This Beautiful World - Book #1 (BxB)

Chapter 29

There were five survivors surrounding our friends. Each of them held a gun at them, except for one of them. There was a blonde girl among the group who didn't appear to have a weapon. This group had the upper hand and they knew it. Xavier and Alex didn't attempt to fight back, but I saw Alex glaring at them. He kept his mouth shut, though, which I was grateful for. He was angry at this turn of events, yet he knew this was a losing battle. It was better to stay silent and not cause a scene. We didn't know these people, so we didn't know what they were capable of. One of them might pull the trigger.

Arin kept a tight grip on my waist to stop me from going to their aid. By now, he knew that I was the type to help out whenever possible, but I wasn't stupid. I knew not to charge forward because that would only make the situation worse for us. They had us outnumbered. For now, it was best for Arin and I to stay put. Perhaps they would let Alex and Xavier go. Though, I doubted that they would let them keep the supplies that they gathered.

Due to how silent everything was around us, I was able to make out the conversation that was being held. One of the men, who seemed to be the leader of the group, took a step forward with his gun still pointed at Xavier and Alex. He said in a calm tone, "Sorry, but we're going to have to take those supplies from you." 

Alex gritted his teeth and could no longer keep silent about the situation. "This is bullshit. We worked hard to gather this stuff and we have people waiting for us back at our base. What the fuck do you expect us to do? Let them starve?"

The man let out a sigh. "We have people waiting for us, too. Unfortunately, we have to fight for our survival. If keeping my people safe requires us to steal from others, then so be it. Besides, we're the ones who cleared out this place of zombies. We're the ones who put in the hard work."

"Perhaps we can come to some sort of agreement?" Xavier decided to take the wheel instead of letting Alex get in another word. He would be more reasonable about this than my friend. When the guy gave his approval for Xavier to continue, he said, "How about we split this? We did go through the effort of gathering this stuff. And as my friend mentioned, we have people waiting on our safe return."

The man seemed to give it some thought before shaking his head. He lowered his weapon and asked, "How many people do you have at your base?"

"There's about fifteen of us, give or take."

"We have about the same amount, and some of them are children. I understand the predicament that you're in, but I only really care about my own group. As I said, this is a fight for our survival. The strongest will prevail, and as I see it, you're currently outnumbered. I'm sorry that things had to turn out this way, but we'll be taking those supplies now," he said. His tone was never aggressive as he spoke. 

Before anyone made a move, the blonde girl stepped forward. She enthusiastically grabbed onto Alex's arm and said, "Wait! Can't we take him along with us? He's the cutest guy I've ever met."

The girl glanced over at her leader, giving him puppy dog eyes. Seeing her hang onto Alex like this and then try to claim him as property annoyed the hell out of me. Alex looked taken aback by her advance. 

The man sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Cleo, you can't claim every K-pop-looking wannabe as yours. Besides, I'm not looking to take in more mouths to feed."

"Wait, what the fuck did you just call me?" Alex looked offended and seemed as if he was about to go off on this guy, but Xavier quickly put a hand on his shoulder. 

"Alex, shut the fuck up." Xavier broke his usually calm demeanor, which made my friend finally close his mouth. He turned his attention back to the guy. "Fine. Take the stuff. We'll search somewhere else. Now, can we leave peacefully?"

With one glance at his group, the others lowered their weapons and moved out of the way. Before he could change his mind, Xavier and Alex abandoned their cart and headed for the front door of the store. The girl, Cleo, looked reluctant to let Alex go, but she didn't have much of a choice. She pouted as she watched my friend walk away. 

But before they could get too far, the leader called out. "Wait. The stadium at the edge of town is where my group is staying. If you ever need a place to stay, you are welcome to join us. But your group will have to pull their own weight."

"I'll keep that in mind. And thanks for not shooting us." Xavier glanced over in our direction, before turning and leaving the store. 

I could see that Alex was reluctant to leave us behind, but it was best for us to stay hidden. Arin and I still had our cart of supplies. We may have been down a cart, but at least we had something. We wouldn't have to return to base empty-handed. Things could have gone much worse for us. At least these people were reasonable enough to let Xavier and Alex go. Not everyone would have done such a thing. I knew that some survivors would shoot to eliminate any sort of competition. 

Cleo crossed her arms as she looked up at her leader. "That was so mean, Jared. We could have given them something. For all we know, they could have kids at their base as well. Oh! We could have teamed up even!"

The leader, Jared, rolled his eyes. "I gave them our location. If they want to team up, then they know where to find us. Besides, they're not going home with nothing. I bet their two friends hiding around the corner have some supplies as well."

He glanced over in our direction. When our eyes met, I quickly hid behind the corner once again. Poking my head out and watching that situation unfold probably wasn't the smartest idea. I gave away Arin's and my location, but it wasn't as if Arin stopped me either. He was worried about our friends as much as I was. I could feel his heart beating as he held me against him, his arm was still wrapped around my waist. 

"Let's leave them be and get these supplies back to base," Jared said. I could hear one of the other men grab the cart, then head out with it. 

"Goodbye!" Cleo called out to us. 

Neither of us responded even though we were already discovered. Once silence befell us again, it seemed as though we could finally relax. Those people didn't seem to be much of a threat to us, but that didn't stop us from being on edge. All it took was a second for people to change their minds. We got lucky during this encounter. 

Arin let out a relieved sigh. "Shall we go catch up with Xavier and Alex now?"

I nodded. I was ready to get out of there and return to base. I was glad that we were able to return with something. This wasn't a completely wasted trip. Now, I just hoped that Riley and the others were able to have some luck. Mostly, I hoped that we would see them back safely.