Soldier of Time

XXXIX: The New Nation (1)

A man in a suit was walking through the corridors that connected the rooms of a large warehouse. The man checked his phone and tried to contact one of his new assistants, but could not do it. Upon entering one of the rooms, he saw a young woman lying on a stretcher with her leg bandaged while a man sitting next to her held her hand.

“How are you?” The newcomer asked before the surprised look of the youngsters, his question was directed to Esteban, but it was Sharon who answered.

“I’m fine, Mr. Steven,” the young woman said as she forced out a smile on her face. Nevertheless, it was clear that she was not really fine with the way she was trying to sit down with great difficulty.

Sharon bitterly smiled before she released a helpless sigh and said, “But… I am somewhat frustrated at having failed him.”

The man saw her directly and smiled at that answer. He knew that this mission would be an imminent defeat. Invading the Visionary’s field was not intelligent, but Hanibal had decided to carry out that task. It was not surprising. He always did whatever he wants after all.

“Don’t worry,” the man said, placing his hand on that girl’s knee. “We’re glad you came back.”

With those words, that man concentrated deeply and suddenly. There was a wave of magic in the air, and before she could speak, the young woman’s wound had completely healed fully. That recovery left the girl completely speechless.

When Steven opened his eyes and asked with a smile, “You’ve had a hard life, haven’t you?”

The girl looked at the man with curiosity and asking as she got up to check her wound. She smiled gratefully before asking, “What do you mean, boss?”

Steven checking his cell phone once more, said without giving the slightest importance.

“Two gunshot wounds. One at twelve and one at eighteen, and a stab in the abdomen when you were just a child, I’m surprised you’re still alive,” he replied casually, not even looking at her.

Sharon looked completely confused at Steven, who started to walk towards the door and motioned for them to follow him. The two youngsters walked cautiously behind that guy.

Sharon still couldn’t believe the ease with which her leg healed.

While they walked, Esteban approached his girlfriend a little.

 “How did he know all the injuries you’ve had?” Esteban then asked with a whisper while looking at her with concern.

The girl shrugged when Steven opened another door, and they entered a different room. This one was much larger than the previous one, and there were several sofas scattered all over the place and large windows illuminating the whole room. Of all the places in that winery, that was the only one that gave the impression of being one.

There were two huge boxes neatly arranged to one side of a small office and several tables scattered randomly around the place. In the middle of the room, a young blond man sat in the middle of a table while he calmly chatted with a red-haired girl.

“You have been doing very well, Ruby, soon. It will be time to meet the Deer.”

The girl nodded and smiled when the entrance of the newcomers caught her attention. Hanibal saw them and the boys stopped at the door observing that image.

The young Sharon squeezed her boyfriend’s wrist tightly, and Esteban, seeing her, saw an image of absolute terror on her face. He frowned but said nothing.

“Come in,” Steven casually said as he continued to make calls from his phone.

The young people entered and looked at the entire group observing them with curiosity.

From the floor, completely lying down, a smiling man said, “Girl, you are very hot!” Just as he said that, he surveyed Sharon from head to foot, with unmasked want.

When Esteban saw this, he smiled, which denoted more anger than joy. He then grabbed his revolver and while looking at that guy coldly.

Esteban cleared his throat and said, “What did you say, buddy...? I think I did not hear well!”

“I think you heard perfectly, Ape—” The other man was about to smugly reply when Esteban pointed his revolver at the man on the ground.

“You must wish for a bullet, mad dog!” Esteban yelled coldly.

The man on the ground got up. He laughed before looking at Esteban with a challenging smirk and said, “Come and show me.”

Esteban, without thinking, pulled the trigger, only for the bullet to go through the body of that subject without causing any damage.

The frantic man started laughing as he walked towards Esteban when he heard a woman’s voice say, “Mike, Enough!”

Mike looked at the young woman who ordered him to stop. She was a slender woman with a great body, long black hair, and a look of authority that was difficult to ignore.

