The Red Nights

When Andre slowly opened his eyes his vision was blurry, he narrowed his eyes trying to see more clearly, and gradually, shapes of people started to form above him. It took him many seconds to completely conceive and recognize who they were.

Carla and Jamal were sitting at each side, looking down at him and they seemed to tell him something but he couldn't grasp what they were saying, all he could hear was fuzzy sounds.

They helped him to sit up and only then he started to understand what they were arguing about, "... but come on, Carla, did you really have to go this far, you could have controlled your strength a little bit " Jamal seemed to scold her, he turned on the side took a bottle of water, he opened and placed on Andre's lips and helped him to drink.

" I did, I swear " Carla tried to defend herself in a tone which seemed more embarrassed than annoyed, " it's just that during the match he seemed strong so I thought he could take it ".

When he heard that he immediately remembered the last moments of the match when he tried to take her on a hand to hand fight and got knocked out a few seconds later by a hit he didn't even see. He bowed the head while his expression became gloomy, " I... ".

" Can you stand? " he lifted his head and looked up at Jamal reaching out to him, Andre grabbed his arm and as he was standing up he started to feel how exhausted his body was at that moment.

Suddenly, a weird noise reached his ear, he abruptly turned around as he understood that it was the acclamation of the spectators, during the duel he was so focused on his task that he didn't have paid much attention to the ambiance and the climate of the public around him, only then he was noticing their claps, cheers, and encouragement.

" I thought they were already too fired up throughout the match but they didn't stop applauding and acclaiming your name all the time you were unconscious, " Jamal told him as he was staring at the bleachers.

" How long have I been unconscious? " he asked him without moving his sight.

" Around ten minutes, " he answered, he leaned to his ear and said " they seem to like you particularly, you must have given them a great show. Carla has been muttering her jealousness all that time we were trying to wake you up " he added while glancing at the woman with a teasing smile.

" I wasn't jealous... I was just wondering why the one who has won the match didn't get a slight sign of recognition " she justified while trying to look as indifferent to that acclamation as she could.

" But I didn't do anything special so why... " the rest of Andre's words couldn't come out as he was too confused to think right.

" It may not be your performance during that match that has particularly impressed them but rather your attitude or I would say the energy you deployed " Jamal replied to him after he guessed what he was thinking about, " remember in the first moments of the match everyone was put in a deep silence after witnessing Carla's astonishing abilities, I guess they were scared what is just natural. But after watching you facing her fearlessly and vigorously they got caught by the passion and here the results ". He patted his shoulder and told him, " for the moment don't mind too much about the outcome of the duel, just remember you did a great job ", the young man looked like he had something more important to ask him but he was hesitant, however, Jamal already knew what he wanted to say, " we will see about the details later, we have now an issue more important we have to deal with ".

He didn't know what issue he was referring to but he anyway, nodded and he walked out of the field to go have some rest still under the cheers and the claps of the spectators.

...

" You, too, did an amazing job " Jamal congratulated Carla, he gave her one of his most reassuring smiles before he said, " you can relax now, we will take of the rest ".

She looked reluctant to leave but Jamal's smile made her unable to insist, " what will you do? " she, anyway, asked as she was too curious.

" Go have a seat and you will discover everything at the same time as everybody " Lina came from the back and surprised her, she clung to Jamal's right arm while holding a microphone and with her free hand she made signs at Carla to go away, " go go, it's our time now to do our part of the job ".

" OK... good luck " she finally said timidly, she turned around and jogged to the bench where Andre was sitting.

" So how do you feel it, dear? " Lina asked Jamal while handing him the microphone. The latter gazed up at the spectators as they were chatting and laughing happily with each other, he sighed before taking the microphone and he said " well, they already seem pretty enthusiastic so I guess it's a good sign ".

" I hope so " she replied before stepping back to let him some space to do his speech.

" Hey everyone! How did you like the match? " he started by taking the temperature of the public and they were receptive as they replied with a huge shouting. " What about our little challenger Andre? " they once again shouted with the same enthusiasm, " I see, I see, it looks like you came to really like him. And what about our champion, Carla? " this time, the answer was less enthusiastic almost timid, as he has guessed even though the match ended up raising up their excitation they were still quite nervous when it came to Carla's powers.

" Maybe some of you don't know but Carla along with Natasha is the ones who were in the frontline to protect our city from the surprise attack we almost went through, a few days ago " he started to explain them in order to get rid of the fear of the women, " it's in part thanks to the special capacities you have witnessed earlier that she has been able to defend us ".

On the bleachers, a brouhaha raised up, the spectators were chatting with each other which, Jamal thought, was a good sign, [ since they take time to give a thought that means there is a chance to reason them ] he reassured himself.

" I understand that it may afraid you somehow but what I'm asking you is to be comprehensive concerning the situation we are actually in " he glanced at the side where his lover was standing and the latter nodded at him as if to give him her approval. " The truth is that we have great chances to believe that a similar attack will befall on us soon and to protect the city we would need the power of these women... and people whose strength can compete with theirs, just as you observed in the match with Andre ".

This time the chatters became even more intense, almost causing a sense of panic. Jamal thought he had to quickly calm down the situation it turned into an uproar. When he brought up the microphone close to his mouth and was about to talk Lina unexpectedly took it from his hand and screamed on it " silence! " when she successfully calmed them and drew the attention on her she added " before you start to panic open your ears and listen. What we are trying to tell you is that we have a plan to protect everybody but for that, we need the cooperation of all you ".

