Soldier of Time

XXIV: One more month (1)

The darkness entered through the window of the Deer’s room, the young man looked in all directions, and the explosions and shots of the war became more and more prominent. He felt the terrible smell of gunpowder, blood, and burned flesh. That aroma saturated the air and took him back to a state that he did not want to return.

When he opened his eyes, he saw the room in the complex. He remembered what had happened and knew the consequences of that mistake—the brain of that woman scattered on the pavement. Without the least remorse or guilt, that man had condemned everyone to a war that would perhaps be much worse than the previous one.

Karen’s eyes that when she saw her sitting on the fountain reminded her of the eyes of many dead who continue to breathe, those who lost their lives but somehow preserved their existence, it was assumed that the Deer had been hired to prevent her and many others. They felt that loss, but not even that had been achieved.

Somewhat, he could hear, the heartbroken cry of a man who was protected in a room and the endless reproaches about the uselessness of a soldier who could not keep his word.

Slevin looked at the tears on the face of a girl who was no longer a soldier. Now she was just an abandoned girl who had to face the cruelty of a failure that would put everyone in mortal danger.

They were sitting in that room, and everything seemed calm as if what had happened the night before was just a bad dream, but in that silence, the Deer could hear some crying, and he perfectly knew who it belonged to.

His body straightened, and he felt the cold back of the chair where he was sitting on his naked back. In front of him, the briefcase with what was left of that soldier who existed for a while, his hands were holding the desk with such force that it seemed that It would break.

His breathing began to run wild, and his life passed in front of his eyes. Suddenly a voice that he remembered well spoke, he knew that it was only in his head because that person already belonged to the world of the dead, but his words were clear.

“Denying who you are will never be the answer. That will only bring suffering. Accept who you are, the good and the bad. And live with that to do what your heart dictates, or change it and fail.”

With that, he saw the briefcase on the desk in front of him, and his hands began to tremble, his skin prickled, and his heartbeat at a dizzying rate, the Deer closed his eyes to calm himself, but one bit unleashed his frustration, screaming with such force that his throat enclosed the act the Deer raised the table with enormous force and threw it with the briefcase and all until it hit the wall.

The scream was such that it resounded on the walls of the silent house, everyone could hear them, but everyone knew the cause. Karen, who was crying on the bathroom floor, heard it, and for the first time since she met him, she understood his frustration.

Another bit caught Slevin’s attention. This, sweaty and exhausted, looked for his phone with his eyes, only to see two messages from Amber.

The man took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he walked where he had thrown the table and took the drawing of the young woman who was now on the floor. He took it and sitting on the bed he opened the messages.

“How was everything? Are you still working?”

“When can you write to me? I’m worried.”

The Deer flopped down on the bed and wrote slowly, “I’ll go see you tomorrow. I’m fine?”

And with those words, he began to study the ceiling, thinking about what would come next until sleep dominated him.

The Deer was coming down the stairs in the mansion, the wounds from the night before constantly ached, but it was the pain of failure that continually plagued him. In the kitchen, Simon watched the news, hoping to find something about the night before.

“Did you find something?” Slevin asked as he entered the kitchen and saw his friend changing the channels on the television.

“They still don’t say anything,” the boy said, leaving the control on the table. “This is serious Deer, news like this should have been known since yesterday, as we still haven’t heard anything about the reprisals from Jericho.”

The Deer looked at Simon, and when he was about to answer, he heard a familiar voice behind him.

“Because we will not televise them...”

When the Deer turned around, he observed how assistant Chancellor Lucio entered the kitchen. With him came Jolanda and Karen, who had swollen eyes and several bruises from the car crash.

“But Jericho’s threats and demands were immediate,” Lucio said, placing himself in front of the television. “Things are very bad guys, terrible.”

The young people exchanged glances as they listened to Lucio’s words. Karen looked at the floor while the man continued speaking.

“This job was very important. I thought you guys could handle it, and I can’t believe that maniac got what he wanted.”

The youths remained silent, and the assistant continued, “Of course, not everything is your fault. It is also mine. I must have thought that he was a very big challenge for you.”

Karen, who seemed devastated by everything she had been through, constantly looked at the ground as she nervously intertwined her fingers. Jolanda put her hand on her shoulder, and the girl slowly raised her face to give her a smile.

Simon was sitting from where he was asked, “So what happens now? How did Jericho manifest itself?”

Lucio opened the refrigerator, and inside, he took a jug of orange juice, then pouring himself a glass, he said, “Well, what more are they going to want. They want the head of the guy who caused all this. They demand that we catch him and hand him over to the authorities of the country.”

