Storm

Chapter Nineteen

Max was the first person to quickly shove his hands into the air. I didn't move at all, just as they'd said. Neither did anyone else. Max, realizing his mistake, shamefully brought his arms back down.

"Now...stay still!" the voice ordered once more. Now, I was starting to see something in the darkness. It looked like the glint of a metal weapon...and behind it...

The eyes of a child?

Again, none of us moved. I was holding my breath, scared that any second the gun would fire and one of us would no longer be standing. No matter how many times my life was put at risk, I could never truly get used to it.

The figure stepped forward. Then, suddenly, a light flickered on.

I winced, and put a hand up to guard my eyes from the sudden brightness.

"Stop moving!" the boy screamed once more, and I brought my hand back down, blinking to regain my vision.

The kid with the gun looked no older than twelve. He had bright green eyes, blonde hair, and small, pudgy fingers. I wondered if he'd even be able to pull the trigger if it came down to it.

Behind him, were four other kids, varying in age. Each held a weapon. Two of the older ones held guns...while one of the younger looking kids had a knife, and the youngest of them all - a small girl who couldn't be older than five, held nothing. Thankfully.

A part of me wanted to laugh at the ragtag bunch of kids. I'd been scared of a gang...or something worse. People from the Equator. But no. Just another group...kids just like us. And I honestly doubted they were part of a gang - most gangs were lead by the adults, with the kids as their slaves. These kids looked surprisingly well-fed, and surprisingly okay.

"I'm sorry...who are you?" I asked, breaking our silence. The kid stared me down, gun still ready to shoot at a moment's notice.

"That's none of your business! But if you want to live to see tomorrow, you'll tell us who you are," he ordered. Again, I wasn't sure he could actually hold through with the threat, but I decided not to risk it.

I sucked in a deep breath. "We're just trying to survive. I'm Calestia...that's Kyan, January, and Max. We...we aren't allied with anyone." I hoped my words would be enough to put them at ease. I hoped they believed us. I was guessing they probably wouldn't, since everyone in the world had to be cautious.

The boy still was looking at us in suspicion, but he seemed to see something in us. He lowered his weapon. This caused the others behind him to also lower theirs. I let out a sigh of relief. Maybe, we'd get lucky and they'd also be willing to help us with supplies.

"What is your purpose in being here?" the boy asked, after a few more seconds of sizing us up.

I smiled tightly. "We're just here for supplies, that's it. We don't want to bother you guys or anything. We just know the old store owner had been selling lots of stuff..."

Which really made me question if I was asking the right place as I realized most of the shelves of things were  gone now. They were all empty, as if someone had looted the place dry.

I glanced at Kin with a worried expression, wondering if he was thinking the same thing. He just gave me a small shrug, also not having a clue.

"Give us a second...," the boy mumbled, before turning towards the four others behind him. They began having a conversation, mostly in whispers. We couldn't hear anything that they were saying.

Max seemed to be getting a little impatient, and was tapping his foot loudly against the tiled floor. I had an urge to glare at him so he'd stopped, but prevented myself from doing so. Maybe these people would be helpful and take Max off our hands while we were at it.

Finally, their mini huddle broke up and they turned to face us again. I crossed my arms, waiting to hear what their consensus would be. I was a little worried. If this didn't work out, I wasn't positive where we'd be heading to next. It wasn't like we were experts on the desert and knew all of its hidden supply stores.

"All right...after much discussion, we've made a decision," he said, stating the obvious. The others were back in position, weapons drawn but at their sides as they watched us carefully. "We do believe your story. You do not seem like a threat. But..."

Oh no. I had a bad feeling about this already. 

"But what?" Kyan finally asked after the boy refused to go on until we reacted.

"But we don't hand out supplies for free. We require something in return..."

"Okay...we don't exactly have an tokens from the Equator, but we can try and find some...," I offered with a shrug.

The boy waved me off, not seeming to care. "No, we don't need tokens. They're useless to us...but there is something we do need: work."