Chapter 15: Death of the Colonel
23rd July - 19:30
"Vuk...wake up." someone whispered to my ear,sweetily,calmly pushing my body.
I barely heard her voice,but it was recognizable. I just didn't knew who spoke up.
I moaned quietly and weakly with my mouth closed.
"Калі ласка,w-w-wake up..." she repeated,raising her tone slightly.
I slowly and partially opened my eyes,turned leftwards and lifted my back,placing my hand on my head. It was buzzing with pain from headache and I felt dizzy. How much hours have I slept?
Being half asleep,I looked up and saw Natalia sitting on my bed,watching me. She smiled with a kind face.
"Good evening,my dear." she said,affectionately.
As I was still unconscious,I can't remember when did I began sleeping. What I DO remember is that I explained everything to her and Arisha what had happened three days ago in Belgrade,after I and Scepan returned from the ground-to-air battle. Days from which I and my younger brother spent so much energy and effort on to deal with Alfreak once again. It was successful in the end,and that's the reason why I was so exhausted. So much,that I felt my body leaving from my control.
"E-Evening?..." I murmured,after yawning and blinking "What's the time?"
She looked at the clock.
"It's 19:35."
I straightened and gave her a hug. She hugged me back.
"Did you sleep well?" my sister asked,after releasing each other.
"Fine,I think..." I said with a small smile,felling empty after waking up.
Half minute of silence. Calmness was present throughout my dark bedroom with a turned-on lamp,illuminating a portion of the room. Mild winds flew from an open window and the sunset passed by.
"Nat,where are Arisha and Scepan?" I asked,concerned. One of them (mainly Arisha) usually stay by my side when I sleep.
"They're gone." Natalia replied,simply.
I got up abruptly from my bed like a cannon's shot,shocked and surprised.
"ШТА?! They left already?!" I shouted,angrily "W-Why?!"
"Calm down,Vuk,no need to panic." Natalia stood up and placed her hand on my shoulder "Arisha picked Scepan up to drive him to his house in Lovcen one hour before you woke up."
"Why didn't Arisha notified me,then?" I protested in a same tone,though with lower volume "She usually does so whenever she goes somewhere."
"Well,she and Scepan DID in fact notified you,but you ignored them. They said 'goodbye' afterwards and you barely heard anything. You slept like a rock."
I blushed in shame by her answer. Have I ignored them? Oh Боже,they must've gotten angry at me for doing so,thinking I hadn't cared to listen to their words.
"I-I'm s-s-sorry..." I confessed shyly,clicking my index fingers at each other,looking at her "W-Was it really my fault?"
Natalia let out a soft chuckle.
"Of course not,Vuk." she said,sitting on my bed again "Why are you even saying this?"
I sat back next to my sister. I wanted to smile,but my worries about them won't let me do it.
"I missed out the fun...I didn't had the chance to see them..." I complained,frowning and feeling the need to cry.
She turned to me.
"Нахуй." Natalia sighed. She then gasped,exclaiming "You don't have to worry,though. Our sister told me through phone that she'll come back either at midnight or in early morning."
I took a deep breath of relief. We'll at least see her tomorrow.
"Хвала..."
We sat there silent for some time,still listening to the wind and the sounds of poultries,far away from us. Natalia turned her head and starred at me.
"Vukie,what are you thinking about? she asked me,out of curiosity.
I looked around and sighed.
"Nothing."
She raised her eyebrow.
"I don't think so. You look like you're hiding something." Natalia objected,placing her hand on my own "Come on,don't be shy."
I closed my eyes and took another deep breath,to diminish my fear of telling what I'm about to tell.
"My nightmares are getting worse..."
Natalia formed a worried face.
"Can you explain?"
I shrugged my shoulders and started explaining. It had to do with my health condition getting more worse as each week passes. The symptoms which were caused by unending sickness and nightmares is due to loss of hope of ever achieving peace even after beating that homicidal cunt called Alfreak Jonster in many battles like Nighthawk,Valjevo and Belgrade.
While I,Arisha and Ivan were all sick and weak even before the bombings had started,my condition's progress has been evident.
"The acute dizziness and constant stress often cause me to hallucinate things,particularly when I...'see' Alfreak sitting in front of me,giving me his sickening grin and laughter at the sight of my presence." I explained,getting angrier as I did "Nightmares are the worst. No matter how healthy I am,I can hear laughter,crying and shouts in my head from my friends and family,yelling me that I'm a disgrace,betrayer and a failure." my body was trembling in sadness and anger,weeping "The screams...Oh God,the screams...they won't go away..."
I couldn't help it. I collapsed in tears and laid on her lap. Natalia hugged me in responce,trying to comfort me.
" I-I...I can't..." I stuttered between sobs "I c-can't take it,Natalia...When will this torment e-e-end?..."
I kept crying. Natalia didn't knew how to answer,but she tightened her arms and growled with her mouth closed,in anger.
"Я не ведаю,Vuk..." she finally replied,after taking a deep breath "It's 121st day of the bombings and it seems that it'll last until that Imperialist piece of shit says 'Stop'...Well,until your probably die,actually,if that's what he wants!"
My crying grew louder,but she told me to calm down. In turn,I panted,whilst crying quietly and slowly.
"R-remember when you said in March that Alfreak is incredibly predictable?" I said with a blush,giving her a despairing look "Do you know when will it end?"
Natalia also looked like she's going to cry.
"How do you know?" she blushed a little.
"Arisha told me."
She too looked around,to clear her mind before speaking out.
