Soldier of Time

XXXVII: A Common Enemy For Now (1)

Simon and his companions arrived at the compound and found everything on fire. Simon began to call in a desperate way to Karen, but her phone did not answer, the entrance gate was destroyed on one side, and many corpses decorated the gardens of the place where he had been the last two weeks.

The boy panicked. While looking at Johan, and he said, “They may still be here.”

Johan frowned and immediately transformed into a hawk that began to fly. Simon understood the intentions of his partner and entered the place not without first telling Troy.

“I know you want to talk to the Deer. But the man who ordered the attack on your neighborhood may still be here.”

After those words, the blonde entered the complex. Troy observed the landscape of the situation and began to walk in the direction of the flames. The three men separated within the immensity of that complex.

Everything seemed destroyed, and the aerial search of Johan was completely unsuccessful. Simon went directly to the bedrooms to see if people were still there, while Troy went to the larger building where most of the flames still burned.

Troy walked through the gardens of the complex. The whole place was total chaos, overturned cars and corpses thrown or dismembered in all places. There was no doubt who had carried out that attack had no intention of leaving anyone alive.

The smell of blood and burned flesh filled the air. The young man came to a place where a whole squad of soldiers laid dead. He looked around and saw overturned cars and a car destroying the facade of a building.

A big fight had taken place in that place. He approached where a man was lying face down, it was a soldier, and his badges were shining on his chest. His name was Billy, and he had been killed by several shots.

Troy closed his eyes to pay his respects, but the spectacle of blood was too much, even for him.

Suddenly a man approached slowly behind him, Troy stood up, and without turning around, he turned his head to observe.

A man with lake black hair tied in a ponytail, the subject had a long-sleeved black T-shirt and Jeans, he looked suspicious, the boy had several knives with him and a rectangular briefcase with the emblem of a Deer.

The Deer, who had just entered the complex, watched as the man with braided hair got up. He had a black leather jacket and blue jeans.

The stranger stood up and looked at the Deer sternly while facing him, and he asked cockily, “You’re the Deer, right?”

The Deer looked around him and saw how Billy was lying at the feet of that guy. He dropped the briefcase on the ground and walked towards the dead soldier, passing Troy’s side and bending down to put his hand on his back.

“Damn it!” The Deer cursed through clenched teeth. He then got up to look in the direction of the room. He then added, “I must look for Karen.”

Troy looked at the boy whose back was turned to him and said, “You’re not very smart when you turn your back on me.”

“I know who you are. And I know you didn’t do this,” Slevin replied coldly.  

The young mercenary got up and walked away from the corpse in the direction of the rooms when he heard.

Troy insisted, “We should talk, Deer.”

“There will be time for that. Tell me, have you seen someone else? Where are Simon and Johan?” Slevin demanded.

Troy sighed heavily and glancing at the Deer out of the corner of his eye, and he said, “I’m not here to answer stupid questions. I came to talk to you, so listen, or I will make you listen.”

The Deer smiled at the threat. He was used to rude men who tried to impose their wills on him. However, the eyes of that subject were intense and did not give room for doubt. If the Deer made a single mistake, this subject could eliminate him instantly.

“Listen, Troy, and the situation is delicate,” the Deer said, trying to make that fact even more obvious, “I’ll listen to you when I know what happened here.”

Troy listened carefully and asked, “You are the mercenary who led his silly war to my neighborhood, right? And do you want me to wait for you?”

Slevin was bewildered. With a frown, he asked, “You see what’s happening here?”

Troy, who now looked like a beast about to attack, replied, “That’s right. And believe me when I tell you that what happened here will not happen in my home!”

“It doesn’t have to happen!” Said the Deer trying to reassure that fellow, “If Hanibal is arrested, it will not happen anywhere.”

Troy stopped staring at the Deer and said, “Hanibal, Deer, the beastman who took advantage of Julia. The vanguard. Everything is the same to me, this is your battle, and my people should not be involved. Your fights always have the innocent as those who suffer the most. As far as I’m concerned, all of you are enemies.”

“I am not your enemy, and this fight cannot give you the same. Your people will be involved in the same way.”

Troy smiled cynically and said, “Not if I finish with all of you.”

The Deer looked at Troy he knew that any word could unleash his attack, the breathing of the man in front of him was controlled, but his gaze was intense, the Deer matched his breathing to that of the man to be able to react in case of an attack and instinctively put one his hands to one of his Kukri knives as he said.

“Listen to me. I know you don’t want your people to get involved, I get it, but this is bigger than you if Hanibal wins… There will be a war.”

“Look around you, boy. There already is,” Troy said smugly.

“Wait!” The Deer yelled. He had already anticipated what was coming. Still, he said, “We don’t have to fight. We can stop Hanibal.”

“As I see it, if you are dead, he will stop.”

“Don’t!” Slevin refused, who already felt the jaws of the beast in front of him closing around him, “If you kill me, he will go for you.”

“Good. So I’ll kill him too...”

And with those words, he disappeared. The Deer stopped time and looked at Troy right over him in a split second.

Fighting Troy wasn’t something he wanted to do, but he didn’t have too many options. He watched the man and saw that he would attack him with a direct punch to the face.

When the Deer released the time, Troy continued his attack, and the Deer evaded him and responded with a strong direct hook to the face of his opponent.

Troy fell to the ground violently. The punch landed on his cheek, and the pain from that blow was incredible.

The Deer watched him while they were in combat stance. Troy spat blood as he got up, shaking his neck to shake some of the blow out as the Deer said.

“I don’t want to hurt you, but frankly, I don’t have time for these stupid things. You say that you protect your people and that you want them to leave them alone. Well, talk to Jericho when they attack and ask them not to kill those in your community. Apparently, everyone else is expendable.”

Troy stood up, listening to what the Deer was saying, the boy’s frustration showing on his face. Troy took off his jacket and spat the blood from his mouth. The Deer, now that Troy had no jacket, saw his arms in one of them had the tattoo of a team of Special Forces from the army of the city.

Troy’s eyes followed the Deer’s gaze to his tattoo and said, “Fifth Infantry Division. Special Forces.” Just as he said that Troy was run his fingers through his tattoo, “We were special, so special that they wanted us to kill children...”

The Deer looking at that tattoo remembered the man who eliminated his platoon and said, “The squad of child soldiers that was your target...”

“The Deer and his people,” Troy said, pointing to Slevin. “They sent me to kill you once. I refused. Now, now I’m going to carry out that order.”

“Wait, we can talk...”

But he could not finish the sentence, and in a split second, Troy had appeared by his side, giving a direct punch to the stomach of the mercenary.

He fell back as the air left his lungs only to see how Troy jumped from where he was and disappeared to appear very high and disappear again the Deer without waiting, moved from where he was as best he could and stopped time to see Troy appear where he was about to kick him.

The Deer released the time and felt a kick embedded in his back, making him fall to the ground. In pain, he tried to look up and saw how Troy’s boots were in front of him.

Troy grabbed him up as he said, “You have good reflexes, boy.”

And hitting him in the face made him fall to the ground once more. The Deer tried to speak, but Troy now raised his feet to hit him.

The Deer stopped, time measured the trajectory of the kick, and freeing up the time from where he was, he raised his legs to move backward, turning on his head and standing in front of Troy, but when he finished that movement, he saw how Troy’s kick was embedded in his stomach.