Chapter 18
Guard Dogs
Logan ordered the soldiers to put Veron, Titto, and Mr. and Mrs. Thompson inside the cage they have made. They dug a hole on the ground and blocked it with logs. The soldiers guarded them so they cannot escape.
Next to the base, near the small stream, Logan grabbed a pebble on the ground and threw it to the tree. It snapped and splattered on the water. He lit the cigar with his Zippo, a small puff fumed the heat; he breathes in the smoke from the glowing butt, felt ticklish in his lung. The soldiers were walking around proudly as if they are in Cassandra. Same old stuff, same old stuff.
“It’s our destiny,” murmured Logan, smiling. “We will return to Cassandra.”
In the cage, Veron was rubbing his shoulder; his face was all bruised up and filled with nasty scar. But it was worse mentally. At the night of the overthrow, which was hardly a coup, Logan threw Morris’s head in front of Veron and laughed at him. Veron almost went insane, he didn’t eat or drink; he merely stared at the muddy ground, talking to himself. Sometimes he laughed, sometimes he cried and suddenly he cursed Logan and wanted him to be dead.
“Well, this is it then. Our luck, if we had any, just went out,” murmured Titto, nearby Thompson family. The soldiers were talking cheerfully, laughing amongst themselves. They talked about conquering the island and returning to Cassandra to become great. They loved the new ruler, Logan, who was now a hero for them.
“What is going to happen now?” said Mr. Thompson, sweating a little.
Titto looked at the family who were frightened in the corner. He felt a little easing inside his heart. Veron had a trouble getting his words out.
“I don’t have an answer,” said Titto.
“Titto! You are the chief advisor, tell us what to do!” shouted Veron.
“Well, I’m glad you are willing to listen to what we were doing for last twenty years…” said Titto, sardonically. “Remember, you are not on the throne anymore and I don’t take request from the asshole.”
Veron looked like as if he was slapped in the face. He leered at Titto with anger but didn’t speak anything. Titto felt triumph in his heart, as if something blocking his heart suddenly got unclogged. Veron was muttering to himself like an old woman.
“My good man, we will help, just please, is there a way to save our daughter?” said Mrs. Thompson. Titto glanced at Melady, who was merely looking at Titto with her big eyes. This made him burn with anxiety and worries that he might lose her.
“We have to use their pride,” muttered Titto. “Flattering, although in this stage it is useless…”
“But, there has to be some way!” said Veron.
“Since they already achieved their goal, probably they will thrash us and make us like circus monkeys. They will humiliate us and play us like toys. It’s a sick, giddy merry-go-around,” said Titto, turning to Veron and added. “Just like you.”
“Fight them,” muttered Veron, he tried very hard to ignore Titto’s last comment. But his senses are betraying him. His muscle bulged and fists hardened.
“How, Mr. Genius? Maybe you can worship the stone like you did it before, oh oh, Titto, there is a turtle in my dream what should I do? What should I do? I mean go the fuck to sleep,” said Titto. Veron bellowed, swinging his fist, and they started fighting.
Veron pushed Titto on the wall and started hitting him with elbow. Titto grabbed Veron’s ear and bashed it into the muddy wall and punched his face. And then they were on the ground, rolling and grabbing each other. Mr. Thompson ran and broke them apart.
“Stop! Stop! Both of you! What are you doing?” bellowed Mr. Thompson.
The guard came near and glimpsed at them, but they didn’t bother punishing them. They thought they are losing control in desperateness. They smirked and went away laughing.
“Careful Mr. Komer, you no longer have an authority. Stop acting like you have one,” sneered Titto, wiping the blood from his lips.
Veron’s nose was bleeding, he merely stared at Titto. Veron looked at Titto with disbelief and soon was ashamed and started lamenting.
“We’ll get out of it,” said Titto to Veron, removing the mud from his head. “Soon they will come for Melady, and I won’t let that happen, so shut up. Let me think.”
Titto was deep in his thought, looking at the sky. Veron was suddenly wailing like a dying dog, everyone startled. The guards came, looked into the cells and frowned. They fired few shots on the mud in front of Veron. Veron, surprised, leapt from the ground and cowered in the corner. The guards spat and went away, grumbling.
“One day I woke up in the morning and I was more than just a part of these monstrous events,” murmured Veron in the corner. Everyone ignored him.
Few minutes later, Mr. Thompson went up to Titto and whispered to him.
“Titto?” said Mr. Thompson. “In Cassandra, when you were ruling people… You have tried to defend your regime from Nina Polchinski, but you couldn’t do it. What happened there, do you remember?”
“I’m not Nina Polchinski,” murmured Titto.
“But still, you must’ve learned something from her.” hissed Mr. Thompson. “Is the security too tight?”
Titto didn’t answer him back. Mr. Thompson sighed and sat on the muddy floor. Mrs. Thompson went near him and embraced him. Melady was sleeping, tired from the dehydration and anxiety. She let out her soft breathing. Titto just lay down on the ground and looked at the sky. After a while, he opened his mouth.
“It is pretty clear to me now that the intensity of surveillance is not the problem. When I was in Cassandra I looked for the systematic imbalance, tilt it, and adjusted several times see whether it collapses,” muttered Titto. “Even if they’ve got all the data of the enemy, it doesn’t matter if they don’t know which part to use it. One wrong move will pay the consequences. One cannot trap others forever. Even if you have hundreds of dogs guarding and surrounding the wolf, you cannot trap that wolf. Yes, it will escape, dead or alive it will… Nina indeed escaped.”
Everyone silenced and looked at Titto, Veron glimpsed at him with a little interest.
“The question is, I don’t know how she did it,” said Titto, grudgingly. He sat down and covered his face.