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Maddie laughed. “My childhood crush isn't deep enough for you?”
Saff chuckled again, and Maddie's smile burned against her cheeks.
When Saff’s silence extended past a few moments, Maddie continued, not ready to let the conversation end.
“How far are we from Oakridge?” she asked.
“Close. Couple Hours.”
Maddie nodded, her excitement growing. If everything worked out, she’d be back with her family before nightfall.
She wondered what it’d been like for Saff, surviving alone for however long.
“Have you been alone the whole time?” she asked. “I mean, since the outbreak happened.”
Saff didn’t answer, and Maddie knew better than to press into what could’ve been a tender wound. She’d been lucky enough to not lose any of the people closest to her since the outbreak, but she assumed most people weren’t so lucky.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, “if that wasn’t the right thing to ask.” She shifted her hand on Saff’s arm. “I’m not used to talking to anyone outside of the community I was in.”
Saff was silent for a few more moments before finally speaking. “Then you were lucky.”
Maddie nodded. “We were. Until the raiders came and destroyed everything.”
Saff shifted beneath her arm, and Maddie could hear her labored breathing. “It would’ve happened, eventually. Whether it was,” she paused, clearing her throat, “raiders—or zombies, or whatever else. Nothing lasts now.”
Maddie pursed her lips. She wanted to argue. She wanted to tell her that her dad was in contact with a network of differentsafe zones from there to the coast. But she didn’t. The tone in Saff’s voice told her it wouldn’t do any good to argue. And she didn’t want to reopen any old wounds that might’ve led Saff to hold the opinion she did.
So instead, she was the one who let the conversation end in silence.
They walked for hours, barely sharing a handful of words, until finally she felt Saff slow beside her.
“Was there somewhere specific you guys were planning to stop in Oakridge?” Saff asked.
“The library next to city hall,” Maddie answered, adjusting her hand on her arm. “Why?”
There was a brief pause before Saff loosed a breath. “We’re here.”
Chapter nine
Saff scanned the buildings in front of her.
Oakridge was a small town. She’d remembered passing through it a few times as a child, one of those memories coming from a time when her father had taken her to the woods where he’d been working on the bunker.
As they entered from the hill above, she could see the span of the whole town below. It was only about four blocks wide. One main road centered the town, lined with small businesses, most of which were connected in long, continuous red brick buildings.
“What do you see?” Maddie asked, a new excitement filling her voice.
Saff examined the buildings as they approached the main street. Off in the distance, she could see two that were taller than the rest, one with a single steep point resembling that of a church. The other appeared more rectangular, with long white pillars.
“I think I can see city hall. But I’m not sure. We have to get closer.”
Saff scanned the empty street around them. It was different from the city. She could almost feel the lack of human presence, or zombie presence, through the eerie quiet as the wind whistled through the buildings.
“Is there—are there any people?” Maddie asked. “Or any signs of them?”
“Not yet.” Saff shifted the strap of her backpack and winced as the movement tugged the skin around the wound in her side. The throbbing around the injury continued as it had been since she’d woken that morning in the house. And now every step or movement caused that side of her torso to ache uncomfortably.
They continued walking down the street, with Saff occasionally slowing their pace to scan for any signs of people.
