We The Forlorn (Book #2) (Completed)

26. You're Still the Prettiest

The smugglers were wary and standoffish. While their settlement was little more than a scrap metal fence and dusty lean-tos, a surprisingly large amount of gun-power me the airship as it approached. An order was given over the radio for the airship to stop a few hundred meters away, and Silver had to negotiate with them not to be blown to kingdom come right there. In fact, despite knowing Silver, the smugglers seemed completely uninterested in anything the Forlorn had to say. Injured people and fugitives from the militia did nothing to stir their hearts, and Bo began to despair they would have to find somewhere else to hide as the sun began its ascent. But, just in time, they discovered the key to unlocking the smuggler's gates.

"I guarantee five hoppers, gasoline included," Mi said over the radio to the smuggler leader, glaring at Adam who nodded expectantly. "You can hold our injured until we can get someone to bring in the goods in a few days."

"Deal," the leader barked. A moment later, and the rifles and canons disappeared over the side of the scrap-metal fence, and the large gates opened to let the airship float in.

It took Silver a few minutes to land the airship in the tight confines of the wooden buildings, and the whole while Bo watched over the edge as the smugglers gathered on the ground with weapons and glares. None of the Forlorn even dared to start unpacking the injured, even as the airship settled onto the ground.

Silver and Adam were the first to leave the ship, climbing down the ladder on the side of the ship. Bo and Khan followed quickly after them, and they were in turn followed by Helga and Mi. When they all jumped onto the ground and gathered in a small group, a man stepped forward from the smugglers' ranks.

"We'll need the payment within a month, or else Forlorn secrets will start finding militia ears," the man said.

"We understand," Adam said.

"You can put the airship in the hangar, and the people can go in the bunker," the smuggler leader said. He jerked his chin toward two buildings next to each other, just visible in the growing light. One was a large building with only two walls, made of tin sheets nailed together and rusting to almost the same color as the sand and dust. Two ends were open and Bo could see through to some large vehicles the smugglers must have used in their operation. This was the hangar. And next to it was a strange building. It looked like it had been buried in the sand, where only the roof was visible. It was curved metal, and only came to about shin-height. Sandbags stacked over the metal, four deep. Bo assumed there were rooms underground, all safe from any kind of bombs that might be dropped from above.

"We'll take care of moving our own," Adam said. "Return to your business."

The leader nodded his head and raised a hand to signal to his people that they could disperse now. They all drifted off, but Bo noticed they still clung to the sides of buildings and watched the Forlorn offloading the injured in the blooming rosy glow of sunrise.

In order to keep everything orderly, they emptied all the injured and Forlorn outside of the airship, and then began to organize and plan who would go first into the bunker. They moved them in pairs of two, in order to make sure there was no crushing crowd. While it did mean they would still be outside and visible when the sun had fully risen, it meant that they didn't run the risk of making anyone's condition worse. It also made sure that Bo and Adam could keep an eye on the smugglers. While they didn't do much beyond stare, Bo wasn't sure she trusted them to keep away from something as valuable as an airship.

As Bo leaned against a pile of boxes and kept a subtle eye on the smugglers, Khan bounded up to her. He slid to stop by the boxes and crouched, his eyes sweeping from side to side before beckoning Bo to join him on the ground. Bo merely raised an eyebrow.