Freedom Fighters

14. Laughter

The warm touch of the sun woke Dario from his peaceful sleep. He rose from his spot on the groundsheet which formed the base layer of the tent. Yawning, he stretched his arms, letting the feeling of euphoria once again enter the confines of his heart. He had never felt so full of joy before. It was as if the heavens had aligned themselves for him that morning and he felt that he could conquer anything. Which reminded him. Today was the day he would start his training to become a revolutionary.

He exited the tent, ducking below the entrance flaps. The smell of stewing beans hit him instantly, clearing his mind of cobwebs. Camilo and the Almeidas were sitting on logs, watching over a pot of black beans being stewed over a raging fire.

"Morning!" Camilo greeted him with a wide grin. "Sit with us. Breakfast will be ready soon."

Dario sat down on an empty log beside Marco. He looked around the camp site and found it bustling with activity for the morning. Most people were consuming their breakfast and going about their normal routines, preparing for the day ahead. Others were changing into fatigues and heading towards the barn.

"They are going to draw their rifles out," Marco explained as he caught Dario staring at the groups of people walking towards the barn. "Rifles are kept in a locked storeroom within it. We only draw them when we need them for training, which is probably almost every day."

"I see," Dario said, nodding.

"Wow!" A high pitched exclamation came from Camilo. "That is probably the longest sentence I have heard you say."

Marco glared at him, flaring his nostrils as he clenched his jaw. "You think you are funny, Camilo?"

Lionel started cracking his knuckles, giving a snarling smile that reminded Dario of the incident in the slums of Veracruz. He shuddered inwardly.

"Alberto tasked us with introducing you to how things around here work. So, instead of poking fun, how about you shut the hell up," Lionel said as he leaned into Camilo, a hostile glimmer in his eyes.

"Woah." Camilo laughed nervously at Lionel's words, leaning backwards with his hands raised, almost falling off the log. "Sorry."

Lionel moved back, giving Camilo his space back. He squinted his eyes, letting out another harsh sounding growl before looking at his brother. Then, their eyes relaxed and they laughed. Despite the twins' throaty laughter sounding strangely sinister, Dario let out a sigh of relief.

Camilo released the tension in his shoulders, before tensing up again as he felt a hard pat sting his back. Lionel smirked at him before saying, "Relax my friend. We are comrades now."

It took a second for Camilo's face to brighten into a smile, and another for him to laugh alongside the twins.

"Are you two usually like that?" he asked.

"Like what?" Marco said as he took the the pot of beans off the fire, setting in on the grass beside his feet.

"Intimidating?" Camilo pressed.

"Perhaps." It was Lionel this time. "It helps with our job as bodyguards for Juanita."

"Right..." Camilo nodded his head in a comically serious fashion, which almost made Dario giggle. Suddenly, he straightened his back, perking up.

"Speaking of which!" he said in a high varied tone. "I noticed last night that a certain someone returned to the tent at a rather late hour. I wonder who..."

Shit.

Camilo's eyebrows raised pointedly at Dario as his lips curled into a sly grin. The heads of the twins slowly turned towards Dario who sat there quietly, hoping that he could somehow evade the question. He took a quick glance at the Almeidas and swallowed the lump in his throat.