Night of the Alphas

Chapter 10

I gasped as I woke up. I had forgotten all about that memory until I dreamt about it. I started to wonder if Joshua remembered it when a voice disturbed my thoughts.

"Don't do that to me!" Zane whisper-shouted. "I thought something happened!"

I looked up and saw Zane sitting on the edge of something. As I looked around, I realized that we were on top of a building. Just like in my dream. Of course, it wasn't the same roof. I was glad it wasn't.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I had a bad dream."

I sat next to him and looked down at the city. The quiet night had become pretty loud and crazy. I could see a battle a few streets over. I looked over at my sleeping friends. The twins were both sleeping under one blanket, and Charity was right next to them, grasping a bulky textbook. I smiled. Then I looked at Zane and a cold shiver went down my spine. His expression was cold and distant. He looked drenched in a cold sweat. He was grasping my gun in his hand, his finger on the trigger. I heard gunfire in the distance. That's when I remembered his words in our shared dream.

Guns. I don't like the sound of guns.

I inched closer to him and softly grabbed his arm. He flinched and muttered a curse word. "Oh, it's just you," He said. He laid his ears back in embarrassment. "Sorry."

"You're so nervous. Why?"

He held the gun a little tighter. "You said you had a bad dream. Do you need to talk about it?"

"It was more of a memory. Of my brother and I. That thing I did to those guys... Apparently, I've done it before. But not as bad. I just broke someone's wrist and bit another guy."

"Geez, what did they do to you?"

"Beat my brother up for money." I sighed and looked up at the sky. It was still overcast, which made me feel boxed in. "How long have you been up?"

"A few hours. Really ever since the fight down there started." He shivered. "I hate this. I hate being here. I hate everything about this city."

I was slightly taken aback. "That's pretty extreme. Is there anything you like about this place?"

Zane hesitated. "It's hard to say kind things about a place that has never been kind to you."

"Are you okay? You're not acting right."

"I'm fine!" He said. "You don't have to keep asking."

I placed my hand over his. "It's okay. Everything's gonna be okay."

Zane relaxed his shoulders a bit and looked down at my hand. That was the first time I noticed his nails. They were short and ragged. It looked like he had been chewing them for years. I squeezed his hand a little. Zane sighed. "Thanks. I... You have no idea..." He sighed softly. "I feel better. I'm glad you're up. And here with me. And that you exist."

I giggled. "I don't get that a lot. Most people seem kind of annoyed that I exist. But thanks. I appreciate it."

We sat together for a really long time. Zane seemed a lot calmer with me next to him. But to be honest, I was just as nervous as he was. I just did a better job of hiding it. Eventually, the cloudy sky began to fade to gray, which woke up our friends. After a small breakfast of granola bars and trail mix, we headed out.

We were already about two miles away from the wall, so it didn't take us long to get there. The Alphas were least active in the early morning, anyway, and we were able to climb to the top of the wall with no problem. We went one at a time. Charity went up first to make sure it was safe, Miranda and Zaria followed, and then Zane and I came up last. Just as me and Zane were about to climb down and join the others, I heard a snarl to my left. We turned our heads and standing there was an Alpha. He was probably in his late fifties, and he looked rough. His AFM t-shirt was stained with blood, grime, and God knows what else. His silver hair was overgrown and matted, and his face was filthy. Even from a distance, he smelled like he hadn't had a bath in months. Long story short, he was nasty looking. He growled at us, his darkened eyes filled with rage and hatred.

I laughed and pulled Zane's arm. "Well, this isn't the drugstore." I tugged a bit harder. "I'm very sorry, kind sir. My cousin and I have a tendency to get lost. Right, Zane?"

Zane stood as still as a statue, his face frozen.

I cleared my throat. "Right, Zane?"

The Alpha growled and advanced toward us, his eyes fading black.

I panicked and pinched Zane on the arm really hard. "Right, Zane!?"

"Ow! What the heck?!"

The Alpha pounced. The next few seconds seemed to go by in slow motion as I realized that these were our final moments. But just as he was about to hit us, claws extended and all, I saw a black shadow pass over us. The man's eyes widened, and I wondered what was scaring him so much. Then I saw a tall, thin figure smack him in the face in midair. With a textbook.

Charity landed on top of Zane and I, her eyes black, Claws out, and a bulky textbook in her hands. She scrambled up and smacked the man again. And again. And again. After way too many smacks, he was beneath us with a bloody, broken nose, his body curled in the fetal position. Zaria sprung up behind him and whipped him with a broken broomstick. "That's for hurting my friends!" She screeched.

Miranda followed her and stabbed him in the back with her broken beer bottle. "And that's for smelling disgusting! Take a shower, mangeur d'herbe!"

Charity growled and picked him up by the collar of his shirt. She held him off the edge, threatening to drop him to the ground twenty feet below. "This is what you get. Never mess with my brother again. And if you survive the drop, make sure to let all of your garbage friends know to keep their filthy hands off him. Do you understand?"

The man didn't nod. Instead, he pressed a button on his belt, Which I assumed wasn't a good thing. He looked at us with a smirk as Charity slashed his throat with her claws and dropped him to the ground. When she turned and looked at us, her eyes faded back to their normal color. She dashed over to Zane and cradled him like a baby. She stroked his hair gently. "It's okay. He's gone. He's dead," She whispered.

Zane struggled. "Charity, let go. I'm not a baby anymore." Tears filled his eyes and spilled down his cheeks.

She held onto him tighter, as if she hadn't heard what he said. "You're gonna be okay."

"Um, guys," Zaria said. "I don't mean to interrupt, but we have bigger problems." She pointed to a crowd of Alphas about a hundred feet away, pouring onto the wall through a hatch.

I stood up and brushed myself off. "Come on, let's get going!"

The five of us climbed down the wall and sprinted away as fast as we could. We ran for a while before Miranda found a storm drain we could hide in. It was just large enough for us to squeeze through, but too small for the AFM soldiers. But just as we were about to crawl in, a bulky hand grabbed the back of Zaria's shirt.

"Hey!" She screamed. "Let me go, you big, dumb-"

Before she could finish, the guy holding her duct taped her mouth shut and threw her over his shoulder.

Miranda's eyes turned black and she charged at the man, screaming French insults. But the man did the same to her. He was about to grab me when a flying textbook hit the back of his head.

He growled and turned to face Charity, who grabbed another book out of her bag and threw it at his face. That dazed him, and she used that couple of seconds to try and get Miranda and Zaria off his shoulder. Zane and I ran to help her, but it was too late. The man had grabbed her and was slinging her over the other two girls.

"No!" Zane screamed. He lunged at him, but the man just brushed him off like he was nothing more than a bug on his shirt. The fall knocked the wind out of poor Zane, and he couldn't move for a second. Two other Alphas came over, each of them picking up a kid and running towards the wall. I screamed all sorts of insults and dared them to come back and fight me. But soon they disappeared into the wall, and I had no idea what they would do with our friends.