"Drop the food!" the tallest boy shouted, his voice cracking with a mixture of bravado and pure terror. "We... we saw the carts! Give us the supplies, and the girls stay safe!"
The silence that followed was deafening. Every member of Snow and Leaf Team stared at the boys with a look that was less "threatened" and more "insulted."
"Victor, wait!" Felicity shouted, scrambling down from Lucan's back, her bunny ears bobbing. She saw the hollows in their cheeks and the way their hands shook. "They're just kids! Look at them, they're practically babies. Put the fire out, please!"
Victor's hand was already humming with a faint, white-hot glow, his eyes fixed on the leader. "They're old enough to hold a weapon, Felicity. That makes them targets."
"They're children!" she insisted, stepping into his line of sight with a stubborn pout. "They probably haven't had a breakfast wrap in months. You can't just 'annihilate' a group of teenagers because they're hungry and stupid."