“Well,” said Karen, “That was the plan all the time, right?”

“That’s right, Miss Karen,” Lucios answered, approaching her with his glass in his hand. “But now they demand that all this has to be done in a month. If in a month we don’t deliver Mr. King to them, well...”

And at that moment, he was silent. Everyone began to think about the implications of what would happen. The Deer thought about everything he had to do if he wanted to think about achieving that task, but Karen spoke out of nowhere.

“We will do it. It is our responsibility anyway, so we must. Don’t you think Deer?”

Slevin looked at her with curiosity. Her look seemed slightly different. The assistant Chancellor patted her on the back while he nodded to what she said.

While he listened, he looked at Slevin and said, “Child. You can do it. I have full confidence. A month is not too long, but I will put all my resources at your disposal so that that way you can track down that miserable and prevent Jericho... well, Jericho’s actions.”

Slevin listened carefully to what the assistant said, and when he finished this, he responded, “Mr. Lucio, this does not seem strange to you? The way Jericho works? The fact of giving us a month. All of that is very strange to me.

“What are you talking about?” Simon asked from the kitchen corner.

“It does not seem logical. I mean, I understand that they want retaliation for what that lunatic of Hanibal did, but why wait a month, and why don’t they offer help in the capture of that bastard?”

Everyone was watching the Deer, and this continued, “And not only that, there are many things about what happened yesterday that frankly do not make sense. Hanibal did not attack alone. He had very unusual help.”

Lucio slowly approached the table in the center of the room and placed his hand on it.

Slevin watched him carefully and listened to what Lucio had to say.

“What kind of help did he have? Did he attacked with a squad?” Lucio asked.

“No,” Karen answered, “But he did have help, without a doubt.”

“Anyway,” the Deer said, “Be that as it may, if you have more friends or people under your care, we will need reinforcements.”

The assistant Chancellor was watching the young man and starting to walk towards the exit. He asked, “What difference do the reinforcements make if you can’t find him in that time?”

“But that’s not a problem,” said the Deer confidently. “Finding him will not be difficult. I know someone who can track him with complete safety and speed.

“Are you talking about Johan?” Simon asked.

“Yes, he would find him in a second.”

The Chancellor looked at the boy before leaving and said.

“Do what you have to do, the resources you need will be enabled, but I need that guy soon. Find your tracker and whoever you need. For now, I will go, but keep me informed of everything, please.”

And with those words, he left the kitchen, followed closely by Jolanda. When the man was too far to hear, Simon stepped into the center of the kitchen and said, “Are you really looking for Johan?”

“No man, you will. I must do something else.”

Karen rose her gaze, looked at Slevin, and said, “What other things could you be doing now?”

The Deer looked at her and smiled calmly, took a cup and poured himself some coffee, and then said, “Actually, I have a lot to do. But Simon will find Johan.”

“That’s not the point,” Karen retorted. She then added, “There are still many things to do, and beyond that, Hanibal’s powers are out of context. He is actually impressive. And if he uses that power to know what we are planning, then we won’t have the slightest opportunity.”

“Hanibal’s abilities are not that extensive.”

“But you saw all the things he can do. What more extensive than that do you want it to be?”

“I know,” Slevin replied, “But still, there are many things that he cannot know just by activating his power.”

“Well, he had no problem knowing who the decoy was and who the real target was.”

“Yes, that’s true. You didn’t even tell us. He had more accurate information than I did.”

Karen stared at the Deer, and a trace of remorse began to ring in her mind. Simon came over to her side and said, “That’s true. How come you didn’t tell us that part of the plan?”

Simon’s gaze was accusing, he saw Karen severely, and she answered his question, “The truth is that I did not want to expose that information. I did not want it to be leaked.”

“Clearly, it worked very well!” Simon said, raising his voice a little more than he intended. “That information was not known to anyone, only the assassin. Excellent work, Karen….”

Karen felt her anger fill her head. She turned to face Simon and said with a lot of anger in her eyes, “Hanibal knew who she was because of his power. If you had told me that he could do that, I would have informed you about the chancellor, but it seems that no one here is good at sharing information.”

“Hanibal’s powers could not know that,” said the Deer calmly from the other side of the table. “Believe me. He will not be able to simply discover something like that. Someone had to tell him.”

“Are you suggesting that I told him?”

“No. I’m not saying you told him but understand, here’s something strange. Jericho is the most advanced nation of all, and not coincidentally, Hanibal receives help from robots for this task...”