Snakes

The snakes didn't make a single sound, and just stared coldly at the mansion.

Ralph was pleased to see that he had attracted the attention of the Walkers and the soldiers.

But time was short and he knew that the Walkers would soon return when they did not find the snake.

Everything he could do was done perfectly.

He looked wearily at the mansion and clicked his tongue again.

-How stupid ...

He thought.

With Ralph distracting most of the soldiers and Walkers, Daniel, Jenifer, Victor and Briella got together and headed back through the tunnel towards the mansion.

"Jenifer ..." Briella spoke when they reached the end of the tunnel.

Seeming to have just heard something on the phone, Jenifer said:

"Camila said there was an opening in their surveillance in that direction, but that Ralph's distraction would not be useful for much longer."

After receiving instructions from Camila, Jenifer passed the information on to the others.

Briella quickly started to extend the tunnel with organic matter, in the direction pointed out by Jenifer.

A drone watched everything from several meters away, it was controlled by Camila.

Meanwhile Ralph noticed sounds coming from the forest, it must have been the Walkers.

Without hesitating, he made the snakes turn and disappear in the forest.

He then ran in the direction where Briella was with Victor.

When he got there, he saw a tunnel made of leaves and branches and other things. The tunnel was narrow, and it was Ralph's height.

Ralph followed the tunnel towards the mansion and realized that Jenifer and Daniel were already infiltrating the mansion.

The tunnel was very visible due to the lights of the mansion, it was a great luck that they were not discovered.

Without hesitating, he made the tunnel invisible, at the same time that an alarm went off, the Walkers must have returned.

At that moment, the soldiers and Walkers were a little confused, but then they finally noticed the big tree that fell over part of the mansion.

-We were deceived.

That's what they thought at the same time that they started looking for traces throughout the mansion.

Ralph could only wish Jenifer and Daniel luck.

If it weren't for Ralph, the tunnel would undoubtedly have been detected.

Meanwhile, Jenifer used her divine sense and avoided all traps and detectors. It didn't take long and she found the doll in a corner of the mansion, as if it were something unimportant.

But the truth is that there were countless detectors and traps around.

After explaining the doll's location to Daniel, they separated and she began to focus on avoiding security cameras and soldiers who were searching the mansion.

With her divine sense, she could avoid being discovered quickly, but she wouldn't be able to hide forever.

Daniel turned into a small mouse and started to move towards the doll quickly.

There were several dark places in the mansion and he moved quickly undetected.

Upon seeing the doll, he then transformed into a semi-transparent gecko and climbed the wall.

The doll was very small, only five centimeters high, but still it was not something that a gecko could carry.

Time was of the essence, so Daniel didn't hesitate to transform himself into a bat just above the doll, on the ceiling.

The dive had to be perfect, he couldn't make the slightest mistake.

He took a dive towards the doll and grabbed it with his small claws, at the same time he started flapping his wings and climbing up towards the ceiling quickly.

It seems that everything had worked out.

For some reason, Daniel thought something was wrong, but he didn't have much time to think and set off in search of an exit from the mansion.

Jenifer realized this through the divine sense and began to move in the direction she had come.

Unfortunately, there were two soldiers at the exit, and she couldn't pass unnoticed.

After smiling bitterly, she decided to continue hiding, hoping to remain undetected until the mission was successful.

But in that moment she felt a hand on her shoulder, looking with dread to the side, she saw nothing.

Her heart almost came out of her chest in fright.

But then she thought of a possibility as she realized she was becoming invisible.

She immediately understood that it must be Ralph.

Ralph was in a hurry, he couldn't keep the tunnel invisible for that long.

After running out of the mansion, the tunnel was beginning to appear but then Ralph quickly corrected it.

"Let's go." Ralph said in a low voice, Briella and Victor had already retreated for some time, knowing that Ralph would have trouble making everyone invisible and guiding them at the same time.

They couldn't see each other or even themselves, so Ralph needed to touch them so they wouldn't be separated. He was the only one who could see others while using invisibility on them.

Ralph realized that the tunnel was slowly coming apart, it must have been Briella's job.

After running for a while, Ralph suddenly stopped, he saw Briella and Victor waiting for them some distance away.

That part of the tunnel had already been dismantled, and he did not need to make the rest invisible, since it was relatively camouflaged and because of the darkness of the night.

The four started running towards the end of the tunnel, and then towards the Van.

"And then?" Briella looked at Jenifer.

"I think it was a success." Jenifer smiled.

Briella blew out a sigh of relief.

Ralph and Victor just exchanged looks and frowned.

-What a boring game ...

The two thought.

"Tell me ... You found the doll, with your heart, right?" Ralph suddenly asked, after thinking about something.

Jenifer looked doubtfully at Ralph, who just sighed.

Briella seems to have thought of something when she heard Ralph, and she looked strained.

