CHAPTER 115

TOMMY LEFT THE GROUP at the Library and cautiously continued looking for the presidential vehicle. Fearing being attacked by one of those vagrants who roamed the streets, he tried to move silently and go through more hidden places.

Arriving close to the huge stage set up there, he searched, in vain, for the limousine that had been mentioned before. There were several cars in the place, but none of them seemed to be the President's. Maybe the driver had regained his senses and fled the scene when he realized the situation, or someone could have fled with the vehicle at the time of the huge confusion.

Cowards!

To accommodate everyone, Tommy needed to find a large vehicle with more seats; a simple passenger car wouldn't allow that.

Damn it!

Concentrated, he began a search for a vehicle that would meet his needs. He followed the corners, always hiding wherever he could and avoiding proximity to anyone. The scene was catastrophic, people wandered aimlessly among the countless corpses that were scattered throughout the place, most of them others who had been trampled during the confusion.

The sepulchral silence only gave way to the strange grunts of those walking and the sound of the fire that consumed some of the destroyed cars. The situation seemed to be deteriorating and there was not the slightest sign of medical or police help approaching. Deep down, he himself did not know if he could trust anyone, after the events that had occurred with the President.

As he continued his tortuous path, Tommy saw a news van parked near a corner. With its doors open, the vehicle seemed to have been abandoned in the moment of general despair. He walked over to it and checked to see if anyone was there. He found nothing, except transmission equipment still on and some cameras, microphones and cables. He closed the side door of the car and entered the driver's cabin through the passenger side. He slid into the driver's seat and bent down to hot-wire the van, something he knew how to do very well. As he began his work, he was surprised by a soft knock on the door next to him, a low sound, like someone trying to call him. He looked up to answer the call and saw a well-dressed woman, who appeared to be the reporter, who was standing next to the car and he hadn't seen her. She looked at him for a few seconds, but with a distant look, she soon turned her gaze away and took a step forward, hitting her head on the car door again.

— What the hell is this?! — Tommy exclaimed in surprise. It was then that he realized her true state.

The woman was unconscious, irrational, and barely in control of herself. Her mouth was open, her saliva dripped down her chin onto her clothes, and her gaze constantly changed direction, without purpose or focus. Everything led him to believe that she was stuck in her mental state at the time she was hit by the sound attack, which must have been her desire to return to the van and get out of there.

The fear really took hold when Tommy looked around more carefully and saw so many others who were behaving the same way as that woman, disoriented, unaware, perhaps no longer themselves. He realized that he could have become one of those and be there, wandering, mentally trapped in a mere moment. A moment that could be desperate.

And Katherine could find herself in trouble and never see him again...

COMING TO, TOMMY LOOKED AGAIN at the woman who was reluctant to repeatedly hit her face on the bodywork of the car and got out. He searched her, trying to find the keys, but they weren't with her. He returned to the vehicle and pulled out his pocketknife, which had been given to him by Evans, who had drawn a crazy chart on the floor to cut the wires. However, he was surprised by a part of the windshield being shattered by a projectile that had skidded.

By his own reflection, Tommy ducked, dropping the knife and pulling out his pistol that was attached to his pants. He quickly looked outside, but could not identify where the projectile had come from, as there were many people wandering around the place.

That was all I needed!

He then heard someone say:

— I finally found you!

It was Benedetti's voice!

But this left Tommy extremely confused.

Why would Carl Benedetti, his mentor, be shooting at him?

— What was that, old man? — Tommy asked, still crouched down in the vehicle, giving a brief glimpse over the hood inside the cabin.

— That's my question! — Benedetti replied, aggressively.

— I don't understand...

— I raised you, Tommy. I taught you everything you know!

A new shot hit the car, hitting the central rearview mirror, which fell on Tommy. He looked again and then he could see him, walking directly towards him, among the wandering lunatics. Some even ran at the sound of the gunshots, others just looked on, confused, or reacted in unusual ways.

— What are you saying, Carl?

— Don't play innocent, kid! I saw what you did to Tony! Not a criminal

Only the worst kind would be capable of committing such a betrayal!

— I couldn't do anything!

— I've killed family members for minor betrayals, but you? You were like my son! I could see you grow up and become a man, but now I see that I was wrong...

— You don't know Tony!

— The worst part of all this is that it's my fault! I was the one who convinced him to accept you! I was the one who called you! I was the one who took you to him! I was the one who registered you! I was the one who failed!

The third shot went through the bodywork, piercing the upholstery of the seat, close to Gregory's face. Benedetti was getting closer and closer.

— Tony is the only traitor in this story! — he shouted. — He never cared about you, Benedetti! You were never more than a pawn in his hands!

— I always knew that, Tommy. What do you think I am, a betrayed woman?

Tommy remained silent, trying to understand what he was saying. Benedetti continued:

— I was to Francesco what you were to me. He is the reason I am here today. Tony, for me, is a promise I made to Francesco before he died in my arms. I promised to keep him, to make him grow, and unfortunately this is a mistake I have to bear. I made him grow, but I did not make him a man.

Tommy did not hesitate, he took the pocketknife from the back of the car again and started to hotwire it.

— Look, how contradictory... — Benedetti continued. — I am an honorable man, I keep every promise I made, but all my honor only ended up imprisoning me to someone like Tony...

— If you are capable of accepting someone like him, why are you doing this to me? — Tommy said, trying to buy time. He did not want to have to face his dear friend, he knew he was out of his mind.

Benedetti let out a light laugh, he knew Tommy's clumsy side.

— I didn't promise you to anyone...

Having said this, Benedetti, already very close to the car, pulled out his other shiny chrome revolver and began to fire slowly in its direction. His shots, however, did not match his routine aim; they were like words thrown into the air by discouraged lips.

Tommy managed to make the call and start the car. Without hesitation, he turned the corner, accelerated that clumsy van as much as he could and fled from there, still under Benedetti's gunfire. In the rearview mirror, as he fled, he could glimpse his mentor reloading his weapons and calmly walking in another direction.

Knowing his skill, he could not understand what his real intentions were, because if he truly wanted to, he would have shot him from the beginning. The moment, however, was to return to the group and ensure the safety of Katherine... and the President.