"When I said this,I didn't mean that I'm good at predictions over Alfreak,as you call him." Natalia explained,sounding tired "I meant that he's predictable in the sense that his modus operandi is always the same: He wants something,he doesn't get it,he gets mad at the nation,he invents shit about that nation and then attacks. Different actions,similar lies."
It's been already clear that Alfreak is after me because,in Arisha's words,I want to be free and not to bow before him,not caring about the freedom of others but his own (and by extension his allies,but even this is questionable. See Maria and Adele). However,I always thought Natalia hid something from us when she said that statement. Now,I can't figure out who or what will take to stop this war. Belgrade Defense didn't held water,apparently.
"Oh,well...that's reality we have to cope with..." I concluded,cleaning my tears with my sleeve,now calmed down. Then I asked "Can we go to the terrace or eat and play something? Spending my entire afternoon laying there has gone boring."
"Так,good idea."
Before we went to the room's terrace,Natalia wanted me to let her check my forehead if it was burning. It was quite hot,meaning I had a fever for how many times. And I won't be surprised if the fever will get worse because I hadn't ate anything today other than breakfast.
We stood there watching the dusk and the sounds of silence,smiling together. The view was soothing and calm. Street lights have illuminated the darkening roads. Not one human being nor a moving car was in sight,and most of the populace of Visevac were in their homes,with their lights on. They're inside waiting,listening and chattering about their past and present experiences and lives. Many families are in fear and doubts to go outside,and have themselves and/or their children blast to death by the bombs,leaving the ponds of blood in their wake. They don't know answers,they don't know why they're being attacked,but as days and weeks are passing,they started doubting if it's they themselves who were at fault for sharing the same fate as their relatives and I do,instead of NATO and the American freak.
And few families in Serbia have gone as far as to believe they deserved it,leading to some members of those few families give up living and commit suicide due to lack of hope and severe depression. Depression manifested from loss of their loved ones and sons and fathers in the battlefield. As a matter of fact,I watched the RTS news at one point as the Serbian anchors told that the suicide rates in Serbia were increasing on a very slow rate,but increasing nevertheless.
At the same time,the view from our terrace into the distance was also nostalgic. It recalled our greatest moments,during the Cold War times,where peace existed between us,where tension and bloodshed was minimal,and where joy was present and felt upon,rather than cruelty and sorrow. But now,those moments are things of the past and it's yet to return.
Visevac is perhaps one of the several places in Serbia which is unnoticed by the vile 'West',being so isolated from major cities by tens of kilometers. Little to no air sirens were heard from this village alone. I thanked God for residing there.
I and Natalia stood silent. Ignoring the distant murmurs which were the permanent reminder that the war was still going on,stars began to appear. I saw one Northern Star which shone like Moon. I pointed at the star and called Natalia to see it. She was fascinated.
Seconds later,Natalia cut her sights off from the star and lowered her head.
"Vuk,I just remembered something." she suddenly said,surprising me.
"What?"
"Have you heard of Zoltan Dani?"
No,I never heard of him. Do I?
"Zoltan,who?"
"You know who I'm referring to. You've seen him in the past."
"Can you refresh my memory?" I requested.
Natalia placed her hand on my shoulder and we left the terrace,telling me that we should go downstairs because we were outside the terrace for too long. When we got down to the living room,I sat on a black chair while Natalia searched something within wardrobe for a minute. I didn't knew what was she finding,but once she did,she sat next to me and held a photo.
"Do you recognize this guy?" Natalia asked me,showing the picture.
I grabbed it casually to examine the photo. After ten seconds,I widened my eyes after finding out who he was. Recognizing his military uniform,he was none other than Colonel Zoltan Dani,who's aliased as Гвозден Ђукић. He's a Hungarian military personnel born in Serbia who was the same guy whom I told him to step aside and shot Alfreak's Nighthawk. Although it was me who downed that jet,he took the credit since I was in his unit and because I'm an earthling (nation and human in one),thereby becoming famous and an example of how our military,especially our Air Force,should act like in future.
The last new I got about him was in 2nd May where his other unit downed a F-16 plane while it completed its combat sortie and was flying outbound from Yugoslav airspace,two days before I confronted Alfreak in the air at Valjevo.
"Now I do." I replied,giving the photo back to her. After a pause,I asked "What's with him?"
"Slobodan Milosevic has assigned him as the new Serbian Ambassador to Hungary,as well as a new diplomat,yesterday,shortly after you and Scepan finished your battle against the Imperialist." she explained "Zoltan wanted Milosevic to let him visit his parents in Hungary in order to celebrate his birthday with them. Milosevic agreed,under the condition that he must also meet with Hungary's President Arpad Goncz to talk and extend new deliveries from the FOCUS humanitarian missions. Zoltan agreed back,stating that he had this in mind."
"How?..." I asked again "Why am I not informed about this?"
"For the same reason why you didn't knew about Arisha and Scepan's absence. You were sleeping." Natalia explained further "Milosevic called you today and he ended up talking with him,Vuk. He wondered why were you absent and I explained why. He wanted you to go to the Presidential Palace to see Zoltan and wish him farewell for his departure."
My President is trying his best to end the war and defend his people. When Arisha and Athene came to Zurich to organize humanitarian missions with Hans and Roderich on 30th April,lots of convoys were (and still are) sent to Serbia to help my people in their survival. Their first mission started on 15th May and ended on 30th May after the convoys were emptied. Soon after,they did so again fifteen days later and repeated since.
"Can we go there?"
"It's too late." Natalia sighed,with a disappointed tone.
I looked away. We were again alone and the room sounded through fireplace's crackling in the middle of silence.
"What should we do?"
"Nothing. You'll find out what happened to the Colonel tomorrow." she concluded. After that,she got up,saying "What do you want for dinner?"
