“We came from a settlement down in Florida. We got hit by a hurricane and the settlement was destroyed, so I brought everyone up to the cabin.”
“Where’s the cabin?”
Oh shit. This isn’t going to sound great for us.
“I... kind of forget.”
“Andrew!” Taylor says my name like she’s my mother scolding me.
Then the lock on the front door of the restaurant pops and the door opens.
The man turns.
“No!” I yell. My legs move on their own, pushing past the guy. The rifle falls off my shoulder onto the ground and I wrap my arms around the Kid. Taylor screams.
The man falls on his ass and when I turn to look, he points his gun in my face and pulls the trigger.
CLICK.
I open my eyes to see the look on the guy’s face. Likehe’sthe one surprised that he doesn’t have ammo. Did he forget?
He looks at the end of the gun for a second before his eyes drift down to Jamie’s rifle.
The rifle thatisloaded.
I turn to grab it, but he swings the end of his rifle around, smacking me in the side of the face. The pain is sharp and makes the world flip and go blurry. I fall back, bracing myself with my hands, and pain shoots up from my chewed-up left arm. Taylor calls out my name and I hear the Kid crying.
Warm blood drips down the side of my face onto the porch. I put my hand up, and it comes away covered in red. I can taste iron. My tongue moves to the side of my mouth to feel a chunk of flesh where I bit my cheek.
Next to me the Kid is crying, his arm across my chest. Blood drips from my chin onto Bobo’s nose. The guy in the yellow beanie shouts at the others to stay back, but he’s the one backing away from us, Jamie’s rifle in his hands.
“Just go,” I say, though it comes out a little messy because my face is starting to swell.
“No,” he says. “All of you down here, now.”
“We don’t have anything useful for you,” Taylor says. “Just take the gun and go. We’re not going to follow you.”
“There’s three groups in the area!” he shouts. “You don’t come from any of those groups because we all know each other, so you’re coming with me until we sort all this out.”
“What’s there to sort, man?” I ask. “We said we’re coming through looking for shelter. We’re not going to hurt you. The Kid is seven, those two are thirteen—” I thumb back in Jamar and Taylor’s direction. “We’re all just kids.”
He looks at us like he’s not sure he believes me. Then he shakes hishead. When he speaks, he sounds a little less frantic.
“I’m sorry. But I need you all to come with me, okay? Please?”
“Are you going to shoot us if we don’t?” I ask.
“I can’t let you go.”
“So, because you can’t let us go, your only option is to shoot a bunch of unarmed kids?”
“Please.” He sounds panicked and he moves his whole body when he says it, like he’s begging us without getting on his knees. “Just come with me and the others can figure it out.”
“Okay,” Taylor says. I turn back to look at her. She gives me a slight nod that says eitherI have a planorwhat other option do we have?
I stand, feeling a little dizzy, and Taylor comes over to catch me.
“Bring my rifle,” the man says. Taylor grabs it and slings it over her shoulder.
