The duel part II

" Jamie... you know you still have time to stop everything and return to the hospital to stay with Matteo, " Lina told him with a soft voice while stroking delicately his back, " I know you're very worried about him, so just delay this match no need to torture yourself like that ".

He remained silent as his arms were crossed on his chest while staring at the corridor through which people kept coming into the stadium, it was like he was eager to see a specific person coming through it, though Lina already knew whom he was waiting for, she bit her lips and told him, " come on, why are you so stubborn about doing this match today? I would bet that even Andre would love to be given more days to train if he wants a chance to win against Carla... "

" I can't... " Jamal finally decided to say a word.

Lina grabbed his arm and went to stand in front of him to look straight at his eyes. " Why you can't? Why can't we delay this duel and go stay beside Matteo?" she repeated while shaking his arm.

Jamal didn't reply directly, he waited for a few seconds before he said " you know... I have been thinking about what you once me when I was refusing to let Natasha come along during the patrols... and you were right, not only about her but in general. I can't carry everything only by myself, I want... I have to learn how to rely on others not only to accompany me during my missions but to carry out tasks by themselves " he paused, " Natasha proved to me that, that day she alone protected the city. I used to be so stressed because I thought the city would be in a bad situation until I'm there to fix everything, so pretentious of me, isn't it? " he chuckled, " but thanks to you and Natasha my eyes are open. I need to prove to myself that the people I trust can do important things on their own and that I don't need to always be around to watch over them ".

Lina stared at him for a few seconds then she said " So... you are saying that's why- "

" That's why I can't go staying by Matteo's side " he responded to her before she even finished her question, " because I have to trust him and let him prove to me that he can achieve his mission without me being around ".

" You are too serious... and so harsh on yourself " Lina commented while putting her arms around his waist and delicately leaning her head on his chest, " but at least you got a point. We just have to trust him, I'm sure he will be fine anyway ".

•••

" Are you alright? " Volga asked Andre as he was sitting on a bench his head facing down the floor, she thought he must be anxious and she was right as his voice was shaking a bit when he replied. " Hum... yeah, I'm just a little stressed I didn't know that Mr. Jamal would make this duel such a big event and that so many people would come ".

They were both in a locker room, where the football teams used to rest when the stadium was still in use, which means before the disaster. The locker room was located just under the bleachers and from there they could hear the noises and feel the agitation caused by the spectators outside.

" Well, it seems like Jamal has a reason to put it in a show, " Volga said while tending the ear to hear what was going on outside, " but I wonder if you will be to deal with this pressure, otherwise all this training we have done would turn to be meaningless ".

" Don't worry, I will be fine... I won't disappoint you " Andre said, trying to look confident.

" Calm down boy, I'm not telling you to make me proud, " Volga quickly tried to stop him from putting even more pressure on himself, she patted his shoulder as she added, " this is all about you, it's your fight so you should focus on yourself " she paused, " do you remember the plan? "

" Hum, yeah... she has physical aptitudes and reflexes exceeding mine so if I want to have a chance to win I need to play it smart " Andre replied as if he was repeating a phrase he had memorized.

When he stopped talking he glanced at Volga as if he wanted to ask her something but was kind of uneasy. The latter noticed and pushed him to talk as she wanted to know what was bothering him.

He played with his fingers for a few seconds before he asked " do you honestly think I can win against Carla? Since you have been fighting by her side for a quite long time before you met me so you know her better than I do ".

She sighed obviously annoyed. " You have to stop that, if you start doubting yourself and your own capacities you are then reducing greatly your chances of winning. You must have faith in your victory before stepping on the field ".

But he didn't seem much convinced. " You can't expect people to believe in you if you don't believe in yourself first. Jamal gave you a chance... don't waste it ". She walked to the exit and when she reached the handle of the door she turned her head and told him, " you still have time before the match starts, you better prepare yourself well " then she left.

Once he was alone he started to meditate about what he just told Volga and couldn't help but feel ashamed. " How could I tell her that I won't disappoint her and then starting doubting my own words... ", he scratched his head as he suddenly remembered the intimidating aura of Jamal that day he proposed to him that battle. During these few days of training, he didn't stop wondering if he could one day reach such a level and before he knew it, it became one of his principal sources of motivation but now he was facing his first obstacle to overcome he couldn't believe that he was feeling uncertain.