"A sandwich." I answered,simply.
She went there to make sandwiches for both of us. I joined in to make sandwiches,insisting that she shouldn't make them all by herself. After we ate our dinner,we played three rounds of card games before we went to bed. We don't just play chess.
24th July - 10:40
"Serbian Ambassador to Hungary disappeared on sight."
Arisha has returned from Montenegro to my house five minutes after I and Natalia came back from a decent walk around Visevac,to take some fresh air. After we dressed up and showered,we brought a newspaper to know what happened in between today and yesterday. After viewing the headline,we got instantly shocked. Zoltan Dani has just been appointed as an ambassador to go to Hungary,and the next thing we got is that he suddenly vanished.
According to what the new had stated,Milosevic and Goncz had a conversation about why didn't Dani arrived in time. Three hours later and he called him again,telling the former that his ambassador might've disappeared. Goncz then asked if he could call his own ambassador to visit Belgrade to solve their issue,but Milosevic declined,telling him that some of his agents will find him so that they don't worsen their problem.
God knows how would this affect relations or the FOCUS humanitarianism when the case gets closed,and much less if Elizabeta finds out.
We kept the information to ourselves and went back to eat cheese pies for breakfast and talked if we could investigate ourselves or just let the agents do it for us. In the midst of eating,Arisha opened the door and,seeing we aren't paying attention,she called us.
"Good morning,you two! I'm back!"
We turned and left the leftover food to get up and hug her for arriving.
"We're so glad to see you,Arisha!" I said,releasing her.
I on the other hand invited my sisters to sit on our chairs. Arisha sat down between us.
"How was your day with Scepan?" Natalia asked.
"Большой. He was so playful and kind. I've never imagined how pleasant would his home be. Shame I hadn't stayed for some days and not several hours." Arisha oversimplified,with a bright smile "In any case,I'm glad you two are safe."
"And so are you."
It made Arisha giggle. Her face was cold and pale,but also sick-looking.
"What did you do when I was gone?" Arisha asked.
"Nothing much,we just took a nice walk." I replied,smiling.
"I see." she nodded "And yesterday?"
"Vuk complained about hallucinations and nightmares." Natalia said,turning her head at me,and then at Arisha "His health condition is getting worse."
"Да,I told her everything." I added.
Arisha moved her head down,closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She looked sad and worried.
"Talking about depression..." Arisha sighed,then asked "Anything new?"
She didn't received answer from both of us. We whispered if we should reveal the new about the disappeared Colonel or not. As we did,Arisha stood silent and confused until after ten seconds,she spotted the newspaper we just bought. Once she grabbed and read the headline,we stopped squabbling and reverted to look at our sister.
"That's impossible. I haven't heard of any incidents such as this." she said,letting the newspaper levitate on the desk. She then turned at us "Have you contacted Elizabeta about it?"
"No we didn't. We don't know her phone number." Natalia answered.
"That's unfortunate,although I think I have Liz's phone number." Arisha,getting up from the chair to find her phone "I slept in her house at late March when I spent one night with her,while I was on my way to see Vuk."
It was understandably probable. Arisha notes phone numbers from anyone she receives help. She cares about me to the core.
"Отлично! I've found it!" she raised her voice with a happy tone "Let me type in..."
Arisha placed the phone on her ear,hearing it's ringing. After the ringing changed it's pace,she was disappointed and sighed yet again.
We sat there silent as she tried again,and Arisha got the same result.
"Dang it,looks like she isn't available." Arisha murmured,sitting back.
To cheer her up,I offered my leftover breakfast for her to eat. I was full. Natalia offered her own,to show our solidarity.
"Aww,thank you!" she smiled.
I then got up to open a window to release Sun rays from outside,to refresh my living room. I really wanted to go outside so badly.
"And so,how would this affect the FOCUS missions with my colleagues?" Arisha asked,caressing her chin.
"We're not sure yet." I said,with a pause "I believe that there's a possible chance he was killed."
"By whom?"
"I don't know,maybe by a car crash. It was just my speculation."
No really. Zoltan might've died,but no one was able to find him. That's probably the reason why they labeled it as 'disappearance' (even I'm starting to question the news).
"Do you have proof?" Natalia asked.
"Nope." I said,getting serious "Again,it's a speculation."
Natalia was about to ask another question,but I told both her and Arisha that we should sit outside at the garden,where there are few chairs. They agreed.
"Even if you were to be proven right,who would've killed him?" she asked,after sitting on her new chair.
"Car crash?"
"Or maybe it was the Pindo who did it." Arisha assumed.
We opened our mouths,surprised by her comment. Not because of Alfreak but because of how she came up with her answer without bothering to take a guess.
"Are you sure?"
"Нет,but I wouldn't be surprised if he did." Arisha confessed "Just look at how he destroyed Liu's Embassy,something which no one ever thought about occurring. One may never know what he'll do."
I grinned.
"Or when Alfreak attempted to bring Athene back to his control,and look how it ended up." I added,reminding myself of the things Athene did with Alfreak. Making him lose in a forest or throwing that rotten tomato at his face before that,are few examples.
All of us bursted in laughter.
"A-And his reaction f-from Maria's DVD Cassette!" Natalia barely formed her sentence,how intensely she was laughing.
It only intensified our laughter. After we calmed down two minutes later,Arisha continued.
"In all seriousness,we have to get to the bottom of this." she concluded "The sooner we get the evidences,the better."
"The best would be if Elizabeta leaves NATO because of this."
"Oh,that would be great!" Natalia cheerfully stated,giggling slightly "One more NATO member out!"
