Page 50 of Orange Town
I immediately looked at his face. His mouth is grim. Good, it seems that he can at least move some facial muscles. And his tail. I noticed that the vehicles are almost in front of this place. What to do? Zirc is preventing me from leaving. Then I looked at the table. Of course!
Doing my best to duck cover and hold like I’m in an earthquake drill, I went under the table. From here I can see their boots and the other patrons. They all have weapons in their boots. It seemed similar to a leather hide but I couldn’t tell. Zirc and Roqs have worn out boots but they still look sturdy. Strange how Roqs’ boots are the only things worn out in his clothing.
I made myself smaller than possible so I won’t be a target. I couldn’t help but jerk when I heard the first sound of what felt like guns. Or are they blasters? Then there’s another that sounded like a cannon. If there’s a cannon out there, then any building is a death trap!
“Everyone is in position?” someone shouted in a very grufflike tone. He sounded like someone who’d been smoking for ages. Though I haven't seen anyone smoking a cigarette.
“Yes,” another male answered. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen any children or young adult in the street. I only saw males which are only slightly younger than Zirc and Roqs. I feel that they are similar in age. The only old person I saw was behind the counter in our inn. He was busy looking at a small portable device like an iPad. But it looked too rugged.
“Good, let me know once we have the goods.”
Goods. They are really robbers! Hopefully they won’t come in here?
But someone must have heard my thoughts because someone came in. You can hear the squeak of the door hinges. Zirc’s tail tightened on my leg, as if signaling me to stay quiet anddon’t move.
“Look what we have here, some mead,” said the same gruff voice.
“Can we take some of those barrels?,” said someone in a nasal voice.
“We still have some pets.” That seemed to quiet the other one.
From my vantage point, I can see some people moving around. There are four of them. The biggest among them is at the back. I glimpsed he’s way taller than Zirc. Maybe a foot taller than his 6 feet 5 inches height. He seems to be darting glances in the room. He has a huge scar on his left cheek, almost reaching his eyes. I tried not to move when he moved away from my sight. I am not sure if adrenalin or that mead is making my senses on high alert. I can almost see them up close and smell them.
At the counter, I saw the one with the gruff voice. He is almost the same height as Zirc. Or could he be taller? Not sure because I was trying not to move my head or any part of my body. Only my eyes. My butt is steady on the ground but I can feel my limbs starting to shake. These people looked hard wired to kill. There are many weapons in their body, especially the one with a nasal voice. He is shorter than everyone. Knives, guns, possible grenades? There are all sorts of ammunition in his body.
From my peripheral vision, I saw the biggest guy with a longsword in his back. They are similarly dressed in tunics, pants, shirts, it is possible they have hidden knives or sharp instruments that can kill.
All are dressed similarly except for the fourth person in the group. That guy is just a few inches shorter than Zirc. Maybe the same height as Roqs. He is dressed in a long cloak and his head is covered.
No wait. He is a she!
When she drank the mead, the covering in her head from her cloak went down to her back. She looks stunning! Her lips are full, high cheekbones and possibly long lashes as if she has a liner on her face. Though I should not be at ease with this finding, I find that it relieves me a bit to find an actual woman on this planet. Even though there are only twenty of them according to Roqs.
Since I landed on this planet, this is the first time I saw a woman of their race. I should not be happy about this because she looks to be an enemy.
Unfortunately, I could not assess the man in front of her. Either he is the leader or she is the one. Only the man spoke earlier in a gruff voice. The one with the nasal voice is busy behind the counter. Probably looting for more mead or money. I can hear loud crashes of bottles.
At least they are not killing anyone in this bar.
Bang.
I almost squeaked!
There’s a loud noise above the table. Our table!
I trembled uncontrollably. Then I felt Zirc’s tail tightened even more on my calf. Okay, message received loud and clear. No movement. I calmed my limbs.
“What have you got there, Roan?”
The guy just grunted. The big guy is Roan. I did not feel him come up behind me or heard his footsteps. Despite his size, the guy can move silently. Like a ninja.
Roan did not speak at all. He probably gestured something because I saw the guy with the gruff voice walking towards us. His boots thudded against the floor. They are crowding our place and Zirc wants me to stay put? I knew I should have run upstairs.
Then the gruff guy laughed so hard. His laugh sends chills down my spine.
I will not run. I will not scream.
It is hard to fight my body’s reaction. My senses are telling me to run. This is a bad guy.
