The Red Nights

All around him Jamal could hear the cheers of the people who had been his allies during the last few days, battle after battle they had been putting their lives in the line for the sake of those who were not capable of protecting themselves. every one of them probably lost a friend or someone dear during those wars and Jamal understood that euphoria, they couldn't contain themselves they had the conviction then that their sacrifices were not a waste.

Jamal looked up at the sky whose brightness, due to the sunrise, was one of the biggest proof that showed that indeed they survived another.

The dawn which symbolized their victory.

" Let me help you putting her in the car " Volga proposed to Jamal while he was carrying the exhausted Natasha.

" Thank you," he said as he was handing her the girl on his arms.

" Don't say it " Volga replied while she was laying Natasha on the back seats of the convertible, she closed the car door and said, " it's the least I can do since I wasn't of any help in this last battle, though I'm supposed to be the captain of this army ".

" What are you talking about? You really helped us by coordinating the support of the army, you have been covering our backs since that long and even stopped the outlaws to flee " he explained to her while observing people as they were leaving the buildings to come back to the vehicles, he looked at her " and as I told you you wouldn't have been able to deal with such fight, you saw it with your own eyes they were stronger and faster than normal humans, that's why we needed people like Natasha and Carla, who are as strong as them and maybe even more, to exterminate them ".

" I still can't believe this story of superpowers and stuffs " Volga admitted while shaking her head and glancing at Carla, who was next to Jamal, the young woman bowed her head as she was blushing of embarrassment. Volga suddenly frowned as if just remember something, she gazed at Jamal " how have you managed to be so helpful in the battlefield if normal humans are useless against them? "

Instead of responding by using words Jamal just smiled and Volga sighed " OK, I got it, no need to repeat it again, due to the special training you've received you're not you're no more an ordinary man ".

" I'm curious, which kind of training would increase your physical abilities until reaching this level of mine? " Carla wondered.

" I won't say that I'm actually as strong or as fast as you are " he replied, he glance at the two women who were deeply staring at him as to press him to continue his explanation, " at the first sight it may look like I have physical abilities far beyond the normal, just like you, but that's not true... not totally. In fact, compared to the standards of the military forces I'm indeed stronger and faster but still not as high above the normal as Carla and Natasha are ".

" But how do you explain- "

" That I can fight like them? " Jamal said after he guessed what Volga was about to ask, " the answer is my fighting skills. My techniques and experience are making me a powerful fighter even without an extraordinary power. It's as simple as that ".

The both women glanced at each other like if it was not so easy to believe, and Jamal could feel it when Volga asked him " you mean... that you are capable of doing all those amazing performances thanks only to your own talent? " Jamal nodded with a large smile without considering that it might seem less credible, " are you kidding me? Are you supposing that even I can reach such level just by training as hard as you? ".

He chuckled while answering " you may give a try but only if you are ready to sacrifice a large amount of your time and having the conviction that you will never give up ".

" How many years did you undergo that special training to attain that level of yours? " Volga asked out of curiosity.

" You want to know? " he paused " practically all my life ".

They were shocked, no one could speak a word until one of their comrades came to ask if they could start to leave the zone. Volga shook her head to recollect her thoughts and give her instructions, " tell Nelson that he and his team should stay to amass the bodies of our enemies and burn them, we don't want to take any risk. The rest of you can go, I seem to have seen Brad somewhere, go ask him and he will guide you to the main city ". The soldier nodded stiffly before he moved to go execute her orders.

" I plan to spend the rest of my life with Don so I'm not ready to sacrifice even half of it but what would be interesting to know is if you go to train these girls, who are already enhanced in their abilities, what kind of super-warriors would they become? " as she was talking Volga was staring at Carla as if she was expecting to change somehow.

Jamal walked silently to the car door and peeked at Natasha who was quietly sleeping inside, he then said " look " while pointing to the where the bodies of the hundreds of undead were being taken away, " do you think how many of them Natasha has taken down before we arrived? "

Carla and Volga both took a look back, they were many of them still lying lifeless on the ground, they pondered for a short moment before they gave the same answer " the one third ". " I think it's quite similar to the number I got ".

" Would you believe me if I tell that actually, she has killed half of them and maybe even more? " Jamal said after hearing their estimations.

" For real? " they both cried out

" You may not have noticed since it was dark when we arrived but I paid close attention to it and there is no doubt, the half of them were eliminated by her. Moreover, didn't wonder why such a very great number of enemies focused on only one foe and didn't even try to invade the main city? " they stayed silent as to wait for him to give them the answer, " she had been fighting while holding them to leave this place ".

Hearing that the two women couldn't help but think about what Natasha required to carry out such task " concentration, strength, an extraordinary speed, sharp reflexes, high capacity of analyze but most importantly, techniques. Without the help of great skills, she would have died on the way ".

Volga abruptly turned her head to stare at Natasha, " that girl... don't tell me... ".

" That's right " Jamal confirmed " with the adequate training each of these girls can become an entire and an unstoppable army. She still lacks experience in controlling the energy she uses during a combat, her style of combat is too emotional therefore her stamina is her greatest weakness otherwise she wouldn't have needed our help to deal with that army of outlaws in the first place ".

For a moment there was a long silence where no one didn't know what to after such revelation, Carla couldn't help wondering about the large gap between her and Natasha, though she could somehow understand that since she had been trained by Jamal himself since quite a long while she guessed but she still was not able to get rid of that sentiment of failure in her heart.

Jamal didn't take long to figure out what she was thinking and he decided to take the lead, " do you want it? That kind of power? " she asked her straightforwardly.

