—What did you do Samuel ?! —I rush to snatch the cordless phone out of his hand, but he drops the call before he can snatch it away.
— Do you really believe this Frenchman? —he points at him with her thumb— You can see for miles he's lying —Paúl stands up, my partner sits him back using only one hand— You stay here with us, we haven't finished talking yet.
I roar loudly to get Samuel's attention— Get your hand off him
The horn begins to appear from Samuel's forehead as he approaches me— You're finally showing your fangs. What are you going to do? Bite me?
His confidence infuriates me— I'm going to cancel the order —I bring my finger to the button that allows the last call to be dialed.
Before pressing it, I'm pushed by Samuel, my fall is accompanied by a table and I drop the phone. The noise causes the Frenchman to want to withdraw, but the brute of my partner again prevents him— Here we are talking, stay in your place —Bumping into the table leaves a pain on my back
— It was not necessary to bring troops, we just came to talk.
Samuel laughs— Talk? Has talking ever led to something good with these people? —Take the phone that escaped my hand— with the people we can dialogue, but those with power will always look for ways to evade our rules, only force will teach them where their place is.
Carefully I get up, I want to stand straight, but my back prevents me— We have power. Will we also have to use force against ourselves to learn our place?
The phone is put away— Of course, there will come a time when one of us will have to be controlled so that he understands his place. What will you do at that moment, Eusebio?
I take the chair that is close to me— I suppose I will also have to use force —I throw it at him and run instantly, with his arm he deflects it and is unable to stop my onslaught, being on him I raise my fist to hit him ... but I hesitate. Is this my answer?
Samuel does not ignore my moment of doubt, he captures my throat with his hand, he suffocates me while trying to stand up, with his strength it is impossible for me to loosen his grip— It is ironic how your transformation represents you, you may be very fierce in appearance But you are a lion without claws and fangs, what a painful image —he pushes me to the ground.
Paul recoils scared— I swear I don't know anything about drug trafficking or sarin gases.
Samuel rests his hands on the arms of the chair— There is that lying expression again, I think you know something that you do not want to tell us and it has to do with what we are looking for.
— They are going to kill me.
Without hesitation, he grasps the Frenchman's head with both hands and positions the tip of his horn near the throat of the village chief— I could make you not worry about that.
— Near the river there is a winery! —He stops relieved when noticing that the threat is removed from his neck— the previous government ordered us to maintain that place with the fewest possible visits, we have no ideas what they are doing there, but I am sure it is important.
Samuel gives him a gentle pat on the face— You're a good Frenchman —he realizes that I'm still on the ground— What are you still doing there —He stretches his hand to help me stand up— Someone important like you shouldn't be on the ground for long, let's go for what we're looking for.
As if nothing had happened, we both left the restaurant, if before there was a harmonious silence, now there is a fear in the environment, this feeling is familiar to me, it is the same that I perceived in Santiago, I feel that we are a kind of agents of terror.
An Animano with the head of an eaglet descends from the sky, his wings are gathered on his back, he places his weapon on his left shoulder and with his right hand he greets us— We are searching the village, we found no traces of a chemical laboratory.
— Move to the river, find a winery and eliminate everyone you find there.
—No casualties! —They both look at me strangely, it is true that I get too excited— only shoot whoever you see armed.
Samuel sighs bored— Do what he says.
After making sure the soldier leaves, I head towards the car where the driver is waiting for us. "We have to make sure we are present to question those involved.
— You finally say something interesting —he says as he follows me— I congratulate you on your performance in there, it was really believed that we were arguing.
— What are you talking about?
— Come on Eusebio, the good cop and bad cop dynamic, nothing I said about you was true, it was just a bit of theater to make it seem convincing.
I touch my throat, I still feel his hand on it— Well, that grip felt quite real.
— Don't be sensitive, you should know that if I wanted to kill you, I would just do it, it wouldn't take that long —He steps forward to open the door for me.
— You say it as if it were not a problem —I stop at the entrance to face it— I want everything to be clear, in that discussion I was not acting, I still think that you are too aggressive and unpredictable, you still do not know your place.
Samuel smiles satisfied— This is the Eusebio I want as a friend, a lion capable of facing the most fearsome creatures —his voice turns serious— not the cub who was hesitating about hitting me or not.
Without answering I proceed to get into the car, after Samuel gets in, we leave for the river area, the last stretch of the route we have to walk, my nose begins to perceive a different smell from the rest, without a doubt they are chemicals, soon Some time my smell begins to bother me, so I try to lower the sensitivity level of my smell, although it is still annoying, I no longer need to cover my nose with one hand.
A few meters from the cellar we found a corpse, when examining it we realize that it has three bullets in its back and another in its calf, it has no weapons, so it should not have been attacked by ours.
— They're cornered —Samuel says— they killed their people, so they wouldn't talk.
— We have to hurry —he takes my arm— they are killing them.
— We are both unarmed, let the soldiers do their job —he releases my arm and sits on the ground — although if I think about it, you could go and die, so I have a reason to annihilate you.
In my helplessness I punch a tree while I hear gunshots, shortly after the Animate soldiers arrive, they were surely attracted by the noise, the exchange of bullets intensifies more and more, I can tell that Samuel wants to participate, but he abstains by virtue of our lack of weapons.
After making sure that the shots are stopped, we advance towards the warehouse, the soldiers recognize us, they form a perimeter around us and help us to enter the place, among the corpses inside the facility we see a group of seven male and female prisoners , all have received first aid due to injuries.
Samuel cracks his knuckles— So Eusebio, who do we make sing first?