“Calm down, Caroline... I just wanted to see how he reacted.”

Said the fellow moving away and lying down once more. Esteban’s hand, which was still holding his weapon, felt the delicate touch of Sharon when he said it, “Calm down, and it’s nothing...”

The youngsters looked at all the others who were not fazed one bit by the conflict that was about to form, and there Hanibal spoke.

“How energetic are all of you...”

The young man said as he got up and walked in the direction of the newcomers, “My name is Hanibal.”

Just as he said that he offered a hand to Sharon that she took with great measure.

Esteban took the hand that Hanibal offered him firmly, and this continued, “Only you two came back.”

Hanibal said, but his tone didn’t seem like a question. Esteban said with some nervousness, “We face him first, boss.”

Hanibal looked at the man seriously, and then standing in front of him, he then asked curiously, “And how was it?”

Esteban looked at Sharon as if asking permission to continue, and she nodded and granted it.

“He was like a being from another planet. We were nothing for him...”

Hanibal held Esteban’s gaze for long seconds, and the young man was sweating in the presence of the murderer.

Until finally Hanibal smiled, before releasing a full-blown laugh.

“That damn Deer,” Hanibal said as if it was not surprising, and he was entertained by it. With that, he turned around and said, “Don’t worry guys, the fact that you’re alive says a lot about you.”

At that moment, Sharon said, “We did not do anything. He didn’t kill us because he didn’t want to.”

“That sounds very like the Deer,” Steven said that then he returned calmly. He looked at Hanibal and then added, “Loss tally Hanibal, Rocco died, Amber killed him. Rita was captured, and the Visionary has Stephanie and Reggie.”

The man looked at his friend and said, “You say it like they’re lost.”

Steven’s eyes narrowed while looking at him. He then replied unhappily, “They are Hanibal, you have to stop playing with that guy, or he will cause us a lot of trouble.”

“Don’t worry, Steve. Nothing will happen. He is under control,” Hanibal said, facing Sharon. “Welcome, we are the fan club of The Deer.”

After saying that, he started pointing at his men as he said, “That black-haired guy is Jack. He’ll be a big guy, you’ll see. She, the one with short hair, is Gia, she has a lot of drive, the beautiful woman in the dress is Carolina, a very powerful mind in the team, and my favorite is this little girl.”

The man said as he hugged the young redhead, “This is Ruby, our trump card.”

Suddenly and Mike, who was now standing right in front of Esteban, said, “I am Mike.”

And with irony, he offered his hand to Esteban. The boy stared at him and very seriously and said expressionlessly, “Mike, you are provoking a calamity on yourself.”

Sharon took Esteban’s hand and pulled him towards her to see his eyes, and said softly, “Don’t do stupid things.”

And Esteban smiled broadly. His eyes were looking at her warmly as he assured, “Don’t worry. I won’t do anything you don’t want.”

The scene caught the attention of Steven, who, staring at Esteban, asked, “What can you do?”

“Me? I can unleash calamities...”

Hanibal looked at the young man calmly and, placing a hand on his shoulder, said, “That sounds very interesting….”

***

Karen came out of the hot shower. Bathing was difficult in her state, but the hot water gave her a feeling of comfort that she did not want to change.

When she came out, she saw Nicol standing in the room waiting for her next to her on the bed. The clothes that the Lieutenant had chosen were ready. Karen thought how sad she was to need someone’s help her get dressed, but it would be impossible to do it on her own.

Nicol looked at the body of her officer in command as she removed the towel. Karen’s naked body showed bruises on all sides, especially one on the rib that covered a large part of her abdomen. The girl was full of dark areas on her body because of the blows. Looking at her that way was painful.

When the young woman put on her underwear, the Lieutenant held on to Nicol’s shoulder so that she could put on the pants, and then she told the girl to take the T-shirt and place it on her head. Raising her arms was a horrible move.

The last thing to put on was her boots, and the young Lieutenant stood with difficulty in front of the mirror, and what she saw saddened her.