Beauty and intimidation

" Oh? " Jamal exclaimed, surprised " I didn't expect that everyone would be already up ".

Everyone in the room was looking at him awkwardly, maybe because he was naked, dressed with only one towel hung on his hips which was covering his lower part until his knees.

They have been silent for a moment now and Jamal started to feel not at ease, the more they were staring at him the more he was feeling embarrassed. Carla tried vainly to get off her sight from his body, her face was all red while Nelson and Volga were staring at him with astonishment and he even sensed a bit of fear in their eyes.

Jamal thought that the situation would stay like that again for some more minutes until Sania jumped out of her bed, walked toward the locker to take two white bathrobes, she put the first one on her shoulder while throwing the second one at Jamal who quickly used it to cover himself. She then walked toward the exit and before getting out she said, " I want everyone to get out of here and leave this room empty when I come " she paused, " the girls can stay but no men ".

The four of them remaining in the room stared at each other, silent, for a moment, before Jamal declared while running toward his bed to take the news clothes Ilya had given to all of them the night before "All alright, I think I will go somewhere else to prepare myself, " he carried the clothes on his arms toward the door and added, " OK guys, see you later ".

After thinking for a short time, Nelson suddenly stood up to imitate him, he grabbed a towel and the clean clothes and ran away, " I better not stay here, too, " he said before clapping the door behind him.

Volga sighed and turned to Carla, " come on. Let's go prepare too, no need to waste time ".

•••

They all met on the court where the other soldiers started to come group by group. Those who were already there began to load the cars with their part of the goods they'd gotten from the apportionment of the day before with Glenn. Looking at them, Jamal noticed that they were showing a particular enthusiasm [ maybe because it is their last mission ] he supposed.

He glanced at the side and saw Glenn coming toward the crowd with his wife on his side. " I thought having already told you that there was no need to come to say goodbye, " Jamal shouted at him.

" I know, " the man chuckled, " but I insist, I wanted to give my words to all of you before you go ".

Jamal glanced back at comrades and, at the same moment, they all shouted in the same loud voice " Noooooooo! " before they began to laugh while telling Glenn words like, " we don't want speeches! "," we are sick of it! ", there was someone who said " kiss your wife for us instead! ", " Yeah, kiss her " another one added and they all carried on, submerging the entire court with loud noises, " Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! " as if they were kids.

Glenn was surprised, he reacted only by showing to them an embarrassed smile while flushing a little. He was too shy to do something so bold in public. And knowing him better than anyone else, Ilya took the lead, took his head in her hands, turned it gently to face her, and then put her lips against his to kiss him passionately. The crowd exploded into a euphoric scream of cheers, they were applauding and whistling all long the kiss lasted.

Nelson stepped forward, turned around to face the crowd, and waved his hands in the air to catch their attention, after a moment, they finally calmed down then he clapped and said, " Alright guys, time to go ".

People started to move, each of them walking slowly toward their corresponding vehicles. Little by little the court became empty, leaving behind a beautiful picture of a couple hugging while staring at each other with love and passion.

Jamal leaned on his seat, put his hands behind his neck while putting his two feet up on the dashboard while releasing a long sigh, looking relaxed.

" What do you think this last mission reserves to us? " Volga interrogated him, her sight fixed on the road forward her.

" I'm wondering " he enigmatically responded while closing gently his eyes, " what I know for sure is that it will be far more difficult than the previous ones ".

•••

Hours later they finally reached Steam-city, where the difference in weather was too obvious. They neither had been welcomed by gunshots like the two first cities nor had they arrived in a calm town like in Palet. Although there wasn't any immediate danger before them, as they were rolling through the streets of that quiet city, none of them could sense any feeling of safety. It was like the city itself was exercising pressure on them.

" Where is our destination? " Among the whole army, besides Jamal, Volga was the only one who was really calm during that time they were rolling in the city. The former had glanced at her many times to check for any hint of uneasiness from her, but nothing, she was calm and focus, which meant that Steam-city didn't intimidate her at all, " did you manage to contact them yesterday? " She reformulated her question.

