Cole woke up to a strange sight. As the sun appeared in the east he saw a dog carrying a human hand in his mouth. This looks like some weird impressionist painting. But from a horror movie. It reminds me of what my commander used to say - when I die don't send me to hell because I have already been there. Cole had the quote engraved on a cigarette box he carried with him. It was a box made of steel. Cole came down from the tree. He drank water from his backpack. Then continued to the city of Angkor.
On the way to the city, he saw a strange samurai walking in the opposite direction from him. They didn't say a word, but they both sensed they were in a presence of a warrior. Of a tortured soul that is trying to escape from the ghosts of the past. Their battlefields were in different parts of the world, and even at different times. But they both experienced the same thing. War.
After a few hours, Cole reached the city of Angkor. He paid the guards and they let him in. Just like Cinthia, he was amazed by the city. He saw a rider on a huge lizard delivering food to people on the street. He saw people with slaves standing next to very different people from other states. He saw lesbian and mutant couples walking half-naked next to a guy with four slaves. He also saw numerous people on psychedelic drugs. All drugs were legal in Angkor. Well in my city mutants are not allowed on our main streets. We segregate them and we send junkies to jail. But we do not have slaves.
This city is really crazy. I always thought they(The Angkor) are backward barbarians when it comes to social norms and morality. But I guess in some areas they are ahead of us. Cole saw a bar nearby. I have to taste their beer. After all, I am a tourist. So he entered the bar. The bar was crowded. There was a beautiful female singer who sang a song about a serial killer who terrorized the city. For a while, he stopped killing but recently, he appeared again. What a bizarre culture. Why do they have a song about a serial killer who is still alive? The song even had an uplifting beat.
Cole decided to order a beer with dragon blood. I'm not sure if this is real dragon blood. I've heard some stories of dragons emerging from the wilderness, but who knows if that's true. Cole just continued to drink his new favorite beer until the bar was almost empty. Only Cole and four other guys were left in the bar. The singer just kept singing weird and beautiful songs. One of the guys overheard Cole ordering a beer so he said: "Hey. Are you from Bakshish? You sure sound like you are." Cole responded: "Yes. I am. Is that a problem?"
The tough guy replied, "We don't like your kind here. So you better get out or we'll make you get out." Cole planned to leave five minutes ago. But he replied, "I guess you'll have to force me. Cause I am not going anywhere." Cole, like other people, had to leave his gun at the entrance. I guess we are going to have a fistfight. I am not running away from a challenge. I never did ever since I dropped outta school and volunteered for war.
When the first guy approached him Cole knocked him out with a jab. The other guy hit him in the shoulder with a bottle. Cole still had a bullet wound there. So he screamed from pain as he broke the jaw of the guy behind him with his fist. By the end of the evening, Cole had received a solid amount of punches. But he simply refused to give up. When the last song started playing, Cole was the last man to stand on his feet. He paid for his drink. He even tipped the singer and left.
One of the guys spoke, lifting his tooth off the floor, "Bring me my gun. I'm going to kill that bastard." His friend replied: "No you will not. Cause I won't let you. I respect him too much to let you kill him. That guy fought like a true man. He did not punch below the belt nor did he run away. As a boxer myself I know a true fighter when I see one. And I can tell you that man had the heart of a warrior."
CHAPTER 12
Cinthia and her friend entered the Drug street. It was a place where four families had a monopoly on drug sales. Only they had been given state permission to sell drugs. Possession of drugs in Angkor was not illegal, but only these four families were allowed to sell them. The two girls still haven't been able to find a hotel. So they just wandered the streets all night. Until they entered the street of drugs.