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She gently pulled her hand out from where her dad still had it clutched tightly in his own.
“You’re sure you’re okay?” he asked, running his hand over the back of her head.
“Yeah,” she said with a small, tight smile. “I’m fine.”
“What happened?” Josh asked from somewhere farther off in the room of the house they’d taken her to. “I mean, after the horde attacked. How’d you get away?”
Maddie stepped back out of her mother’s embrace, but kept a hand holding onto her arm. She explained everything from start to finish, including her time staying with Saff and how they’d run into Carter by chance. Although, she decided to again skip over the details of how she and Saff had initially met.
When she finally finished, her mother pulled her into another tight hug.
“We were planning to leave in a couple days to go looking for you,” her father said. “We just—we knew you were out there somewhere. No one believed us, but—we knew.”
Maddie smiled softly, lowering her head. She’d looked forward to this moment for weeks, and she wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the day with them. But she also couldn’t wait any longer to ask what she really wanted.
She cleared her throat. “Um—where did they take Saff?”
They all went quiet for a moment.
It was Josh who finally spoke. “Probably to ask her some questions or something.”
“Oh honey,” her mom cut in, “you’re going to love it here. They have everything we had at our community, and so much more. It feels—safe—again.”
Maddie nodded, forcing a tight smile. “That’s great, mom.” Then she cleared her throat again. “Um—when will they be done questioning her?”
They fell silent again before her dad finally answered. “I don’t know, Mads, but I’m sure she’s fine.”
Maddie frowned, her chin lowering another inch.
“I saw them take someone over to the house with the lock up cells after you guys got here,” Josh said. “Guessing that was her.”
Maddie’s head snapped up in his direction. “What? What do you mean, lock up cells?”
Her father sighed beside her. “Its fine, Maddie. It’s just their protocol. They’re trying to keep everyone safe.”
Maddie scoffed. “Safe?She’s not going to hurt anyone.” She pulled her arm away from her mother’s tight grip.
“Maddie its—“
“No,” she cut her off. “Take me there. Now.”
Her father’s gentle hand touched her arm, but she shook it away. “Mads,” he started, “You just got back, don’t you think—“
“I said,” she cut him off, “take me there.”
Chapter nineteen
Saff blinked, peering down at the tray.
It was probably safe if that girl had eaten from it. And she’d also probably rest easier on a full stomach.
She knelt down and picked up the tray, bringing it back to the cot, then began eating, slowly.
The girl hadn’t lied about the chicken. It definitely wasn’t great. But after the first few bites, she finished the rest quickly, hunger taking over. Then she drank the whole cup of water in a few big gulps and placed the tray back where the girl had left it.
The full stomach did help a little.
Her headache felt slightly less terrible, and her body felt a little more at ease without the pains of hunger to accompany everything else.