" It won't work at this rate, " he told himself, he knew he had to clear his mind and start to focus on the battle instead of thinking about unnecessary things, he then got the idea of replaying in his mind all the tricks and techniques he had learned from Volga and then he started elaborating additional strategies he may use during the fight.

Then the time came.

•••

" You have already finished preparing yourself? You still have time before the match starts " Jamal asked Carla when he saw her coming from the side.

The woman was wearing a light yellow T-shirt, black leggings, and a pair of shoes she found comfortable and adapted to run. Jamal noticed that it was quite different from how she usually dressed during their training sessions but he supposed it was her way to show that she was taking this duel seriously.

" Hum ... yes, I'm ready for a moment now and I was bored staying alone in that room so I decided to come to take a look " she responded with her famous enthusiasm. She raised her sight and started to look around her and was surprised to see so many people present.

Lina, who noticed her expression, couldn't help but tease her, she went to hug her from the back and whispered in her ear " why are you so stiff? Don't tell me you are scared of these many lecherous eyes staring at your athletic body? "

Jamal looked surprised, " are you? "

" N-not at all, I'm not scared, I was just surprised that's all" she replied, almost shouting. Her face became red and her cute expression caused Lina to want to tease her more.

" Don't try lying to me, I can feel your hair slowly getting erect and stinging me ". She started to stroke her body from up to down while telling her, " here, I will help you make you feel better... and by the way, you better calm down your emotions I don't want to be pierced by your spiky hair and end up like a sieve, that would force Jamal to hunt you down and kill you to avenge my death ".

" And why not just getting off her and leave her alone for a while ". They heard the female voice coming from the opposite side of where Carla came, " the poor girl must already feel intimidated by these so many spectators no need to stress even more ".

They all turned their heads at the same time to look at Volga as she was walking towards them. She was wearing, on the bottom, a simple jogging and at the top, a sleeveless T-shirt under a sweatshirt.

As her attention was caught by the woman, Lina let loose of her grip on Carla and the latter took that chance to free herself as she started to have difficulty containing herself. With Jamal, she had learned how to control her power by containing her emotions but Lina was the only one capable of making her lose control.

" Talking about that, I was wondering why did you need to bring so many people to come to see a duel which they don't even know the stakes? " Though Volga asked Jamal in a casual tone he knew she was more interested than anyone else.

" For the entertainment " Lina suddenly responded on Jamal's behalf. She knew that Volga had a sharp intuition and if she had left Jamal respond, she would have immediately figured out he was lying, since entertainment was the real reason for Lina to make that match such a popular event she thought she would be safe from Volga's eyes.

The latter gazed at her not really convinced, Jamal patted Lina's shoulder and shook his head when she turned hers to look at him. " Not need to conceal that information from her, " he said before he turned toward Volga, " we plan to reveal everything at the end, anyway ".

" I'm sorry, keeping things secret has become like a reflex to us, please don't take it personally and don't worry I'm about to tell you everything ". He turned towards Carla, " you too since you're the first one concerned ".

The young woman pointed herself like she was trying to ask if he indeed was talking about her, Jamal nodded before he went on making his statement clearer. " I know you have been training hard to control your powers but I'm also convinced that during this match you won't be able to contain them so what I'm telling you is this 'use your power however you want do not restrain yourself' ".

Both Volga and Carla looked at him shocked, they turned their sights to Lina as if to ask her if he did say what he said, and after she nodded at them to confirm they again moved their gazes toward him, looking even more surprised and confused.

" You should know without a surprise that since that night of the invasion of undead we have stopped, the rumors about it have been spread out all over the city and neither Natasha's nor Carla's powers are secret anymore, " Jamal paused and pointed to the spectators on the bleachers, " we didn't do any advertising and look how many of them came, what do you think is this for? That's because they are curious, they all want to confirm the rumors whether you have powers or not. And I want you to show them exactly what they want to see ".

