The meeting room was packed to the brim with people. Astoria took survey of each one that walked into the room, giving them some form of greeting as they did. No one was surprised that she was there, and they all made an effort to talk to her.
The shouting from Copeland was cut off once the door was fully closed—Astoria could see the frown on Kellin's face from where she sat.
"Here." Someone handed her a glass of water, giving her nervous hands something to hold on to. She smiled up at Gabe in thanks and turned back towards the rest of them.
The only other person sitting in silence was Mikey. She could only guess what was running through his mind as he stared off into space. Once she overheard that he had a brother, but they didn't talk much. Astoria assumed he was like Mikey, a robot, but she never asked.
The door opened once more and Vic came in. Ignoring the looks, he took a seat next to Kellin and picked up a few grapes off a nearby plate.
"What'd you have to promise her this time?" Jaime asked from across the room.
Tension broke as Tony laughed. "What was it last time? A years supply of nail polish?"
Vic shook his head. "Nothing that drastic," he promised.
Doctor Josh Ramsay cleared his throat to gather everyone's attention.
Astoria didn't know much about him other than he was a valuable asset to the group and that he spent most of his time tucked in the back lab doing who knows what.
"I've cracked it," he said once the room was silent. "Every last strand of the Booster has been laid out and reversal is quiet possible."
"What do you need?" Oli Sykes asked as he leaned forward eagerly.
"Time, mostly. And your boyfriend."
Josh Franceschi was the one thing Astoria already knew about. He and a small band of soldiers had been set to scout an area nearby, an area Oli and some others had been planning on raiding that same day. A fight had ensued, leaving Josh badly injured. Since he'd been the leader, Oli brought him back with plans on interrogating him. Doctor Ramsay had patched him up nicely and once interrogations were done—yielding a lot of useful information—they decided to keep him around rather than kill him. Shortly after he and Oli got together, making everyone suspect that was the reason Oli pushed for him to live.
"Sure," Josh said without hesitation. He'd been one of those Booster injected humans who were no longer humans, and after seeing so many of his friends die for something they didn't want he worked closely with Doctor Ramsay to reverse the Booster.
"It won't kill him right?"
Doctor Ramsay wasn't one for beating around the bush. "It's always a possibility."
Still Josh didn't budge. He shared a look with Oli and turned back to the next speaker.
"I'm sure you've noticed the two additions to the group," Austin pointed out.
Eyes traveled from Astoria to a partially hidden shadow in the room. She recognised his long lanky figure and the mess of black hair. No wonder Copeland had been pissed, Milo was here too.
"With the developments made by Doctor Ramsay we've felt the need to incorporate both Astoria and Milo into our planning." Austin paused for a long moment as if waiting for Copeland to burst through the door. "We've discussed the next part of the plan before, and it still stands. Astoria, Alan, Alex, Jack, and I will be making a run tomorrow morning at oh eight hundred. Milo, Gabe, Taylor, and Dallon will be making a run at eleven hundred."
Astoria wasn't sure what she was feeling when she went to bed that night. She's lived her life in the dark since she could remember, but now someone was opening the door, beconing her out. She was hesitant going in with minimal knowledge, but she didn't want to be the one who backed out because she was afraid. Her birth parents hadn't, and neither was she.
Wrapping her fingers around the small, silver, shell shaped locket that hung around her neck—the two photos inside were the only images of her parents she'd ever seen—she closed her eyes.
At promptly 7:30 the next morning Alex woke her up with a bang. From the apologetic look Alex had on his face it was apparent he hadn't meant to run headfirst into her door, but nonetheless it was an effective way to wake anyone up.
Copeland, who Astoria shared a room with, hissed in disgust and rolled over as Astoria quickly got dressed and ventured out into the kitchen.
Several people were up to see the first group off, her stand in parents among them. They showered her with hugs and kisses, Gabe giving her a simple, silver Claddagh that fit perfectly around her middle finger.
"To go with your locket," he said as he gently pushed her out the door.
"I'll see you later," she promised.
Both he and Taylor smiled, the joy not quite reaching their eyes.
Astoria didn't dwell much on it as she trailed after the rest of the group. Alex and Jack hung back to tease her about her serious mood—she'd come to the sobering though that this was really happening and was now pondering everything that could go wrong when it happened.
They went from wide open space to being surrounded in seconds. Tons of mask covered faces stared at them from all angles, guns aimed at them.
Astoria stumbled back in surprise only to be shoved towards the middle by a pair of cold hands. Alan pulled her closer as one of the men began shouting orders. Somewhere in the confusion Jack vanished, not that any of the men with guns was concerned.
"What's going on?" Astoria whispered.
No one answered.
As they were guided towards an armoured vehicle, Astoria took one last desperate look at the outside world. The last thing she saw was a flash of reddish blonde hair.
