Na capital, as ruas ficaram alagadas devido à forte chuva que caía há várias horas, sem movimento de civis, apenas se ouvia o galope dos cavalos dos soldados, acompanhado pelos sons das balas que trocavam com os " Patriot Disruptors", um grupo de rebeldes lutando contra o governo.

As casas estavam todas trancadas e poucos conseguiam dormir, pois era um pesadelo bem conhecido. Os guardas eram impiedosos e todos sabiam das torturas assustadoras que eles infligiam nas prisões, então ninguém ousava ir contra eles. Dois desses rebeldes estavam encostados em uma pequena banca de jornais para recuperar o fôlego. Um deles tinha um corpo de aparência mais severa e rugas podiam ser vistas ao redor dos olhos sobre a máscara que usava. Ele tinha um chapéu que escondia seus cabelos já grisalhos. O outro tinha um corpo mais magro, usava braçadeiras para não machucar muito os braços e usava capuz e máscara para esconder ainda mais sua identidade. Este segurava seu ombro para estancar o sangramento de uma bala que o atingira.

-Devíamos ter desconfiado que era uma armadilha...droga. Alguém deve ter nos traído. Era bom demais para ser verdade. Eles estão todos focados em você."

-Eu percebi isso. Eu deveria ter agradecido pela atenção. Minha esposa nunca olhou para mim do jeito que aquela víbora olha para você."

-Pare de brincar; eles estão se aproximando. Vamos sair daqui rapidamente. Os outros já deveriam ter chegado na floresta; agora só precisamos escapar."

-Você faz parecer fácil. Esqueceu-se da bala no peito e na perna?

O mais novo apenas suspirou, sabendo que não podia argumentar que estava bem. Não seria fácil escapar de uma tropa completa de soldados a cavalo feridos; naquele momento, ele apenas desaceleraria o outro.

-Você ainda tem alguma bala?

-Por que você os quer?

-Para distraí-los enquanto você foge. Não vou deixar você se render.

-É por isso que eu quero uma bala. Não vou deixar você se matar.

-Você tem uma ideia melhor?

Os barulhos dos soldados interromperam a discussão, então eles correram para o canto mais próximo, onde havia muito lixo acumulado e algumas latas de lixo ao redor. Os dois se esconderam atrás de algumas latas, e o mais novo olhou para um soldado que parou e estava entrando na esquina.

-Ele vai nos ver. O que vamos fazer?

-Posso distraí-los enquanto você foge.

-Não poderei escapar neste estado, então você tem que correr.

-Ugh, estamos condenados.

Ambos se inclinaram para trás, cansados ​​e preocupados porque não tinham planos de sair vivos daquela situação, e o soldado que se aproximou foi Bartolomeu, o mais forte do esquadrão, conhecido como quebra-ossos, só que não em posição superior por falta dele. de raciocínio e lentidão. Eles certamente não estavam em posição de derrubar aquele bruto.

Mas quando toda a esperança parecia perdida, eles ouviram três batidas atrás deles. Rapidamente olharam para trás e viram uma mãozinha iluminada pelo luar abrindo uma janelinha no sótão da casa grande onde estavam encostados. A mão desapareceu na escuridão lá dentro, e os dois se encararam por apenas alguns segundos antes de perceber que qualquer situação era melhor do que ser pego pelo triturador de ossos.

-Tá na hora de fazer dieta, velho", disse o mais esguio.

-Pare de fazer barulho e me ajude a entrar.

The grumpier one went in first and got stuck in the window, but after a few shoves he managed to get through. The slender one quickly followed and put the grate back in place while Bartolomeu dismounted his horse and inspected the corner with a lantern, looking around at everything. When he turned towards the window, they leaned against the wall so he wouldn't see their silhouettes.

-Did Bartolomeu find something?

-There's nothing here. They must have gone in another direction.

-The captain's going to be pissed."

After waiting a few more minutes to make sure the soldiers had left, they relaxed and sat on the ground. The place was still dark, so they couldn't see much until they saw a silhouette approaching them cautiously with something in their hand.

-Are you the Patriots' troublemakers?

-Why do you want to know?

-Sombra! Calm down, she is our savior.- The gray-haired man warned the other and then made a small bow to the woman who was still hiding in the shadows.

-Nice to meet you, we are the Troublemakers. Please forgive his manners, he doesn't know how to treat a lady.

-Ugh, shut up! We don't even know who she is.

-Stop it! She saved us.

-What happened to you?

-That's none of your business, girl.

-The young woman took a step forward, boiling with anger. How could they treat her like that when she was risking herself to save those idiots? She held a sharp pair of scissors with both hands, not trusting them, and pointed them at the rude one:

-You have no manners! I saved you! Do you know how this could harm me?! You imbecile! Calm down, girl. Be careful with those scissors. Give me a second with him here.

