The firelight celebration went long into the night, which led to Mina walking home alone as her husband had gone home hours earlier. She had considered going home with him, but he insisted that she stay and enjoy herself. After stopping to retrieve her things, Mina made her way home, walking slowly through the early morning mist. It was very quiet, which wasn't unusual, but Mina felt as if something wasn't right. A slight movement in the corner of her eye caused her to snap her head to the side. She saw nothing but the misty fog around her, but the uneasy feeling increased in her stomach.
Letting her pack fall off one of her shoulders, Mina reached in and pulled out her pistol before returning the pack to her back. Searching the fog for more movement, she continued moving forward, her pistol raised slightly in front of her. The silence around her was broken by a whooshing sound in the distance, followed by a high pitched buzzing that could only have one source. A wraith dart.
Mina sprang into action, running in the direction of her home as fast as her legs would carry her. She burst through the front door, flinging her pack on the floor as she crossed the main room to the bedroom.
"Acastus!" she screamed as she entered the room, "wake up! The wraith are here!"
Her husband sat up, startled awake by her loud entrance. Moving quickly, he emerged from the bed and grabbed his radio from the side table.
"We are under wraith attack, I repeat, the wraith are attacking!" he shouted into it.
Not waiting for him to dress, Mina moved back in the way she came, heading back in the direction of the door. Having left it wide open in her hasty entrance, Mina could hear even more darts outside. Over the noise, she could vaguely hear her husband speaking to her, his words not quite reaching her ears. He came up behind her, his hand touching her shoulder, causing her to jump.
"Mina, we need to get underground," he said, pulling his jacket on over his shoulders and walking past her.
Mina nodded in agreement, moving to follow him out the door. The sound of people screaming stopped her in her tracks. Glancing around, she saw beams of light descending from the sky for a moment before disappearing. The light wasn't the only thing she saw as her eyes frantically searched the fog. She could see figures walking through the fog, long shapes in their hands. It wasn't just darts that had come through the gate, there were actual wraith on the surface. In her surprise at the sight, Mina hadn't realized how much danger she was putting herself in by stopping. She saw a beam of light descend to her right, moving in her direction. Before she could react, she felt herself knocked to the ground by someone larger than her. Rolling over, she pushed herself up and saw her brother beside her, looking at her with wide eyes.
"Come on!" he yelled, pulling her with him as he scrambled to his feet.
Mina ran through the fog, Caleb pulling her by the hand. Her head frantically turned from side to side, searching for her husband. People surrounded her, running from the threat. She winced at the sound of wraith stun blasts hitting people, stopping their retreat. Soon, it was her retreat that was halted as Caleb was hit by a stun blast, pulling her to the ground with him as he fell.
"No…no no no…" Mina said, quickly getting to her feet.
Mina grabbed her unconscious brother under his arms, attempting to pull his larger form in the direction of safety. She struggled, slowed down by his weight. Calling for help did no good, as everyone around her was calling for help. Just as she began to give up hope, she felt her grip on Caleb's arms slip as she was pulled from him. Mina looked to see who was pulling her and was relieved to see her husband's face.
"Acastus help me! Caleb was stunned!"
Mina was surprised when she saw they weren't alone. Her husband released his hold on her and was joined by Mekhai, each pulling one of Caleb's arms onto their shoulders. The small group moved away from the chaos, moving in the direction of the tree-line rather than the entrance to the bunker. Mina followed the men, keeping her pistol in front of her, searching for any threat. A wraith warrior emerged from the fog close to where they were walking, but she moved quickly to aim at him. Firing her pistol, she hit him in the shoulder. The wound didn't slow him down much, but she continued firing, placing herself between him and the escaping men. Eventually, one of her shots hit his face mask and he went down.
Mina's mouth turned up slightly in triumph as she looked down at his still form. She scanned the area to make sure he was the only one around before following in the direction she had seen the others disappear. She stopped in her tracks at the sound of someone screaming for her. Whipping around, Mina spotted Thali running through the fog in her direction. Mina silently thanked the ancestors that Thali had remembered the thing they had all been taught as children by their father, to run for the trees during an attack. Mina reached out her hand, encouraging her sister along. Her hopeful expression quickly faded when she noticed another wraith chasing behind Thali, his stunned raised to fire. This one wasn't a warrior but one of the other ones. Mina raised her pistol to fire, but she didn't have a clear shot and didn't want to risk hitting her sister. The sound of gunshots from behind her rang in her ears. Mina watched as Thali ducked while running and the wraith chasing her was slowed by the gunfire. Mina wanted to know who was firing, but didn't want to let Thali out of her sight. Once her sister reached her, Mina grabbed her hand and pulled her in the direction of the trees, hoping their rescuer would take out the wraith in pursuit.
Once the pair had reached the trees, they quickly met up with Mekhai. Thali went to unconscious Caleb's side as Mina looked for her husband.
"Mekhai, where is he?" she asked.
"He went back for you when he noticed you were gone," Mekhai responded.
