A new Dawn (Clementine x Louis)

Chapter Two - Captured

With dawn imminent and still no one attacking the self-called "protectors" retreated to the trucks. With Frank in the front and Carl in the back, there was no way to escape. Even though he tried to go through every option, the teen concluded that he would get shot in every single scenario. A wonder would have to happen if he wanted to escape before his friends had been mobilized.
While he was lost in thoughts, the group escorted Louis to the third truck he had seen earlier. It looked like an old refrigerated truck without any spikes, only much thicker armor. Iron rods covered all windows of the truck as well as two welded steel shields, strapped to the sides of it.
A smirk stole its way up to his face as he thought about the old movies he had watched as a child in which some monster would be contained inside one of these trucks. A terrible idea entered his head, what if these people were hiding walkers in there and wanted to make a quick snack for them out of him? His hand wandered to his belt where a combat knife was strapped on. He hadn't thought of Frank behind him until suddenly a hand shot out from behind his back and ripped away the weapon.
"We are not that stupid, eh? Carl, search him."
After a quick search by the soldier, Louis was completely free of weapons, no knife, no bat, no way to defend anyone, not even himself. Anne stepped up and faced him, she had seen his expression when he saw the vehicle in front of him.
"You may have wondered whom we protect and why that truck is armored so nothing can get through its walls. We will introduce you to him.", with these words she opened the back of the truck.

A smell of some piercing chemical immediately reached Louis' nose. The truck was full of medical and chemical instruments, it looked like the laboratory of Dr. Frankenstein to him. In the back-left corner, he made out a small glass protected compartment. Inside of it, a man was working in a protective suit that made him look like some weird kind of insect. When Frank banged against the trucks metal side, the man looked up, his facial expressions covered behind a thick plastic mask. The guy opened a door that led into a small, shower-like compartment, where he pressed a button that activated small sprinklers to wash the suit. Louis recognized this procedure as a decontamination process, he had seen this on TV once. It was mildly amusing that he knew all that stuff from a device his parents had always talked bad about but the teen couldn't smile, he was too curious of who would step out of the weird suit.
The guy under hazmat was tall and slender, almost if as his growth had used most of his body mass. He ruffled through his dark blonde hair and walked towards the door Louis was standing in. When he opened his mouth, he started to talk with a gentle and polite voice.
"Oh, did you bring me a visitor? Hello my friend, wanna sit and drink something?"
Louis tried to judge this guy by his manner, even though he didn't trust the guys behind him this dude did seem like a nice guy.
"Thanks. Actually, I'm dying of thirst.", the teen joked and held out his arms.
Behind him, he heard a loud clicking noise as a weapon got rid of its safety mechanism. He didn't dare to turn around but the man in front of him shook his head.
"Sksksksksks, stand down guys, we don't wanna be impolite."
After another click from behind Louis' back the man held out his hand to help his visitor getting up in the truck. He accepted and got heaved into the air, he almost fell over a small barstool but was able to stop his fall. Behind him the metal doors closed and the man turned around to say:
"Let's have a little chat."

After the man had gotten him some water, Louis looked him in the eyes, seeing no trace of fear.
"Are you not suspicious, not even afraid I could do something to you?", he asked.
The stranger shook his head and smiled, he seemed to take everything as a joke more than anything.
"Well, Frank and Carl are very reliable in their choice of trust, if they trust you, I do too. The name's Adrian by the way"
"I'm Louis, nice to meet you.", the teen answered without thinking but cursed himself for being so open. The way the man talked in lulled him into a cocoon of safety, making his tongue loosen and his mind soften like alcohol would.
"Well Louis, let's ask the important question first, where do you live?", Adrian asked straight away without beating around the bush.
Louis shook his head in disbelief, these people had taken him captive and were interrogating him, there was no way he would give them any information.
"You seem like a nice guy, but years of mistrust have left their marks. I'm no child that blurts out every information it has, I can tell you that.", he told him with confidence in his voice.
The stranger looked at Louis with great calm.
"I know what you mean. I think we have much in common. We are both people, that want to keep their families save, even if it doesn't always work out."
A sad look seemed to have entered the man's eyes, but only for a split second. Louis knew, deep down in his guts, that this man was deeply scarred and that, like he said, they had much in common. He had a strange feeling that he could trust him, something told him that he was being honest and didn't want to harm anyone. He cursed himself once again as he broke the promise, he had just given himself.
"You know what, fuck it. I'll tell you, but I want to know some things in advance: First, what are your intentions? Second, are you really with those people or are they holding you hostage? And third, what the hell are you doing in here and why is that so important?"
The look on Adrian's face changed to hope, his language got a little bit sloppy. The man had a small accent Louis couldn't identify. The words seemed to flow out of the man's mouth at a fast pace, ignoring every barrier.
"OK, first, we are looking for some kind of save haven. Our home got destroyed by a rouge military organization called Deltas. We've been driven away in such a hurry that we had to abandon most of our stuff. It's a really long story to be honest. I will tell you about the details later if you want to. Second, yes, I am with those people out there. They may seem pretty harsh and rough, but even if their skin is thick, they are the kindest people on earth underneath it. I've been traveling with them for a while now. Don't worry, I know whom to trust. And third...well, that's a little complica-"

Out of nowhere they were interrupted by a loud explosion, judging by the volume something had detonated near the front of the armored truck at the front. The massive blast shook the ground beneath their feet and both of their eyes widened.
"What is happening here?", Adrian yelled in terror as he stood up, trying to keep his balance. Louis opened the back of the van and saw arrows sticking out of the trucks side. As he let his gaze wander over the scenery, he saw Carl getting hit in the shoulder by a self-made arrow. It buried itself deep down in his flesh, like a tick would do to suck blood from its prey. But Louis started to realize what tactics the attackers were using, he had fought like this once already, not too long ago. His Friends had arrived...