Free Web NovelChapter 77: Chapter 77 - Last One In, First One Out
They scrambled.
Iyisha already had the small gun in her hand, both palms slick with sweat as she tried to remember how it had felt a few minutes earlier, when pulling the trigger had seemed like the only possible choice.
Mary stood beside her with the second pistol raised, elbows locked because her arms would not stop shaking.
Ester held the shotgun tight against her shoulder, the barrel angled low but ready, jaw clenched so hard her teeth ached. Lando stayed seated on the bed, back straight, hands gripping the mattress as if bracing for impact.
A gunshot slammed into the door.
The sound cracked through the room, wood splintering inward as dust and snow shook loose from the frame. They froze in place, weapons raised, breath trapped in their chests, hearts hammering so loudly Iyisha was sure it could be heard through the walls. Her finger rested too close to the trigger, close enough that fear of her own reflexes sent a sharp tremor up her arm.
The door burst open.
Two men stepped inside.
The first one chewed gum slowly, deliberately, his jaw working in an almost lazy rhythm that felt obscene in a room full of shaking people. He didn’t raise his weapon right away, just watched them with mild curiosity, like he was deciding which inconvenience to deal with first.
The second man stood half a step behind him, taller, leaner, his hair shaved at the sides and pulled into a rough mohawk stiff with grease. His rifle was already up, sightline steady, eyes hard and alert, taking in the three guns pointed back at him without so much as a flicker of surprise.
"Well," the mohawk started, voice flat and practiced.
No one moved.
Iyisha’s thoughts collided all at once. If she fired, the man in front would drop. Then the one behind him would fire. Then the hallway would erupt. She saw it play out in her head in brutal clarity, every possible ending worse than the last.
Her finger twitched, then slid a fraction away from the trigger as the memory of the woman she had shot surged up again, heavy and sickening.
"Easy," the man with the gum said, finally lifting his weapon just enough to make the point clear. He glanced at Iyisha’s shaking hands and smirked around the wad in his cheek. "You don’t want to do that."
"Guns," the mohawk ordered. "Now."
Iyisha looked at Mary. Mary looked back, eyes wide, terrified, already knowing the answer.
"Look at me," the mohawk snapped when Iyisha hesitated.
She startled, locking eyes with him.
"I said the guns."
Only then did Iyisha hear the boots outside the room, the low murmur of voices waiting just beyond the walls. Too many. Too close. The truth pressed in from every direction.
There was no winning this. fгeewebnovёl.com
Slowly, Mary lowered her pistol first, setting it on the floor like it might explode. Iyisha followed, easing her gun down and nudging it forward with her foot, heart breaking a little as it slid away from her. Ester held the shotgun a moment longer, breath shaking, then lowered it too and pushed it forward with a sharp kick.
The gum-chewing man chuckled softly.
"My husband needs his crutch," Ester said tightly, nodding toward Lando.
The mohawk barely glanced at him. "No."
Ester didn’t argue. She moved immediately, wrapping her arms around Lando and hauling him up with a grunt. His stump knocked the bedframe, but he didn’t cry out, teeth clenched as he leaned heavily into her shoulder.
"Move," the mohawk said.
They were herded into the hallway.
Outside, the same men were still struggling with the cow, which had planted its feet stubbornly into the snow. One raider cursed and slapped its flank. Another yanked the rope and nearly fell. The truck idled nearby, belching smoke into the thickening snowfall.
More people were being dragged out of rooms along Ester’s building, some crying openly, others silent and hollow-eyed, all forced forward at gunpoint.
Iyisha’s stomach twisted as she counted heads.
Too many.
Too organized.
Too defeated.
Whatever Heart had been, it was already gone.
They were shoved into the open ground, snow falling heavier now, clinging to hair and coats as people were forced to their knees. Raiders moved among them with raised weapons and sharp voices, efficient and unhurried.
Iyisha dropped beside Mary, pressing her hands into the snow to stop their shaking as she scanned the crowd.
Mario was there. Bruised. Breathing hard. Alive.
But none of the ones who had hidden in the warehouse.
The guns behind them rose higher.
Snow kept falling.
And Iyisha knew, with a cold certainty settling deep in her chest, that this was no longer a moment they could endure until it passed.
The big man stepped forward.
He was the one with the heavy facial hair, the one who had led part of his men toward the north earlier, and now, as he walked slowly across the open ground, boots crunching through the snow, he began to sing.