"Aye."
After Arisha spoke her last word,we decided to get up and play some tennis.
16:00
All of us are now inside Arisha's military jeep. We are on our way to head towards Budapest after we solve the murder of Zoltan Dani. The decision to investigate ourselves was made right after she had a phone call with Elizabeta. In the middle of a quick lunch,her phone suddenly rang and Elizabeta spoke out. Arisha didn't knew who had called her before she did.
Arisha,after Elizabeta asked "What's so urgent?",told her that Zoltan died in unknown circumstances and that it's currently considered to be a 'disappearance'. She was shocked for not knowing that the guy Arisha was talking about was an diplomat. Liz carefully listened to Arisha's question if the FOCUS convoys will get halted because of his death,and she told her not to worry and then she let her know that the humanitarian aid will be sent on their way to Serbia's major cities anyway.
"In the end," Arisha said "our mission won't be disrupted?"
"Természetesen nem. Just because one diplomat is gone doesn't mean it's over." Elizabeta replied,politely. Then advised "Anyhow,you should stick to finding clues if the death was genuine or coincidental. Once you're finished,you'll tell what you've discovered and I'll consult with my president."
"Спасибо!" she thanked her "We'll make sure it's done as soon as possible."
"I'll count on you. Be safe."
Arisha wanted to ask why is she still NATO,but it was too late. Elizabeta quickly ended the call.
Passing through Belgrade was peaceful and relieving. Thanks to my battle against NATO and Alfreak in this city's skies by artillery,not one NATO jet dared to fly around it anymore. Parts of Belgrade were in ruins,as is to be excepted. However,after we exited the city,things got problematic.
One the plains of Vojvodina,the bombings have worsened and it's brutality increased. Every ten kilometers we saw many bombs falling to the ground,roads and fields alike. The ambient was an utter nightmare. I and Natalia sat in fear and patience as Arisha was trying her best not to get hit and killed by the bombs. When we were nearing Novi Sad,we almost got hit by a bomb which exploded near our front,making her car trip highly,nearly falling upside down.
"You got to be kidding me!" Arisha spat,after avoiding the blast.
Inside Novi Sad and onwards,we saw loads of humanitarian trucks coming their way to help the locals and deliver their goods,along with Swiss and Austrian convoys. They stopped when a bomb hit one of their trucks,expoding and killing two people in an instant. We got out to help the angered deliverers,taking out goods and sending them inside the closest trucks which stood in front of that destroyed vehicle,with fires surrounding us. Some of those people cursed at the skies,yelling that they should watch where they hit.
"This is unbelievable!" one of them complained,feeling the heat,angrily "They've actually attacked our convoy! NATO isn't supposed to attack the members' people!"
"They don't care,sir." Natalia replied,stressed and annoyed "The FOCUS convoys are being attacked because they're helping their enemy Serbia."
"That seems confusing..." the other younger deliverer added,approaching us and his other colleague,scratching his hair.
"Have you seen this man?" I asked,taking out the picture of Zoltan Dani and showing it to the first guy.
He frowned.
"Nem. Who's this?"
"Serbia's newest ambassador to Hungary,Zoltan Dani."
Silence. Under the calming facade,its silence was tense and nervous.
"We don't know who he is." The third deliverer showed up next to Arisha,after putting down the boxes onto the road.
I,Natalia and Arisha turned and looked at him for a moment,only to turn back to the first two personnel. Arisha explained who's Zoltan and the situation behind him. After she finished,they told us that they haven't seen him,only that he headed north,with respect to her explanation.
"Thanks for the clue." Natalia said,winking at them.
They nodded with a smile,and we kept on collecting the remains into the trucks. A crate has accidentally fallen from Arisha's grasp when she thought she heard a plane roar,startling her. The first one told her that it was just a truck engine,and Arisha was like "Oh,ok." After ten minutes,one of them announced that they were ready to go. They thanked us for our appreciation,waved us goodbye and we got inside to move forward.
17:30
We stopped on a field next to the highway,near the Hungarian border. Our older sister stopped there because it was crowded with humanitarian trucks and other vehicles driving on their rows. Arisha and us didn't want to risk wasting our time waiting for them to dissipate. Not because we're impatient,but because we have an urgent job to finish.
We then opened her jeep's doors and got out. The weather hasn't much changed,other than the winds getting colder.
I took a step forward to see the border station more clearly. The troops from both nations are guarding the road and the most intriguingly,some black vehicle stains were 'glued' on the road,beneath the trucks. It only grew my curiosity more.
"Vuk,where are you going?" Natalia shouted.
"Чекај. I think I saw something." I said,turning my back "I'll return in a second. Care to wait?"
"Ok."
I walked towards the highway,then to look around in all directions to see if there's a bomb or a plane flying above me,to check if it's safe to approach that area alone.
Although I knew it was illegal and dangerous,I crouched near a truck while the row was standing still,and touched the black thing. I looked at my finger and it turned out to be a strong wheel print. It couldn't be from those trucks,since their spots were lighter.
Zoltan drove his car faster than the speed limit.
I got up and went back to my sisters.
"We should follow the black wheel print." I concluded,in a serious tone "Follow me."
They did so and I raised my hand away to give them a signal. A truck has passed the border,moving the rest of the row one slot forward. When they stopped,we approached the print and Arisha and Natalia crouched.
"Aren't those Zoltan's wheel prints?" Natalia shook her head.
"Да."
"Well then." Arisha looked to the sky,agreeing "Let's go."
