𝙑𝙞𝙭𝙚𝙣 || 𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙧

Twenty.

Chapter twenty: Cancel lies

Margo began to toss and turn in her sleep when the sound of gravel crunched beneath boots and bounced between the surrounding mountaintops. With a small groan, her eyes flickered open and blinked to adjust to the light, but what she saw made her chest radiate with pure joy.

As fast as she could, she woke her sleepy legs and sprung up, running straight for Ben. He then chuckled upon watching her come closer. With his arms open, he accepted her close to his body and in disbelief, she pulled back to study his face, tracing her thumb over his lips and she leaned in for a kiss, to which he couldn't refuse.

"Next time I'm going with you, okay?"

"Fine by me, darlin'. I was gettin' pretty lonely without ya."

The other men seemed to wake up shortly after and when Ben pulled away from another kiss, breathless, William groggily pulled himself up and walked towards the sore sight. With Margo's head rested against Ben's chest, she could only look at his brother with a small glare that held hostility. She thought it was rich that he was speaking to his brother after the betrayal he pulled after his absence but then again, a pang of guilt seeped into her heart and made her remember that she wasn't innocent either, for she told William that she doesn't know if she can love Ben because he's not him.

"You all right?" William asked.

Ben nodded. "The boat's there. I gave him half the money. I hope he waits." Still panting, he walked over to meet Pope and Fish. "I didn't go into town but it looks like whoever's in charge there has a kindergarten that's looking for us."

"A kindergarten army?" Margo quizzed.

"Yeah. A whole pack of kids that don't look a day over seventeen."

William asked. "How many of them?"

"Two or three pros, twenty heavily armed teenagers."

Frankie looked out of breath by the mere thought of running away from a flock of assassinating kids. "What about the next town over?"

Santiago shook his head.  "It's over a hundred miles to the south."

Margo put her two cents in. "I say we take the town closest to us and whatever scumbag comes close to us, we blow their brains out."

"You wouldn't have the heart to kill a kid, would you?"

Margo raised a brow at Frankie before snorting. "If they're man enough to join a gang for the fun, they're man enough to suffer the consequences. Don't underestimate them, Frank. They can be just as dangerous as us."

"I'm sure they got every town covered anyway." William met Margo's eyes and for a second, they shared a lingering glance. "Must be what's left of Lorea's guys."

Sighing, Pope weighed the options and with his hand raised to Margo in appreciation for her input, he nodded his head. "So we go through 'em."

"Through them?" William looked at Pope with bewilderment.

Frankie muttered, looking between Margo and Pope. "I thought you were joking. Wow, okay then. So, what do you mean? We just mow them all down?"

"What's the alternative here?"

William's voice boomed. "I'm not prepared to wipe out every teenager in that town just to get through with this cargo."

"Forty three, right, Will?" Margo's cold eyes found his. "What's the difference? The men and women you killed probably had children of their own and these teenagers are asking for it. You can just tally it up with your total since you keep track of everything."