I'm Not an Animal (Slow Updates)

Chapter 21

"How the hell did you guys survive?" Kaden cried as we tipped out our bags. Clothes, knives, cloaks, my Viewer, some hunks of fruit, a couple of paper bags, some bits of string, the berries, a round of pistol ammunition, my book and a pencil.

"The others had more." Zaki shrugged, shoving his things back in his bag.

"We need to get you some food and weapons." Kaden shook his head and helped us fill our bags, then he started off to the town. "Heck, you don't even have money!" he called from ahead.

"Don't we?" I winked to the others. We all had compartments in our bags in which we had hidden our money. My purse was zipped in a little pocket at the bottom of my satchel.

"Get in the damn building." Kaden pouted when we caught up to him. He was pointing at a supply store.

"What are we gonna buy here? A hammer?" I asked sarcastically.

"Get in the building!" he snapped, throwing open the door. I gave him an innocent look and filed in, the others behind me. When Kaden walked through the door he grabbed the base of a light switch and lifted it, revealing a small screen. He pressed his forefinger against the screen and a shelf slid sideways to reveal a staircase.

"Wow."

"Quickly, before anyone else comes in." Kaden ushered us down the stairs, which I took two at a time. "This is a Resistance stronghold. We're really lucky this town is so small otherwise the Society would have searched it for any sign of the Resistance."

I stumbled through the darkness of the room and bumped into what I thought was Ruby. I could tell that Kaden was enjoying watching, or rather hearing, us stumbling around in the dark, so it was almost a minute before he flipped a switch and flooded the room with light.

"Oh my God!" Eleanor cried.

"I know, eh?" I whispered, eyes falling on the rows and rows of shelves, all covered in weapons and ammunition and tools that could be used either in combat or out in the field.

"Find what you can use and help yourself!" Kaden called from halfway up the stairs. As a group, the five of us rushed forward and started lifting weapons. I spotted a pistol, much like the one Alyssa had shot my family with, and several packs of ammunition. I also grabbed a set of 'claws', which were simply gold rings that sat on the end of my fingers and had an incredibly sharp point. These I shoved in my satchel.

I looked around for anything else but all the other weapons were too big, too heavy, were for close combat, would weigh me down. I was about to leave when my gaze fell on a small silver dagger with the symbol of Sagittarius engraved on the butt of the red hilt. It might be a close-combat weapon, but it could also come in handy.

I walked over to Kaden, who was standing by a shelf that stood under the stairs. He was pulling at packs that contained dried fruit, nuts, canned food, biscuits and canteens filled with water. There were also little bags of chemicals and medical kits. He tossed me a pack and one of the bags of chemicals. Then he grabbed one of the large packs and slung it over his shoulder, throwing in a medical kit. He tossed another one to Zaki, who handed it to me. Kaden shot him a look.

"She knows more about medicine than me." he shrugged. It was true, I had studied medicine as a side-subject in school, but I didn't know much about extreme operations or what to do if someone was seriously injured. I understood the basics--stop the bleeding, cover it, wash it out, don't let it get infected--but that was about the limit of my knowledge.

"I don't know much about this kind of stuff though," I admitted. "I know want to do if someone eats something they shouldn't or you get sick, but I'm not good with bandages and needles."