The Red Nights

In the car, the ambiance very awkward. Since they left the HQ no one spoke a single word. Sania was leaning her head on the window-pane of the car, bored. Nelson had his arms crossed on his c.h.e.s.t, he was shaking his leg up and down impatiently while glancing at Sania times to times. Carla, who was sitting just between them, was feeling quite uncomfortable, she would, sometimes, stare at Jamal and Volga in front hoping that they would do something about that embarrassing situation but they did nothing. They both seemed to be deep in a soundless conversation as, without saying a word, they were exchanging some weird eye contacts and nodding discreetly to each other.

Carla was definitely not a telepath but she somehow managed to get a clue about their discussion. At her expression, she guessed that Volga was worried about something and so Jamal was trying to comfort her. Although it was not clear Carla could understand that it was about something important. [ I better don't ask to many questions concerning that ] she said to herself.

At a moment she got sick of that silence and decided that, instead of waiting for them to make a move, she could just do it herself, [ since they accepted to participate in such an important mission that means that I'm no more a simple soldier among so many others ] she said to encourage herself, [ it's practically a promotion, so it's okay for me to be a little bold... I guess ].

She cleared her throat, she leaned toward Jamal and said, loud enough for everyone to hear, " are you sure we're gonna be okay in this mission? "

It was the first thing which came at her mind when she opened her mouth and even Volga looked surprised, but Jamal as usual remained calm, he would glance back at her two times before giving her an answer. " Why makes you say that? "

Everyone landed their eyes on her what made her feel some kind of pressure, it was not the first time she made a remark to her superior under the sights of many people so she should normally not feel so stressed here, but at the same time she understood that the two situations were not alike because in the former case she would be surrounded by her comrades of the army when she dared speak and even though she would be the center of the attention she would not feel stressed because they were all her friends, it would just feel like raising her hand in class while all her friends stared at her.

However she somehow managed to stay cool and not shake too much, " hum... I think in a mission like this one, where we will go in a enemy territory with only the five of us and not forgetting that they are susceptible to be everywhere... we should be more prepared instead of just jumping in... don't you think? "

" You're saying that we are not enough prepared? " Jamal said as if he was wondering the meaning of that sentence.

Carla shook her head, " I'm saying that we're not prepared at all. And it's not the only problem, take a look at us " she said while showing the people around her " I don't want to disrespect anyone but you're acting like high school kids. At this point we are not a team which is going into a mission but just fools who are going straight to their death. "

Sania released a long sigh as if she didn't care at all, Nelson continued to stare down the floor while Jamal and Volga started to look again at each other suspiciously, then Carla exclaimed " you see! that's exactly what I was saying ".

" Can someone just shut up her mouth up? " Sania said while staring at the outside, " you have just get accepted to do one mission with and you think that you are important enough to give us advice. Know your place ".

" Thank you but you're not helping " Volga replied to Sania's comment, she turned her head to look at Carla, she wore a sweet smile " if you're referring to the little personal conflicts between us, that you are afraid it may cause trouble in our mission, I can tell that it won't happen. I believe that they are enough professionals to put aside their differences and work together, so don't worry too much. "

Carla looked at her, silent, then moved her sight to Jamal who nodded at her and she said " alright if you say so. But what about our plan? How should we proceed once we get at our destination? "

" For that I'm confident that everyone knows what to do " she replied while glancing at Nelson then at Sania interrogatively, they both, one after another, nodded at her to confirm her statement.

Carla was surprised, she turned her head right and left as if she was waiting for one of them to explain something but they just ignored her. She finally turned to Volga and asked her timidly " did I miss something? ".

" No, you didn't miss anything " she chuckled while shaking her head negatively, " it's just that for this kind of mission, the role of each person is quite evident, we have done many times to localize the position of the enemies ".

Carla did not reply back but she just stared at her waiting for her to complete her explanation, but Volga could add something the car suddenly stopped. Jamal turned around to face her, with a smile he said " we will divide into pairs and inspect the whole area ".

" huh... what? "

•••

Everybody got out from the car and gathered at the back to collect their materials, Jamal saw Carla running toward him, she asked him in a low voice as she didn't want the others to hear her " please explain me ".

Jamal held himself to not laugh, he was surprised to how fast she had evolved. Usually, in presence of Jamal or any other captain she would just act as a simple soldier, saying what she had to say and quickly run off but recently he had noticed that since she had told him about her past it seemed like a load dropped out from her shoulder, she would express more and more her true personality even in front of someone like him who would have intimidated her few days ago. Maybe it was not obvious for everyone but Jamal noticed those changes very well.

" There is nothing to explain, we split into groups of two and each group will round and an assigned zone and will try to figure out where is the enemy " he said in one breath.

Carla frowned, " But in that case we will be completely exposed... "

" To the possible attacks of the enemy? " he cut her, " that's exactly what we want ".

His enigmatic smile pushed her to ponder about that, suddenly something sparkled in her eyes, she raised her head and looked at him, in one breath she said " the situation is that we can't afford wasting time by inspecting each house or building so by splitting into small groups we will give to our enemy the impression that we are easy preys in such way that it would be almost impossible to them to not attack us but by attacking us they will unintentionally reveal to us their positions, but most importantly, their number, is it right? "

" I see that you are quick as ever " Jamal said to praise her while patting her head, " you're reminding me a very dear friend of mine ".

She started blushing, she couldn't help but ask " the one friend you said is kinda like me ?" and he nodded affirmatively.

Few minutes later everyone was ready, Jamal walked in front of them " now that everybody is ready, I will assign the groups and the zones that have to be covered, each group will get a walkie-talkie and can ask for help in case the situation becomes out of control and we will also have to communicate every one hour to give a report on our evolution once we will get a precise location for the enemy we shall flee back to this checkpoint, get it ? ", they all nodded at him affirmatively, " alright, so the groups will be Carla and Volga, Nelson and Sania and finally me... alone ".

Carla raised her hand and asked " will you be OK all by yourself? I mean I understand the reason to form groups of two so that we cover our backs mutually but you... "

" He will " Nelson shouted before she could finish her sentence, he looked at him all serious and said " he is always okay all by himself ".

" You're right " he replied to him with the same serious tone, then turned his attention back to the little crowd, " don't forget that even though our goal is not to engage the fight we would have to somehow respond to their attacks to avoid making this goal too obvious. They will sooner or later figure out our reason to be here and will stop attacking us so you will have to provoke them and... "

" Yes, yes and yes " Sania said while shaking her hand lazily to show her boredom, " we already know all that, don't forget that it's not our first time doing this and for the rookie... " she pointed Carla with her thumb "... mama Volga will explain all those stuffs to her, so let's not waste any more time in discussions and let's just jump into it. "

Jamal looked at Volga and she nodded to him as to say " that's okay, let's do as she says ". Then he stared at everyone and finally gave the signal to go.

They ran few meters together before they split into their different groups each heading to its assigned zone.

•••