The Red Nights - Volume 1 Chapter 67 Change Of Plan

That morning Lina woke up unusually early, she sat up slowly on the bed and stretched out enthusiastically with a joyful smile illuminated by the orange color of the sun rays.

When she turned her head she saw Natasha on the corner of the room just next to the window in a way that she was hidden from the sunlight. She was sitting on a stool while wearing a tracksuit and it seemed like she stopped all her movements when she felt Lina’s sight on her as she suddenly immobilized herself at the moment she was about to tie her shoes.

She didn’t move at all even to raise her head before Lina asked her ” what are you doing? “.

She lifted her head slowly and with a forced smile she gazed away as if she was looking for a good excuse then she said with a tone uncertain ” I… I woke up surprisingly early and I felt like why not going outside doing some jogging “.

Lina’s smile faded away, she stared at Natasha with an annoyed expression not convinced at all, ” you wanted to go to the barrier to help with the preparations, right? ” she asked while knowing already her answer.

She firstly stayed silent while bowing her head a little shameful like a thief caught on the spot and then rose her head back up trying to defend herself ” look I can help them, it’s not really a big deal to move some wrecked cars and other stuffs to place the barricades. It may be even quicker if I’m there so I don’t see the point of staying laying at home “.

” Nat’ ” Lina stopped her, ” you may be not seeing the point but I do, it’s a really important battle and we can’t afford making the slightest mistakes when we are facing an enemy we don’t even, it’s not only about winning or survive it’s about not showing any weakness in our side to that enemy, do you understand that? ”

Natasha didn’t reply, instead she began to silently undress herself she wore back her pyjama and walked toward the bed and jumped on it burying her head on a pillow.

Lina gazed down at her with a sorry face, she stretched her hand and started stroking delicately her back while telling her with a softer voice ” you know… it’s not my intention to put pressure on your shoulders, if I could carry that burden with you I would have done without any hesitation, but the situation here is too complicated and at this point you’re our only hope “.

Natasha didn’t say a word, her face still buried in the pillow she instead patted the bed blindly as if to look for something and finally reached Lina’s hand.

They stayed hand in hand for a moment, meanwhile Lina quietly laid back down on while turning her head to face Natasha. She smiled and in a low voice, almost whispering, she told her ” hey, remember what is happening today? “, the young woman didn’t respond so Lina shook her slightly and insisted, ” I know you have been thinking about the same thing as me all night long “.

Seeing that she still didn’t want to react Lina leaned slightly towards her and she whispered directly to her ear, ” you are as well so excited to see Jamal coming back that you’ve been doing e.r.o.t.i.c dream of him all the night, am I right? “. Natasha blushed so much that even her ears turned red, she pushed Lina away and suddenly sat up straight with her pillow still in her arms and immediately Lina smugged, ” s-s-stop saying such nonsense ” she stuttered while trying to pull herself together.

Lina started laughing uncontrollably, ” you are reacting like a teenager whose crush has just been discovered. It’s really a pity that you couldn’t see your face at that moment, you were so cute “. After she caught her breath she moved to reach the place she had before Natasha pushed and while still wearing her so known smirk she carried on ” hey, tell me what was it about? “.

” Leave me alone, you pervert ” she replied more embarrassed than irritated, she put back the pillow and started moving out of the bed. Lina grabbed her hand and tried again ” please tell me otherwise once he comes I will tell him that you have been dreaming about him “.

Natasha fiercely released her hand and while she was about to reach the door she told her ” I’m going ahead to prepare the breakfast, I will leave you here with your dirty thoughts “.

Lina suddenly jumped out from the bed and ran toward her while shouting ” wait! wait for me! I need your help to prepare a lovely meal for my lover “.

Lina had been clinging on Natasha until they reached the living room which was on the way to the kitchen, there they found Matteo sitting on the largest sofa with a blanket on his legs while he massaging his neck, instead of turning his head toward the two women as they were passing by he kept pressing on his neck while staring down at the floor with a worried expression.

The two women glanced at each other wondering about why was he like that then Lina approached him slowly, she put her elbows on the top of the backrest of the sofa, she leaned forward and asked him ” hey Matteo, are you alright? “. The latter startled as if he didn’t notice their presence at all from the beginning, when he turned to look at her Lina and Natasha directly noticed the black circles below his eyes, ” it seems like last night sleep wasn’t comfortable at all for him ” Natasha firstly commented, she then told him ” don’t worry I will prepare a breakfast which will immediately give you a lot of energy, but firstly go up to wash yourself you must hurry I’m sure Brad is already waiting for you “.