" You can't be serious! " Volga protested, she moved in front of him looking upset, " once they will see that they will surely freak out and start treating her like a sort of monster. I can't allow you to do that! "

" I know and I understand how you feel but it has already started anyway ". He gazed at Carla, " I'm aware of the weird stares you are the victim of, Natasha and you, wherever you go. You didn't tell us to not worry us, am I wrong? " The young woman lowered her gaze as she was too embarrassed to respond but they understood anyway.

" We have to do something about it, now ".

" And your solution is to reveal everything? " Volga seemed to be surprised by the treatment of the two young women but she still didn't want to give in.

" Yes, everything " Jamal replied in a tone of determination, " not only about these girls but also about the situation we are actually in and which I'm sure you already aware of ".

Volga suddenly calmed down as she lowered the tone of her voice, after a few seconds of silence she sighed " so I was right after all. Those zombies we have fought the other day were not the only ones, there are powerful enemies out there who want to destroy us, huh? And you want to tell that to everybody ".

" Yes," Jamal repeated without blinking, " they have to know that we're not safe yet, but most importantly, they have to know that we, too, have strong people with powerful abilities capable of protecting us ".

He looked again at Carla, " I won't gonna force you to play this role if you don't want to, I would rather have Natasha doing it to not put too much burden on you, but her powers are... how to say it, her powers look too dangerous, too scary. I don't think they handle it yet as a first introduction, so that's why you are here now. Do you still want to do it? "

Carla took her time to think, she seemed to take this issue very seriously, and though she would love to keep living a quiet and normal lifestyle, she thought that her duties were more important. She was happy to notice that her desire for justice didn't change since they left her home city. She looked up at Jamal and told him, " I will do whatever it takes to protect everyone ".

Jamal smiled, looking proud of her. Suddenly Lina screamed all excited and then jumped on the young woman, " oh my God, you're so adorable when you talk big and take your most serious expression, it's like looking at a teenager comics heroine. I will be sure to reward you after the match, let's spend the night at my house ".

Volga chuckled as she couldn't help but feel moved by this hilarious but yet touching scene, she looked at Jamal and nodded at him, " alright, I will trust you this time again ".

When the rhythmic sounds of drums started to resonate she looked up and then at the corridor from where she came before and declared " well, it's finally time for the duel it seems. I will be sitting right there " she pointed in the direction of the seats the closest on their left and there they all saw Don waving his hand at them, " I will come to see you again when the match is over. And Carla... " she paused, " do not underestimate him " and with a confident smile she left.

" I will go take my seat too, Jamal will stay down here to arbitrate and explain the rules of this duel, " Lina told the young woman, she went to put a kiss on Jamal's cheek before she ran toward her place under the claps and the whistles of the public leaving Carla surprised by how popular that woman was in this town.

•••

Andre walked out through the corridor and to his surprise, his opponent was already there waiting beside Jamal.

Jamal had a microphone in his hand and when Andre finally join them he placed it close to his mouth and started stating the rules of the fight so that everyone could hear.

" It's going to be a duel of paintball, each of the challengers would be given a rifle with an equally limited number of paint-bullets, we won't tell you how many " he paused and two people came forth to give to Andre and Carla their respective weapons and when they left he continued " to win you will have to shoot three valid shot on your opponent. On the head, the back, the abdomen, and the chest, and three shots in any other parts of the body are equivalent to only one valid hit. Got it? "

In the bleachers, the spectators synchronously shouted " yes! " before both challengers could speak, Jamal couldn't contain himself from laughing, [just how excited are you?], he looked at the two people and they nodded at him with a smile.

" You can also win by knocking out the opponent or making, him or her, give up. If it's clear for everyone, please go take your places on both sides of the field. When you hear the sound of a drum, know that the match has already begun ".

When he finished talking Andre and Carla followed the instructions and went to join their respective starting points.

Andre put on his glasses of protection, held his rifle, and waited for the signal. He began to review his strategy, he knew that Carla was stronger and faster than him and more experienced in close combat so he could forget about knocking her out. Since he was sure to lose in a close-range fight he thought that his only option was to make use of the field Jamal had prepared to escape, hide, and wait for his chances to get a clean shot on Carla.

He was fully aware of her sharp reflexes and he didn't expect to get her off her guard so easily but he was quite confident in his capacity to shoot.

