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She crossed the grass, keeping a few paces between them as a string of wheezing coughs left her throat. She kept walking, her hand shaking as it raised the inhaler to her lips and took a deep inhale.
Maddie slowed to a stop, and Saff stopped behind her, scanning the surroundings for any signs of danger.
The damage outside wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. In the daylight, she could clearly see that most of the damage had been from the handful of houses they’d decided to light on fire.
They’d been lucky.
She watched Maddie raise a hand to her face, wiping something from her cheek.
Then she saw the way her shoulders shook slightly. Maddie raised the hand to her face again, and this time it remained there.
A small sob came out of her, and a force stronger than gravity pulled Saff toward her.
She took three slow steps, unable to stop herself.
As she got closer, she could see the shining tears streaming down her cheeks. Her watery eyes glistened in the daylight. Two storms of beautiful cerulean.
Another wheezing cough came out before she could stop it, but Maddie didn’t so much as flinch.
Saff stopped beside her, running a hand over her sore neck.
“It’s not fair,” Maddie whispered, her lip quivering as the words rolled over it.
“I know,” Saff whispered.
Then, after a few moments, Maddie slowly lifted her free hand into the air, palm turned halfway up, waiting.
***
Saff sat down on the couch, choosing to wait and rest while the family went through and packed some of their things.
Her eyes had just begun to feel heavy and started to close when she heard the tapping of Maddie’s cane entering the room.
She pulled them back open, watching Maddie sit down at the table, keeping her injured arm tucked close to her stomach.
Not a minute later, James made his way into the kitchen, with Erin's arm over his shoulders as she hopped her way to one of the seats.
"Maddie," he said, "did you gather up your stuff?"
"Yeah," she muttered, and Saff could hear her exhaustion. "Wasn't much."
Josh entered the kitchen next, taking the seat beside Maddie.
"You pack up your important stuff?" James asked him.
He nodded once, eyes remaining on the dark wooden table in front of him.
Then James turned to her. "What did you think of what Sylvia said?"
She was surprised that he wanted her input. If the roles were reversed, she definitely wouldn't trust him after only a few days. But maybe that was the difference between them. The difference between good people and—her.
"What about it?" she asked.
"What's the likelihood that it works? That it will keep them out for good?"
Saff shook her head. There was no keeping anyone out for good, and for some reason, no one there seemed to understand it. There was no forever, just a question of how long.
"They'll get through,” she muttered. “Eventually."
