Illinois
Paige tried to stay calm. There were four of them, all adults, although one of them looked younger than the others, probably around 18 or 19 years old. The other three were at least in their mid-twenties, if not older.
"Put the gun down!" One of them yelled. He was wearing digital camouflage, and Paige wondered if he might be in the Army. The four guns pointed at her made that hard to believe. Then again, she didn't really know anything about military. He yelled it again, but she didn't move. She wanted to trust them; they didn't look like killers, but she couldn't shake the memory of Jaime and Curt. The guy she shot looked innocent enough, too, but he obviously wasn't. Things aren't always what they seem. The man yelled again, and the guy with him was joining in. They moved forward a step, and she pulled Cobalt back. The two on the other side of the truck also moved up. One was the youngest, and the other, probably the same age as the two wearing camo, was Latino. She saw the boy whisper something to him. He answered loudly.
"What, you feel bad for her? She almost shot you!" She pulled Cobalt back again. The boy had dirty blonde hair and was almost as tall as the guy with him. He wore jeans and a torn T-shirt. The men yelled again, but still she didn't react. Looking at them, she noticed that there was a big enough gap between the truck and the wall for Cobalt to run through. If they saw a horse like Cobalt running at them, they would probably move. No point in getting run over, right? Might as well try. There weren't exactly many options anyway. She grabbed his mane again and squeezed her legs, letting her heels bounce at Cobalt's sides. He half-reared up, then bolted forward. She almost fell off as he charged forward, holding his mane with an iron grip. Like she'd hoped, both of the men jumped aside. She thought they were free. That was, until she felt one of the reins pulled from her hands. Cobalt was spun around by the force, one of the men partially pulled off his feet when he grabbed the rein, and Paige was thrown to the ground. Despite the pain coming from her right shoulder and back, she quickly rolled to her feet and pulled out her pistol, aiming it at the closest thing in front of her. Which was the boy. His eyes widened and his rifle was dangling at his side. He must have known how serious she was because he set it down and lifted his hands in the air. The other two men were watching her carefully, not setting their guns down but not aiming them either. One of them was still holding Cobalt. Wait. Two? Suddenly she heard the voice of the third man behind her. It was the one who'd been yelling earlier.
"Put it down." She didn't move. What would they do if she did? She thought about Jaime and Curt, then the second attack, when they'd tried to take Paige and Allison and kill Adam. Obviously that hadn't worked out. The voice came again, and she felt his rifle touch her back. "Put it down." She couldn't. She fired two random shots and brought her elbow back to the guy behind her. He must have seen it coming, though, because he caught her arm and knocked the gun out of her hand. She turned to run, but he grabbed her and pulled her up to him, holding her by her wrists. She heard the other two yelling something, but she wasn't paying attention. She was kicking at the guy holding her, although it didn't do much. It reminded her for a split second of when she first met Curt. Except Curt had been trying to help her. This was different. One of the other two suddenly called out, just a split second after an unnatural howl echoed off of the surrounding buildings.
"Those things are coming! We gotta get inside!" She was pulled into a building that looked like it wasn't in too bad of a condition, and the others followed. The second man in the uniform was leading Cobalt in while a black and white dog followed close behind. The last guy was helping the boy; Paige saw the blood spilling down his shoulder.