" Yes, " Jamal unfolded a piece of paper in which there was written something and hung on it the dashboard just in front of her, " they told me that their HQ is located in a quiet neighborhood at some kilometers in this direction we are rolling. But... "

She raised her eyebrow interrogatively, as she repeated, " but? "

" I didn't want to talk about that because I was afraid that it would affect the mood of the army and would stress them too much. But I can't help having a bad presentiment concerning this mission ".

" You're talking about the weird and quite hostile ambiance we can feel in this place? " she continued asking while struggling to read the address written in the paper.

" Not really, in fact, this atmosphere just came to, somehow, enhance the doubts I already have ". He noticed that Volga had difficulties getting what he meant, as he was too vague in his reply so he thought, for a short moment, about a simpler explanation before he said, " maybe I should tell you the conversation I had with the chief of Steam-city's army. I think it will be easier to understand what I mean ". He waited until she nodded, as to tell that she was listening, before he began, " firstly, there seemed to have been a change of commandment since that person whom I talked to, yesterday, was a woman while the one we had once contacted with Lina when I was in Stainfall, was a man ".

" How come? " she directly asked.

He shrugged, " I don't know, she just briefly told me that something happened and she suddenly took the lead of the army. The truth is that she was too brief when she was talking to me. I even made her the remark but she just responded to me by saying that we will understand once we would arrive ".

Volga frowned, " indeed, it's kinda awkward and suspicious " she paused a moment, " what do you think? "

He sighed, " at this point, I can't be sure of anything. We can't discuss this with anyone it risks to put panic. So what I can say is that we must stay constantly on alert. And once we find out what is wrong, we will figure out what to do next ".

They didn't take a long time before reaching the HQ. It was a private neighborhood composed of identical houses, placed uniformly in a sort of forming many columns and rows of houses, all of them were surrounded by a long railing that gave a feeling of ordered neighborhood.

In front of a metallic portal, was standing a group of men, dressed identically, and aligned into three rows, their hands crossed behind them, looking straight forward in a perfect formation.

When they stopped, went down from their vehicles, and approached the group, the eyes of the members of the entire army were captivated by the unique same thing, the very gorgeous woman standing straight, ahead of the group of men.

From the traits of her face until the shape of her body, all was splendid, as if she was made in a way to captivate everyone, Jamal noticed that even the women from his army behind him couldn't remove their eyes from her. Although she was not dressed in a provocative way, wearing only a long black coat of leather opening on a white shirt accompanied by simple black trousers in jeans and high black boots, she was releasing around her an aura of elegance which naturally draw the attention.

She gave the impression of being a very strict woman but the tone of her voice sounded very gentle and sweet when she began talking to them. She confidently walked toward Nelson as she felt like he was the leader of the army. She extended her hand towards him while introducing herself, " I'm Konny, the actual leader of Steam-city's army, we have discussed yesterday but it was so quick that I forgot to introduce myself ". He was shaking Nelson's hand with insistence with a very sweet smile what made him incapable to arrange his thoughts and respond to her correctly.

Sania stepped forward and interrupted them, she saluted her with a smile while shaking her hand but her irritation was too obvious. Their handshake took approximately the same time as with Nelson. Then came the turn of Volga, she introduced herself with the same sweet smile and when it was the of Jamal, he took out his hand from his pocket and presented it to her covered with bandages, " I'm sorry, we got a problem during our previous mission ".

" It's okay I understand, " she gently said. She turned around toward Nelson, " Mr. Jamal Sabani, please follow me inside, we have many things to discuss ".

" I'm... not Jamal, " he managed to articulate.

Konny looked at him very surprised, she turned around again " oh really? Then... who? "

Jamal raised his and pointed to himself while responding, " I am ".

She stared at him for a moment, then started to move his sight from to Nelson before she exclaimed, " oh? All my apologies, I didn't think that... I thought because he was leading the group ".

Jamal smiled while waving his hand, " no it's okay, it's not a problem. It's not, anyway, the first time people confuse, he indeed has a greater stature and more charisma than me ".

" Anyway, let's forget about this misunderstanding, and let's get inside ". Konny clapped and her men, who were still immobile until then, ran toward the cars, " if you don't mind, they will take care to park your vehicles inside while you install yourselves ".

