When All is Lost

Chapter 40

The people spilled out from the house like ants from an ant hill, scuttling in every direction. It took me a moment to realize they were positioning themselves, making sure they had all angles on us covered.

They've done this before.

My heart sunk to my stomach at the realization. We had no way to counter them. Five of them were approaching us quickly and they all carried guns – two of them had assault rifles.

Panic tickled my spine and it took everything I had to keep my brain clear and focused. I had a decision to make and seconds to make it. I had to either take Jaquan hostage and force his group to back off or we had to surrender.

It could be a trap.

Jaquan could have lured us back to his group. With so many people, I couldn't imagine how they managed to keep themselves supplied. Even after almost a month of raids, I still struggled to keep my group from starving.

This could be what his group does.

I couldn't even blame them for it if they had used Jaquan as bait for us bleeding-heart types. It was smart. It had worked. If it was a trap, they'd already won. We were being served up on a golden platter. They could take us for everything we had and I doubted there was anything we could do to stop them.

Our only option was to try and survive to fight another day.

Pushing past Ray, I made my way to the front of my group as I mentally prepared myself for the consequences of my decisions. Forcing a calm expression, I nudged Ian back and stood next to Jaquan with my hands raised high.

We had to surrender.

Don't show them fear.

I didn't have time to do anything else before the group of five reach us. Four of them had their guns ready and aimed. The fifth held hers firmly but she kept it aimed at the ground as she rushed forward with a hand on her chest.

"Oh, thank heavens," she said with a relieved-looking grin. "I thought we lost you."

The woman was on the shorter side but she walked in long, determined strides. Her freckled face was dirtied with a few smudges of dirt across one cheek and her auburn hair was pulled back into a bun that had a few strands loose. She couldn't have been older than her mid-forties at the latest. The only giveaway to her age were the crow's feet around her eyes that spoke of a life well lived. However, there was also something about her eyes that seemed sharp, standing in contrast to the rest of her soft features.

"You can put your hands down as soon as you put your weapons on the ground," she told us as she moved in to wrap an arm around Jaquan. She patted his back even as she guided him forward and away from us. "Don't think of hiding any. We'll check your bags and pat you down. If we've found you've hidden anything, we'll end you on the spot. Clear?"

When I didn't immediately speak, her hazel eyes snapped to meet mine. "We don't make exceptions here," she warned me. "We don't let armed strangers enter our home."

"They helped me," Jaquan piped up. "I'll vouch for them."

The woman gave him a warm smile but her eyes stayed cold. "No exceptions." She turned to the four who still had their guns trained on us. "Check them over, please."

Jaquan's answer gave me the smallest sliver of hope that we hadn't been played as fools, but I knew we still had no choice but to comply with any and all of their demands. Listening to the woman's directions, I dropped my gun and ice pick into the snow at my feet. My backpack followed, landing hard on the ground where I tossed it. It took all the self-restraint I had to not glare as the woman's expression softened.