The Red Nights

•••

" Where is he? The meeting is about to begin " Volga asked someone but just like the four other guys she had asked before this one also responded that he didn't know. She sighed longingly as she really started to lose her cool, although that building was big she had practically inspected it in its whole, now she didn't know where else looking.

" You still couldn't find him? " someone shouted behind her. When she turned around she found Pam running toward her, once she reached her she bent while trying to catch her breath, [ she must have been looking for him on her side too ] Volga guessed, and the same time she started imagining how she would punish him for causing so much trouble to the people when he would catch him. " Does he have the habit to disappear like this? Maybe he is in danger, I should gather a team to... "

Volga laid her hands on her shoulders to stop her as she felt that she was about to start panicking, " keep calm, no need to go that far. He does have the habit to disappear like this but he will eventually end by coming back. Well let's do something, you will go find the other people and wait in the room we are supposed to hold the meeting and I promise he will be there on time, okay? "

Pam nodded and turned around to calmly walk on the direction she came from. " I better find him quickly. That idiot, always making people for nothing " she sighed again. She took her time to think where she didn't search and he probably is and she finally figured, " why didn't I think about it earlier? " she reprimanded herself before going on her way.

•••

On the roof of the building Jamal was sitting on the bal.u.s.trade, hanging his feet in the air while staring at the starless sky. Behind him, he heard the metal door leading to that quiet place being opened and closed, he didn't even have to concentrate on the footsteps to identify the person who was approaching him. " You have taken your time " he said without turning his head.

" Shut up, do you have an idea of how many hours I have been looking for you? Downstairs people are really worried " she started to scold him.

He pushed him backward, leaned on his hands to jump and landed on his feet. " I told you, you people are worrying so much for nothing ", Jamal noticed that she was not comfortable being outside in that dark night as she didn't stop glancing in all directions as if she was expecting to see something to appear from the dark, so he told, " let's get back inside the meeting is surely about to start that's why you were looking for me, weren't you? You will have all the time to scream at me later ", she looked at him and nodded, she seemed to have understood his intentions as she articulated a thank you without pronouncing it.

They quickly went down to third floor where the meeting was held in an enormous room big enough to contain Phil's entire army, there they found that people were quietly waiting what made him feel embarrassed. " I'm sorry for being late, I needed a moment alone to rearrange my thoughts " he quickly apologized, he went to sit on the place he had been attributed in front of everybody as if he was about to give a conference.

He didn't have to wait for the crowd to become silent as they were already calm so as soon as he sat on the chair he started his speech. " Hello everyone, no need to present as myself as you may all already know so I will start by the things you may not know so that we will economize some time " he paused, " Konny plans to attack you tomorrow morning ". The news caused some fuss in the room, people started commenting and exchanging their worries with each others, earlier Jamal had asked the people who were present in the cave to not divulge that information to not frighten them too early and to wait until the reunion therefore that reaction was quite normal and expected.

He clapped on his hands to bring the calm and he carried on " their number is estimated to be three times greater greater than yours and each member of that army is mentally controlled by her, I suppose that you're all aware of her quite strange power, aren't you? Great, her objective must be this one; to behead Phil Langston and take the control of her army ".

A wave of noise was heard, it seemed like they didn't want to lose their boss. That manifestation of affection seemed to have moved the latter as on contrary to earlier when he had firstly heard the news and started worrying, now he couldn't even hold his smile of satisfaction. Jamal let them express their indignation before he continued " alright, now let's analyze what that means. That means that the order she would give to her men would not be to kill the rebels but it would be to break through this place, find Phil and kill him at all cost " he paused and as expected most of them still couldn't get what he wanted to say, " in that case it means that it's not compulsory for you to fight them head on, in fact you don't even have to fight them but just give them the illusion that you do ".

They started to look at each others verifying if they have understood the same thing as it seemed quite confusing, a man bolder than the others raised his hand to ask " if I understand well, are you telling us to just let them break through our HQ without resisting too much? ". Jamal smiled before he answered " exactly ", people started releasing some exclamations as they were astonished by his plan and naturally he went on to explain it more in detail, " the point is that, there is no way you could win by fighting them face to face and even if we go on using some strategies to beat them the cost would be too high as many of you would lose their lives and there is no point to do something like that. The reason I came here is to save your lives not to sacrifice them ".

" But if they managed to make it until we still risk to lose our lives because we will be trapped in the building and there will be no way to escape " someone said.

" Who said that you have to stay here? " Jamal replied, " you have to consider the fact that Konny doesn't know that you're aware of her plan. For her I am dead and my two friends here... " he pointed Volga and Carla sitting in the first row in front of him "... are somewhere outside trying to survive the night. That means that you can abandon this place and hide somewhere else without any problem as I have told you you just have to give the illusion that you are here fighting them ".

They started nodded as things began to become clearer. Jamal stood up from his chair and declared " so here is the plan: we will split into two groups, tomorrow early in the morning the half of you or maybe more will leave the building to go hide in some different positions in the area and your job will consist to hold the progression of Konny's army as much as you can, no need to engage a real fight just to frighten them by attacking them times to times, don't hesitate to flee if you feel like you're in danger, if you play it well they will not try to chase you and therefore there will be no risk for you die there; the other half will stay here with me and Phil, you will position yourself in the highest levels of the building and will hold the rest of Konny's men as many as you can, she will somehow managed to enter in and then will be our mission " he said while looking at Phil " we will have to draw her attention on you so that those men of yours who will be upstairs will not be in danger, no need to worry about your life I can protect you, when you will be alone with her I will come to kill her " then he stopped to stare at them.