He stared at them for a moment in a weird way as if they were two people whom he was familiar with but could remember anything about them, he shook his head and he could finally pull his mind together, ” Mmm, I will do that ” he said while nodding, he stood up and walked silently toward the stairs.

Natasha and Lina stared at him going up until he disappeared from their sights. They glanced again at each other and Lina seemed like she was asking her what did she think about that, the latter shrugged and shook her head negatively as to tell that she honestly didn’t have any idea. ” Do you think that he had a… bad dream? ” Lina said in a low voice, almost inaudible.

” Mmm? ” Natasha gazed at her interrogatively as she couldn’t clearly hear what she just said.

Lina stopped herself before she answered, [ it’s not the time to make her worry even more ].

” I was supposing that maybe he, as well, had an e.r.o.t.i.c dream of Jamal last night ” she finally said after she jumped on her and tried to hold her.

” What… ? “, Natasha grabbed her by her shoulders before she could completely hold her and tried to resist by pushing her away ” can you please leave me with those weird thoughts of yours “.

Dana, who had been woken up by the noises, arrived in the living room still a little sleepy and found them in a weird position as they were fighting, she had a moment of hesitation and stroked her eyes before she asked ” just what are you doing? “.

The two women paused their movements to look at her, noticing that Lina had momentarily stopped her assault Natasha rapidly used that occasion to push her and as a response to her she said ” nothing you should care of ” before she moved to the kitchen.

Dana then reported her attention on Lina but the latter instead of answering her she just shrugged and told her ” come, we will help her to cook “.

The girl stepped back ” no thanks but I prefer to return back up and resume my sleep “.

Before she could go further Lina grabbed her wrist and pulled her, ” that was not a question, so stop acting as if I gave you a choice “.

So the two women joined forces with Dana and began with the preparation of the breakfast while trying to chatting with her a little. They noticed that during the major part of the discussion it was her bold and self confident personality which would talk the most and would switch to her shy self only when it came to some embarrassing questions Lina would ask to tease her.

It was still early in the morning when they started to set the table. Dana noticed that Natasha took a part of the food they prepared, cellophaned them and stocked them elsewhere that was when she remembered. After she put the plate she was carrying on the table she turned to Lina who was just next to her and asked her ” so that’s true that Jamal is coming back today, right? “.

Lina had a short moment of hesitation before she smiled and said ” yes that’s true, but not at these hours though, since it’s quite a long way they may come late at noon ” she then smirked and added ” why are you asking? Don’t tell me that you, too, had… ”

Before she could finish Natasha, who was right behind her, clutched her teeth and told her ” dare talking about e.r.o.t.i.c dreams and I swear I will throw on your face a pot of hot water ” and Lina didn’t dare continued her sentence.

Dana gazed at her confused and asked again ” in that case why did you… ? ” instead of completed she just pointed to the packaged foods Natasha had placed away, the two women turned their heads and after they got what she wanted to say Natasha smugged while glancing at Lina and said with a playful tone ” oh, that, you see Jamal is a big fan of my cooking and so I thought that it would be a good idea to prepare something for him personally but his girlfriend who is a very jealous person doesn’t want me to cook for him directly so we decided that I would to package them and hand them to her so she can offer them to him ” she glanced again at Lina to check her reaction and still without wearing off her smirk she said to Dana ” did you understand or do you want me to repeat? “.

” She understood so cut it out and let’s eat already ” Lina snarled while pushing Natasha to her seat.

Matteo came to join them around the table, he looked more refreshed than earlier and the black circles below his eyes seemed to have disappeared but he still looked pretty worried, he didn’t say a word during all the time they were there and right after they finished he left his seat in rush, ” I have to go ” he said as he was walking toward the door.

Before he reached it Lina shouted behind him ” it is expected that Jamal would arrive at midday “, hearing that he suddenly stopped while holding the handle of the door ” so can you ask a break to come accompany me and go welcoming them? “, still with his back facing them he muttered ” I will see ” before he pulled the door and went off.

” What’s wrong with him? ” Dana couldn’t help but ask.

Her sight still fixed to the door Lina sighed ” I don’t know “.

An hour later she arrived in her office and decided to focus on the rest of the work which was remaining. It was about the integration of the new citizens and how can they help to improve the society. During the first days they came she had to concentrate on their dwellings since not all the buildings and houses were able to hold people and she couldn’t just dispatch them here and there without any organization, knowing that they were among them young people like Matteo and Dana who had no one to take care of them and other people who were so traumatized by the earliest events that she couldn’t afford to let them live by themselves.

