Page 62 of Amaros
He glanced at the targets, saw how bad their aim was and chuckled beneath his breath.Clearly, he didn’t think they were a threat.“We heard gunshots and came to investigate,” he said.Younger than the others, he was in his mid-thirties.He had superficial charm, but predatory eyes.“We’re staying at a resort a few miles away,” he said, gesturing further up the range.“It isn’t safe for you to be out here all alone.Why don’t you come with us?The other women will be glad to have you join them.”
“I just bet they have more victims,” Grace whispered grimly.
“We’re not alone,” Zoe refuted.“We just came up here to practice shooting while our boyfriends are searching for supplies.”She felt a strange flush at calling Amaros her boyfriend.Grace gave her a subtle eyeroll at the idea of being paired up with Camriel.They were complete opposites, in size anyway.
“If they were real men, they wouldn’t have left you out here all alone and defenseless,” the charming dude said.All four carried rifles, but they were slung over their shoulders.Knives hung in sheaths from their belts.
Zoe didn’t want them to get within grabbing distance and slipped a handful of rocks out of her pocket.“Now!”she hissed to Grace.In tandem, they began pelting the four men with projectiles.
Targeting the youngest guy first, she clocked him on the temple.He didn’t even have time to shout in pain before he went down.His friend called her a foul name and fumbled for his rifle.It took two rocks to knock him out.
“You messed with the wrong cambions!”Grace shouted as she rapidly hurled rocks at her targets.Like Zoe, her throwing aim was a lot better than her shooting skills.The bearded psycho went down first, landing on his face with a thud.His friend turned to run and copped a stone to the back of his head.They snickered when he yipped in agony before crashing to the ground.
“That was easy,” Zoe said, pleased with their efforts.
“Now what?”Grace asked, face flushed with adrenalin and victory.
It was a good question, but Zoe was feeling a bit lost.“We could tie them up, I guess,” she said, uneasy at the thought.
“Why don’t we just kill them?”Grace queried.
“In cold blood?”Zoe asked, a bit shocked by her suggestion.
“What do you think they were going to do to us?”the teen said, eyes going steely and using her gun to point at them.“If they really do have women at the resort, I bet they’re being held there against their will.”
Zoe knew she was right, but the thought of murdering four men while they were unconscious didn’t sit well with her.“I’ll scan them and see if I can get any visions of their pasts,” she said.
“I can tell just by looking at them that they’re bad guys,” Grace said, but she didn’t argue with her decision.
“Point your gun at them while I disarm them,” Zoe whispered.“They might be faking it.”
“Good idea,” she whispered back and checked her magazine.She’d just refilled it before they’d sensed the humans, so she was good to go.“I can’t miss up close,” she figured as they quietly crossed to the men she’d knocked out.
Zoe grabbed the rifles and knives from the first two men, then headed over to the ones she’d targeted.Stripping them of their weapons, she knelt next to the youngest guy.Blood trickled from a small cut on his temple.Touching him was the last thing she wanted to do, but it was necessary.
Grace moved to stand on his other side and pointed her gun at his chest.“I’m ready when you are,” she said quietly.
Taking a deep breath, Zoe blew it out, then put her hand on his shoulder.Images poured into her mind, dating back long before the Rapture.She saw him beating up his younger siblings, torturing neighborhood animals and assaulting girls when he reached puberty.His evil deeds grew worse with each image she was shown.He’d murdered his first victim when he’d been fourteen.There had been several others since then.
Yanking her hand away, her final vision was of the women being held captive in the resort.
“You’ve gone pale,” Grace said and tightened her grip on her gun.“What did you see?”
“That they all need to die,” Zoe replied starkly.“They’re holding a dozen or so women captive and they’ve been torturing them for fun.”
“Move out of the way,” her small friend said in a cold, hard tone that sounded far older than her actual years.“I’ll take care of this.”
“We both will,” Zoe said, unwilling to stand by while the teen took all of the burden.
Grace waited for her to stand up and moved to her side.They checked their weapons and flicked the safeties off again, then pulled their triggers.The sight of their bullets slamming into the prone man made them both flinch.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Grace said bravely, yet sounded sick to her stomach.
They turned to his friend and shot him in the back, since he was lying face down.“I’ll check to make sure they’re dead,” Zoe said, ignoring how badly her hands were shaking.Bile rose into her throat when she rolled him over to check his pulse.“He’s gone,” she confirmed, then made sure his accomplice was really dead as well.He was, so she stood up again.
A sense of danger warned her a moment before she heard scuffling noises.Spinning around in alarm, she saw the bearded psycho had crept up behind Grace.He was on her before she could shout a warning.
Grace dropped her gun when hands clamped around her throat from behind.She was lifted off her feet as the guy used her as a shield.“I’m gonna rip you apart, little girl,” he snarled.Grace kicked her legs ineffectually, face going red from lack of air.