She raised her head and fixed her eyes on his, she didn't expect him to make such an offer and either didn't plan to ignore it, she clenched her fists and responded " yes, I want to be as strong as her and even more ".

" And what will you do with that power? "

" To protect the people who are dear to me and to repay to the one who had offered me the chance to continue living " she answered without an ounce of doubt in her eyes as she was waiting for that question.

" Are you two trying to remake a scene of an action movie? " Volga commented, with a more serious expression she interrogated him " what are you trying to accomplish by transforming them into invincible warriors? "

" If I wanted to respond that the best answer I could give would be because I don't want to see anyone being scared of the night anymore," he confessed.

Minutes later Sania came to them and announced covered by sweat and soot, " we're done " she paused to breathe, " we have finished cleaning, all the bodies of those monsters have been reduced into ashes. I hope that with that we finally be forgiven and that you will stop giving us hellish punishments ".

Volga nodded and put her forefinger on her chin and fake acted like she was thinking " I don't know you have betrayed us after all that act deserve a harsh punishment ".

" Come on, we were being controlled and you know it very well " Sania replied trying to defend themselves.

" Nevertheless, you have tried to kill us and according to Jamal's analysis you weren't exactly been controlled but it was your d.e.s.i.r.es have been boosted what means that somewhere inside you have always wanted to kill me, " Volga said while playing the innocent.

" I won't deny that here now I do have the d.e.s.i.r.e to kill you " Sania mumbled irritated.

" Excuse me you said what? "

" Nothing ma'am, just waiting for your instructions " she quickly corrected herself.

" Alright, go tell the others that it's time to go, no need to waste any single more second in here " Volga ordered.

" Got it, and if you permit I would want to give you an advice, you better not be close to Jamal too much when we would arrive if you don't want to taste the wrath of a lioness protecting her territory. See you " Sania hastily said while taking a quick glance at Jamal.

" Wait! what do you mean-?" Volga tried to know but she had already run away. She turned to Jamal and, with her eyes, asked him for some more clarification, the latter just shrugged and walked away as if he wanted to purposely ignore the subject.

They got on their cars and the rest of the army were soon on their way to return to the main city of Stainfall. The cortege of cars was moving quickly, it could be felt that those people couldn't wait to arrive and meet all their relatives and friends they had left to carry out their missions. Many of them thought to never make it alive and even less to see them again, even Volga who was acting calm in her car was for sure one of the people who were the most looking forward it. The way she was holding the steering wheel and how she was driving fast Jamal and Carla understood that she couldn't bear it anymore and want to see her beloved Donald immediately.

They arrived in no time and were welcomed by the cheers, the smiles and the joy of all the citizens. Confettis were flying here and there and drums could be heard resonating in a very rhythmic way all around them. " We are being welcomed like heroes " that was the only thing the people in the vehicles could think at that precise moment. Once they got down from their cars load of people ran to come greeting them, people would stand on the toes and elevated their heads looking for their friends or families while others were already hugging each other and chatting happily.

Seeing all that happiness around him Jamal could hardly feel more glad and proud, it was that kind of moments he likes the most because it was only then that he could find the answer he's asking himself every morning when he opened his eyes " why am I doing this? " he smiled and laughed " because I want to see every people being happy ".

Volga grabbed his sleeve and was looking hurriedly around her a bit stressed. " Where is he? Where is he? " she didn't stop mumbling.

" Jamal! Jamal! " a female voice was screaming, he moved his head abruptly and started to run his sight all over the place, he soon caught a glance of the woman he was deeply in love with running towards him. He couldn't remember the last he had seen her running like that. Without stopping or even diminishing her speed she threw herself into his arms, she passed hers around his neck and rolled her legs around his waist while holding him tight. " I missed you," she said on his ear and before he could respond to her she stuck her tongue inside his mouth, offering that passion she had been holding back since he left.

Then Jamal put her down to stare at her beautiful figure but then her sight moved unexpectedly to Volga's hand holding Jamal's sleeve, once again before Jamal could react she exploded, " Oh! That's it! One week you left and you have already found yourself a side bitch?! Don't tell me she is the one I heard that day who was practically begging you to f.u.c.k her on the spot?! " assisting to the scene from a respectable distance Sania slowly and silently stepped back to hide behind Nelson, Lina glared at Volga and said " it's not in my habits to talk bad at people, I'm usually respectful but with what you have done let me tell you that you can- " before she could go further Jamal put a hand on her mouth and pulled her back suddenly a man appeared and held Volga on his arms, " hopefully you came back to me alive and in one piece " Donald said with an indescribable relief.

" We can get married now? " Volga suddenly asked him.

" At any time you want " he immediately responded before starting kissing her.

" Oh, she is the one you said you used to talk about? " Lina said with a much lower tone than before.

Don turned his head and said, " miss Lina, I see that you have already met my beloved fiancee, hope you got along well ".

" Yeah, sure " she replied with a not credible voice, she looked at Volga and seemed to apologise even though she didn't pronounce a single word, the latter smiled and nodded as to say that it was alright.

" Now that you have finished with your touching reunion can you tell me where should I carry her to have some rest? " Carla stepped forward and asked, she was carrying in her arms Natasha who was still sleeping her wooden sword on her c.h.e.s.t.

" Nat'! She must be exhausted due to the fight " Lina observed, " please carry her and follow me I know where. And by the way, you can all follow me and have a rest too, you must also be tired and the party of welcoming is not ready to start yet " she invited the small group to leave the crowd.