The Price of Humanity

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Mia stay here okay?" I say to her gently, she nods weakly and curls up into a ball again, leaning against the wall. She fiddles with the bracelet on her wrist. "Keep pressure on your leg."

I quickly make my way into the front of the pharmacy and see Adam standing up in front of Gale, both of them ready to attack. I jump over the counter and come to stand in between the two guys.

"Stop it." I say to both of them. Gale takes a small step forward, ignoring me, which forces me slightly into Adam. He grabs onto my waist to steady me and I feel his strong arm muscles against my sides.

I push away from him, rather reluctantly, and towards Gale, forcing him back and away from Adam.

"Stop." There's more force in my voice this time and he backs up to stand next to Zane, who looks a little too calm in the heated situation. Was he just going to stand there and let them fight?

I turn to Adam who looks frightened for a second before straightening up to his full height. He still leans against the counter for support though.

"Is she bit?" I ask, still with force to my voice but not shouting like Gale was a few minutes ago. He shakes his head.

"No. She fell over and has an infected cut." I look over at Zane with a questioning look. Despite my recent leaderlike actions he's still the one I turn to for all the decisions.

"Check her, make sure it's not a bite." I give Adam a small smile and head back out to Mia. When I enter the bathroom again she's still curled up, like she was when I left her.

I look over to her bag and start digging around in it. She looks up at me but doesn't try and stop me. I manage to find some other trousers, shorts, for her to wear and hand them to her.

"I need to look at your leg so can you change into these?" She smiles and nods, I leave the room so she can change in peace. Once she's changed into the shorts she opens the door to the bathroom and I walk in.

I get her to sit on the counter top next to the sink and I start to clean the wound. She winces and grips the side of the counter while I clean away the blood and dirt.

I sigh loudly and close my eyes when I see the cut, half in relief half in frustration. She's not bitten, that's for sure. The cut obviously looks to have been from her fall but it's swollen and very red.

It's infected. That's why she's burning up and is generally not feeling too good.

"Stay there and I'll get you some antibiotics." I say and she nods, water in her eyes, but she's strong enough to keep them down. I pull her into a hug and she wraps her tiny arms around me.

"I know it hurts sweetheart but you're going to need to be strong for me. The antibiotics will help and you'll get better soon okay?" She nods into my shoulder and I release her, giving her a big genuine smile before turning towards the door again.

"What's your name?" She asks suddenly. I turn back to her, stalling slightly.

"Alicia." I say to her simply, hoping to God it's the same one as I told her brother. She squints her eyes at me as if she doesn't quite believe me and thinks about it for a minute.

"That's a nice name." She says finally, a large smile coming across her face.

"So's Mia." I turn away and exit the bathroom then, not wanting any more questions so I don't have to lie to her. Zane and Gale look up at me expectantly as I walk into the front room again.

"Infected cut." I say smiling and they both sigh in relief. Thinking about it, I don't think either of them could kill a little girl either, let alone me.

"I told you so." Adam grumbles, now sitting on the counter top. He's leaning against the wall at the side with his legs placed on the counter, once bent at the knee slightly.

I give him a look saying 'shut up' as I walk past which he just chuckles at, a small smile making its way onto his face.

"I'll give her some antibiotics." Zane says, rummaging around in his bag and picking up a small bottle of pills. I grab his arm as he walks past me and whisper in his ear, which includes me standing on my tiptoes.

"Be nice to her, she's frightened." I whisper and he nods, walking off into the back. I look around and decide to take a seat on the counter, leaning up against a pillar on the opposite side of the counter to where Adam is sitting.

I pull my legs up and cross them, to keep a suitable distance between us, so I'm facing him. He looks worriedly towards the back before turning back to me.

"She's fine." I say to him. "Zane's going to give her the medicine and she'll get better soon." He relaxes back against the wall and runs a hand through his already tousled hair.

"Um guys, not to interrupt but you need to see this." Gale says, standing at the window and staring out into the street. I leap up from the counter but slow down when Adam also gets up.

I decide there's no point in trying to stop him and give him a questioning look. He smiles at me and continues walking, signalling to me that he's fine.

I walk quickly over to the window myself where Gale has a worried expression on his face. He points to the opposite side of the street to where the red contrasts against the white of the building across from us.

A large skull is painted, once again in red, on the building alongside a very detailed drawing of a gun which is pointing at the skull, a bullet coming out of it.