18:10
The second we stepped our foot on Liz's lands,we felt tension. Passing through the checkpoint's protocol was slightly difficult,given the fact that its officer was highly suspicious of us. He asked us what business do we have to venture,and,like with the deliverers,we explained our situation. The officer didn't trust us for a while,saying that,unless we're part of the FOCUS,we can't enter just because of carrying out an investigation. With few amount of reasoning,he conceded and let us in,but only if we brought passports.
"Wait!" Natalia called us,then asked "Who's going to guard our car?"
Arisha didn't take long to reply.
"I will."
"Why are you leaving us?" I protested.
"I'm not leaving you,you two." Arisha said,sweetly. She then took out a backpack from her back and unpacked it. "Not without giving you necessities for your mission. Call me when you're finished to pick you up,so I can inform Elizabeta about what really happened."
I and Natalia hugged and waved her goodbye and she left us. In a way,me having Natalia as my partner encouraged me further. Just like in June when we fought together against the KLA in Slatina with Arisha's help. Those were the days...
We took out two sandwitches,one per each (Arisha took the third one before she handed stuff from her backpack to us),and we slowly started eating and walking.
"Hungarians are so lucky," Nat complimented "living in a zone of relative peace."
"Indeed." I added,nostalgically "If only Yugoslavia could go back where it used to be."
We felt so much better after entering this place,entering a soothing place from a war-torn land (and God knows how many refugees would enter in the future). At the same time,again,it was tense. We're not familiar with the Hungarian landscape. We were scared to think how would the residents react to our presence. The most,what if the black print was a trap from someone who wanted to lure us into an unprepared confrontation.
That's the last thing we want to have right now.
Two kilometers were passed and we spotted another wheel print near a thin forest,away from the highway. Only this time,a brown-black liquid laid down on that print. Natalia touched and smelled it. It made her gulp by the smell.
"Synthetic oil."
Synthetic oil? Either Zoltan forgot to close the filler gap or oil has sprayed itself into the ground through its gas tube.
Natalia stood up.
"The print trail leads us on the left side." she pointed out,raising her finger at a direction.
"This should be easy." I thought,smiling confidently.
As we followed the wheel print,we enjoyed feeling the nature's ambient,how warm it was. We walked with normalcy until I heard a blood-curdling roar coming from nowhere. It frightened me on the spot.
I jumped and stood abruptly.
"Have you heard it?"
"What?"
"The roar?"
Natalia walked towards me.
"What roar? Are you hearing things?"
"N-n-no?"
I placed my hand behind my ear to hear it again. Nothing. It didn't respond. My brain is playing tricks on me.
"I-I swear,I heard a woman's scream!" I complained.
Natalia closed her eyes and sighed.
"Do you want to take rest? Are you ok?"
"Не,I'm fine. I won't let my condition stop me."
She chuckled and panted my shoulder,and kept walking. My confidence was gone after we walked for twenty minutes now. The oil and print trail pointed to the north,then rotated to the south,and now to the left. We thought it led to nowhere until we realized we've rolled around the circle during the last minute.
We bursted into sour laughter,how retarded we turned into. Pulling our minds together,I and Natalia walked and walked until I saw something big. I ran towards it. When I reached,Natalia ran towards me in response and I examined this pointy object,cleaning up the dust. It was a bomb.
"It can't be..." I said in a whisper.
Natalia opened her mouth,amazed...in a bad way.
"A NATO bomb?!" she raised her voice,getting angry "How did this bomb ended up on the land?! Did the Imperialist bombed Hungary?"
That's technically impossible. Elizabeta is a member of NATO.
"Ehh,I don't think so." I shrugged my shoulders "Maybe Alfreak missed a Serbian village,or not."
"We couldn't be more sure." Natalia stated,irritated.
Ten minutes later and we ended up in a random village. The Sun is setting. We looked to the sign,and it read 'Csikeria'. It was deserted,just one empty chapel and some houses. When we got closer,we noticed something...horrible.
"Something isn't right..." I exclaimed,quietly.
Everything became detailed. The chapel was destroyed,along with few of those houses. The littering collage of wood and clay spread all over the place,including the wheel print trail. Three bombs can be seen at the center of this village,with one bomb being on a lawn. The number of dead victims can only be imagined. This can't be real... Are Elizabeta and her Government aware about this? Most probably not. So far,she hadn't mentioned the bombing on this village while she had a conversation with Arisha.
Not only does Alfreak love killing civilians,but he also doesn't know how to use a map right...
We separated and decided to scout this area. I was unnerved by the sights of this place. How could this happen to a random village which had nothing to do with the bombing war? I tried my best not to burst in tears. I took quick deep breaths to keep my tears not to fall from my eyes. I checked every house,door to door,to see if anyone survived in the attack,or died within them. The first four were unlocked,but the fifth one wasn't. When I opened it,I saw two corpses. Those corpses were mutilated and smashed against the floor. Stairs were cut in half.
I hadn't dared to examine the bodies by such horror and immediately closed the door shut. Feeling lost,I was trying to find Natalia and after five minutes of searching,I saw Natalia comforting a sorrowful priest. They sat on the chapel's stairs.
I rushed towards them.
"What going on?" I asked,in a scared tone.
Natalia raised her head away from the crying man,hands on his face,to look at me.
"I've found a survivor."
I sat beside the priest,placed my hand on his shoulder and hugged him as well.
"I-I w-w...I w-was only d-doing my job..." he muttered in tears,revealing his face.
"We're sorry for your loss..." I said,in a sad tone. I was on my limit to cry.
Natalia's lips were shaking,unsure to speak further. She turned her head back at the priest.
"What happened?"
He took an agitated deep breath.
