When All is Lost

Chapter 24

The woman's body slumped and then flopped onto the hard ground, splayed for everyone to see. Not even a breath could be heard in the silence that followed. It was only when the ping sound of the woman's knife hitting tile reverberated throughout the room that the spell was broken and a high pitch wail came from behind me.

I didn't turn around. Instead, I looked at Prisha who had turned ghostly pale and, from her expression, seemed to be shaken to the very fabric of her being. "Are you okay?" I asked her.

She blinked at me with wide doe-like eyes and raised a hand to her neck. I recognized that she was in shock, but from the agonized cries coming from the people behind me, I wasn't sure if it was more from having had a knife put to her neck or if it was from my actions.

I'd killed again.

I refused to question it. Not when we were still so vulnerable and not when there was still more to do. The others could have feelings about it, but I had to act.

"Prisha," I almost snapped, finally catching her attention. "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head and pressed her lips together so tightly that they almost became a thin, white line.

That had to be good enough for now. I turned away from her to face the room behind me. Instinctively, I knew everyone was staring at me, but I only looked at the pair still kneeling in the corner.

The young woman was hysterical and had partially collapsed into the arms of the man beside her. He held her tight and glared at me with a glassy look of tears in his own eyes.

I'm sorry.

"We need you to cooperate. No one else has to get hurt."

The young woman looked at me then. Her hatred was nearly tangible through her fierce glare. I could see the resemblance between her and the older woman I'd shot. It was clear that they were related and nothing I'd say going forward could make the situation better.

"Ray," I called out. "Find the food." It was an order and he followed it. In the meantime, I kept my empty gun trained on the pair on the floor.

"Why are you doing this?" the man on the floor asked. His hair was unkempt and down to his shoulders, but it looked relatively clean – a sign of luxury.

I didn't want to answer him, not when he was looking at me with such disdain.

"We're hungry." Ian's voice made me jump a little as I hadn't realized he'd moved to be behind me. Both pairs of angry eyes left me to look at him.

"Hungry?" The young woman sounded aghast, unable to fathom his answer.

I couldn't see Ian's expression, but I could picture an insincere smile. "We want to survive, too." His answer was mine, but I was thankful I didn't have to speak in that moment. I was too busy trying to maintain my hold on the dead weight of my gun.

Ray returned from what I assumed was the concession stand with a black trash bag tossed over his shoulder. As he turned, I could see the bag was almost half full of goods.

"Is that everything?" I asked.

"I didn't see anything else," Ray said, dropping the bag on the floor by my feet. "It was already all in this bag."

I didn't look at its contents, but rather took a step closer to the pair on the floor, regaining their attention. "Is this all the food you have?" I asked, meeting the woman's blue eyes.

Neither she nor her companion answered, instead they held each other's hands. They looked at me as though they were preparing for the worst. It was like they were ready for me to shoot them, unaware all my bullets were gone and I couldn't have shot them even if I wanted to.