Ch. 4 - Out of sight, out of mind

                                    

                                          
London, 2 hours before the Event X
Matt had just finished recounting the events that had taken place inside the Red army base.
''...and then you came to save me, the end''
''i see... so you don't know anything about Makteslos, nor about their memory servers??''
''Teslos-what?''
''Those creepy masks that Tord made people wear''
''oooh... nnope, sorry''
There was not much useful in his story, for most of the time they had kept him locked in a room doing simple and unimportant work, perhaps precisely because Tord imagined his possible betrayal.
If something big was growing inside the lair, Matt was not aware of it.
''All right, I'll try to work something out from your stories...''
Edd sat down at his desk and pulled out more papers and a pencil, Matt became curious and got up from the sofa and walked over to his companion's desk.
On Edd's desk, among drawings of strange masks and notes written in a handwriting only he could understand, Matt's gaze crossed an old picture frame with an equally old photo inside.
It depicted four boys with smiling, carefree faces. 
His face grew sad and the boy fell silent, did not even turn his head, and in an almost whispered tone said:
''... why did all this happen...''
This sentence made the other boy stop what he was doing.
He too looked at the picture and they stood for a few seconds staring at it.
The boy in the green sweatshirt slowly resumed arranging the papers, as if to distract himself from the situation that had arisen.
''...I don't know but it's not fair''
The two boys still remained silent, Matt smiled a little sadly.
''Do you remember how good it was when we went to school together? 
We used to do our shit convinced that the world was just ours and everything would be okay''
Edd smiled weakly
''We thought we would be together forever and that nothing would ever stop us, despite all the messes we could get into we would always be ready to help each other...''
Matt tapped Edd with his shoulder, smiling
''Even Tom, despite always saying otherwise and that he would abandon us at the next screw-up, was always there to help us in the end, in fact ... a lot of screw-ups started from him too"
"damn alcoholic''
The boys laughed for a few seconds, then went back to looking at the frame in silence
''I wonder where he is now...''
''I don't know, at the rendezvous point he wasn't there, I hope he's okay...
on the other hand we couldn't wait much longer, time was limited and they were about to catch up with us.
We had to run or they would have caught us too.''
Said Edd in a falsely firm tone, as if convincing himself that that had been the right thing to do.
''By the way, how did you get into the base again? After your first infiltration they improved the security systems..."
''Let's just say that I had been preparing for this event for a long time.
you see..."
Edd sighed
"When I found out that Tord had regretted the whole thing and wanted to apologize...''
''Tord ... what?!"
''You see, in 2020, four years after we defeated him, I got a letter from him and-''
A loud noise interrupted the boy. 
There was a moment of silence, the two boys stood waiting, as if to see if they had only imagined that sound.
Unfortunately for them, a short distance away a loud noise was heard again, accompanied by a tremor that made the ground shake. 
Ringo immediately ran for cover.
''What's going on??" said the strawberry blond boy.
''I have no idea.''
Edd walked over to the window and peeled back the curtain. 
A sea of red lights crowded the street, they were all people wearing the mask that had appeared in advertisements throughout the city a short time before.
A new thud hit the house, and Edd turned his gaze and saw a gruesome scene.
A car driven by a mask started its engine and after accelerating, crashed into the wall of a house a few streets away from them, leaving the driver dead.
As soon as the car smashed the wall, a huge group of people pushed their way inside, while another car was being prepared for the next house, slowly getting closer to their building.
"Fuck!!"
Edd immediately closed the curtains and turned to Matt.
''So?? what's going on?!"
"You know that thing I asked you before about the men-masks?? 
Here they are.
Makteslos, and so many apparently!
They are looking for us!
Quick!!! there are stairs leading to a bunker inside the closet in my room, they are from WWI, whatever is going on, that should be a safe place!''
Matt didn't let it be repeated twice and ran off.
Edd slowly pushed the sofa up to the front of the door, turned off the faint light and tried to take with him all the few things that suggested their presence in there, then he too ran for the stairs.
Matt was waiting for him, as soon as Edd was inside, he closed the heavy, sturdy door.
''Great! This place already sucked, now we're even forced to be locked in a hole with no food or water'' 
Matt crossed his arms, nervous.
''We have food, this room is organized for a 2-3 weeks stay, I've been imagining this moment for a while..."
Edd froze for a second
"...Fuck-
Matt, open the door immediately! We forgot about-''
A soft meow echoed in the room, the kitten appeared from behind Matt's legs
''Ringo? Don't worry, I had already thought of that! I looked for her all over the house, and finally she was already here! 
After all, if we're going to stay in this hole, I'd appreciate it without rats''
Matt smiled as he saw the boy lovingly embracing the cat.
Edd settled down on an old mattress with Ringo on his lap, from his watch monitoring the situation upstairs thanks to a remote control camera. 
Matt sat down next to him.
''Wow, now we know when we will be screwed up, great"
Edd rolled his eyes, Matt continued
"...anyway! I know how we can entertain ourselves while we're waiting.
well, first of all I'd like to understand what's going on. 
You mentioned... Masktacos... or whatever they are called, but what the hell are they??! 
And in what in the heaven did you mean by a letter of apology from Tord!??''
''Well. I would say it's fair to explain what I found out, and what has happened since after Tord kidnapped you and Tom.''
Edd let out a sigh and began to narrate.