So relying on the data she had been able to collect from all of them and on the analysis of Donald on the mental state of each of them Lina had managed to build a relocation plan, classing them into many groups without any exact size and attributing to each group a suitable place. She had followed the advices of Donald which he said that placing people who shared similar experiences would help them to overcome their traumas and create strong relationsh.i.p.s between them. And she also made in sort of the young people who were then alone, to find groups where there would be people who could take them in charge just like she had done before with the kids of Stainfall.

Since she had finished with that matter of relocation she could finally reported her attention on the reviving of the society. In the last discourse she had done she asked to the people to write on papers in what were the kinds of works they were specialized in and to send them to the city hall so that they could be provided some jobs to do. She was happy to see that they received many answers which was the proof that people were motivated. Among those lists of demands Lina firstly began by classifying those who were important which the city was needing from the others which could help but was not very crucial for the moment. She tried to be as fast as she could, immediately writing a letter whenever she finished attributing a job to a person, she was so focused that she didn’t really see the time passed.

At a moment she heard someone knocking the door, she lifted her sight to take a look at that person and in front of her was Matteo, standing next to the door. ” Time for a break ” he said to her.

Lina rubbed her eyes before she stood up and replied ” let’s go “.

They arrived at what was considered as the entrance of the city where they had welcomed the refugees one week ago, on the way Matteo stayed calm and silent and Lina didn’t try to engage the discussion as she felt that he was not in mood and wouldn’t reply anyway. They stayed there waiting for a very long time, quietly staring at the horizon without seeing any vehicles coming in. She sighed and finally decided to talk, without moving her sight she asked Matteo ” what was your dream of? “.

Before that moment when she turned to look at him Lina realized that Matteo’s hands had been shaking since they arrived. ” I was hoping that it was not true. That it was just a dream or that at least I was wrong but… ” his voice broke.

” What did you see? ” Lina asked him again, surprisingly calm.

” Jamal… in my dream I saw that Jamal and all the army which was accompanying him got attacked by the undeads ” Matteo slowly confessed.

” When, where and how many? ” she came again still without showing any signs of weakness in her attitude.

” I couldn’t grasp every detail but I can somehow say that it was near the city and even though I had this dream last night if I project to this day ” Matteo paused and bowed his head ” the attack happened two hours ago and considering how they can’t be killed by common manners… they were just too many for them to handle “. The young boy didn’t have the courage to look up at her and before she replied he added ” I know that it was stupid, that if I had told you much earlier we could have done something to save them… “.

” What else? What is that restrain you to tell us about that attack? “.

Knowing that he just couldn’t hide anything from that woman and that at that point it would be just stupid to try holding any information he confessed everything, ” I also saw that the attack of the undeads on that city would not be tomorrow but today, at the moment the sun will go away and the darkness of the night would fall those monsters will come “.

Lina took a breath, ” I see, the reason you didn’t tell us anything was that you were afraid that the embuscade on Jamal’s group was just a trap and that at the moment we would have sent Natasha to go rescue them the undeads would again change the time to attack and immediately rush into the city. With Natasha away we would have been left completely defenseless against them “, Matteo was slowly lifting his head when Lina suddenly reached it and started patting him, ” I understand that you have been thinking about it and torturing your mind since that morning but don’t worry, you have taken the right decision and when Jamal will come back, because I’m sure he will come back, he will pat your head the same way as I do and will tell you the same thing I told you “.

Matteo had never admired Lina more than at that very moment, though he could feel her hand shaking and could say that she was worrying very much about the man she loved she still found the strength to stay calm in front him so that he would not panic or feel guilty.

She removed her hand from the top of his head and told him ” I must go to see Natasha and tell her that there is a change of plan “.

” There’s no need “, they gasped when they heard her voice coming from behind and they quickly turned around to see her standing straight while facing them. ” I was wondering why you were taking so much time and I came to inquire, ” she paused ” I heard everything and I know exactly what I have to do ” with a face full of determination she turned around and ran toward the direction of her house.

” Nat’ wait! ” Lina shouted but she continued running at full speed without even taking a glance behind, ” Matteo, have you already finished the installation of the barricades? “.

” When I left them there were still some few zones we didn’t block yet ” he responded.

” Alright, come with me, we have to go give them a hand to quickly finish that before the sunset ” Lina said after taking a last look at the road behind her maybe hoping to see a cortege of cars coming but it didn’t happen.