He positioned himself in front of the one being threatened with scissors and gestured for her to calm down. They had to be careful not to attract attention. Being older, he understood that the young woman was scared and upset by the situation, so he had to try to control the situation as he had more experience in bad situations. After asking the girl for some time, he turned around for a short and quick conversation:

-Come on. Don't be immature, apologize and thank the girl.

-I'm not gonna...Ouch! Stop it! You're crazy! - The other put pressure on his leg wound.

-Speak quietly. Because outside there are about 20 soldiers hunting for your head, so lower your head and trust this woman or would you prefer to surrender to the soldiers?

-I hate you...Ouch! Alright! Fine.

-Good boy.

He stepped forward and faced the girl with a smile that was conveyed through his eyes since they were wearing masks. The other one had his eyes closed in anger, deep down he understood that he was wrong but it was his weakness to trust other people. Then he took a step forward and looked around a little awkwardly. The other one tapped him to speak up:

-Thank you for helping us... and... sorry.

The woman calmed down and settled into a more relaxed position, still holding the scissors in her hands:

-I'll accept that. Don't make noise, the maid's room is right next door.

-Of course. Thank you very much for helping us.

The young woman decided to trust those two because she could always shout and say that they had broken into the house. So she put the scissors in her skirt pocket and went to a desk to light a lamp, she asked them to close the curtain of the small window they had entered so as not to risk drawing attention.

When she illuminated the room more, she could see that the rude rebel had a hand covered in blood that was pressing on his shoulder and a wound on his leg. She was a little surprised and excited, would this be an opportunity for her to experience taking care of a real injury?

- I didn't imagine that the famous Shadow was rude. From the rumors, I thought you were stronger too, but we can't overestimate people.

The hooded man's eyes gleamed with anger at the girl who had the courage to mock him. He clenched his hand to hold back his anger and not be rude again.

-That mission didn't go very well.

-What mission was that? What happened?

-Why all this curiosity about us?

-There are many stories about you, and it's nice to have the opportunity to know the truth about you.

-It's dangerous to have knowledge about us.

-Don't be a spoilsport, she's just curious."

The girl wanted to continue convincing them to tell more about the organization, but she couldn't help but notice that the injured one didn't seem to be doing well, his eyes were drooping and showed signs of being quite tired. Furthermore, his breathing wasn't normalizing even though they had stopped. With those wounds and this condition, she was sure that that boy needed to be treated soon.

-Take off your shirt now!

-WHAT!?

She had been staring at him for a few seconds and suddenly said that, he was scared and crossed his arms over his chest. The other was a little confused:

-Miss, don't you think you're going too fast? And I'm still here!"

-I'm sorry! I want to stop the bleeding so I need you to take off your shirt.

-You don't have to! I'm fine."

You need to be treated soon, if you lose more blood you can die or have sequelae."

-She seems to be right, so take off the shirt and let the girl do her job.

-But....

-I'll get the first aid kit!

She was excited to be able to practice everything she had been studying and had to take advantage of that opportunity to practice with a real patient. The other was shocked to be practically ignored, those two seemed to not respect anything he said:

-Hey! I already said that... Ouch! Why did you hit me? Can't you see I'm hurt?

-That's why let her treat you, she seems to be a good person.

-You can't trust people by appearance! It's because she always hits me!"

-If you listened to me, I wouldn't have to hit you!

-It'll come back around.

-Hahaha, I'll wait. Are you going to take off your shirt or do you want me to do it?

You could tell how the other was fuming with anger under his hood, so he took off his coat revealing a white shirt that had a bloodstain on the left chest. As he took off his shirt, she quickly came back and was surprised to see him without a shirt on, as she had never seen a man without a shirt before.

-Can we start?

-Y-yes.

He was awkward so he stuttered a bit and sat down for her to start taking care of the wound. She put the medical kit on a desk and he was a little shy about the closeness.

-I'll take the opportunity to see if the area is clean.

Are you going to leave me alone with her!?

...Sorry, Miss, can I leave you alone with him?

-Don't worry, I can take care of myself.

-Anyway, he has bruises on his ankle.

-Hey!

O mais velho saiu e os dois ficaram sozinhos. Ela estava muito focada em realizar o procedimento correto na outra que nem percebeu quando a outra começou a olhar melhor para ela. Ela tinha cabelos pretos curtos e ondulados que combinavam com seus olhos escuros e tinha algumas sardas na bochecha. Seu ferimento foi limpo e costurado e, depois que ela terminou, ela o encarou e, como estava usando uma máscara, conseguiu esconder o rosto corado.