25 Section 24: The Brave Frontier

-Back to Present-

"Don't touch him" I growled when one of the people who ambushed us was about to slap Joel because of his struggle. The blonde woman whistled and signaled her male mate.

"Shut her up" the female grinned.

The next thing I know, I could feel a hard punch on my stomach, I could feel the impact. I coughed up blood as the pain surged through my body. These people are no ordinary, yesterday nothing like this has happened before.

"Was it because of Adrian?" I tried to speculate.

After we met Adrian, we were ambushed by these strangers that we never met before.

"This girl is feisty, our boss might like her" the male one grinned.

"I agree Tom, let's give her as a present to our leader" the female blonde smirked as she gazed straight into my scarlet eyes.

They cuffed our wrist and dragged us into a pickup car. Both Joel and I were thrown at the back of the car, the little child that I saved already sits next to Joel. He kept his watchful eyes around us. That child is no ordinary either, whoever he is.

"You're that kid who saved me" Joel looked at the child who sits next to him

"Sssh, talk later" the kid whispered.

So Joel knew about this child as well, this child might be an important key member. The man with the name Tom grabbed that child's shoulder from behind, somewhat intimidating the child.

"Kallen, be a good boy and watch over them" Tom smirked.

Kallen shuddered as he heard his whisper, his body trembles and his grip on the dagger tightened.

"Yes, sir" the little child Kallen replied.

Tom drove the car while the blonde woman kept a watchful eye on the streets ahead. We sat in silence, despair started to consume my thoughts. My mind panicked, and I blamed myself for this. If I were too quick to judge that Adrian was one of the bad guys, none of this would happen. However, Adrian's speculation was just speculation if there's no proof to back it up.

All that's left is how to escape from the truck. The truck is constantly gaining speed, and we're also guarded by Kallen. The boy peered his eyes toward our figures, he didn't blink at all. Perhaps that Tom man caused him fear. It's obvious by his recent reaction toward Tom's orders.

"Aria, what do we do?" Joel frowned.

Joel looks confused, perhaps he's still in shock from being captured by these strangers. Then again, he might think about Adrian's involvement as well. The chances that Adrian is involved in this feud is close to a hundred percent.

"For now, let's stay quiet" I replied short.

Joel seems tensed up when he heard my replies, probably because I couldn't find a way to escape. He always relied on me, I suppose this time I couldn't figure out a way to escape and thus shock him.

Our journey was filled with silence, and it's a long journey as well. It took around two hours by car. Kallen still won't lower his guard, he's as cautious as ever from the beginning. My eyes were latched on the large school building in front of the car. From the looks of it, it seems like an elementary school and kindergarten school, mashed into one building.

The rectangular shapes with plenty of windows and doors.

"Geez, call the gatekeeper to open up the gate! They're seriously blind!" Tom scowled.

The blonde female brought a walkie talkie with her, she voiced her frustration.

"Open the goddamn gate!" her princessy-tone somewhat didn't fit her rudeness.

After that, the large gate opened slowly, I looked up and noticed that there are four guards in total. Above the badly-made watchtower from scraps, I saw two teenagers male, one female adult, and last but not least Glass. The watchtowers were positioned on the left and right sides of the gate.

Glass seems to have missed me since her eyes only focused on the streets. She didn't look below her. She teams up with a younger teenage male. As soon as we arrived at the entrance of the school, I immediately realized what group they were.

"Is this...a frontier?" I asked myself as I looked at the booby traps and scattered wired fences at the peaceful elementary school courtyard.

The two adults who captured us dragged us forcefully from the back car, the blonde kept teasing Joel while Tom tightened his grips on me. Kallen still carried his dagger in his right hand, he's somewhat cautious and guarded since Tom intimidated him.

They carried us toward the receptionist's desk, the school entrance. A strong-built man stood tall above us, his muscular built and his army tag jotted out from his jeans pocket. He wore a green army uniform. His green cap covered his brunette shaved hair. He looks around mid-thirty, perhaps even older.

"Please! Let us go! We didn't do anything!" Joel begged.

After that, Joel is soon welcomed with the blonde woman slap. Her slap induced my rage, she deserved to be punished.

"Don't touch him! You-".

I didn't even manage to finish my sentence, Tom then punched me on the stomach again.

I dropped my knees to the floor, I coughed up yet another blood. My stomach feels strange and painful. Pain keeps surging my entire body, like a wave of impact.

"That's enough, Milla and Tom" the mysterious man in front of us spoke huskily.

The man kneels toward me, to reach my eye level. His cold midnight blue eyes froze me in my place. The man smiled deviously as he patted my shoulder, he tightened his grip too.

"Interesting, a new recruit for our frontier" the man grinned.

"A new recruit? Hah! Who would want to be your underling anyway!?" I braced myself to talk back.

Out of the blue, the man laughed loudly as if he just spotted something new about me. He pulled my hair roughly as he closed the gap between our faces.

"You're one feisty woman, your partner on the other hand" he shifted his blue eyes to Joel. "He's a chicken, not worth a warrior".

Joel was taken back by the man's words, it looks like the man's words affect his ego. Joel gritted his teeth annoyed by the man's words.

"Who are you anyway? You're not an ordinary fellow old man" I smirked.

He chucked, still amused by something I did.

"You always talk back do you? A feisty warrior indeed" he grinned.

He then offered his hand for me to get up, which astonished me. Just now I got punched and abused by these people. Now the man offered his hand to me? I would like to refuse. However, this man seems to be full of deceit and egocentric.

I would like to know more about this group, glass, and probably Adrian in this. I decided to take his hand and stand up on my own two feet, even if I wobble a bit because of the punch.

"I am the leader of our union" he explained proudly. "I am Vladimir Diamante, the leader of the Brave, the New Frontier".