The Price of Humanity

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-One

Some of the men are still in the windows but the startling thing is that they all have guns. Every single one of them is armed with a gun, whether it be a handgun, a rifle or the guy on the roof with the sniper, they're all armed and ready to fire.

My attention is taken from the scene around me to one truck in particular that is parked in front of the pharmacy, still on the other side of the street though. A man moves over and opens the back door of the truck, stepping back to allow someone to hop out.

Looks like we're in the presence of royalty, or at least that's how their acting. I swear if this guy is wearing a cloak or a crown I'm going to lose it.

I feel my brothers flank me on either side, slightly pushing me behind their large shoulders to shield me. Adam also comes and stands to attention with the boys, leaving Mia hidden behind the counter.

I peek past my brother's shoulders, having gained a little bit of height in the last year, seeing past them is easier than it used to be.

I see boots step out of the truck, that's what strikes me first. Combat boots that that aren't anything special.

His clothing next. Plain grey T-shirt and black cargo trousers, nothing special. He'd easily slip back into to the crowd of the surrounding men if he wanted too. I think that might be he point.

I finally let my eyes rest upon his face. A beard, clearly clipped, but messy and grown out. I meet his eyes and stop breathing.

Eyes that command confidence and power.

Eyes that I've seen before.

It was evident we were in trouble. We were severely outnumbered and had no chance of getting anywhere near the truck, or anywhere else for that matter.

The vans surrounds the pharmacy on the front and I highly suspected they had more men through the backdoor if we made the silly attempt at running.

Gale stars mumbling under his breath about leaving sooner and trusting people but Zane quickly shuts him up with a look. I don't need to have their physic connection to know what that look meant.

'We'll talk about our mistakes later. First we need to get out of this mess.'

Zane looked just as shocked to see the leader as I did. Only his hands were balled into tight fists by his sides. Gale seems to notice this and grips his spear tighter.

The leader of their gang didn't really move since he first stepped out of the car. Nobody did, not even us. He was still stuck in place looking over at us from beside his massive truck.

I think he's compensating for something personally.

That's why he gained all our attention again when he begins to move. He moves around the hood of the truck and leans on it, watching us once again.

I had the unsettling feeling in my stomach that they were waiting for something, but what I had no idea. I kinda feel like a monkey in a zoo and the men outside were waiting for me to make a noise or pick fleas or scratch my bottom. So not happening.

"What are going to do?" Adam's voice disturbed the eerie silence in the pharmacy and I was thankful for it. The silence was killing me and adding to the already high tension of this entire situation. 

I keep my eyes on the leader while he looks back at me, studying me in a rather creepy way. Zane kicks into action due to Adam's voice, looking around the streets outside, trying to formulate a plan in his head.

Adam hadn't aimed the question at anybody in particular but to us three included in the Cooke family it was evident that Zane was going to have to be the one to answer.

"Alex. I need you to take Mia to the bathroom and keep her there, protect her if anyone gets in and don't leave until one of us three comes to get you okay?" Adam's head flies around at the name Zane used.

Different to the one he'd been told.

I don't have time to explain all of my thoughts and actions to him though. There's a murderous gang outside who I'm pretty sure want a war, just for the heck of it.

I start retreating backwards, once I'm clear of the counter I spin around and give my hand to Mia. She takes it and I pull her up.

She can't walk on her leg too well but being the brave girl she is, she manages only to limp slightly as I lead her into the back.

"Are they going to be okay?" Mia asks worry filling her voice, she looks back at the three standing by the windows as I push open the bathroom door and hold it open for her to walk in.

Looking at all three of them standing in a row with the horde of men outside is incredibly unnerving. It reminds me of a firing squad and that's not something I can think about right now. Not when I have an eight-year-old girl to keep calm and safe.

"They'll be fine." I promise. I should know by now that you can't really promise things like that in this world.

It's not like the old world where I would storm into the house panicking about a failed maths test. Zane could easily reassure and promise me back then.

'It'll be alright, you can do it. I know you can."

That's what he'd say to me and it would be true, because it was a minor problem, something I could've probably overcome if I worked a bit harder. Although it seemed like the world was ending back then I really didn't know what that meant, now I do.

In this new world, you really can't make promises like 'it'll be okay' or 'I'll be right back' because they'll eventually be broken.

But staring into little Mia's eyes I couldn't think of anything else to say. How could I tell her that they might not come back? That her brother, or my brothers might die out there protecting us and themselves while we cower in the bathroom.