We The Forlorn (Book #2) (Completed)

14. Midnight Attack

Bo jerked awake.

It was oppressively dark in the airship, and she had no idea what had awoken her. Or even what time it was. She groped for her guns, but realized as she scrambled over the cold metal floor that she had dropped them in the village.

She cursed under her breath as she sat up and scanned the room to see what she could in the darkness. Everything looked exactly like it should, except that Khan was missing from his bed. Helga lay a few feet away, her arm tossed over her eyes and fast asleep. But Khan's blankets were empty and, when she placed a hand on them, cold.

Bo pulled on her boots, and scooted around the sleeping Helga on the way to the stairs to the upper deck. She didn't like the heavy feeling that was pressing on her. Something wasn't right, and even though it was deadly silent and still, she didn't trust the world to let her have this one moment of happiness.

The night air was frigid against her face as she stepped onto the upper decks. Nights out in the dust field were impossible to do anything in, as the orange sky let almost no moonlight through. Normally, she carried a light with her when she was travelling at night, but even a tiny flicker of light would be seen by the guards on the building watchtowers. So, Bo had to feel her way with hands and feet across the deck.

"Khan," she whispered. "Khan? You there?"

No answer came. She cursed again, and stood still a moment to try and hear anything.

But by then it was already too late to dodge as something whistled through the air toward her head.

Someone's knuckles connected with her temple, and she stumbled back a few feet as her brain crashed around in her skull. She gasped, shocked for a moment at the suddenness of the attack, but then scrambling to get on the defensive. She still could see nothing, but the attacked seemed to be able to see in the dark. Every move she pulled, they countered with no effort. She gained three more punches to the jaw, skull, and arm, before she heard the sound of a gun being cocked.

"Quit fighting, or I'll blow your brains out," someone hissed. It was a rough voice of a man.

"Who are you?" Bo asked, still wary to keep her voice down. As much as she wanted to shout and wake up Helga, she also didn't want to alert any more people to their position than already knew.

"Shut up," the voice said, and she felt the cold barrel of a gun press into her side. She grimaced, but slowly raised her hands in the air. "Move."

She walked as he pushed against her with the gun. She stumbled against everything in her way, until the man grabbed her hands and twisted them behind her back. But, from this position, he was able to guide her to the ladder that led to the ground level.

Once their boots were in the dust, the man guided her again. They walked for what felt like an eternity, and Bo wondered if Helga would wake soon and notice everyone was missing. Right now, Helga was her only hope for getting out of this situation.

After a moment more of walking, the man pulled her to a stop. "Wait," he said, and then stepped around her. Bo could see nothing, but she heard the man whisper something. Then the sound of fabric swished in front of her.

The man's gun returned to her side, and she felt him grip one of her arms in a tight grasp. "Don't try anything. I don't mind killing a woman." He warned, right before a sudden light burst into being in front of Bo. She gasped, screwing her eyes shut against the glare. Voices suddenly crashed around her, and the warmth of a heater warmed her skin. She cracked an eye open, tears spilling from them at the brightness of the room, and saw that they'd entered the interior of a tent. She glanced behind her quickly to see that they'd left an ante-room, where two sets of entrances made sure that no light would be shown when they entered the tent.

In front of her, it looked like a war room. Men and women scrambled around, talking all at once and pouring over screens and maps. Guns lay on every surface, along with ammunition. It was a huge tent, one that rivaled the airship. Bo's mouth hung open as her eyes slowly adjusted to the light and she could properly see the organized chaos.

The man led her across the tent, toward the middle. No one even glanced their way. Bo wondered if she might be able to run fast enough to one of the sides of the tent before anyone could shoot her, but thought better of it when she saw the sheer amount of people between her and her possible exit. It would be insanity to try anything.

As the man guided her through the crowd, she eventually saw where they were headed. It was a long table in the middle of the room, with many people crowded around it. There she saw Khan, sitting slumped but alert. Silver stood nearby, his hands tied in front of him. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw they were apparently unharmed. Whoever these people were, they must have caught Khan and Silver as they were switching watches, and they had left the lovely gentleman with the gun behind to make sure that Helga and Bo didn't cause any trouble.

Bo was still too far away to hear what the people clustered around the table were saying, but they seemed to be including Khan. One of the men looked to be in charge. He faced away from Bo, but she could tell from his posture that everyone in this tent would jump into a pit of fire if he told them to. It wasn't just his size, which dwarfed nearly everyone around him, but also the way his shoulders were set firmly and his gestures were firm and final. He talked with authority, even though Bo couldn't hear what he said.

The man guiding Bo pulled on her arm to stop her a few yards away from the table. "Stay put here," he said, and then walked forward. He called out, and the leader turned.

Bo got a glimpse of blonde hair brushing the tops of his shoulders, and then a face... a face that drew a whimper from her.

Her knees gave out and she stumbled before catching herself as she stared at the leader while he talked with the guard.

She struggled to speak, to say something. Her first attempt was nothing but a crack, a scratch in her throat, as if his name was unused and stiff in her stomach. But then her words found purchase.

"Ada..." Her breath was so loud in her own ears, and all the rest of the tent faded around her as she saw only the slight-blue tinge to the leader's skin.

"Adam." A whisper.

"Adam." Louder.

"Adam!" He looked up at his name.

"ADAM!"

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A/N: And now you have to wait a whole week for the next chapter! Ha ha ha, no I'm just joking! I'm posting two chapters today, so you won't have to die from the cliffhanger! :P