Infiltration

In the car, the ambiance was very awkward. Since they left the HQ, no one spoke a single word. Sania was leaning her head on the window-pane of the car, looking bored. Nelson had his arms crossed on his chest, he was shaking his leg up and down impatiently while glancing at Sania from time to time. Carla, who was sitting just between them, was feeling quite uncomfortable, she would, sometimes, stare at Jamal and Volga in front hoping that they would do something about that embarrassing situation but they did nothing.

They both seemed to be deep in a soundless conversation as, without saying a word, they were exchanging some weird eye contacts and nodding discreetly to each other.

Carla was not a telepath but she somehow managed to get a clue about their discussion. At her expression, she guessed that Volga was worried about something and so Jamal was trying to reassure her. Although it was not clear, Carla could understand that it was about something very important. [ I better not ask too many questions concerning that ] she said to herself.

At a moment, she got sick of that silence and thought that, instead of waiting for them to make a move, she could just do it herself. [ Since they have accepted to let me participate in such an important mission, that means that I'm no more a simple soldier among so many others ] she said to encourage herself, [ it's practically a promotion, so it's okay for me to be a little bold... I guess ].

She cleared her throat, leaned forward, and turned her head toward Jamal as she told him, loud enough for everyone to hear, " are you sure we're gonna be okay in this mission? "

It was the first thing that came to her mind when she opened her mouth and even Volga looked surprised, Jamal as usual remained very calm as if he had immediately understood the hidden meaning of her question.

He glanced back at her two times before giving her a reply. " Why makes you say that? "

Everyone landed their eyes on her what made her feel some kind of pressure. It was not the first time she made a remark to her superior under the sights of many people so she should normally not feel so stressed here, but at the same time, she understood that the two situations were not alike because in the former case she would be surrounded by her comrades of the army when she dared speak and, even though she would be the center of the attention, she would not feel so stressed because they were all her friends, she thought it would just feel like raising her hand in class while all her friends would stare at her.

However, she somehow managed to stay cool and not shake too much. " Hum... I think in a mission like this one, where we are going in an enemy's territory with only the five of us and not forgetting that they are susceptible to be everywhere... we should be more prepared instead of just jumping in... don't you think? "

" So in other words, you're saying that we are not enough prepared? " Jamal said while playing as if he was wondering the meaning of that sentence.

Carla shook her head. " I'm saying that we're not prepared at all. And it's not the only problem, take a look at us, " she raised her hands to point to the people around her, " I don't want to disrespect anyone but you're acting like high school kids. At this point, we are not a team which is going into a dangerous mission but just fools who are heading straight to their deaths ".

Sania released a long sigh to indirectly let everyone know that she didn't care at all, Nelson continued to stare down the floor while Jamal and Volga started to glance again at each other suspiciously, and then, Carla exclaimed " you see! that's exactly what I was referring to ".

" Can someone just shut up her mouth up? " Sania said without moving her sight from the outside scenery, " you have just get accepted to do one mission with us and you think that you are important enough to give us advice or orders. Know your place ".

" Thank you but you're not helping, " Volga replied to Sania's comment, she turned her head to look at Carla while wearing a sweet smile, " if you're referring to the little personal conflicts between us and that you are afraid it may cause trouble in our mission, I can tell that it won't happen. I believe that they are enough professionals to put aside their differences and work together, so don't worry too much ".

Carla looked at her, silent, then moved her sight to Jamal who nodded at her, she thought for a moment before she nodded too, " alright if you say so. But what about our plan? How should we proceed once we arrive at our destination? "

" For that, I'm confident that everyone knows what to do " Volga replied while glancing at Nelson and Sania interrogatively. They both, one after another, nodded at her to confirm her statement.

Carla was surprised, she turned her head right and left as if she was waiting for one of them to explain something but they just ignored her. She finally turned to Volga and asked her timidly, " did I miss something? ".

" No, you didn't miss anything " she chuckled while shaking her head negatively, " it's just that for this kind of mission, the role of each person is quite evident. We have done it many times to localize the position of the enemies ".

Carla did not reply but she just stared at her waiting for her to complete her explanation, but before Volga could add something the car suddenly stopped. Jamal turned around to face her, with a smile he said, " we will divide into pairs and inspect the whole area ".

" huh... what? " The young stared at the two captains while her stress was rising proportionally to her confusion.

•••

Everybody got out of the car and gathered at the back to collect their materials. Jamal saw Carla running toward him and after she stopped near him she asked, in a low voice as she didn't want the others to hear her " please explain me ".

Jamal held himself to not laugh, he was surprised at how fast she had evolved. Usually, in presence of Jamal or any other captains, she would just act as a simple soldier, saying what she had to say and quickly run off but he noticed that, since she had told him about her past, it seemed like a load dropped out from her chest. She began to show more of her true personality, even in front of someone like him who would have intimidated her and menaced to kill her a few days ago. Maybe it was not obvious for everyone but Jamal noticed those changes very well.

