Soldier of Time

XXIX: Harmless Amber (1)

The Deer fled to the train station, some officers took him as fast as they could, and when he arrived he ran desperately to the booth where he bought a ticket and went to the platform, once there he placed the briefcase on the ground, seeing him directly, he took out the phone and started looking for Amber’s contact to call her.

As he frantically checked the phone and felt the sweat run down his face, he felt the penetrating gaze of someone who was watching him from a distance.

The Deer raised his face and directed his gaze towards a man with a long raincoat and black hair with a hat. The man was accompanied by a lady in jean shorts and a fairly tight white T-shirt, her hair in braids, and they were both watching him with interest.

Slevin was leaving his experience and training to do the work he consulted throughout the station on his way to El Morro. At that time, this platform was alone most of the time. Only very sporadic travelers made that journey that time and the platform reflected that reality.

The man in the raincoat raised his hand and, taking the tip of his hat, made a gesture in the direction of the Deer.

The young man watched him seriously while the sound of the train announced its arrival. Taking a deep breath, the Deer placed his phone in his pocket and took the briefcase from the ground.

Both of them slowly approached the doors that would open in the place where they were standing, and the man gave the Deer one more smile.

Already on the train on the way to El Morro the Deer, took a seat. The whole car was alone except for the two strangers who continued to stare at him.

The young man opened his briefcase, and his set of knives appeared in front of him. When he reached out to take one, a powerful voice spoke from the other side of the train.

“You are the Deer. Actually, when you saw me, I doubted that you would get on the train,” The man took his hat and left it on the legs of his companion to get up and stand in the middle of the wagon looking at the Deer from ten meters away, “But here you did.”

The Deer watched him and stopped time to assess the situation. He didn’t recognize that guy from anywhere, but it was obvious that he knew perfectly well who the Deer was.

When freeing the time, the Deer getting up with the briefcase in his hands even without closing it, he asked, “And do I know you?”

“No,” the smiling man said, “But after today, everyone will.”

And with that phrase, he put his hand deep inside his raincoat to take out a huge colt python 357 revolvers.

The Deer reacted instantly by placing his briefcase vertically open on the ground. When the man fired, his two shots collided on the surface of the briefcase, only denting its structure.

The fellow looking at what happened smiled and said, “That is very well done!”

But at that moment, the Deer got up with speed, and a thousandth of a second before the guy shot, the young mercenary had thrown a knife in his direction.

The man fired missing, and moments later, the knife was buried deep in his left hand, causing this man to drop the revolver.

“Ah! s**t!”

The man shouted while holding his bleeding hand. The Deer took other knives and got up, ready to attack, but before he could advance and with extraordinary speed, the young woman who was with the other man attacked him by cutting his abdomen with her own nails.

The Deer felt the impact and recoiled when he saw the fellow’s companion land behind him on the other side of the train.

Slevin checked his side, and his sweater had been cut off and now showed part of the chainmail that the Deer wore under his clothing.

“But what the f**k is that made of?” The young woman asked while looking at the Deer with surprise.

He was looking at her when she responded with a smile, “Well, it doesn’t really matter.”

And with that phrase, she pounced again on her target. The Deer stopped time, and the girl was already halfway away.

The speed of the girl was such that Slevin had few options for a reaction when he barely released his power and gave him time to place his hands in front of his face to withstand the attack of the young woman directly towards him.

The girl walked by using her claws to cut the Deer’s face but instead cut another piece of the Deer’s sweater when he interposed his arms.

The girl, without speaking this time, turned on her heels and prepared to advance again when she lunged at the mercenary.

He was already prepared and received her with a direct hook to the face that made the girl bounce against the subway windows, falling on their seats abruptly until landing on the ground.

The Deer looked at her, and she displayed great resistance. She stood up, dripping blood fluidly from her lips and her forehead. The Deer looked at her calmly and then at her companion, who approached his weapon and said to both of them.

“You are new to this, aren’t you?”

The young woman who was now heavily breathing said, “And what that has to do with anything? We will corner you anyway.”

“Sure, beautiful,” Slevin said before he started walking slowly towards his briefcase and holding two of his throwing knives. “That’s why you are winning, right?”

The young woman was about to attack again, but the Deer was raising his palms showing one bare hand, and in the other, the two knives said, “I say it because you are strong. I mean, both are, but if you are going to attack a professional, you must take many things into consideration.”

This time it was the smiling man who answered, “We take many things into consideration. You are alone here, there are no civilians, and you cannot escape. We cover everything… right?”

The Deer smiled when he saw the boy, and she said, somewhat frustrated.

“I didn’t come here for a class, Esteban!!”

“Calm down, Sharon, you have to see what the man says!”

The Deer looked at the girl and, turning against the boy, said, “You should listen to her.”

And at that moment, the train entered one of the two tunnels that had to be passed to get to El Morro.

When the darkness took the wagon, the girl reacted as fast as she could, but the throwing knife was already landing on her shoulder. While the boy protected his face with his good hand, there was where that knife landed.

The train left the light, and the Deer was gone. The boy looked for him while his companion looked at her wound and gasped for the pain that it caused her.

At that moment, through a side window, Esteban saw how the Deer entered with force and attacked him with a frontal kick to the face. With his two injured hands, he could do little to defend himself and received the blow directly.

The guy fell to the ground with a crash while the girl was getting ready to lunge against Slevin, but before she could attack the Deer, he took the revolver from the ground, and when the girl lunged, she received a bullet in the leg that ended her combat.

The Deer walked slowly towards the boy who was still conscious and pointed the revolver at him only to then give him a kick even more powerful than the previous one, eliminating his consciousness.

The girl screamed between pain and anger and tried to conjugate phrases that did not come out as she expected.

“Wait, damn...! s**t s**t! Stupid, I told you to shut up! s**t, how it hurts!”

Slevin took the young man and dragged him efficiently to the side of the hysterical girl. This one was twisting and holding her leg while her prominent blood came out of her.

The Deer looked at her and said with slight annoyance, “Calm down a bit. The bullet fractured your tibia. You will not be able to walk for a while...”

The girl tried to calm down, and when she saw the opportunity, she wanted to attack the Deer that was now very close to her, but he had the barrel of the revolver placed on the head of her companion.

“You are very strong, but he is a bit stupid, so I will risk saying that you are with him for a more intimate relationship, and you do not want him to die.”

The girl was controlling her breathing and doing her best to bear the pain. She said, “That’s right. I don’t want anything to happen to him.”

“Excellent,” the Deer said, looking at the young woman firmly. “Let’s talk then.”

Amber in the apartment saw how the plants lost their lives. She thought that that day she had killed much more than just the plants, she remembered Slevin’s look and the way he had left, and she thought how much longer that young man would endure that relationship they had.

Her phone was constantly ringing. She took it, and she saw that it was the fifth consecutive call that Slevin made.

She did not feel ready to answer him. She was afraid of saying the wrong things and ending Slevin’s good intentions at once.

She approached to see through the window, and in the distance, at the edges of El Morro, she saw three people dressed in black.