A Christmas song.
Soft. Almost gentle.
Almost as if treating this as a joke.
The wrongness of it crawled under Iyisha’s skin, made worse by the silence around it, broken only by the quiet sniffles of children trying not to cry. No one dared speak. No one dared move. The song drifted, thin and hollow, until it faded into the cold air.
Then the man smiled.
"So," he said, voice carrying easily. "Who’s in charge here."
No one answered.
At last, Elmer stood.
Iyisha felt a sharp twist in her chest. So he had been taken too. The knowledge brought no comfort. If anything, it stirred a bitter edge of disdain and helplessness she didn’t bother to fight. Elmer straightened his coat, lifted his chin, and spoke like this was still a council meeting and not a slaughter waiting to happen.
"You do know this is a government settlement," Elmer said. "This land is protected."
The man laughed. Not a chuckle. A full, booming laugh that echoed off the buildings and rolled through the kneeling crowd.
"The government," he said, wiping at his beard. "They only protect those who follow them like sheep."
"They’re trying to rebuild," Elmer shot back. "There are systems. Rules. What you’re doing—"
"Tsk. Tsk." The man clicked his tongue slowly. "There’s a reason this happened." He tipped his head back slightly, eyes lifting toward the falling snow. "God made it so. This world is drowning in sin."
Iyisha’s pulse thundered in her ears.
"I lost fifteen men," the leader went on calmly. "And by the law of our God, it’s an eye for an eye."
Elmer stepped forward, anger flaring through his fear. "You already killed the guards."
The man nodded. "We killed ten guards." His smile widened just enough to be terrifying. "Now it’s your turn."
Iyisha’s heart slammed violently against her ribs.
She knew.
She didn’t need to be told.
She knew exactly what was coming.
"Give me five people," the leader said lightly, as if asking for volunteers for a chore. "Five to kill."
The crowd broke.
Voices rose. Pleading. Screaming. Someone sobbed openly. Elmer protested, shouting that this was barbaric, that they could negotiate, that this was madness.
"Silence," the man said.
The word cut through the noise like a blade. Everything stopped.
Mario stood.
So did four of the elders beside him, their faces drained of color but their backs straight, their hands unclenched despite the guns trained on them. freeweɓnøvel.com
"You already have the animals," Mario said, his voice steady in a way that made Iyisha’s throat ache. "You’ve taken our supplies. Everything we need to survive."
The leader studied them, eyes slow, thoughtful. He hummed softly, as if weighing a choice.
"Hm," he murmured. "Maybe."
Then his gaze hardened.
"Choose," he said. "Or I will kill five times that number."
Iyisha’s breath came shallow and fast.
She didn’t look at anyone, because she didn’t need to. She already knew what she was thinking, what everyone was thinking.
Elmer opened his mouth but no sound came out.
The silence stretched while the man continued humming that song.
Then Mario stood up instead, his wife rising with him, her hand locked in his as if letting go would end them both. "We volunteer," they said together, and somehow they were smiling at each other, small and steady, like this was a choice they had already made a long time ago.
"No," Elmer said hoarsely, finding his voice at last. "We need you."
The old woman shook her head, her grip tightening on Mario’s arm. "We’ve lived full lives," she muttered, the words soft but certain, and she smiled back at him as if they were standing in their kitchen and not kneeling in the snow.
The big man rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah," he said, bored. "Save us the drama." He lifted his chin. "Three more."
The crowd shifted.
People looked at each other without meaning to, especially the older ones, faces lined and tired, hearing Mario’s words echo back at them in ways they had tried not to think about. Iyisha stayed frozen, breath shallow, as Mary’s hand tightened around hers like an anchor.
When one of the elder, Engineer Domingo, tried to stand, the man beside him grabbed his coat and hauled him back down, eyes pleading, mouth shaking with a silent no. The engineer hesitated, torn, then sank back to his knees, shoulders slumping as if something essential had been cut away.
The big man watched the exchange with mild interest.
Then his gaze slid to Elmer.
He smiled without warmth. "Last one in," he said, voice flat and final. "First one out."
Iyisha’s heart dropped so fast it felt like the ground had given way beneath her.
Snow kept falling.
Mary’s grip hurt now, fingers digging into Iyisha’s skin as if she could hold her upright by force alone. Iyisha couldn’t look away from Elmer, from the way his face had gone pale, from the knowledge settling into the crowd like a sickness.
God. No.