Upon arriving at the Van, they saw that Daniel was waiting for them with the doll in his hands.

Without hesitating, Ralph wielded his sword and cut in the direction of the doll, startling Daniel, who thought he was being attacked.

He released the doll and stepped back while shouting:

"What are you doing?" But then he saw that Ralph seemed to have aimed at the doll, which was split in half.

There was only cotton inside it.

"The mission ... It was a failure." Ralph spoke with a sigh and a tired expression, he spent so much energy for nothing.

He was a little annoyed at the thought of that at the moment, but it was too late.

Perhaps, this is not a mission that was given in order to be completed.

How the hell would they know what a doll's heart would be?

They only received information about the superiors' doll. It was obvious that they were duped from the start.

After a long silence.

Briella, who was breathing heavily, said:

"Come on, it doesn't matter if the mission was a failure anymore, but we can't be caught ..."

But suddenly sounds started coming from all directions, scaring everyone but Ralph, who had a serious expression.

"Come on, I'm keeping myself invisible, but I won't be able to stand it for long." Ralph spoke with bloodshot eyes.

Everyone was shocked, but reacted quickly and Yasmin called Van.

Ralph was at the limit, even though he only used two factors, image and sound, he was already tired of the previous illusions and could not stand it for long.

Yasmin did not take long and was already quickly taking everyone away at high speed.

Ralph then couldn't take it anymore, he was at the absolute limit and the illusion dissolved, revealing Van at high speed.

Fortunately, they had achieved some distance between the pursuers, but they could not be negligent.

Ralph's vision started to fade and he leaned over as he struggled to stay conscious. This was the first time he had used the skill so steadily.

In the vicinity of the mansion, he had to maintain three factors at the same time continuously, since there were probably soldiers with thermal imaging equipment.

With a slight smile he looked at the others, who strangely looked at him too.

He was sweating deeply and with a pale face.

"Are you okay? Ralph?" Victor asked.

"...I'm sleepy." Ralph yawned and closed his eyes.

Victor was surprised but then realized that he must just be tired.

Everyone knew that Ralph was a key element of the mission, without his skill this mission would probably be a failure.

Even if Daniel could enter the mansion undetected, how would he find the doll quickly?

Marcellin was in a low mood, as he basically did nothing for the entire mission, but nobody judged him. From the beginning, his role was to assist in a possible combat or if necessary to assist in escape.

Even Victor just walked from place to place, without an active role in the mission.

Briella, on the other hand, stood all the time with her hands on her face, as if ashamed of something.

The truth is that she blamed herself for not having noticed something so obvious. The object was the doll's heart, not the doll.

"Don't think about it too much, maybe this mission is just a scam, although I don't understand why the superiors did it." Camila comforted Briella.

Briella took a deep breath and said out loud:

"As a squad leader, it is really my fault for not realizing something so simple and putting us in this situation ... I admit my mistake! And if anyone wants to take my position as a leader I will not object."

Upon hearing this, Victor thought for a moment and hesitated whether he should hit the enemy while he is down.

After a brief silence, however, Ralph slowly opened his eyes and said:

"As a leader, you represent us, it means that, as our representative, not only did you make mistakes, but we all also made mistakes together ..."

Ralph then looked at Briella and continued calmly:

"Don't think that by being our leader, you can take all the responsibility for yourself. Your failure is our failure, your victory is our victory, and vice versa."

He then looked calmly at the others and said:

"We cannot depend on a leader, and the leader cannot depend on us. I think that is the moral of the whole story."

Ralph then closed his eyes, not caring whether the others understood or not.

Victor put his hand behind his head and looked at Ralph in amazement. He knew Ralph had an intellectual side, but for some reason he looked different than before, maybe more serious than usual.

Maybe it was the way he spoke, or the words themselves, Victor wasn't sure what had changed in Ralph.

The reason was actually simple, Ralph spoke with absolute confidence, even though he didn't show it in an obvious way.

This became a charisma, something that imperceptibly contaminated everyone.

Briella was silent when she heard Ralph, and just looked at him with a thoughtful expression.

-Since when that guy ...

Briella's formal impression of Ralph was simple. Impulsive, smart and relatively crazy.

But seeing the way Ralph calmly spoke while seeming to comfort her and the others ...

Ralph seemed to have changed in some way, although Briella is not sure what has changed.

-No, maybe he was always like that, and he actually has a double personality?

Briella kept thinking about possibilities.

Ralph, however, had already fallen asleep. He didn't care about the rest anymore. In fact, the only reason he went on with the mission was that he had to follow José's orders.

As for the words he spoke ... He thought it wouldn't be very interesting if the squad's morale was too low.

Briella was a capable girl, despite being young. She just needed experience, just like everyone else in the squad, including Ralph.

Everyone in the Van was silent as he contemplated Ralph's words. And only the sound of Van and was heard.

The moon was shining in the sky.