Colton watched Adaline sleep, he had tried to rest but the thoughts of his dead allies kept coming back to him. He was tired, but that wasn't enough to entertain his mind. Colton sighed, laying back down and closing his eyes again. Just as he began to doze off a crash of glass breaking jolted him awake, his eyes shot open and scanned the room, the window was shattered.
Adaline had a knife to her throat and fear in her heart, she watched helplessly as Colton locked eyes with her, the attacker pressed the knife firmer to her throat, she felt a warm blood trickle going down from where the knife was placed.
"No-one make a move, and no one gets hurt, got it?" the attacker, who by this point was definitely male, threatened. "It ain't just me here and we ain't afraid to hurt you."
Colton lifted his pillow, subtly grabbing the knife underneath.
"Hold on, no-one has to get hurt, what do you want?" Colton began negotiating.
"Hmmm..you got any money in here?"
"I'm afraid not."
"Wha' about jewelry?"
"None either."
"Hmmm…" the attacker changed tones and smiled. "Wha' about her?" his hand gently grazed Adaline's chin. She flinched at the touch and Colton's eyes widened.
"You don't mean…"
The attacker laughed, a kind of cold, throaty, unhappy laugh. Colton scanned the room for more threats, seeing none he pulled his knife and threw, it missed the attacker by inches but distracted him enough so Colton could get close and throw a punch. It connected, and the attacker went stumbling back.
"You're messing with Sergeant Colton Atkinson and Private First Class Adaline Jenkins of the Survey Corps, i'd recommend you leaving but I won't allow it."
The attacker growled deep in his throat and lunged towards Colton, his knife held tight in his hand. Colton side stepped the lunge and rolled, moving away. But the attacker was smart, despite what his dialect suggested. Within seconds he was back on Colton, slashing and stabbing wildly in an attempt to kill the Scout who had taken him from his prize.
Adaline watched in fear from a corner of the room, suddenly she jumped up, remembering Colton's knife in the wall next to her. She ran to get it but as soon as she reached the knife the attacker was on her. She looked past him to see Colton crumpled on the floor, the moonlight from the shattered window revealed the growing pool of blood around him.
"There's one Scout down, I think i'll have a bit of fun with you first…" he pinned her to the wall and to his surprise, she relaxed. The attacker released his grip a bit, letting her loose for just a split second.
And that's all she needed.
Adaline whipped her knee up and slammed it into the man's groin, causing him to lose his grip, with her hands free she grabbed the knife and jammed it into the attackers spine. He screamed, the kind of scream you hear from any dying animal, and in the end that's all he was, an animal.
Adaline ran to Colton, flipping him onto his back and applying pressure to his wound. He had been stabbed in the gut but he was still alive. She grabbed her uniform jacket and used the sleeve as a makeshift bandage, then began screaming for help.
Mike lifted the bleeding man onto his bed.
"His wounds aren't severe, he'll recover." Adaline wiped her eyes and laid her hand on Colton's chest. She turned to Mike,
"Thank you. You've done so much for us already." She smiled softly, "and i'm sorry we couldn't do much for you in return."
Mike shrugged off the remark and raised his hand in a gesture of dismissal.
"It was no problem, really. You two are welcome to stay as long as you need, at least until his wounds heal."
Adaline stayed up all night, rethinking events that had transpired and watching over her partner. She walked to the foot of the bed and sat. It was going to be a long night.