The silence inside the abandoned factory was heavier than the iron of its walls.
It was not merely the absence of sound —
It was a silence charged like a cloud before it breaks.
"Who is this man?" ADEL growled.
"He's one of MOHITO's classmates from the department…"
ZAKI answered with a trembling voice.
"He seems to have followed us!" MIZYANI added anxiously.
"There is no escape!"
ZARYOUH drew his knives and lunged toward ODEL.
Suddenly,
MIZIANI and ZAKI stood before him like human shields.
"What are you doing?!" ZARYOUH shouted angrily.
"We cannot allow you to kill an innocent…
He has committed no crime."
MIZIANI spoke with the voice of reason he had become used to playing.
"He's right," ZAKI confirmed.
The others couldn't say anything,
watching the tree of them
ODEL was sitting on the floor,
trying to take in the scene:
the screens,
The weapons,
ZARYOUH advancing on him like judge and executioner.
At last, he understood:
These were not ordinary students.
"Is it over for me?" he whispered inside.
But the very curiosity that had dragged him into this abyss gave him the strength to stand.
"Are you members of the local gangs?"
He asked in a quavering voice.
"Calm down, everyone!"
Reason's voice rose finally.
SHOUTNA stepped forward like a wise shadow.
"Sometimes curiosity drives us to discover truths we were not ready for —
truths that can alter the course of our lives forever."
SHOUTNA fell silent for a moment, t
hen turned to ODEL and continued.
"But that doesn't mean curiosity is a crime…
It is the flame that has lit humanity's path through the ages.
We cannot punish a man for his curiosity."
His voice was calm but resolute.
ZARYOUH stepped back a pace,
his knives still clutched in trembling hands.
"What will we do now?" TAHARA asked, bewildered.
SHOUTNA walked toward ODEL with measured steps.
"I'm sorry…
But I can't let you leave now."
A swift strike to ODEL's neck…
and he lost consciousness.
"TAHARA, put him in the storeroom," SHOUTNA ordered.
"We have something more important to deal with,"
SHOUTNA said, looking at the screens.
"We will follow the plan we agreed upon."
ADEL interrupted,
panic creeping into his voice:
"They've started moving."
"Where are they heading?" SHOUTNA asked.
"To the road leading to the eastern forest," ADEL replied.
SHOUTNA paused in silence, thinking.
"Alright,
everyone — time to catch them," SHOUTNA said.
The five moved toward the car parked behind the factory.
SHOUTNA with his rifle LAXIS;
ZARYOUH smiling with battle-thrill, knives in hand;
AYOUB and TAHARA are exchanging smiles.
And MEZIANI is silent, thinking about the burden of combat.
They climbed in and sped off.
"They stopped in the eastern forest," ADEL reported over the radio.
Doubt began to creep into ADEL,
whispering to him,
"What is the meaning of this?"
SHOUTNA picked up his phone
He taped a message
then continued driving toward the fight without words —
The decision had been made long ago,
And there was no time for retreat once the battle ignited.