When boys die

Part 13

Albert's eyes widened as the realization hit him. "That means vampires... Shit!" He slumped back in his chair, dread settling in. Looking over at German and Tony, he saw the confusion still etched on their faces. "Zilbats are servants of vampires, and it's those damn bats that have been stealing the cattle."

German's mind quickly pieced it together. "So you're saying these bats are bringing the cows to the vampires?"

"Exactly," Albert muttered, dragging his hands over his face in frustration. His thoughts raced, cursing his rotten luck. Tony, on the other hand, turned to German, seeking guidance. "What are we going to do?"

German took a moment to think, his gaze shifting to Carl, who stood nearby with a torn expression. Vampires were no joke—they were incredibly dangerous, especially for rookie adventurers like them. Sending the group to face a vampire was tantamount to sending them to their deaths. But time wasn't on their side. The Zilbats had already started kidnapping villagers. If Carl posted another request for a stronger party, it might be too late. The village was stuck between a rock and a hard place, and so was German. Ask the rookies to risk their lives in a desperate attempt to buy time, or let them leave and doom the village? With a heavy heart, Carl finally spoke. "I know this is a lot to ask, especially for rookies, but please, stay and help us defend the village!" He bowed his head as he pleaded.

Albert's eyes narrowed, anger flickering beneath his panic. "You want us to die?" His voice trembled as he stood up, glaring at Carl. "You don't even have a plan, do you?" He made a move to leave, frustration boiling over. "Please, help me!" Carl begged, his head still bowed. "The village has no hope if you leave!"

Albert paused, his voice cold and bitter. "Even if we stay, the village is doomed. The only difference is that we'd die along with it." He turned and headed toward the door, determined to walk away. But just as he was about to leave, Tony spoke up, his voice shaky but firm. "Are you really okay with them dying? We can't just leave them here!"

Albert turned to face Tony, desperation clear in his eyes. "I have no intention of dying here! I'd sacrifice the entire village if it meant saving myself!"

German remained seated, watching the argument unfold. He didn't want to die either, but he couldn't just abandon the villagers to their fate. He sat silently, it was clear that eventually the two of them would look to German for the final decision. 

Sure enough, "German we can't leave these people to die right!" Tony looked to German for an answer

"Not at the cost of our lives!" Albert made a fair point, they shouldn't have to die

German came up with a solution, not an ideal one but one nonetheless, "Why don't we just escort the villagers to safety?" German plan was for the villagers to abandon their homes and in doing so, get away from the monsters. It was a plan that didn't leave the villagers to die and wouldn't cost them their lives. It was a plan that was supposed to satisfy everyone's wishes.

Carl was the first to raise opposition to the plan, "We can't just leave our homes, where would we go? We would also be leaving behind the ones who were kidnapped, we just can't do that..." Carl's words betray his thoughts, he knows that plan might be the best way to minimize casualties but still, he can't bring himself to leave people behind.

"It's not a bad plan at all, of course, you would also have to leave behind the elderly and sickly. Travel with them will be too difficult and they will only slow down the group. They can't fight either and you have to also feed them, raising the supplies needed for the entire group. But if you just leave them, it makes the plan feasible" Albert became calmer as he worked out the intricacies of the plan.

"You can't just leave people to die!" Tony was against the idea if it meant leaving people to die.

It seemed that only Albert was receptive to German's plan albeit a little bit altered. German was frankly getting annoyed with everyone present, he took a deep breath before cutting through another round of arguing, "Carl look abandoning your homes is the only way to guarantee the villager's safety. No one said you are going to abandon this place permanently, you can come back once the monsters are dead, and If you really want us three can go look for the kidnapped."

Taking another deep breath, German turns to Albert and Tony, "Albert we can not going to leave any of the villagers behind. Carl is going to escort them so don't worry about them.  Tony we aren't going to leave anyone behind so stop talking"

At German's words, the room felt silent until Carl said, "I-I'll put my trust in you." Carl wore a torn expression, he wasn't happy with the plan but he understood it was the best and only way to get help from them. "I will start telling the other villagers to gather the supplies, we will leave immediately once everyone is ready. Please bring back the ones who were kidnapped." With that, Carl stepped outside into the village.

Once Carl left Albert was the next to speak, "Why would you promise that we would go rescue the children?!"

"Because it will be easier for us to save them if we don't have to worry about the villagers."

"We are still risking our lives!"

"Albert you can't leave children to die!"

"Fine!!! We save those damn humans!!"