Dante's Quest

The scape

Dante: stay at the stairs entrance, I'm counting on you to keep our dear friends safe, if you must choose ...

Erick: don't even think about it, I'll never convince those two to leave you behind, if we get to the point of having to choose, we'll all be screwed, so you have no choice, you must achieve it or we will all pay the price, but don't worry, there's no pressure

I rolled my eyes as Erick smiled at me, although he unquestionably had a good point, one thing is what I asked him to do and another what those two would do even if he asked them and we both knew that they would not agree to leave if it depended on leaving some of the others behind.

I began to walk through the corridors cautiously, soon I reached a railing on the port side, there were some people in elegant suits drinking, chatting and laughing, I did my best to detail where the security guards were located, I noticed that they had us locked up close from the stern, I moved along the railing in the direction of the bow, in the middle of the ship there was a large room, very luxurious and full of people, food and drink, the waiters passed between the people offering drinks and food, in In the middle of the center, a chef was making a great show cooking flamed food, in the farthest part of that great room, a large liquor bar allowed bartenders to serve cocktails and exotic drinks, but not before juggling bottles and shakers to the sound of applause from the guests, I could notice that some guards were walking around the outside without crossing the room, this gave me the opportunity to pass among the people unnoticed, however, it could be suspicious that I approached the food court with these clothes, I noticed that the waiters entered and left a door on the right side of the bar, so I decided to investigate.

When passing between the people they did not even notice my presence, they were too busy in their frivolous conversations, however I tried not to draw too much attention, as I imagined, when I approached the food area the cook made a gesture of authority which I understood quickly as a 'do not disturb me' and I decided to continue with the original plan, I walked to the far right of the bar and wait for the moment that I consider most appropriate to enter the service personnel area, several people washed dishes, cutlery, glasses and cups without stopping, to the right there was a small room, I went in quickly so that they would not notice my presence, there were several uniforms hanging from a metal coat rack, measuring it quickly on my body, I took the one that was most similar to my size and I hurried to put it on before someone came in, fortunately I only had to put on the shirt and jacket, since the pants were the same color I was already using, when I left I took a tray and went back to the area of the party in the direction of the food court, this time the cook did not give importance to my approach, he just put a couple of dishes on the bar and continued his work

In a moment of carelessness I reached for a small bottle of oil that I kept in one of my pockets, although using it at that moment to start a fire in the kitchen area seemed a tempting idea, the presence of a nearby extinguisher stop me instantly, I needed a more optimal point, I took the dishes and placed them on the tray so as not to arouse suspicion and retired, I wandered among the guests who were grabbing the food as I approached, passing near the door that led to the starboard side I noticed that there were some small torches from the middle of the ship towards the bow, I went to the railing to confirm the perfect point for distraction and on the way I noticed where the main cabin was located, and near the end of the ship I could see a very elegant little door that went down a couple of steps

I returned to the guest room thinking that I had very little time before my comrades decide to intervene, so I went directly to the service room, left the tray full of empty plates and took another one, with it in hand I left by the same place I walk before leaving a small trace of oil behind me from the utility room, then focusing it on the starboard side entrance door towards the guest room, from there I followed the path to the torch, which I sprayed little by little until reach the flame, as I did so the oil quickly began to ignite as I continued on my way, it did not take long for the screams of panic to begin inside the great hall

Being near the door of the main cabin, two guards came out motivated by the shouts of the guests, the flames got out of control quickly, the security guards were doing their best to reach the fire extinguishers and douse the flames, in the meantime several people tripped and fell into the water, they asked to turn on several reflectors to be able to help them by throwing life jackets and ropes at them, meanwhile I was sneaking out to get into the cabin, before doing so I looked through a small circular window in the middle of the door, there seemed to be no cameras, although I could not be sure, anyway sooner or later they would realize we escape and by knowing that we were going to be responsible for all that commotion, at least there was no guards, I enter the cabin and as I imagined our things were in a box on a ledge in front of the bed, the flash drive and my Ipod filled with my favorite music, Alina's favorite razor and some steel knuckles, a set of lock picks from Erick along with his lucky charm and a small but powerful cellphone from Karla in addition to the necklace that her mother had left for her before she died, I put everything in my pockets and left as fast as I could, I kept walking straight Instead of going back the way that led me to the port side, still people ran back and forth desperate

I was walking with the tray in my right hand approaching the door of the guest room when suddenly I received a solid blow to the face

Billy: you must think I'm an i***t, right?