Mina heard a few more gunshots but they died out and were replaced by a loud shout. Not even thinking, Mina ran back out of the trees. She saw a figure on the ground, another one looming over it. The standing one started moving towards her and she raised her pistol to fire in the event it was not her husband that emerged from the fog. When the figured emerged and was in fact him, Mina let out a small laugh of relief. He closed the distance and grabbed her arm, pulling her back into the trees with him.
"Hopefully no others will head this way. I'm out of ammo," Kolya said with disappointment.
Mina threw her arms around his midsection, burying her face in his chest, incredibly grateful it hadn't been him on the ground. For the unknown numbered time, she thanked the ancestors for the survival of her loved ones. She felt him return the embrace and heard him say something, but she was so dizzy with joy that the words passed over her. He pulled away and said her name, finally grabbing her attention.
"We aren't out of danger yet, we need to get underground," he said, repeating his words form earlier.
Mina released her grip and moved away from him so he could help Mekhai move her brother again. The group moved to a hidden entrance to the underground bunker, descending into safety. Once they eased Caleb down to the ground, Mekhai radioed for help. It wasn't long before Corric showed up with two additional men. They lifted Caleb onto a stretcher and carried him away.
"I'm going to need your help Mina," Corric said. "There were a lot of people injured."
Mina nodded and moved to go with him, but was stopped when Kolya grabbed her hand. She turned to look at him with a questioning glance. He pulled her back to him and kissed her earnestly. When he pulled away, Mina looked up at him with confusion.
"What was that for?" she asked.
"I almost lost you up there. Don't do that again," he said with an almost scolding tone.
"I'll try not to. Watch over my sister, people need me," Mina said before releasing his hand and following Corric down the hall to the infirmary.
Mina and Corric spent the entire day tending to people, wounded both physically and emotionally. Each new grieved or pained face felt like a stab to Mina's heart. Some had lost spouses, parents, even children. The wraith did not discriminate. Eventually the flood of people came to a halt. Mina was both relieved and saddened. As many patients as they had in need, she knew many more had been taken that they could not help. She collapsed into her desk chair, exhausted from the eventful day that had followed a sleepless night. Feeling her eyes start to droop, Mina lowered her head to rest on her arms and quickly fell asleep.
When the horrible day had ended, Kolya headed to the infirmary in search of his wife. He was sure that she and Corric had been very busy and that she would be ready to return home. When he reached his destination, he looked around for Mina. Not seeing her, he searched out Corric.
"Ah Commander," Corric said in greeting, "what is the status of the surface?"
"Not as bad as it could have been, but we lost many. Nearly 100 were taken or killed on the surface. There doesn't seem to be any indication that our secret was discovered, so there is that positive note. How fares things here?"
Corric sighed as he flipped through a clipboard in his hands.
"Some were injured while fleeing, either by their own panic or the panic of others. Some are recovering from stun-blasts, including Caleb. They should be fine with rest. What I'm worried about is the mental and emotional well-being of the survivors. Many have lost family members, taken before their eyes while they could do nothing but watch."
Kolya nodded in understanding.
"I fear the worst is yet to come. This culling was not completed to its full potential. They will return, and the outcome will be much worse," he said.
Kolya glanced around the room again, looking for his wife.
"Where is Mina? If you can do without her, I think it would be best that she came home and got some rest. She hasn't slept at all since the night before, I'm sure she's exhausted."
"You would be correct with that assumption," Corric said.
He led Kolya to his office and opened the door to reveal Mina asleep on the couch inside.
"She fell asleep at her desk, so I moved her in here to rest."
Kolya thanked Corric, who nodded in response before walking away. Kolya stepped into the office and bent down, brushing a lock of his sleeping wife's hair away from her face.
"Mina, wake up sweetheart," he said softly, touching her shoulder.
Mina's eyes opened slowly, blinking as they took in the light. She sat up and looked around the room before focusing on him, confusion clouding her face.
"Why am I in Corric's office?" she asked.
"He moved you here after you fell asleep at your desk," Kolya responded. "Why don't we get you home so you can get cleaned up and some proper rest?"
Mina looked down at herself and lifted the hem of her dress to inspect it, making a disappointed face.
"This dress was my mother's, I hope it isn't ruined," she said as she got to her feet with his help.
Kolya secretly hoped the same thing, as he liked the way she looked in that dress. He guided Mina out of Corric's office. As they walked through the infirmary, Mina stopped at the foot of Caleb's bed. She let go of his hand and moved to stand beside her unconscious brother.
"Corric says he will be fine," Kolya said reassuringly, "he just needs to rest."
Mina bent to place a kiss to her brother's forehead as if she was willing him to be alright. At the sight of the action, Kolya had a vague memory of feeling a sensation similar to that when he had been laid up with his gunshot wound. Had she done something similar to him while he was unconscious?
"Let's go home," Mina said, retaking his hand.
Kolya squeezed her hand and pulled her in the direction of the door, his heart warm in his chest.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! This takes place right around the end of season 1 so we are moving along in the canon timeline. Please review and let me know what you think! Reviews are writer fuel!