Think

I invite you to read my new Cobra Kai fanfiction that you can find now on my profile

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Five months ago.

In a military training base.

"So, cadets, you only have nine seconds to decide whether to trust the people next to you. It doesn't matter if it's true or not—you only have nine seconds to know."

"What happens if we don't come to a clear conclusion?" A woman raised her hand from the crowd and asked.

"Cadet Emma, you have the best deduction skills among the cadets in this battalion... I'll keep it short: if you have a man who is an enemy of our organization and you need to interrogate him, you'll have to ask questions, and you only have nine seconds to believe him or not."

"Listen, if you don't believe him, you have to ask the same question again. You must be sure that the person is answering with nothing but the truth. If you're not sure, that man or woman has already deceived you."

Emma stayed silent. Talking about torture and interrogation was something extreme she had never thought about. Would it be necessary to resort to such methods when she's active as a soldier?

"And there's an effective method for this. It works with two people; if you don't have two, you can't use this method. It's called 'The Two Questions.' You tie up both individuals facing each other and ask them the same questions, but they must write their answers. Once one of them gives their answer, you ask the other. If the answers match, they're telling the truth."

"And if they don't match, they're lying." Emma murmured softly, and shortly after, those same words were echoed by the chief instructor.

...

"What is this, Frank?" Aitor asked as blood filled his throat, making it difficult to breathe.

Frank, who had remained silent, watched as the enormous rat moved through Aitor's stomach, surveying its surroundings, trying to figure out where it was.

Emma, standing next to Jack, was frozen. She never imagined that this kind of torture could be used on these people. But seeing the indifferent expressions of Dominic and Daryl, she stayed on the sidelines.

"I want you to write the answers to the following questions! Where is your base, and how many people are inside?" Dominic signaled to the soldiers, and they untied one of Frank's hands.

Dominic looked at Frank and warned him, "Listen, I want you to know that your companion's life depends on whether or not your answer is truthful."

When Frank heard these words, he frowned and tried to make eye contact with Aitor to see if he had answered truthfully or not. They had never been in this situation before, but as members of the Fireflies, they always had a way out of such predicaments. Frank immediately started thinking about what Aitor might have written.

"While you think, let me tell you a story."

After saying those words, Dominic lit the blowtorch, and the bright flame illuminated his face slightly. "The world, both in the past and now, is incredibly insane, full of death, incidents that will be remembered in history, and unnecessary wars. But if there's one thing we've learned, it's to be ruthless and experienced."

"Learn from your mistakes, and never be so stupid as to repeat them. Brilliant; I'll put that into practice. You know, if we think that having the undead walking the streets today is worse than during wartime, we're dead wrong."

Dominic set down the pliers on the table where Aitor was lying and said, "Today, I'm going to tell you about the rat torture, originally used by the Chinese, then practiced during the Holy Inquisition and the Dutch Revolt... This torment involved laying the condemned man flat on his back, fully immobilized."

As Dominic explained, he tightened the ropes holding Aitor down to the table. "A cage with a rat inside was placed on the man's abdomen. For it to work, the bottom had to be open and the cage secured to the victim's stomach. Oh, look, just like your friend here...

"You bastard!"

Dominic paid no attention to Frank's insults and continued, "They would light the top of the cage, which would drive the rat mad in search of an escape. With the only way out being through the man's body...

As these last words hit everyone's ears, Dominic snapped his fingers and said, "Exactly, through the abdomen. The rat, crazed by the heat, would gnaw its way through the man's belly, biting through his intestines, sometimes even emerging from the side of his body."

"Like a ravenous walker, the rat won't stop devouring soft tissues in its desperate search for escape. I'm sure everyone in this room can imagine such agony. The rat would bite and bite, damaging vital organs along the way, and the victim would inevitably bleed to death."

As Dominic told the story, he walked over to Aitor and said, "Write your answer. You only have three seconds."

As Dominic spoke, the blowtorch's flame lowered, and the cage slowly started heating up. Frank stood frozen, cold sweat soaking his body, unable to react in time. But when he heard Aitor's terrified screams, he finally snapped out of it.

"Alright, I'll do it!" Frank hurriedly began writing the answers with difficulty. As each word appeared on the paper, Dominic noticed the rat scratching Aitor's stomach.

When Frank finished writing, Daryl handed the paper to Dominic, whose face was tense. As Dominic read the contents, the location was correct, but the number of people was different.

"That's a shame."

"What?" Frank asked immediately.

"The location is right; congratulations. But the number of people is way off... Between 300 and 500 people? How do you not know how many are in your base, Aitor? One said between 600 and 900. Who should I believe?"

Dominic let the paper fall to the ground, and at that moment, a voice came through the radio: "Zz... Drones have identified the site. What are your orders?"

"Prepare yourselves. Once we hit this location, we'll move to the Three Spirits community next. Dominic ordered the retreat, then turned to Jack and Emma. "You two, go with the people you saved. They trust you."

"Yes, sir…"

"Understood, sir…"

"Ahhhhh!" But just then, a scream of agony echoed. Aitor, gravely wounded in his stomach, was thrashing violently. However, Dominic remained indifferent and intensified the flame.

"Tell me, Frank! How many people are in your base?"

Frank was speechless, watching the rat burrow into his subordinate's stomach. Each bite was savage and aggressive, the rat desperately searching for a way out through the neck as it felt the heat burning its body.

But Dominic wasn't going to stop. He needed to leave a traumatic mark on Frank's mind. He wanted to make it clear that there were consequences for killing his soldiers.

"You stupid fool, you killed my men! Did you really think you'd leave this place alive? This is just a small part of my fury for trying to harm my people.

Dominic looked at Daryl and said, "Daryl, you decide—his hand or his head?"

"Yes, sir!" Daryl picked up a machete and walked towards Frank step by step.

"No, please!"

Dominic wasn't looking for the exact number of people in the enemy base; he just needed the location, and he got it. If the situation became unbearable, he would kill them all, but he knew there was always a way out.

"No, have mercy!"

"Ahhhhhh!"

"Rrrrr!"

"Kill me, please, end my life!"

"Ahhh!"

The gut-wrenching screams echoed one after another, and then there was nothing but silence. Daryl walked out of the room, wiping his machete, while Dominic wiped the blood from his face.

Bang, Bang!

A few seconds later, two shots were heard, and two soldiers left the room dragging two bodies. One had a large hole in his stomach, and the other had no head.

All enemies had been eliminated.