Storm

Chapter Nine

My heart seemed to stop beating in my chest as I flew backwards from the explosion, falling onto the bar stools a few feet away. Thankfully, the explosion hadn't been too close, and I was relatively uninjured. I couldn't say the same about everyone in the bar.

Then, I remembered our back-up. They'd been waiting just outside the bar for us.

Oh no.

Who knew if any of them were still alive. I thought of Kyan. I really hoped he wasn't dead.

January seemed to have the same thought process because she immediately sprinted outside. I knew that wasn't the best idea. The explosion had come from outside, and the people who'd caused it could still be there, just waiting for us to come out.

How had they even recognized us? It wasn't like we'd been wearing signs that said "We're new here!" in all caps.

I ran after January, despite my instincts. I needed to make sure she was okay. On my way out the door, I pulled out my knife. It wouldn't do much, but it comforted me to know that I had it, just in case.

Once outside, I knew the fight was over. Immediately outside the door was a semi-circle of men and women. They all held guns, pointed towards the remnants of the front of the bar. But the oddest thing about them were their outfits. They were not uniform. While one man was wearing jeans and flannel, the girl next to him wore a sweatshirt over a skirt. But I guess it didn't really matter that they weren't uniform. I should've been more worried about the twenty or so guns pointed directly at January and I.

It didn't take them long to take care of us. As I felt them pull my arms behind me, I noticed that the rest of our team had already been taken car of. They all had their hands tied, and hovered about the car they'd taken in. Five or so of our mismatching attackers kept guard of them, in case they somehow broke the zip ties, got in the car, and drove away. Which, in my opinion, was quite unlikely.

Honestly, I felt calmer than usual. I guess it was just that this had happened so often now that I couldn't even be surprised. The feeling was definitely not universal. Kyan leaned up against the car, and I could see his irritated scowl.

"Hey...if you guys are just residents here, you can just let us go. We got food, water, money...we're willing to pay," I heard Sean saying. He sounded more like he was making a deal than actually being kidnapped. It was obvious what he thought of this group; they seemed weak and disorganized. They really did just seem like a group of residents tired of us intruding in their city.

Sticking to that idea made it easier to deal with. We were all still alive. We hadn't been knocked out yet. Things would be fine. I slowed my racing heart, finally somewhat able to believe it.

This had been the one thing I was dreading, but now it didn't seem so bad. Maybe I was lying to myself, but it was better than panicking.

Those thoughts comforted me, until out of nowhere, a bag was thrown over my head, and I was no longer able to see.

_____________________________

I was alive.

I didn't know where I was. I didn't know who was near me. I didn't even know who had picked us up from the bar, or why they'd done so. The most logical explanation would be that they were a gang. But somehow it felt different. I tried to think back to the attack, remember who they'd actually taken.

They had seemed intent on only taking our group.

I tried to remember a single person outside of our group who had been zip-tied, but I couldn't. What did that mean? Did they know who we were? What our actually goal was?

My head was hurting from thinking everything through. Honestly, my entire life had been such a mess that I sometimes got tired of trying to wrap my mind around it all.

I knew that wherever I was, it was silent, and I was pretty positive I was alone. I assumed some kind of room or something. The floor beneath my fingers was cement. I knew that after they'd taken away my ability to see, I'd been lead to a truck. After a bouncy ride, I'd been pulled into maybe a building? At some point between then and now, I'd stopped hearing the sound of other footsteps besides my own and those of the guy meant to take me. At some point, I'd also had my zip-ties cut, thankfully.

I honestly was getting tired of this, though. I knew that this was to be expected. I'd been lucky getting by for so long in the wilderness without being captured earlier. The gangs were the only way anyone could survive. Literally. In a way, it made sense that people joined them, and traded with them, and used slaves to take care of their needs.  People had a natural tendency to group together and a natural tendency to follow the status quo.

All of a sudden, I heard a door creak open. Further proof that I was in a room. There was a thump and an intake of breath. I heard footsteps moving towards me. I backed away on my heels, failing miserably. And then, I could see.

In front of me stood a girl with black hair, dark tanned skin, and light brown eyes. She crumpled up the hood she'd just pulled off me in her fist, and then faced the other side of the room, where another figure sat slumped over. I didn't even need to wait for the girl to take off the figure's hood to know it was January.

I was relieved to notice that she looked fine. A little flustered, but otherwise okay.

"January...," I said, a smile creeping onto my face in spite of the situation. She turned to me, fear in her eyes. It quickly vanished and was replaced by a bit of relief.

"Thank god, I thought I was going to be alone in that room forever...," she murmured in reply. It was as if the raven-haired girl had seized to exist. At least until she interrupted our bittersweet reunion.

"If you two try anything, we'll shoot you both. There are cameras in here. Be cooperative, and everything will be fine." The girl turned and walked out the door, slamming it shut behind her. There was a click as it locked.

I frowned. Even though we were together, we were still stuck in a small room with brown wooden walls, and nothing to do. There was no food, no bathroom, nothing. The only other object other than us was a camera in the upper right corner of the room.

I let out a sigh.

We weren't getting out of here anytime soon.