"It was a normal day and I was preparing the Sunday sermon with my priests for tomorrow," The priest began explaining,through sobs "until those hawks from Hell launched their bombs against Csikeria,killing and injuring God knows how many."
He spoke his second half of his sentence with venom,and for a reason.
"What apparently led to this attack was some car accelerating through this place,which attracted those bombs to arrive. Those fucks,whoever they were,were hunting that car for some cruel reason."
The pieces of the puzzle are getting connected. It's now clear that Alfreak and his loyalists were bombing Zoltan,and some of their bombs ended up on that village.
Unbelievable.
"They hit my home!" were the words he ended his explanation,with anger through gritted teeth.
He put his hands back to his face and kept on crying. I couldn't help but cry,which eventually led Natalia to also cry like me and that priest.
The crying lasted for three minutes. We got up after we cleaned our tears and stopped crying.
"How can we help?" I then asked,after barely calming myself down.
He took a deep breath again.
"Call the hospital. They'll take care of this tragedy..."
Natalia asked him if he has the number of the Hungarian hospital and fortunately,he did. After telling her the number,she dialed it on her phone and waited for them to respond. Natalia told them,with remnants of calmness,to go to this village,help the survivors and relocate the bodies into the nearest grave.
She then called me to take pictures of this place,to gather evidences and photos for the report of this atrocity.
"Hey!" he shouted "What are those cameras for?"
We turned backwards. He was in front of us.
"To spread the word,sir." she answered,sternly and politely "We'll make sure this tragedy won't go unexposed and unpunished."
He smiled and invited us to have one last hug,and we did. After that,we left him and continued following the wheel print.
19:40
I don't know if we could make it. It's been exactly one and a half an hour since we entered Hungary and yet we still haven't found Zoltan nor his car. I was so tired that I asked my sister to have a pause and sit on the grass. She agreed,as she was also tired,but less.
On top of that,Arisha has even called us through my phone if we got lost. I was shy and had no answer,but Natalia grabbed my phone and notified her that we're almost there.
"Nat...can we go back?" I complained,tired "I-I can't keep up. The path so long..."
She let out a heavy sigh.
"I'm afraid we can't." she replied,upset "As soon as we find him,we'll return to Arisha."
"And if Zoltan drove far away to Печуј or Беч,then what?!" I snapped at her,stressed out.
Natalia looked away and let out a mild snort.
"How about you wait for ten minutes?" she suggested,out of assurance "I'll measure the time: If after ten minutes we don't find Zoltan,we'll come back. Deal?"
"Deal."
19:50
We left a short but lush forest near a town called Bacsalmas (or Аљмаш in Serbian). The border fence between Hungary and Serbia can still be seen.
As soon as I thought it's no longer use to continue,the black print's trail has ended. It shown a burning,destroyed and rusted car turned backwards,in the middle of a dirty ground. The fire rose from the car,and spare parts and ashes were mixed up into a grey mess standing beneath it.
I and Natalia slowly approached the car,careful not to have our skin burned. Upon getting near it,we browsed without touching anything. We saw yet another bomb slammed onto the car and Zoltan himself,sitting lifeless. His flesh was burnt and melted by the boiling heat,revealing open muscles and bones. And the smell coming from the corpse was a mixture of grill and rot,thought the smell wasn't that strong,since it just started to rot.
Overall,we were appalled.
"Should we take him out of the car?" I asked,uneased.
"No. It's too dangerous." Natalia said.
"I see." I said,sighing. I looked to the skies as they were darkening for the sunset "I think we should take pictures of him,then."
"Correct." she took out her camera from her pocket "Only the pictures remain."
I smiled and took my own as well,and shot pictures of both him and his car. After which,we distances ourselves one hundred meters from the car.
"There,we've completed our task,Vuk." she concluded with a prideful voice.
"We sure did. It's always a pleasure to team up with anyone,Natalia." I told her,widening my smile "Without it,we wouldn't have solved the murder and in turn,the FOCUS deliveries."
We high-fived in success. Natalia then called Arisha to pick us up and that we'll wait for her in destroyed Csikeria. Ten minutes later,she arrived with her military jeep,opened the door and we rushed towards her,and gave her a hug.
Before I,Natalia and Arisha entered the car to go back to Visevac,Arisha spent a short amount of time to observe the tragic scene. The priest we've encountered earlier is nowhere to be seen. She grew furious by the sight of this place,growled and kicked a stone with her foot,violently. When she asked loudly who bombed it,we told her it was Alfreak.
"I'm not surprised,at all..." Arisha seethed in anger,crossing her arms.
"Yeah,Alfreak can't figure out how to break the spirit of the Serbian soldiers,so he resorts to bomb someone who taught them how to resist harder." I told her,in a serious tone.
It made her close her eyes,and snort and chuckle at the same time.
"Ha,ha,ha! I'm already imagining Elizabeta's reaction!" Arisha said,giggling through her teeth. It was totally unusual for someone to laugh in a ruined environment "The pindo will get busted!"
"Oh,indeed..."
We immediately entered the car and went to Budapest to give Elizabeta the reports and pictures. I and Natalia took a nap in the car for being tired from the journey. After she did so,Arisha said goodbye to her and drove us back to Visevac.
My God...Once the Hungarian girl finds out about the real cause of the death of the Colonel,she would give a nasty blow to NATO. I can't wait for the aftermath,same with my two older sisters. Athene left NATO and Elizabeta will leave next. It's only a question of when.
25th July - 17:00
I sat on the sofa watching the FIBA match between Maria and Alfreak on TV with Arisha and Natalia. Doing a favor for Maria,we cheered for her to beat him. Before the match started,Arisha made popcorns for us to eat while watching.