He told me while a couple of his guards took me by the arms, I stared at him and I replied

Dante: me? Not at all, you are the picture of intelligence and insight

Billy stared at me with a look full of anger, I was smiling sarcastically

Billy: you must believe that you are very brave and intelligent ...

I cut him off abruptly saying

Dante: I really don't think so, I'm sure I am, I don't need to pay to build loyalty

Billy: this would be a good time for you to shut your mouth

He said hitting my stomach hard, while I just laughed

Billy: anyone would think you are an i***t to have returned, the distraction was not necessary if what you wanted was to escape, which makes me think that there is something more important among the things that we took from you

Dante: nah, I just wanted to get Alina's favorite knife back, otherwise she wouldn't stop complaining for a month

This time he hit my face hard making me feel dizzy for a moment

Billy: I don't understand why you insist on trying to be funny, register it!

When they emptied my pockets they found everything I had recovered from the main cabin, leaving it on the floor in front of me, Billy bent down and picked up the iPod and the phone from the floor

Billy: I'm sure this contains more than just music or phone contacts

Dante: it really is not just music, it is a compilation of the best you could have heard in your life, well, not you really because it is evident that you have a poor taste, but if your tastes were good maybe you would understand

Billy put his left hand on my chest gripping my shirt tightly

Billy: I'm sick of your stupid comments, I think it's time to shut you up in my own way

At that moment he raises his right hand to land another blow to my face when someone hit him hard in the face

Alina: you touch him again and I will have to kill you

Erick appeared behind me hitting the two guards holding me and knocking them overboard, while Alina hit the one standing next to Billy before he reacted to seeing his employer on the ground, then grabbing his knife from the side of the floor opened it with great dexterity and put it on the neck of our captor

Alina: I hope you enjoyed torturing my comrade, because now it's my turn to have fun

Dante: if you just want to have fun, you don't need the knife

Alina glanced at me and put the knife away

Alina: you are absolutely right

While Alina gave Billy a few blows, I picked up our things from the ground and returned them to their respective owners, however I reserve the delivery of Alina's steel knuckles for later

Dante: we already have our things, we can go, although I have two questions, the first, where are the other guards? And the second, why did you take so long?

Karla: Alina threw the guards almost entirely overboard and we were late because some of them resisted

Erick: well, I think we abuse the hospitality of this place, maybe we should go

Dante: well, if the guards are already off the ship and taking into consideration that we are not far from the coast, why should we swim? In the same way, the guests should be able to go down quietly after a night of so many disconcerting experiences, although if we are not going to swim, then…

We all turned to see Billy, as I motioned for Alina to stop hitting him, he just spit blood on the ground and stood up as he could

Billy: this time you were lucky and your friends saved your skin, but if you want my advice, do not leave me alive, because there is no place on this earth where you can hide from me and when I find you, you can be sure it won’t be fast, first I will make you see how your friends die and then I will kill you like the pest you are

Dante: we all die, some even never really live

Billy: what is that philosophical garbage? When I find you the first thing I'll do is cut your tongue

Alina hit him again, so hard that he couldn't say anything else, he coughed and spat blood

Dante: well, time to swim

Hearing me Erick took Billy by the shirt and lifting him threw him overboard, then went to the bridge with Karla so that she could start the boat, Alina was staring at me while saying

Alina: one of these days you're going to get into more problems than you can solve and maybe I won’t be there to save you, so I'll tell you something and I hope you don't forget it, if you die before I do, I'll go to the other life to look for you and kick your ass, I hope it's clear to you

Dante: I see that I am forbidden to die before you

At that moment the ship began to move towards the port