Volga gazed at Jamal as to ask him, " is it okay? " He understood what she was referring to and he nodded to her to say " don't worry ". Then he said to Konny, " please do so and by the way, we have borrowed some provisions from Palet in case yours would not be enough ".

" Formidable, I was even embarrassed to tell you that we were quite short-handed in terms of food, definitely you are some real heroes, " she said with admiration, then she started to walk toward the houses while inviting them to follow her.

As they were walking, Jamal took the time to observe the surrounding. Not only the uniformity and the order of the neighborhood was worth praise but also its cleanliness, Jamal had the impression of walking in a newly built district.

At a moment two men ran toward the crowd and Konny stopped immediately, turned around while the two guys came to stand in each of her sides. They were holding on their hands, small wooden boxes and as everyone was wondering what was inside, Konny cleared her voice said " I have prepared for you some of these houses so you can have some little rest. Each house can afford only four people so please start making your groups. My men here will pass by each group to give you the keys on which is written the matric corresponding to the house you have been attributed ". She clapped and the two guys carried their boxes and walked toward them.

Before Jamal had realized, behind him, all the groups were already formed and they even started to pick the keys in the boxes, he stepped toward Konny, " excuse me, but didn't you say that we have a lot of things to discuss? I don't think we have time for that, we better go have a little briefing of the situation here and how we will deal with it before we think about resting, " he suggested.

" Yes, I know what I have said, " she sighed while waving her hand carelessly. " Relax, no need to rush and as I have told you the situation is quite complicated, so go have some rest first, you must be exhausted after such a long journey. I will call you later to explain everything to you, " Konny replied and Jamal didn't miss to notice that bit of haughtiness in her tone.

" I know it's complicated that's why I'm saying this. And by the way, we are quite used to long journeys, we are not exhausted at all so no need for rest. What we need is to know how can we finish this war as soon as possible ".

Konny took a softer tone and replied, " I have heard that you are a quite strong man. That's why I'm asking you to not be so selfish by imposing your rhythm to all those poor men. Look ". She raised her head and shouted to the army behind him, " respond to me honestly, are you all tired or not? "

Jamal turned around and to his surprise, he heard them all shouting back " we are! "

Konny gazed at him with a sense of defiance and shouted once again, " and so, what do you need right now? "

" Some rest! "

" You see? I do understand that you just want to finish this quickly and so I do, but a good leader must firstly think about the people who are following him, " she turned her head to Nelson with kindness in her eyes and told him, " I know you are sharing the same thoughts as me, aren't you? You seem to be a good chief who cares about his soldiers... that's why I'm wondering why are you not the one who takes these types of decisions ".

When her men came back with the empty boxes, Jamal glanced back to see that the army already split, each group heading toward a house. Konny plunged her hand into one of the boxes and took out a single key which she handed to him, " you should take example on them. Being wrong is not something you should feel ashamed of, it just proves that no one is perfect, go have some rest please, you will feel better after meditating ".

Jamal took slowly the key in her hand while the four people around him, Volga, Carla, Sania, and Nelson were staring at him silently. After a short moment, Konny sighed and said " Well, as I have told you one house can afford only four people so maybe one of you should come over to my residence ". She, then, moved her sight to Nelson but before she could open her mouth to propose to him, Sania suddenly stepped between them and told her, " it will be inconvenient for a lady to invite a man she has just met to stay in her house, don't you think? That's why I propose to be the one to stay with you if you don't mind? "

Konny stayed silent for a short time before she smiled and responded, " of course not ". She glanced at Jamal and saw that he was spacing out while still staring at the key, she ignored him and moved her sight to the rest of the crew.

" Okay guys, I'll come for you later, be sure to recover all your strength until then, " then she suddenly passed an arm around Sania's waist and whispered to her " shall we go " and before she could react she already separated her from the group and was leading her to her house. The four remaining head to their houses, walking at a slow speed.

On the way, Volga slowly approached Jamal and gently asked him " are you okay? " Even though she had spoken lowly, she unintentionally got the attention of Nelson and Carla, as they turned their heads to look at him. Jamal just shook his head, " yes I'm okay, it's just that I'm a little surprised by what just happened, but I think... somewhere she is right. I should rest and meditate... I feel like all things will be clear after that ".