Annihilation

Negotiation

We stayed up all night, debating our probable success of venturing out in search of their camp, waiting until they potentially settled in the city as they'd hinted, or if they found their way back to the prison. Namjoon appeared puzzled, a first since we met, unsatisfied with the risk of every plan we came up with and sure that we'd need to lean on negotiation if there wasn't a way to sneak them out.

"We can't keep playing the what if game. We'll have to make the best of what we know now and figure the rest out." Yoongi sighed, pressing his palms into the table.

He looked up at me, the others following his gaze, as if waiting for me to make the decision. "We'll go tomorrow, to them before it's too late." I confirmed, glancing around for their approving nods.

Crickets chirped in the night as we reloaded the trunk of the car with weapons and water to carry us through. With their group at a minimum of thirty men, we were significantly outnumbered, our plan to kill as few as possible and sneak Jungkook and Hobi out without detection.

I laid awake in the couple of hours we had until dawn, sure that the others were unable to fall asleep too, constant tossing and turning and the lack of Namjoon's snores letting me know we were all restless. We would use the daylight to travel, first to the city again and then west in search of their camp, letting the night provide more cover to avoid being seen.

After all of our planning, we never stood a chance at anticipating the group's move, learning quickly that they acted on a whim. The sound of an air horn woke me, an alert that meant trouble from Jin or Taehyung, on watch in the guard towers.

Jimin was at my bedside in an instant, handing me one of the two rifles he carried. "They're here." He announced matter of factly, giving me a minute to slip into my boots before we started down the hallway.

There was no time to process anything, to prepare for what would happen, but I took a deep breath as Jimin opened the door for us to go outside, making sure to shield me as we walked.

Namjoon stood behind the second gate, a barrier between the grounds and entrance, holding a rifle at his side. My breath drew in harshly when I took in the view beyond the entrance, over forty men lining the fence with guns pointed in our direction. Jungkook and Hobi were there, held by two men just as they'd been the day before, on either side of a one who appeared unarmed and at the center of everything, Leon. I pushed past Jimin to the gate, squinting my eyes to see them.

"Alena, get back." Namjoon demanded as Jimin tugged at my arm so that I was behind him. In the second I had to see them closer I noticed that Jungkook appeared unharmed but that blood trickled down Hobi's temple.

Leon laughed, a cackle that crossed the distance between us easily, his voice booming with projection. "Good morning! Is this really all of your people?" He asked, stretching his arms out to gesture at the grounds.

Namjoon took a step forward, matching his tone and energy. "There's more of us around." Namjoon responded, a silenced gunshot hitting the gravel in front of us before he could finish his sentence, a message to them that we weren't alone.

Leon found humor in everything, chuckling and rubbing at his thick beard. "Point taken but believe me, you don't want bullets to start flying around here. I hear you've made a good home and have a good group of men. I'd like to talk about how our groups can come together." His words were completely innocuous, the threat lying in his persona.

"It's hard to talk about coming together when you're holding two of my men hostage and pointing guns at us." Namjoon held up a hand as he pulled back the gate, stepping through confidently and walking halfway up the path toward the entrance, gravel crunching under his feet.