"Maria is leading the Pindo at 86 points against his 83." Arisha pointed out,with a patient face.
"I can't wait for her to win!" I exclaimed in joy,mumbling through eating popcorn.
Andres,her older brother,as the main commentator of this event,was speaking continuously about turnout of every moves those two contenders' teams were playing against. In one instance,he accidentally read his shopping list,making him cough and apologize for his verbal clumsiness after realizing it. He nonetheless made us laugh.
"And now Maria's throwing the ball at Alfred's basket from the left and he attempted to block the ball from falling,albeit too late,after she scored through the basket!" Andres spoke up,in a tone which he deep down was cheering for his sister. Her team ran to protect their basket pole. She now has 89 points "Alfred is running to give it a shot and,and...and he missed it! Tough luck for his team...wait a minute,his teammate threw into the hoop for him! Maria and her team will not give up so easily!"
We were excited to see Maria contending and beating Alfreak while Andres was speaking. Their situation was zig-zag-ish,Maria gets the score and that monster gets a score. One for another.
A knock was suddenly heard. It made us jump a bit for not excepting it. I opened the door and,to our surprise,it's Athene. While her arrival was unexcpected,the reasons weren't a mystery. Her president Kostis has today made a trip to Yugoslavia to visit my president Milosevic. He did so as a sign that Greece and Yugoslavia will remain allies for as long as their shared history lives. Athene,after hearing her president's decision,she took the opportunity to go with him on a plane and got to a bus to watch the match with us after leaving the plane,both to separate places (Kostis to the Presidential Palace).
"Hey,guys! Did I missed something?" Athene asked,in a friendly tone.
"Грустно,you did." Arisha replied,inviting her "But you hadn't missed the best part. Come,sit with us!"
I and Arisha moved backwards to let her sit between us. Athene asked for some popcorns and Natalia got up to get some for her.
"It's now 91:87! Maria is still leading!" he continued "Alfred's throwing the ball from three-point line and he hit the edge! Senhoras e senhores,we're only ten seconds in! Alfred's trying again and he misses it! He tries for the third time and Maria blocked him! She pushed him and he felt on his back! Ouch,that must've hurt!"
When Andres shouted 94:87 at the end of the match,all of us rose up,jumped and raised our hands in victory,yelling "HORRAY!". Popcorns fell by our rise and they were scattered all over the floor. He,he...Silly us.
Likewise,the crowd have screamed in triumph. We saw Maria running towards her teammates celebrating their victory.
"SÍ! SÍ! SÍ! WE WON AGAINST THE YANQUIS!" Maria screamed in excitement and joy,jumping around with her teammates. Edu,Maximo and Laura came out of the crowd and joined in to congratulate her.
Meanwhile,on the other side of the basketball,Alfreak shrieked obscenities at Maria,ripped his hair and thumped his chest. He even threw the ball at one of his teammates' face in rage,all the while she let her tongue out at him.
"WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE BEST IN BASKETBALL!" he screamed like an infant from the background,frothing at the mouth "I'M SURROUNDED BY INCOMPETENT NIGGERS!"
We bursted into laughter at how he had insulted his own teammates (which were mostly black). He and his bratty tantrums. The loser's gonna lose his precious shit over losing against those who considered to be 'losers'.
"The Spanish team won the finale! Spain is the new champion of the FIBA World Championship! PARABÉNS!" He shouted,then lovered his volume "As for the American Team,you fought as best as you could. I hope you'll win in 2003!"
We turned off the TV and started to calm down,taking a deep breath. The noise from everywhere shrunk as we did. Our ears were no longer vibrating by these noises.
"Maria and her team are the best!" I complimented.
"Ναί. Maria practiced so hard to win the title. She earned it." Arisha said,smiling.
Athene,being the first to notice the spread popcorns,called us to clean up the mess together so that we can start hanging out for the rest of the day. We gladly agreed.
26th July - 18:50,Brussels
"You're still on about the Nighthawk?!" Elizabeta snapped at Alfred,angrily.
Elizabeta and Alfred have just started arguing tensely and loudly about what happened over the last three days,in the Meeting Room. Before she went to the NATO meeting to confront him,she got incredibly pissed off once the news got into her,and more so when she received photos and information from Arisha in Budapest. Outraged,she spent her entire day and yesterday arguing with herself about why did she joined NATO in the first place,the organization which has bombed one of her villages in a fruitless effort to kill the one who downed the Nighthawk so that the Serbs,in his (Alfred's) mind,stop resisting and fighting. She even gained a heavy headache from frustrations and told her president that their former allies betrayed them and that he should reconsider their nascent NATO membership. Through her rage,the Hungarian protests erupted in Budapest and the rest of their major cities against the US and NATO.
And as for Alfred,after he failed to stop Athene and hearing that 20 Northrops were downed the day after while he had participated,his older sister Emily,despite warning him that he shouldn't go to the battlefield,sent him to a mental asylum from which he stayed there until he was released to fight Maria in the FIBA match. He ended up cracking yet again after losing to her,and grew more mentally unstable afterwards. This last week hadn't gone too well for him.
The NATO members sat on their chairs listening to their verbal fight and starring at them. Some of those members weren't interested and ended up sleeping in the meeting,as every other time. The room was silent except for the clock's ticking as those two stood face to face,and Adele's smoking her cigar,not giving a damn and fogging up the room.
"It was a necessary thing,Lizie!" Alfred shouted,trying his best not to show his nervousness "Killing that fucker has finally taught those Serbian filth to think twice before downing one more powerful jet like Nighthawk!"
