Reign of the Reapers

Chapter 12

(PHOENIX POV)

No one slept after what had happened with Taryn. We were too worried about her to sleep. Well, and she was keeping us up with her constant coughing. At this point she had been drinking so much water we would need to make another run for some soon.

The sun was starting to come up as we approached a little town in Colorado.

"Let's stop in that shopping center across from that gas station. There should be something useful in there." Mark suggested.

We parked out front and braced ourselves for battle. Taryn immediately stood up, cocking her gun. "No, no, no, there is no way we are letting you go out like this. You're gonna get yourself killed." Alli grabbed the gun from Taryn and sat her back down.

"I already told you guys I'm fine!" Taryn said in between coughs.

"Here's the deal," Alli instructed, "I'll stay in here with Taryn and you guys go in. We'll be fine here."

"Are you sure, though, what if you get attacked?" Yuno asked as she armed herself with knives. Meanwhile I reloaded my gun and strapped on a backpack to put supplies in.

"We'll be fine.... Probably. Don't worry about us." If it came down to it, Taryn would still be able to shoot down a couple reapers. I hadn't seen Alli in action with her bow either, but I was sure she could do well.

Mark, Nate, Yuno, Scott, Mat, Steph and I made our way into the shopping center. Mark led the way with his flashlight, but it seemed to be strangely empty. We split up to cover the aisles only to find nothing. I walked around, picking up and inspecting items on the shelves. There didn't seem to be much left except for some obscure items.

"We should split up," Nate suggested, "that way we can cover more ground."

"Stop," a deep voice came from the dark, "don't move a muscle," We all put our hands up in surrender and prepared to either negotiate or fight. Neither of which was an ideal option. Yuno, on the other hand, decided it would be a good idea to provoke this person who we knew nothing about. For all we knew, he carried a nuke with him. It was in our best interest to leave him alone and try to work it out.

"Yuno!" I whispered sharply at her, "Put the gun down,"

She ignored me, instead aiming her gun with one hand and a flashlight in the other. The light revealed an older hispanic man also wielding some dangerously sharp kitchen knives. Behind him stood a woman, presumably his wife, carrying no weapons and using him as cover for herself. They both seemed nervous, and it was obvious that intense encounters with people were not something they came across often, especially groups that outnumbered them six to two.

"Listen," Mat tried to clarify, "we came to find some medicine for our friend, do you have some? Anything will do."

The man thought for a second, then turned to his wife to confirm his plans with her. After a brief conversation he turned back to us and stared. I hoped he was looking to see if he could trust us, which he could. I gave my best 'please help us' face to try and further convince him.

"We may have something that could help, but... go back to your car, or whatever you have. I'll bring it to you there. We can't have you poking around here any further."

We nodded and backed away slowly. As we backed away I shifted towards Yuno, gently lowering her gun as she still had it aimed at the man. She turned and and pierced my eyes with her anger. Nonetheless tucking her gun into her belt and continuing to back away. I was really done with this 'feud'.

Back at the RV, Taryn and Alli were doing well and talking while on the back couch, Taryn still coughing in between sentences. They perked up at our entrance, hoping for some kind of result. We explained the situation to them and they slumped back down into their seats to wait with the rest of us. Meanwhile we all sort of settled in to wait for who knew how long.

Yuno retreated to her luggage compartment to sulk and pretend that I'm a villain. I rested in the passenger seat to wonder why Yuno was so insistent on making me feel like shit for something I couldn't control. An hour or so went by without the man coming back, and we considered just giving up and going somewhere else. Though, no one seemed to have the guts to suggest we leave our only lead at a solution yet.

We were mid-debate about the origin of reapers when we saw the man through the window carrying a duffle bag and headed towards us. He strode with a sort of nervous urgency that made me feel sick to my stomach. He was coming to help us right?

"Maybe you guys should get out your knives out or something. Just in case, okay?" I warned the others.

"Good idea."

"Don't look too threatening, he's here to help us, remember?" Alli said with slight hope.

The man kept walking toward us with his threatening gait until he was on the front step, knocking on the door and peering in to see us. Steph stepped towards the door, but was pulled back by Mat and he went and opened the door.

The man stepped in, looking around but refusing to make eye contact. "Ok, so, I have a few different things we could try. He set the bag on the floor and we all seemed to have the same realization that it was not medicine in the bag.

We all moved to run but it was only a matter of time before he had pulled out whatever was in the bag and used it on all of us. Nate muttered a quick, "he's got a-" before everything went dark and I had collapsed on the floor.

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Hey Readers! Starlei here! Thanks for reading chapter 12 of Reign of the Reapers! This chapter was a bit short but Yuno's perspective makes up for it with what happens while the group  is knocked out. Little did the man know, Yuno and Scott are still conscious! See what happens on Sherbertquake's profile!

Make sure to vote and comment what you think should happen next!

Dedicated to Ria, who waits so patiently for out chapters :D