Alliance

Chapter Forty-Seven

We arrived in Denver late in the afternoon on the same day we left the cave.

That morning we made quick work of packing up the cave and threw the rotten bodies into a pile to set on fire. The remainder of the day was spent traveling toward the large mountains that looked like ancient sleeping giants.

Denver was said to be like Omaha. The last stop before entering the old Rocky Mountains. There would be a marketplace, hotels, and taverns according to Liam and Asher. The pair had talked about the city over a quick lunch. It sounded like neither had been in the city itself but had heard the information from other people.

To be in a city again, to be in civilization sounded like a breath of fresh air. Surrounded by a dusty Wasteland was not as exciting as I had originally thought.

The large city came into view when the sun low in the sky. A thought of a real bed under my sore bones had me aching to get into the city and find a hotel.

The Jeep, Asher, Ben and I kept heading to the city as Charlotte, Mason, and Madison turned to the south, heading to the gulf. A safe, port town was rumored to be located on the water. The rumor had it that ships took on passengers to take them far away from the Wasteland. Their plan was to sail to South American to start a new life.

When the sun disappeared behind the mountains, we had entered the city limits.

There were no people. No lights as we drove down the road. Liam was in the front, leading slowly while he drove around obstacles. Vehicles and large cement blocks that looked like they were once used as barricades littered the road.

Something didn't feel right.

It was the same feeling I had back during the mountain simulation before I opened my eyes to see Alec hovering above me.

Liam stopped his jeep. He got out first with Olivia and Isla jumping out a minute later. Olivia looked back at me, her shoulders shrugged to answer my unspoken question.

The roar of Ben and Asher's motorbikes died and the city fell silent. I scanned the surrounding buildings. They were tall and abandoned. Inside the blown out windows was darkness.

"What'd we stop?" Asher asked, getting off his bike. Ben and I did the same.

Liam kept walking until he met us on the road. We were in the middle of a street with large pieces of broken cement barriers surrounding us. Something really did not feel right.

"Where is everyone?" I asked. There should be people here. This was a city with people. That was what Asher said. Asher and Liam.

"There are people," Liam said, studying the buildings before his eyes fell on me. "Not the right people."

All around us, men popped up from where they hid. All of them black clothed with matching dark cloths around their faces to distort their appearance. They all pointed guns at us.

Instantly, Ben and I raised our handguns on opposite sides of the roads. Ready to fight our way out. But the black clothed men did not shoot. Did not move while they aimed at us.

"Everyone on your knees," a man said. I turned my head down the street, by Liam's jeep a man walked to us. His gun at his hip. "You are outnumbered. You have no chance if you fight. Look at the buildings."

Looking up, men stood in those windows. Seconds before they had been empty.

I glanced at Ben for him to make the first move. Both Asher and Olivia had their guns aimed. But Liam had lowered his.

Liam slowly crouched onto his knees.

He knew there was no way we could fight our way out. Ben sensed it too and he did the same. The rest of us followed.