“There!”
He brushed his hand on his trousers and sat back on his chair, which had not even begun to cool down. Good job he had been expecting an attack ever since he had started his shift that evening, when he had looked through the personal details of all the guests and seen that one of them was a writer. He had never met one in his life, but knew very well what sort of people they were. They came to the seaside, got pissed out of their heads and then caused havoc, having fights all night. His assumptions proved correct and the receptionist smiled smugly and shouted towards the cupboard, without feeling any need to open his eyes:
“You just keep growling and scratching at the door (spitting on the floor) — fucking writer! We know your sort very well here!”
“We’re half way there now, boys, so let’s be a bit more careful from now on!” Luka said into the microphone. He was still half way out of the turret, leaning on the heavy Browning machine-gun on his left.
Bruno asked: “Luka, may I lower the seat?”
“You think it’ll be dangerous straight away?”
“No, it’s just that there’s quite a cool breeze and my rheumatism”
“OK, lower it and drive more slowly!”
From where he was, Luka could not see the driver looking out of the tank just beneath the turret, right next to the barrel. His seat was lowered and the lid was closed.
“Miro, are you ready?”
“Yes.”
Miro was really an artillery-man, but had now taken Luka’s place at the second machine gun.
“Give Adriano down there a kick, just to make sure he’s not asleep.”
“What if he starts going on again?”
“Kick him!”
“EH? WHAT? WHAT SORT OF BEHAVIOUR IS THIS, YOU’RE NOT ON A BUS OVER ON THE MAINLAND!”
“Alright, it’s alright. Just like I said, be careful now, boys!”
The tank struggled on up the road and it was another five-minute drive up to the junction at the top of the hill.
Raf stood in the middle of the road and the lights were already penetrating through the trees. The child was nowhere to be seen.
“Victory!” he said, while catching his breath and then he waited for the arrival of the rescuers.
“FATHER! FATHER!” Raf heard behind him, at first quietly from a fair distance, but then it got louder and he knew it was coming nearer.
“Oh, no! Max!”
He looked around quickly and hid behind some pine-trees at the side of the road. He could not afford to be seen by Max, it was not the right time to be kissed by him, he needed his mouth empty so that he could speak to the pensioners.
Lights appeared in the middle of the road: the one a few metres above the ground was so strong that it blinded Raf whereas the two lower down, in a triangular shape, were much weaker. He could only hear the mass of iron behind them but not actually see it.
Max sped down the road, shouting and running towards the tank.
That was Father’s look! So full of light that it blinded everybody, especially his nameless son. Max could feel his Father’s strength, he could hear his rumble and he knew that they were getting closer and closer, another moment and they would be united in an inseparable embrace. The earth trembled when his Father walked, so he could not be mistaken.
Max waved the strips of jeans he had been tied with in the air. Let his Father see how his worthless son had freed himself from them and was now bringing them to show.
FATHER!
Max ran towards the centre of the light, waving his arms in the air and shouting. His words lost their meaning and became one long howl, an orgasm of euphoric vocal cords.
Raf was hiding behind a tree and could not take his eyes off the scene in front of him.
Luka suddenly noticed the screaming boy, waving something long and flexible above his head and grabbed for the Browning. He was not as quick as he used to be and for a moment he thought that he was finished, the terrorist would throw his explosives before they managed to stop him.
What was Adriano doing? Why wasn’t he firing, he was the head machine-gunner! Was he now blind as well as deaf? Adriano!
The machine gun at the front went off, a moment later Miro joined in and Luka finally managed to aim his barel in the right direction and press the trigger. That was more like it! Fire at the end of the barrel and after every ten loads the fire extended into a long ray of light, which helped him aim. A spider’s web in the darkness.
Max did not seem to be harmed at first and then his right arm came off at the elbow and flew in a long arch into the darkness. The end and devastation happened in a moment: an explosion of stones, soil, pine-trees, blood, flesh and bones fused into a cloud which first flew up into the air, then smashed onto the ground, rolling here and there under the shower of bullets which just would not stop.
Luka let go of the trigger, but the machine-gun would not stop firing. He started hitting the mechanism until it finally stopped.
“STOP!” he shouted.
Miro stopped immediately, whilst Adriano needed another kick, but this time Luka did not have to order it.
“FUCKING HELL!” Adriano’s shouting came through the earphones. “LUKA, FUCK YOU. YOU STICK THAT FUCKING LABEL OF YOURS ON MY MACHINE-GUN AND YOU WRITE ON IT: MACHINE-GUN M 19119A4 AND I CAN TAKE THAT. BUT THEN YOU PUT ANOTHER FUCKING LABEL ON THE FUCKING TRIGGER, SAYING MACHINE-GUN’S M19119A4 TRIGGER! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FUCKING FIRE WHEN I HAVE TO SCRATCH THE FUCKING PAPER OFF THE TRIGGER, EH?”
“ADRIANO, SHUT UP!”
“I FUCKING WILL NOT! SOON YOU’LL BE STICKING A FUCKING LABEL ON EVERY FUCKING BULLET. MACHINE-GUN’S M19119A4 BULLET. AND THEN I’LL HAVE TO SCRATCH OFF EACH FUCKING ONE BEFORE I FIRE IT!”
Luka blushed. Was it possible that the deaf old man could read the innermost thoughts that he had fought against so hard? He decided that attack was his best defense.
“BE QUIET, ADRIANO! WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO FORGET EVERYTHING? YOU SPEND ALL YOUR LIFE LEARNING NAMES OF THINGS. ALL YOUR LIFE! AND THEN YOU FORGET THEM ALL AND YOU’RE NO LONGER HUMAN! GO AND HAVE A LOOK AT MY PARENTS! IS THAT CLEAR? NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!”
“FUCK YOU, LUKA!”
“HEY, YOU TWO!” Miro interfered, laughingly. “What if we paid some attention to that guy on the road?”
“Yes, you’re right!” said Luka. “ADRIANO, THE DEAD BODY INSPECTION!”
“ARE YOU MAD? WE’VE SCATTERED HIM AROUND A RADIUS OF HALF A KILOMETRE, YOU CAN’T EXPECT ME TO WALK THAT FAR, I’M AN OLD MAN!”
So that was it, he was now starting to disobey orders! Luka knew that Adriano would spend at least ten minutes sulking and that he could not count on him.
“ADRIANO, COVER US! Miro, come with me and take the gun!”
Jesus, said Raf. If I show myself they’ll shoot me.
The dust was beginning to settle and he was worried that he would soon be able to see what was left of Max.
Two old men came carefully from behind the lights both wearing uniforms, one carrying a machine-gun, the other one a pistol, and slowly approached the mess on the road. They looked around cautiously and Raf ducked down instinctively.
“Hey,” said the one with the machine gun, “there are no weapons. Just some strips of material”
“Well, I thought”
“Me too!”
“Why the hell was he running like that then! Serves him right! Did you understand what he was shouting?”