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They fell into a comfortable silence again, and Maddie listened to the quiet sounds of the settlement winding down for the night.
She’d been too distracted the night before to really take them all in. But now, as she listened to them, they sounded foreign. It felt like an eternity had passed since she’d been in an organized settlement. She wasn’t used to the sounds of so many people anymore. Actually, now she was really only used to the sounds of one particular person at night.
She wondered how long it would take her to get used to it again. She also wondered if she wanted to.
They walked along the smooth pavement until Maddie felt Saff slowing them and turning to the right.
“Curb.”
Maddie felt her cane hit and lifted it as she stepped up onto the sidewalk. Then they continued for a few more steps.
“Stairs,” Saff muttered, adjusting her arm beneath Maddie’s hand.
Wood creaked beneath her feet as they made their way up the stairs, and when they reached the top of the small flight, Saff turned them again, this time to the left. Then, after a few more feet, they stopped. And this time, there was a new creak in front of her. A door opening.
Then Saff stepped forward, and Maddie stepped with her, feeling with her cane as it hit against the right side of the entrance.
They had only taken a few steps before a vaguely familiar voice called out.
“Came back on your own this time?”
Saff grunted. “Sylvia said my backpack was here.”
The girl let out an exaggerated hum. “I think I’ve seen that around here somewhere.”
Maddie listened to the sound of things being shifted and moved.
“This one?” the voice asked, slowly approaching them.
Saff didn’t reply, but Maddie could feel her arm reach forward, then pull back. A zipper opened, and Maddie listened to the light rifling of items in the pack.
After a moment, the girl spoke again. “The weapons aren’t in there, if that’s what you’re looking for.”
Saff loosed a breath, and this time Maddie could hear the annoyed undertone. “You want to hand those over too, then?”
The girl laughed, and then Maddie recognized where she knew the voice from. The girl at breakfast that morning.
Her fingers involuntarily tightened around Saff’s arm.
“You know it's a good thing I don’t have them, because I think you’d actually be able to talk me into giving them to you.”
Maddie’s fingers tightened just a fraction more.
Saff turned them to leave, mumbling a half-hearted, “Thanks,” as they walked.
***
The change in Saff was apparent the moment they stepped through the threshold and into the house. She didn’t exactly stiffen, but her body suddenly felt a bit more rigid than before.
Then she stopped.
Maddie waited a few moments for her to move, but when she didn’t, she asked, “Everything okay?”
She felt Saff flinch, as if snapping out of a daze.
Then she cleared her throat. “Yeah,” she muttered, finally taking the next step forward.
“What’s wrong?” Maddie asked, more concerned than curious.
