Chapter 127. Beautiful Beautiful: very pleasing aesthetically; delightful to the senses. The violinist played a beautiful piece.

Noel was trapped inside the city in one of the Torroals raids, raid that turned him into the lazy and ugly man with the metallic voice. Noel was a naughty kid that didnt do more than talk at Math classes and that got easily distracted with beautiful flowers and wonderful spiders. At home, they had to chase him for lunch and hide the cocoa cream so he didnt smear his clothes eating in a hurry. Once grew up he managed to get into every trouble his friends got involved, into the resistance, into poaching or in a hen night. He was a skilful man, he found his way around easily in the dark and he was more silent than a cat lying in wait for his prey. At the Torroals, he always had a fresh wine glass and somebody to play a cards game with if he got bored. Torroals had a loyal associate in him, not too much involved, not too much critical. Lorenzo used him for the most dangerous visits because his irresponsibility didnt let him be afraid. At home, they told him to settle down and it sounded like olds lectures he didnt identify with; but, at the end, he didnt know better than walk among the old branches of the woods. That night didnt bring any sign that showed the thing was bad, actually they hadnt much to do, they had received the tip yellow guard was on manoeuvres at the South district and they thought that maybe theyd better make sure things didnt go far than that, they did it every time, they prefer coming from the outside especially because citizens didnt want to run the risk. Look at them! He told Lorenzo.

Lorenzo told him to low the volume with a murderous look, Noel didnt like it and made a mocking face to Amelia. The yellow guard went door by door in every abandoned house of the South district. Those buildings were the closest to the stone houses and those times the first years of the yellow government. One of their main targets was to eradicate that criminal blight the previous governments couldnt deal with, those were the first years of the yellow government and they probably werent well off yet. The invading group watched them in the distance, for more than two hours, going in, shouting up, shouting down and leaving. Building by Building. The problems began when after those entries, shouting up, shouting down and leaving came three of theirs. Who are they? Soa asked in low. The two on the front are contacts, the other I dont know Lorenzo answered. Maybe he is one of the new guys Amalia suggested.

Lorenzo wasnt sure, he didnt act like one of theirs. Maybe he is one of the others Noel suggested.

Maybe he is a sneak Soa dropped.

That was what they all were thinking but they didnt want to say it aloud because if they were wrong it meant marking him forever, and if they were right it meant they had to get rid of him. We have to distract the guards to take them out before they leave Lorenzo said urgently.

They werent strong enough to go into the yellow guards premises, not even to stop that dilapidated cars. They organized the offensive with two little gestures. Lorenzo and Soa would run to the guards and separate afterwards dividing the guard that would pursue them. Amalia and Too would take care of the guards left and Noel, at last, would set their partners free. They did as they had agreed; it worked as they had thought. The guards acted with nervousness in front of that unexpected pseudo-attack, but in seconds they split in two to neutralize them. The two left were more difficult, they had lost the element of surprise, they could notice their alert state. Amalia kicked him on the elbow to start, Too started without looking back. The guards didnt react as they expected, they didnt move, they didnt move aside not a millimetre from their target, they didnt get scared, they werent the easy rivals the others had meant. Stop! The one on the front told them.

Too didnt know how to react, Amalia didnt stop, the impassive guard knocked her down with an agile movement. Too pounced on him with the same result as Amalia. The other two that guard the three resistance men looked at each other holding back the laugh. Amalia tried to get up, Too hesitated. Noel, in the distance, regretted not having someone to discuss the strategy with, brave as he was he didnt see it clear. Amalia got up before the guards contemptuous looks, the one next to her was getting ready for giving her back to the floor when Too grabbed his legs immobilizing him, circumstance Amalia took advantage of for dealing him a blow that could be fatal for a mortal being, that only unbalanced a yellow guard. For the first time the ones guarding the prisoners showed some worry. Noel saw it was the moment, he went out of his hiding place, he approached from behind and rushed towards the only man that still guard his partners. Amalia had the first guard facing the ground, she was trying to tie his hands. Too fought with the other guard not being able to get rid of him, stroke by stroke he absorbed his strengths like if he was a big concrete wall. He knocked him down with a martial blow, untied his partners in a hurry while Amalia and Too finished the last guard off. Thanks One of theirs said we just saw ourselves in the next world. Hurry up, we have to run away before they came to life Too ordered.

They run desperately up to the frontier. Noel noticed the third man held them back on purpose, he thought. He didnt say a word, he just watched him. At the barrier, Lorenzo and Soa were waiting for them, signalling from the other side the exact way out point. Noel noticed the third one looked back persistently. They all had crossed through

the security hole, Noel felt, for the first time, the need of being responsible. Who are you? He asked the third man.