I'm terrified of the day that I will welcome death with open arms.
Riding alone in the back of a truck with a heavily armed stranger was certainly a terrifying experience. He kept his eyes locked on Adey, watching for any attempt to escape. Adey mean while, had her eyes on her feet, terrified out of her wits. Infected, she could handle, a man twice her size with a fully loaded weapon, she could not. She'd already staged an escape once tonight and the throbbing pain in her shoulder was an unfortunate casualty. Attempting to gauge the severeness of the injury, she tried to raise her arm, but quickly abandoned the mission with a hiss of pain.
A slight cough brought her attention back to the man with the gun. For a small second, she thought she saw sympathy in his eyes. A surge of confidence boosted the young woman. "Where are you taking me?" As though it had been an illusion, the look was gone and he returned to his stoic posture. "You don't have to..." She hesitated. Adey had yet to figure out what was going on, let alone who these people were that murdered her family and desecrated her home. With a lilt to her voice, she continued, "You don't have to do this. You can let me go. Let us go." She hoped that other Smugglers had survived. Despite her pleas, he made no move to free her, though he seemed to have lost the ability to look at her. Adey leaned forward, wincing as she felt the pinch of the pocket knife she had taken residence at the top of her thigh. She played the pain off as though her shoulder was bothering her, which wasn't difficult.
She didn't have long to formulate a plan that involved her pocket knife, for almost immediately after she rediscovered the tool, they had arrived at their destination and she was being dragged from the car. To her relief and then subsequent horror, she was soon able to spot Erik and Jim ahead, with their own platoon of guards. To her surprise, Erik made a break for it. He was an animal, seeming to fight on instinct alone. It didn't take long for him to be overtaken, but those short minutes were enough for Adey to develop a slight fear of Erik. She'd under estimated him while he was exhausted, but it was clear he knew how to fight and could do some damage.
Once Blondie had been returned to his place with Jim and Adey, her medic instincts kicked in and she looked him over. Her shoulder and blackened wrist were no match for the shape Erik was in. She tried to muster an encouraging smile, but it turned out as more of a grimace. "That was a good try. Can you feel if anything is broken?" She leaned her head forward a little and found Jim's eyes, "Jim?" There wasn't anything she could do at the moment, but she couldn't help but ask.