He heard a huge sound which he guessed was the said signal, he moved to look for the right spot to hide so he can set a trap for Carla. He earlier had not come to analyze how the field was set because he thought he didn't need it since he had a kin sense of orientation.

He thought it would be easy to find the right hideout but he had to hurry up because he was still cautious about Carla's speed and at the moment he thought about it, a shadow suddenly appeared above him, covering him from the sunlight. When he looked up, he saw Carla standing on the wooden plank a few meters in from him pointing her rifle at him.

He thought that if he hadn't worked on his reflexes with Volga, he would have surely lost at that very moment. Carla shot three times aiming for his head and abdomen, he hopefully managed to dodge the two first shots by jumping on the side but the third paint bullet hit him on his ankle.

It hurt but he didn't have time to think about the pain, he rolled, hopped up on his feet, and immediately ran away trying to lose her in the decor. When he started questioning himself about how did she appear there that quick and what he was going to do to escape her he heard Jamal's voice saying " Carla you are not supposed to run on the planks, please restrain yourself and get down on the field. Play it fairly ".

" Are you serious! " Andre shouted in his head as he couldn't believe what he just heard, " did she run on the planks from her starting point to here in just one minute after the match started? That's just insane! "

Andre's heart was beating hard in his chest, he did his best to calm down and settle his thoughts despite the great dose of adrenaline rising in his body.

He didn't stop running here and there because he couldn't stop feeling like he was the mere prey of a ferocious beast that could catch him at any time, it was like Carla was just behind tracking him. Andre thought he had to do something to change that situation but at the moment he wanted to slow down the pace and hide he felt a sudden pain in his back.

He got hit again.

As he was falling due to the shock of the hit, he turned his head and behind him, he saw Carla sitting on one knee holding her weapon in both hands ready to fire again.

When he hit the ground, Andre rolled on the side and quickly got up to run away in the left direction, he didn't have time to waste.

He has been running for a long moment while taking curves after curves until he finally reached a dead end. " Shit! I'm trapped " he cursed before he started looking around worryingly searching for a way out without success, later, he started to hear the heavy steps of Carla as she was getting near and without thinking twice Andre decided to initiate a counter-attack.

He held his rifle in front of him and waited quietly until she finally showed herself when she was about to take the curve. The latter didn't have time to realize about Andre's ambush that he has already started firing.

He shot two times aiming for Carla's upper half as Volga had advised him, [since it was the largest part of the body the chances of missing were narrower] he recalled, but it was without considering Carla's super reflexes. Andre was sure that he surprised her but without stopping her run or even lowering her speed, she dodged both bullets by hopping on the wooden wall which was on the opposite side from where she came, then jumped to the other opposite wall and she stuck to it.

For a moment Andre was immobile amazed by what has just happened. His brain was running wild, trying to figure out how could she sit still on the wall, when he finally noticed that her hair was particularly hard and was solidly implanted in the plank in the manner of nails. He immediately remembered that day of the attack, where they have witnessed the particular abilities of those two girls.

While Natasha was wielding a sword that could blow flames, Carla could harden her hair and use it as weapon and apparently as a tool to hang on walls too.

Only when she raised her rifle to aim at him that he stopped spacing out and came back to the match. He just barely had time to dodge the bullet Carla has shot, he threw himself down otherwise it would have gotten him on the head, but she didn't stop there and shot again two times and since the distance between them was quite close, her shots were pretty accurate.

She touched him both times, on the shoulder, and on the arm, if he didn't stop moving around she would have surely got him on the head.

[She has already two valid hits ahead of me, if she gets one more clean hit on my upper body it will be my loss] Andre suddenly realized, he thought he had to quickly move out from there since it was like he was trapped like a rat, a little longer and she would surely get him.

Realizing that she was now immobile he took the risk to aim at her with his rifle and he fired as many times as he could not care too much about the accuracy of his shots. He was not so certain about the number of bullets he fired but he had the idea that it was around six or seven.

As he had guessed, Carla's hair was so well stuck in the wooden plank that she could hardly get herself out of there. Seeing that she would not make it in time she stopped aiming at him and raised her arms to protect her face from the bullets, in the end out of the six or seven bullets he had shot only two of them got to reach the target, the first one on the knee and the second one on her palm. But he didn't care that much since he just wanted his chance to turn the tables.