" Until here, Jamal has been alone facing our enemies in order to protect us but this time... it won't enough, the enemies are coming numerous and stronger than before, hopefully, we have been blessed with two women who possess extraordinary capacities but once here too, their powers won't be sufficient to stop them, you have to contribute too ".

She then gave back the microphone to Jamal and went to stand behind him. He took a quick glance at Lina before he cleared his throat and gave his instructions, " these few days the city hall has been working hard to put back in function many jobs and we are truly grateful for your collaboration, and we are asking to continue your hard work. The next step is that in each field of work, we will assign you a task to do and the purpose of that is to prepare for the battle by reinforcing the security of the city. The stronger the city will be the easier it will be for us, fighters, to defend it ".

After he stopped talking there was a moment of silence which, though it was short, seemed to last for a very long time for Jamal. Lina knew that trait of his personality that he normally felt uncomfortable asking for help to other people like this and the very rare time it happens he would feel uneasy while doing his best to look relaxed. She wanted to reach his hand and hold it tight but she knew that she had to keep her composure.

" I will do my best to help, I swear to do my part to protect everyone " a reliable voice shouted from the bleachers, Brad was the first person to stand up to shout out his determination. Jamal smiled uncontrollably as he was happy that such a devoted person was there in the public.

Afterward, things escalated really quickly, one after another people stood up to shout their resolution and in no time the enthusiasm came back to the stadium.

Sometimes, it takes only one courageous action to bring down the walls of fear holding people to walk forth and progress.

Jamal knew that the majority of them were still scared and had their doubts but it didn't matter for the moment, the general euphoria gave them the courage to take action and he believed that they would do their best to carry out the jobs they would be given.

" Thank you, thank you " Jamal felt like a burden got off from his heart, though he was still worried about the new upcoming battle he couldn't help feeling relaxed by the fact that the first step to build the defense of the city would be carried out without a problem, " by tomorrow a delegation from the city hall will visit each field of work to attribute the tasks, this way our plan will be executed as fast as possible ".

Hand in hand, together, Jamal and Lina walked out of the field and the spectators automatically understood that they could dispose so they started to leave the stadium bringing with them the same positive energy they had during the match.

In front of the tunnel where normally the players would pass to leave the field Carla was standing there waiting for them so excited that she seemed to have a hard time containing herself. She waited until they were enough close before releasing everything, " oh my, oh my, I was so stressed that hands started sweating I didn't even know that I could sweat from the hands no well I knew but it so rarely happens that I almost forgot I can't say which was the most stressful when they were silent or when they started panicking and when Lina took the mic to calm them all... ooohhh that was so cool I hope I can become such charismatic one day and also- "

" Alright, I think we understand " Lina finally stopped her, she put her hands on her both shoulders, " you are happy it's all turned out pretty well, right?" she tried to summarize.

The young woman nodded with a large smile " I can't wait to go tell everything to Natasha " she declared before she turned around and walked out.

Jamal and Lina looked at each other and started to laugh as they couldn't know what to say about what just happened. Only after they noticed Andre who was timidly waiting on the side, Carla had so well caught their attention that it was like he just appeared.

He walked toward them with short steps as if he was scared to approach them, he stayed a few seconds silent while looking down as if he was hesitant to ask something. Jamal got the message and before he could find the strength to talk Jamal patted friendly his shoulder and told him " go home, take a bath, eat something and come back to see me at Natasha's house in one hour, okay? "

Andre gazed at him still quiet, he seemed somehow disappointed but he anyway nodded to say he agreed, and then he left. Lina held Jamal's hand tighter as they were staring at the boy while he was walking away.

" Jamal, Lina... " Brad came by the side, he bent over while panting as if he has just finished a 100m run.

" Oh the man of the day, come here so I can hug you " Lina shouted excited after she turned her head and saw him, she ran towards to take him in her arms, " remember me to give you an augmentation of salary tomorrow in the office ".

He blushed as he felt quite embarrassed by her praise, " I just came to tell you that you can go back already, my guys, and I will stay to remove the planks and clean all the field " he told Jamal.

The latter gazed at it and an idea suddenly popped up, he replied to Brad, " no, no need. Do not remove the planks, leave them, I may still have need of this paintball field soon ".

Brad, at his usual, didn't question him to know further about he's planning to do, he just agreed before " so I will tell the guys to simply clean the field " he waited to get Jamal's approbation before turning around and running in the direction of where he came from.

" What did you do to him to make him such a loyal and devoted person? " Lina interrogated Jamal as she still couldn't explain Brad's genuine personality.

" I already told you, I didn't do anything special " he replied before they left the field.

Outside the stadium, more precisely in the parking, they saw Carla standing the back facing them and she seemed to discuss with someone. They came closer and they saw Natasha and Matteo, the latter looked particularly tired as he had one arm around Natasha's shoulders while she was holding him from the waist as if to prevent him from falling on the ground.

Jamal was so happy and he could barely contain himself to not run towards him to take him in his arms, but Lina didn't have that problem, she ran towards them and did not hold back when she hugged him, the boy didn't have the strength to resist so he just let her do. Jamal waited for her to put him down back before he went to friendly mess his hair while smiling at him proudly.

" Let's go back home, you have many things to tell us," he told him, then the five of them left together.