"Bassza meg,you should've used a sniper to assassinate him,NOT THE FUCKING AIR FORCE!" she raised her tone,slamming the desk next to him. She then reverted to her previous one "But it doesn't work that way! What you've done is killing a diplomat and,let me assure you,motivated your enemies EVEN MORE,not less! Not to mention WHERE!"
"It was 500 meters away..."
"I don't care if it was 500 centimeters,inches or acres! You killed him ON MY LANDS!"
Silence. Alfred cleared his throat.
"Look,I didn't knew he was fleeing like a bitch in your lands!" he pretended to sound innocent "It was an accident!"
She fumed in anger,dropped her shoulder strap and grabbed her backpack to find the pictures,exclaiming "Hold on...". After she found them,she took them tightly and turned back to him.
"Accident. ACCIDENT?!" Elizabeta slammed them on the desk "Does killing 29 people in cold blood from someone not involved in this war of yours an accident,as you did with Nikola at the very end of April when you 'mistakenly' bombed a Bulgarian suburb in Sofia?!" she kept on lecturing him,grabbing the pictures "Do you see this? Does this look like an 'accident'? Or this?! OR THIS?!"
She threw the third picture at his face. It was the picture of Zoltan's dead body. It made him move step forward,grabbing it.
"Who gave you these photos?" Alfred asked,looking at it,and then at her.
"It doesn't concern you. These are evidences of an atrocity you've committed on my soil,and the proof that you DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE A MAP RIGHT!"
Adele couldn't help but snicker over Elizabeta making a point. Alfred heard her and turned to give her a fierce look,which she immediately stopped without problem. Lukasz,her best friend,shook his head and urged her in a semi-mute tone not to argue with him further,but Elizabeta ignored him.
"By the way," she continued "ever since you killed Zoltan Dani,I've questioned myself about why did I,Lukasz,Hedvika and Jakub,joined your outdated 'organization' in the first place,and why did I allowed you to pass through my airspace and bomb Vuk. Maybe your 'reasons' are false all along..."
"NATO isn't outdated!" Alfred tried to remind her,angrily "You and your three friends like Lukie joined it because of the Russkie and Serbian threat! There's a reason why NATO still exists!"
"Your self-imposed paranoia doesn't justify its existance,prick!" she shouted with the same tone as Alfred,stretching her fisted arms down "And for your information,I let your 'enemies' transfer humanitarian aid to Vuk four months ago!"
Hearing that,he looked down and slammed the desk from behind,enraged.
"HUMANITARIAN AID!?" he yelled,turning at her again "That's treason! Giving those things are feeding the enemy,because they don't deserve to recover! They must be defeated,NOT HELPED!"
You're quite inhumane. She thought,closing her eyes and holding them shut for ten seconds. Her patience is waning.
"Do you have problem with that?" she opened her eyes,guessing severely "What?! Are you going to call this 'treason' or an 'Act of War',like you did when your military base was blown up four days ago? Will you mount a tantrum over it? Bomb me? I'll be pleased to hear your answer,'my Leader'!" she pushed her finger at his chest,sneering "YOU made an act of war against me,not the other way around! I guess you only care if an attack hurts your fragile ass,because you know,you've committed so much crimes against an innocent nation that can be wrapped up as ACTS OF WAR AGAINST WORLD PEACE!"
As she yelled near his face and released spit at him,she took a deep breath through her nose,trying to relax for a bit.
"You're now silent,huh? No answers at all." she placed her arms on her hips "It hurts a lot when someone tries to make things clear to you,coward."
Another silence appeared. She stood silent while Alfred has started to shiver and vibrate with hidden fury.
"Just as I thought." Elizabeta readjusted her shoulder strap,ready to leave "Enjoy your remaining months of your era while your reputation is drowning down the drain." she turned towards the door "We're through..."
She was steps away to grab and open the door,but Alfred stopped her in her tracks.
"HEY! Who gave you the permission to leave?! We're not do-"
She slapped his mouth hard,cutting him off effectively and turned back,walking towards the door.
"How predictable..."
Elizabeta stopped for a moment,looked back over her shoulder and she got slammed against the door with full force in an instant by him. He grabbed and tightened her neck with his left hand,and raised his other one to punch her. However,after glancing at Emily from behind,he lowered his fist,took his glasses off and raised his finger at her.
"You should be thankful that I've taken my meds,and that you aren't the biggest mistake I've ever done for NATO..." he said,gritting his teeth,eye pupils shaking left and right.
She could feel his body vibrating against her. He's now furious.
"What 'biggest mistake'?" she asked him slowly,in an angry and annoyed tone.
He pushed her neck,making her to keep looking at his eyes.
"You've seen her on sports TV yesterday,nor does it matter..." he whispered severely "I've had to put up with this week and these savages,and I won't stand your professional whining anymore,Hun cunt!...Get off my sights..."
She didn't respond,still waiting for him to release her neck.
"What are you waiting for?!" Alfred asked her,raising his tone "Get the fuck out before I change my mind!"
With a nod,Elizabeta moved his grip away from her neck with difficulty,touched it and left the room. Permanently.
Here's the Fifteenth Chapter.
Serbia,after winning the city battle,had been growing worse as he now has hallucinations and voice-hearings,aside of dizziness and fever,from the situation he is going through. But he wasn't alone. Belarus was on his side. When she refreshed his memory about the Colonel Zoltan Dani's death,they,along with Russia,went to investigate the matter. Once they did,Hungary was so pissed over this unforgivable scandal caused by her supposed ally America that she had a fierce argument against him,lecturing him until she was finally done with him and left NATO altogether,but not before he grabbed her neck violently to tell her some things.
Thanks for reading.