AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah,” Maddie answered, squeezing her arm lightly. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Saff nodded, still unconvinced. But she trusted that Maddie could read the situation and these people better than she could.
“Okay,” she muttered, adjusting the rifle strap on her shoulder. “I guess I’ll be back soon, then.”
“Hey,” Maddie said in a low voice, holding her in place for a moment. She inched closer. “Be careful, okay?”
Saff watched her for a second, then nodded. “I will.”
Chapter sixteen
Maddie sat on the cold cement curb, drumming her fingers against her cane.
It had been less than two hours, but she could already feel it. The guys were getting antsy to leave.
The warmth of the midday sun beat down on her back, drawing out a small bead of sweat that rolled down her neck. An echo bounced down the street as Dean, somewhere off in the distance, smashed the window of another car to search through. Although he’d been doing it for the last thirty or so minutes, she still flinched at every new shatter.
“So, how’d you guys end up together?” Carter asked, and Maddie easily picked up on the suspicion in his tone.
The part about Saff trying to shoot her probably wouldn’t go over very well, so she decided to gloss over some of the details.
“We ran into each other in the city after Tyler got bit. Then we were headed the same way, so it just made sense to go together.”
Carter was quiet for a few seconds, and Maddie jumped slightly at the sound of another window breaking somewhere off in the distance.
“So, what’s in it for her?” Carter asked. “Why does she want to go with us? What’d you promise her?”
“Medicine,” she answered.
“That’s it?” Carter asked. “She doesn’t want weapons or anything like that?”
Maddie almost laughed. Saff had filled her in on the contents of the bunker, and she was pretty sure there were more weapons there than they had in their entire community.
“No,” she answered. “Just the medicine.”
He released a grunt that made it obvious he didn’t believe her. At least, not entirely.
“I don’t even know if they’ll let her in when we get there,” he said. “They’re kind of—intense. It’s been,” he paused, “an adjustment getting used to their rules and someone else in charge.”
Maddie thought about that for a moment, wondering how her dad and brother were handling it. “Are some of our people in charge? Or do they at least have a say in things?”
Carter made a noncommittal noise. “Depends what the topic is.”
Maddie frowned. The last thing she wanted was to put Saff in some uncomfortable situation when they arrived.
After a moment, Carter muttered, “she’s back.”
Maddie’s head snapped up. She couldn’t hear anyone approaching, so Saff must have still been a small distance from them. Still, that had to have been record time for her to make it all the way to the bunker and back. She hadn’t expected her for at least another hour.
Maddie stood, waiting until she finally heard the faint crunch of footsteps approaching.
“Get everything you need?” Carter asked, his voice sliding back into its icy tone.
Saff grunted, then the footsteps stopped close beside her.
Saff cleared her throat, then in a low voice near Maddie’s left side, she asked, “everything good?”
Maddie smiled, resisting the instant urge to place her hand on her arm. Just hearing her voice instantly liftted a weight from her shoulders.