" There is nothing to explain, we split into groups of two and each group will round and an assigned zone and will try to figure out where is the enemy, " he said in one breath.

Carla frowned, " But in that case, we will be completely exposed... "

" To the possible attacks of the enemy? " he cut her, " that's exactly what we want ".

His enigmatic smile pushed her to ponder about that, suddenly something sparkled in her eyes, she raised her head and looked at him, in one breath she said " the situation is that we can't afford wasting time by inspecting each house or building so by splitting into small groups we will give to our enemy the impression that we are easy preys in such way that it would be almost impossible to them to not attack us, but by attacking us they will unintentionally reveal to us their positions, but most importantly, their number, is it right? "

" I see that you are as quick as ever, " Jamal said to praise her while patting her head, " you're reminding me a very dear friend of mine ".

Carla started blushing. But thinking about what he just said, she couldn't help but ask, " you are referring to that one friend you said is kinda like me? "

The latter didn't try to put mystery on it and just nodded affirmatively.

A few minutes later, seeing that everyone was ready, Jamal walked in front of them and announced, " I now will assign the groups as well as the zones that have to be covered. Each group will get a walkie-talkie and which you can use to ask for help in case the situation becomes out of control, and we will also have to communicate with each other every one hour to give a report on our evolution. Once we will get a precise location of the enemy we shall flee back to this checkpoint, got it? "

They all nodded at him affirmatively, " alright, so the groups will be Carla and Volga, Nelson and Sania, and finally me... alone ".

Carla raised her hand and asked " will you be OK all by yourself? I mean I understand the reason to form groups of two so that we cover our backs mutually but you... "

" He will " Nelson shouted before she could finish, he looked at him with a serious expression on his face as he said, " remember, he is always okay all by himself ".

" You're right " he replied to him with the same serious tone before he turned his attention back to the little crowd, " don't forget that, even though our goal is not to engage the fight we would have to somehow respond to their attacks to avoid making this goal too obvious. They will sooner or later figure out our reason to be here and will stop attacking us so you will have to provoke them and... "

" Yes, yes and yes, " Sania said while shaking her hand lazily to show her boredom, " we already know all that, don't forget that it's not our first time doing this and for the rookie... " she pointed to Carla with her thumb " ...mama Volga will explain all those stuff to her, so let's not waste any more time in discussions and let's just jump into it, okay? "

Jamal looked at Volga and she nodded at him as to say " that's okay, let's do as she says ". Then he stared at everyone and finally gave the signal to go.

They ran few meters together before they split into their different groups each heading to its assigned zone.

•••

" Who are they? " a man in the dark asked while observing the street down through a window.

" It seems like this bitch of Konny has sent another group to inspect on us, " someone responded from another corner of the room where was a second window. The light coming in through it was revealing the traits of the pretty face of a young woman. She would time to time hide behind the wall to avoid being noticed by the people at the geet of the buildings. " She didn't get her lesson from the last time, does she want us to send her another stack of dead bodies? "

" Let's just finish them right away. On contrary to last time they are just two, it will be quickly done, what do you think? " the man proposed.

The woman stayed quiet for a short moment, she gnawed at the nail of her thumb while staring outside, " it doesn't seem good, something is wrong, I can feel it, " she muttered.

" What are you saying? " the man shouted, " I can't hear ".

" I said that... we should not attack right now, wait for me to report that to the boss first, " she replied, louder and clearer than before.

" Why? It is not a critical situation that would need us to bother him with ".

But the woman just ignored him and walked toward the opposite side of the room where she grabbed a walkie-talkie left on a small table and contacted someone, a moment later, the voice, of what's seemed to be an old man, responded to her, " What? "

" Hum... boss I wanted to report that some armed people have appeared and I... " before she could finish, the man interrupted her and said " I know, I have one of their friends below my eyes. Just kill them, why would you call me for something of this matter? "

" It's because they don't look normal, first they are one man and a woman, knowing that Konny would usually send a group of men only, moreover they are just two and are not looking like local people, " she tried to express the odd feeling she got from the two enemies but the man didn't care at all as he replied, " so what? Should we stop hiding, approach them and invite them to have some tea with us? They came armed, believe me, they are not here to discuss ".

The woman mumbled a reply, " maybe we should just wait and observe, once we figure out why they are here we can decide what to do with them ".

The man sighed, he knew very well this attitude of hers, that she would not give up so easily but he didn't have time to argue, " they are only two and we have many men covering the area, they can't escape, just kill them. What the death of two people can affect us. For our case here, we have already started chasing their friend ".

