that after I teamed up with Volga and few of her men today I realized that it was totally different, every people knew what they had to do and they were fast to react ". She exposed.

" They all were former soldiers or used to work in the public defense, so it's true that they had a little more experience " Volga explained. " I don't if this girl used to work on the police or was in the army but it's obvious that she had a natural talent ".

Nelson gazed at Carla " but you have started to hold a gun two years ago, just like everyone in my team " he said.

" That's true, but as she said I have a natural talent for that " she replied " please accept, let me join her ".

He stroked his head, a little uncomfortable " I have promised Amir to look after you ".

" And you have done largely enough, I'm enough strong to protect myself and I will be OK and who knows, I may become stronger by teaming up with her ", she was literally begging him. He closed his eyes and took some few seconds to about it, then finally nodded.

Carla jumped out from her chair to hug him and thank him, while Volga leaned toward Jamal to whisper at his ear " I'm a little bit lost, who is Amir and why are they looking so close? "

He patted her shoulder and made a sign that he would explain her later.

After that a man from Nelson's team came to inform him that they had finished transporting all the boxes inside. Nelson remembered that he didn't make his report to Jamal yet and so, after he thanked the man and told him that they could go enjoy the party, he turned to the three people around him to tell them what they had found.

He firstly started by clarifying that they didn't find any hostages in the both houses but on the contrary they were still some few outlaws remaining. He estimated that they didn't need any prisoners so he decided to just kill them, Jamal didn't make any remarks. He also said that besides that they found many dead bodies.

" Were they recent? " Jamal asked him.

" They haven't started yet their decomposition so I think yes ". He responded.

" What does it mean? " Carla wanted to know.

" That means that they were about to attack this bas.e.m.e.nt to look for other toys to play with " Volga said, " it is really hopeful that we came in time before it happened ".

Nelson nodded and carried on. He said that he had collected all their weapons as well as their munitions. And in the end, he had also found a large reserve of food, jewelries and other useful goods and he transported all of them.

" You did a good job " Jamal praised him.

" What will we do with all that? " he asked as he knew that he already had a plan.

" First of all we will divide them " he said. " Starting by the weapons and the munitions, two equal parts and one small part; the first part we will give them to our wounded soldiers and those who want to quit fighting, they will transport them to Stainfall "

" How many wounded do we have? " Nelson asked to Volga who said " no more than five in total but their lives are not danger and looking at the mood of the other soldiers I think no one will choose to flee so we're expecting only one car to go back to Stainfall ".

" What is quite optimistic " Jamal commented, he carried on with his explanations " the other large part we will take it with us for the next city while the small part the Palet's citizens will keep them. It may be true that we have eliminated all the enemies but... "

"... you don't want to take any risk " Volga finished for him.

" Yeah that's right " he chuckled. " Concerning the goods and the jewelries, we will send them all to Stainfall, as for sure there are many people who would need them, if Glenn wants to keep a certain part we will gladly offer them to him ".

Carla raised timidly her hand and after they gave her the talk she said " I think we should look if there are some medicines or other pharmaceutical products to keep them for when we would go for the next city, they may have people who would need them ".

They all nodded, " it's a good idea " Nelson said " let's do like that, it's true that we have found many pharmaceutical stuffs which will be very useful. "

" Well, and in last, for the food, I think we should keep it all, both here and Stainfall are completely auto sufficient, they don't lack food but we don't know if the next city does. do you all agree? " Jamal asked them and they all nodded. " Alright I will personally discuss about these decisions later with Glenn ", he picked a mini cake from a plate and put it in his mouth, " where is Sania? " he asked Nelson " weren't you supposed to be together? "

" Well, she must be somewhere trying to seduce Glenn " he responded.

Carla stood up, to look above the crowd pointed toward the feet of the stairs at the entrance of the house " she is there with him " she informed them ".

They all stood up to look at the direction indicated. They saw Sania talking to him while holding Glenn's hand and standing so close to him that his embarrassment was detectable at more than 5 meters.

" Who is the woman who is going the stairs so furiously? " Nelson asked while pointing his finger.

" It is Ilya, I think " Volga replied " one of the Palet's citizens, she was in Jamal's team during the mission "

Jamal quickly left the table and started walking very fast toward the stairs. " Where are you going? " Volga shouted at him.

" Hurry up and follow me if you want to see something interesting " he just replied. They didn't discuss and they quickly caught up with him and together the four of them ran across the court to go stop at a reasonable distance from Glenn and Sania, hidden by the numerous people who were celebrating around them.

They could hear her trying to convince him to be with her, that she could make him very happy and many other arguments. " What are we doing here? " Volga asked Jamal one more time.

He put a finger on his mouth and said " silence, all of you and Sania may not know but actually, Glenn is already married. "

" What? " they all simultaneously shouted. " Shut up and look " he told them.

•••

" Why are you so shy with me, am I not enough attractive for you? " Sania said.

" It's not that... " Glenn responded while trying to move away from her as kindly as possible.

" So why don't you just say yes and kiss me? " she insisted.

" Maybe because he just does not want you " a woman shouted above them. " Who are you first of all? " Sania said to this woman who was going down the stairs toward them.

Ilya reached them, she took Glenn's hand and released it from Sania, she pushed her away while held it tightly, " I'm his wife and I'm not letting you bother him anymore ". Glenn stared at Ilya's face with admiration, the one who always refusing to assume publicly their relationship was now announcing it in front of everybody.

" You are what? " Sania asked as if she didn't hear well.

Glenn put a hand inside the pocket of his jacket, he took out two rings and passed one around his finger and the second one around Ilya's finger. " Yes, as she said, this woman here is my wife ". Down in the court the euphoria explode accompanying it with thunderous applause, people were shouting, were whistling and were congratulating them. A little ahead from the crowd, Ilya could see Jamal looking at her with eyes full of pride.

People reached Glenn and her, lifted them up, held them up and walked them all around the house, while Sania was running up the stairs to rush inside the house, upset. Without saying anything Nelson ran upstairs to follow her while leaving Jamal, Volga and Carla all alone.

" Woah, that was... spectacular " Volga said to break the silence, she glanced at Jamal who replied " it was looking like the end of romantic comedy ".