For a long moment the room was completely silent, meanwhile Jamal went to sit back on his chair. People were looking at each others, chatting, questioning themselves about that actually but the time passed and no one stood to protest and say a word against. Jamal together with Volga Pam and Carla had been plotting about it and until then it was the best plan they could come out with which could guarantee the safety of everyone.

In the end he stood up again and said " if no one has any objections we may stick with this plan " he paused and still no one opposed the decision, so he carried on " alright now it's time to decide about the configuration of the groups. We don't want to impose anything on anyone so it's up to you to decide in which do you want to belong but I may ask you to make it fair and equal in a way it will stick to the plan " he gave them to think about it and consult themselves before he said " So let's start, who want to belong to the first group who will stay outside? "

There were ten rows and eight columns of chairs, as if they had been planning since a moment the people who were sitting on the four columns, on Jamal's left, stood up to form the first group of soldiers who would stay outside while the other half who stayed still on their seats would constitute the second group.

Jamal smiled " so it's settled, thank you very much for your contribution ", his smile vanished for a moment as he was about to conclude, Volga looked at him and nodded as to say that he could go on " one more thing, I wanted to add that I have a favor to ask you, I know that it is something inappropriate to say and that you have enough pressure on your shoulders but as a leader I feel and I'm responsible of many people's lives, not only yours but also those of my comrades who are actually controlled by Konny. So my favor here is that tomorrow please restrain yourselves from killing, I have emphasized on this point that you don't have to engage the fight just to give the illusion that you are fighting and it's because I would want you to spare the lives of those people who have been accompanying me in this journey. They are just victims who are being controlled, so unless you encounter a situation of life or death please don't kill them, I'm sure they will be free at the moment I would kill Konny ".

He stopped talking waiting for their answer and their reaction was such that he couldn't have predicted it. One after another they stood up to applaud him, he didn't expect such reaction, those cheers really moved him, " thank you, thank you very much " he said to them with a hand on his c.h.e.s.t to show his gratefulness.

After that Phil ordered his men to have some sleep because they would have to wake early the next day. instead of going to the room he had been given, Jamal deviated and decided to return back to the roof. On his way he ran into Volga, she was leaning against a wall with her arms crossed as if she was waiting for him, " you are planning to go up staying alone outside in the darkness of the night again? " she asked him when he was about to pass her, she moved to go stand in front of him " what obsess you so much about being there? How? Why don't you have an ounce of fear after what happened that night? "

He plunged his eyes into hers, he quite understood what she was feeling. Since her young age she had been living a life being the most courageous person she had ever known, more than any other man, that attitude had led her to be most probably one of the best soldiers of her generation, she had been living her life knowing that she was more capable and brave than any other man. But that awful night had changed the life of every people, brave or not everyone who had assisted to it had gotten an indelible trace of it in their minds, even her. Since then, like everyone, she had been incapable to put a step outside in the night, she console herself knowing that not only her but every people were scared and that she was still the most brave but since she had met him she was no more sure about that.

" Why am I not fear of the night, huh? " he repeated, like he was wondering, " it's not like I'm obsessed about it, neither I'm trying to prove anything " he sighed " it's just that when I'm there it's easier for me to find answers to my queries and concerning why I'm not scared... I would want to ask you where were you during that catastrophe? "

She had a moment of hesitation but she managed to pull herself together and answer " I... I was outside in a park doing my nocturnal jogging ".

" So was I, like most of people we were on the first seats when it started, you saw it with your eyes. That night everyone had the same reaction, to flee and find somewhere safe to hide, but I didn't, while people around were running away I didn't, I stayed still where I was, alone " he paused, " I think it's greatly because of that I'm not afraid. I'm not saying that those people were all cowards in fact it's actually the opposite, instead of me, they fled because because they valued their own lives ".

Volga took the time to understand what he wanted to say, when came subject like that she would always take him seriously without trying to judge him, they understood each other that was why they were such close.

" So what you say is that you're not scared because you don't any consideration for your own life? Even though you have so many people who love you and are counting on you? " she asked a little confused.

" It's weird, isn't it? I have a family, friends and all what I need to be happy and I'm actually happy but I still don't attach myself to this happiness and this life " he chuckled while stroking the back of his head, " I have everything to lose but I'm not scared at all ".

She wondered and asked him " If you get trapped in a desperate situation when you don't see any way to survive what would you do? "

" I would still continue to fight " he answered straightaway " not because I'm scared of losing my life but because I still have responsibilities toward the people I love and I don't want to be a reason for them to be sad " he noticed that she was even more confused what amused him, he laughed and said " if you want to make it simple, I'm not scared of the night because I don't see any danger in it ".

" That doesn't help me much ", she sighed and said " alright let's go ".

Jamal gazed at her, surprised " what? You're coming with me? "

" I would not get it unless I see it by myself, so yes I'm coming with you, I'm confident that there I can find answers to my questions and at the same time get rid of my fear " she said with a smile.

" Alright so let's go " he said.

When they reached the roof Volga looked up at the starless sky, took a deep breath and laid her back on the floor she was still scared as it's impossible to get rid of one's fear so easily but it was less than before. Jamal imitated her, after long moment of silence she asked him " what do your family think about what you have told me? "

" Nothing " he confessed while slowly closing his eyes, " because they feel the same way ".