She looked surprised and when she responded her voice was still low " wait, he is not dead yet? "

" What? "

" Hum... boss, it may sound stupid but what if it was him? " she said instead.

" What hell are you saying? " he asked back, his voice was loud as he wanted to cover the noise of the gunshots around him, " I don't get you well... but just do as I say. Kill them ".

" But what if it was really him and those guys are his friends? " she repeated louder, convinced that she was right.

" Attack them anyway, we can't afford to make further investigations to prove what you're saying, so stop arguing and obey, " she wanted to add something but he didn't let her, as after he gave his order he immediately hung up.

" What nonsense " she criticized in a low voice.

She, then, stood up and walked toward the window, " what the boss has said? " her colleague asked him. She threw the walkie-talkie at him and after he caught it she responded " he said that we should just kill them but I think... "

But the man didn't care about the end of her phrase, he put the walkie-talkie next to his mouth and said " alright guys, we have the permission of the boss so let's have some fun with these bastards ".

" ...we should wait " she finished. She sighed while picking up her gun " men are so impulsive, " and she started firing too.

•••

" Oh great. It looks like they finally decided to take the bait, " Volga commented while hiding behind a wall, she looked at Carla next to her and said, " be ready, after shooting few shots we will move ".

She nodded at her before she moved forward and shot randomly at the building where the shotguns came from, just like Volga had told her, and then stepped back. Volga nodded at her and they changed places.

They continued in that rhythm for 3 hours. The perimeter was diminishing little by little. According to her estimations, Volga suggested that the zones they had already cleared were quite enough, and with the parts remaining they could determine the enemy's location but Jamal had replied that there was still time before the sunset, moreover, the enemy hadn't figured out their real intentions yet, so they could continue.

" What's wrong? " Carla asked her as she noticed that she was not feeling good, " the mission is in a very good progression but instead of cheering you look anxious ".

" I'm not worried about the mission but something else concerning this mission, " the woman replied after a round of shots.

" This thing... is what you were talking about with Jamal earlier in the car? I mean, during your secret conversation? " Although she said that she wouldn't interfere, her curiosity was just too strong, she couldn't help but ask.

Volga suddenly turned to face her, " did you hear something? " she asked cautiously.

She shook her head negatively, " I just noticed that since then you didn't take off this expression from your face, so I suppose it's something really important ".

Volga lowered her sight what confirmed her doubts. Initially, Carla didn't want to ask anything but, now, she thought that she was too close to walk back, " what is it about? Please tell me ".

Her eyes were imploring her, so much that Volga that she couldn't resist, " I... I don't think I should tell you about that " she articulated.

" Why? Am I not a member of the team? You're acting as if I'm a child. Why did you accept me to come along if you can't even share those kinds of information, " she complained but as soon as she realized what she had said she quickly covered her mouth as if to hold other words to come out, her voice was low when she apologized " I'm sorry, I didn't want to... ".

Volga just waved her as to say that it was not a problem, she glanced at the windows of the buildings behind her hideout and then turned her attention to the young woman next to her. " If you really want to know follow me but, promise me that whatever you will see you won't panic and do anything stupid ".

She didn't speak loudly but her tone was enough to demonstrate how serious she was. Carla took a long breath and said " I promise ".

Volga nodded and made a sign to follow her lead. They ran for half an hour, dodging the attacks of the enemies, inside and on the tops of the buildings, until they reached a certain spot. Volga indicated her to hide and she directly obeyed without saying a word. Then, she told her that she could take a look at what was happening behind that spot, and the latter carefully stepped forward and started peeking.

She didn't directly see what Volga wanted to show her but after rounding her sight a little, she saw Jamal standing on the top of a parking, few meters away. She found it weird that he wasn't hiding behind a wall or any car and thought that it was quite risky since he was completely exposed to the attacks of the enemies, probably hiding in the buildings in front of him. But to her surprise she realized that there was no one firing on him, the scene was oddly calm, she glanced back at Volga to ask her but the captain just made a sign to tell her to continue observing, so, despite her confusion, Carla brought back her attention to the top of the parking and waited.

A moment later she noticed something else. Two shapes appeared from behind Jama and when they got closer Carla recognized her mentor Nelson and Sania, but something was wrong. [ What is this feeling? ] she thought.

Jamal turned around to face them and they seemed to exchange some words but what followed that discussion was so horrible that Carla couldn't believe her eyes.

Sania whispered something at Nelson's ear and the latter slowly raised his gun and fired on Jamal's chest, the shock pushed him away and made him fall from the parking which was three meters high. Sania walked in front of Nelson who was completely immobile and started kissing him before holding his hand and pushing him toward the exit of the parking where they disappeared.

Carla turned her head to stare at Volga, completely horrified, and saw that she was shaking too. In a low voice, Carla said, " Nelson has killed Jamal ".