I breathed once.
"We see you, stranger."
My eyes went wide as the man's voice cut through the trees. It was loud, controlled, and way too close. In the same breath, I heard it. Metal shifting. Safety clicks. Multiple guns locking onto the exact spot I was hiding behind.
Shit.
"Come out with both your hands raised."
I stayed still for a second, hoping they were bluffing. Hoping they had just seen movement and were guessing.
"Get a move on!!!"
Yeah. Not guessing.
I exhaled through my nose and stepped out from behind the tree, slow and deliberate. My hands stayed visible, but my eyes stayed low, shadowed. I let the frustration sit on my face. No point pretending otherwise.
Too tired for the shit.
I dropped the bag at my feet.
Four of them stood ahead. Three men. One woman.
My eyes narrowed slightly as I looked past her.
There was a fifth.
A kid. Younger than the rest. Late teens, maybe. He stood just behind the woman, trying to look tough but failing at it.
