In one of the enclousures of Cartago the humans were eating their dinner calmly. Malcolm and his family were holed up in a corner near a large fountain. Alexander seemed to have little appreciation for raw meat, also because the dinosaurs had not provided them with the means to cut it, thus forcing the boy to tear it to pieces with fingernails or teeth. "I hate this stuff" he grumbled.

"Don't complain. Compared to the conditions in which hostages are normally held, this is a luxury" Ellie scolded him. She too was having a hard time eating meat, but she showed it much less.

Malcolm snorted. He knew that Ellie was right, and that normally people held hostage by terrorists or criminals were held in far worse conditions than theirs, with poor meals and poor sanitation and sanitation, but even he was fed up with that raw, tough meat. His teeth were starting to ache from tearing at the stringy flesh. "It may be a luxury, but I hate it too" he said. "They could at least give us some to cut it"

"They probably fear we use them as weapons" Ellie pointed out. "You know, a knife is quite sharp"

Malcolm sighed. It was likely that this was the case: if he himself had had to keep a person prisoner, he would undoubtedly have deprived him of any possible blunt object. A knife or even just a fork could become considerable weapons if handled in the right way: with enough force, they could gouge out a person's eye or even pierce his skull and kill him. Malcolm didn't know how effective such weapons could be against dinosaurs, but he doubted the dinosaurs were eager to find out.

While he was eating he suddenly noticed something in the crowd. At a short distance from he and his family there was a strange man. He was covered with a black hood even though it was very hot. He had numerous clothes that completely covered him, making it impossible to recognize him. Even the face was covered by a mask, leaving just the eyes visible.

Malcolm's instinct for survival ignited: his first thought was that that person was probably aiming to do something dangerous, and under his clothes perhaps he had weapons. He immediately stood up: he didn't care what that man wanted to do, what mattered to him was to stop him. He didn't know how the dinosaurs would react to an attack and he didn't want to find out.

Malcolm knew that, very often, to maintain order, the terrorists killed large numbers of hostages if they tried to rebel; though he couldn't know for sure, the dinosaurs could decide to do the same, killing many of the hostages if any of them tried to do something stupid. He and his family could have been involved. He couldn't and didn't want to risk it.

Ignoring the perplexed faces of Ellie and Alexander, he walked over to the man and put a hand on his shoulder. The man gasped, but he couldn't react because Malcolm had grabbed his arm. "Excuse me, can you come with me for a moment? I need your help" Malcolm said in a feigned cordial tone.

He expected some resistance, but the man, who was scared a few moments before, relaxed and nodded in response as soon as he heard him speak. Malcolm didn't even need to drag him away: the guy followed him of his own free will. Malcolm reached a point of the square far enough away from prying eyes, he made them both sit on the ground, and then he whispered: "Listen to me, man, I don't know what you want to do, but whatever you want to try..."

"Malcolm, calm down! It's me!" the man told him. Malcolm stopped speaking and rolled his eyes as soon as he heard the voice: "Dreyfus!?"

The man lowered his hood slightly, revealing the face of the mayor of Cartago. Well, ex-mayor at this point. Malcolm didn't hold back and hugged his old friend: "Fuck, you're alive! I thought you were blown, man!"

"I almost was" Dreyfus said with a tired tone. "During the capture of the city the dinosaurs easily vanquished the little resistance I managed to deploy, but I was able to escape. I tried to hide but they easily found me. I feared that they might want something from me since my identity, but they didn't even ask me who I was and they simply closed me here with all the others. I'm glad that you got away with it too"

"You don't know how much happy I am to see you, Dreyfus. But why are you dressed like that?"

"I'm hiding, of course"

"Hiding? But you said that the dinosaurs don't..."

"Come on, Malcolm, you are smarter than this! I'm not hiding from the dinosaurs, I'm hiding from the humans. Right now the citizens want nothing more than someone to blame, and who better than the mayor of Cartago?"

"What are you saying? I'm sure…"

"Come on, be realistic. Don't you hear them talking about the army? Haven't you heard the taunting words they constantly address to our soldiers? They curse them for the mere fact that they failed to save them. Because that's how people act: when they're in a desperate situation, they want someone to blame, whether it's right or wrong. They don't give a damn that our soldiers weren't numerous enough, or well equipped, or were caught in an ambush… people don't give a shit about that. What people think is that the soldiers had to save them and they failed. Do you understand now? How do you think they will react seeing me? If I revealed myself now, they wouldn't think twice about slaughtering me. This would inevitably attract the dinosaurs and many people could be endangered. So It's better if no one see me"

Malcolm wanted to argue, but he knew Dreyfus was right. People desperately wanted someone to blame and wouldn't distinguish between guilty and innocent. If they had seen Dreyfus there would have been a fight and then the dinosaurs would have intervened. The consequences would have been unpredictable. "Come with me. My family is here, you can stay with us"

"Absolutely no. My presence would put you more in danger. You need to think about your son now, Malcolm. Also it is better that I keep moving"

"What do you mean?"

"Since I have been here, I have done nothing but study dinosaurs. I moved back and forth all over the square, looking for even just a weak point in their defenses, and in the end I concluded that escape is practically impossible. I watched them closely and tried to get as much information as possible about them and their culture, but nothing I got could help us. So I used my camouflage for another purpose: to keep calm so that there is no bloodshed. Nobody pays attention to a stranger who does not even show his face and who does not speak to anyone. I was able to overhear many conversations"

"And?"

"And I kept the situation stable. As long as the conversations were all smoke and no roast, then I ignored them. But when those talking were dangerous people, then I would step forward and warn the right people. In this place, as in all other squares, there are many people who keep the situation stable by preventing people from doing something stupid. It was enough for me to notify one of these and then she would take care of restoring calm"

"I guess you haven't made many friends"

"In fact, that's why I better keep moving. If I stay too long in a single spot in the square, people start to remember me and become wary. If, on the other hand, I move back and forth around the perimeter, then no one connects me to the blows"

"You're doing the right thing"

"I want to hope so. At the moment the situation is stable, but I don't know how long it will last. Since the arrival of the army, the dinosaurs have become colder, more distant. If a fuse were to ignite now it is very likely that they would react very aggressively. We must mantain peace"

Malcolm understood Dreyfus's words: he too had noticed that the dinosaurs had become more aloof since the battle had taken place. They were now less prone to answering human questions and even less friendly. The reason was clear: they had lost some of their companions during the battle, so at the moment they felt a certain hatred towards humans. "So you don't want to come with us? We could help you"

Dreyfus shook his head. "No. I appreciate your intentions, but it is best for everyone that you stay with your family and I stay alone. When all this ends we will be able to meet again, but for now..."

"Watch! There is a crazy woman who is trying to get out!"

Malcolm and Dreyfus jumped and nearly fell to the ground.