Animals [z.m. || a.u.]

viii.

A/N: This is short but oh well.. Happy reading!!

viii.

Zayn's torso kept on rocking back and forth as his hands played with the Tiger tooth pendent tied to a rough and rugged string against his neck. The cold metal attaching the tooth to the string would brush against the pad of Zayn's thumb every now and then as he fiddled with the tooth recklessly nervous. A tiger's tooth represented strength, grace and individuality of a tiger. But Zayn could feel anything but strength in his muscles at the moment.

Their conversation with the boss had ended and to say that Zayn was nervous about this  would be the understatement of the century. He could feel his heart throbbing in his throat.

This is what you feel when death laughs at your face, Malik.

No doubt the boy was laughing in the face of danger since he was ten but now he had actually come face to face with the most wretched form of danger.

Death itself.

As he rocked to and fro in his chair Louis was pacing back and forth muttering curse words under his breath heaving huge breaths pumped by an adrenaline overdose.

"I'd told you, Zayn. The mission he'd give us would not be a piece of pudding. Doesn't it explain the hospitality now?" Louis whispered high enough for Zayn to hear it. But to his misfortune Zayn was long lost in his own thoughts to hear Louis' rants. His eyes fixed on the metallic ammunition atop the coffee table. He reached out for it, slightly touching the cold barrel of his gun which hadn't used in a long time.

He had last fired a bullet from the gun when he was on a mission under Benjamin's control. The target of the mission somehow was alerted about the attack and was ready to scramble away from Zayn and Benjamin's grip which left them both with only one option - guns.

Benjamin had ordered Zayn not to kill the target. "Injure him, enough so he cannot walk anymore. We want him alive." was Benjamin's order. And so Zayn did it. Aiming the bullets carefully on the target's left leg's calf, he pulled the trigger. Seconds later, the bullet had penetrated into the target's flesh making him tumble down with an unability to walk. He wailed out in pain as Benjamin and Zayn ran on their way to get him.

That's when Zayn was appreciated by the boss, yet again, for his flawless aim and logic, creating yet another reason for Benjamin to hate the raven haired lad.

Louis, on the other hand had used a gun only to hit targets while training, causing him to fretting even more than Zayn about the mission. The boss' voice still lingered fresh and daunting in his mind.

'The tiniest mistake and you both would be damned so hard for the rest of your life that you would regret your existance'

As much as Louis hated to accept the truth, he knew that Zayn would not make any mistake, making it obvious that the only scenario of a mistake happening would be if Louis gets super-nervous and messes things up. Not to mention, his poor experience with handling a gun added to the probability of mistakes happening due to his incapability.

The mere thought of mistakes made the tiny frame of the boy shudder in fear. Moreover, the boss obviously won't consider asking whose mistake it was, before bombarding bullets into each of the boys' bodies. He just couldn't bare the thought of Zayn being penalised for his errs, making him bite his anxiety on his nails.

"Lou?" Zayn shook Louis' shoulder causing him to shake himself out of his thoughts.

As much as Zayn knew Louis, the only reason Louis would bite his nails would be out of nervousness at its peak. Louis looked at Zayn and hummed as a response.