Since she momentarily stopped firing at him, he had the occasion to be the one to attack now.

He ran towards her hoping to get good hits since she couldn't dodge from where she was hanging, but unexpectedly the moment he shot at her she immediately ejected herself out of the plank, did a somersault in the air before landing down on her two feet like a pro gymnast, her rifle already in hand.

" What the- " Andre grumbled between his teeth as another of his plans got crushed by that woman's incredible physical aptitudes, but he knew he could no more allow himself to be surprised by her capacities since one more mistake and it would be over for him.

Shutting up his bothering thoughts and only following his instinct, he rushed towards her until they were just one meter apart, and as she was about to shoot Andre jumped, he made a somersault over her head and landed behind her. He quickly turned around and fired at her, the latter was so surprised that she barely got the time to dodge one valid hit on her back by rolling on the ground, however, he still managed to touch her on her calf, which meant that he official had one valid hit.

He began to run away without wasting too much time as he knew that if he stayed there for too long it would turn bad for him.

...

" He's pretty good " Carla admitted smilingly while slowly standing up, " but it's time to end this game ". She turned around while dusting her clothes off, " Jamal told me to not hold back so I think it's fine, I have already shown too much anyway ". She bent a little, erected her hair, and ran after Andre.

She already knew his plan which was to run, hide, and set an ambush to her whenever she would pass by his hideout. In such a situation, it was the best plan he could come out with since he was against an opponent who was physically stronger with greater experience in combat, no other plan would have worked and he even proved he was right since he managed to get one valid point from her despite her sharp reflexes.

" But I'm not going easy on you anymore, " she after she found him.

Hearing her from behind, Andre suddenly threw himself down, the back on the ground and he raised his paintball gun in the air. Carla understood that he had guessed from her motion that she would opt for a quick aerial attack, so he wanted to anticipate.

She smiled as she thought [ I have to admit that it would be difficult to stop at this speed but... ] as she was about to pass over him, she suddenly stopped her motion by extending and planting her hair on the ground.

They were, now, face to face, one lying on the ground and the other hanging in the air while aiming their guns at each other.

Andre was the one to make the first move, he tried to kick Carla's arm to make her drop her paintball gun but she elegantly dodged it, he then used the momentum of the movement to get up on his knee, and immediately he fired. Carla softened her hair and fell on the ground before the bullet could reach her but the man before her didn't plan to let her the time to attack back, he shot three more times, and each time he was taking few steps back, Carla understood that he was trying to cover his run.

" Not this time! " she said after dodging the third bullet, she jumped very high over him and while being in the air she opened fire. Andre kept rolling on the ground trying to not get hit by those so many shots. He then tried to get her at the instant she would land foot on earth but she was just too fast for him to keep up, she dodged his first shot by hopping on the wooden wall on her left then the second by jumping on the one on the opposite side in the manner of zigzag and each time closing the distance.

At a moment, while dodging the third shot she jumped on the plank on his right at just three feet from him. He raised his rifle in front of her face but when he tried to fire no bullet came out.

He jumped back and started to examine his gun to see if there was a problem with it, then he raised his head and finally saw Carla's satisfied smile which could be equivalent to hundred words by the message it was telling him.

[ I see, that was her plan].

" But how- " Andre was so shocked that his words could difficultly come out from his mouth.

" How did I know that you're running out of ammo? " she helped him finishing his question while she was detaching herself from the wooden plank to set foot on earth, " that's simple, I counted. Every single bullet you fired until you reached the 20 bullets, " but seeing his confused expression on his face she exclaimed, " what- wait you didn't know about the 20 bullets per guns? Didn't you check the tube containing your number of ammunition? Mistake showing that you are clearly a rookie " she sighed.

She took off the belt of the rifle and threw the weapon away, " stand up and show me what are you made of ".

Andre understood that she wanted to finish it with a fist to fist duel. He knew very well that he had no chances of winning against her in that frame but he couldn't let slip such an opportunity.

He stood up and nodded to show he humbly accepted her proposition and she even let him initiate but he barely had the time to step forward and threw a punch before she knocked him down immediately with a kick he didn't even see coming.